Mr Hercules Against Karate - Alberto Terracina (1973) - Aberdeen

In another bit of geographical gymnastics, although not quite as weird as merging Victoria Peak with Sydney Harbour, the back of Tiger Balm Gardens apparently leads directly into Aberdeen Harbour as the pair run away from the henchmen by diving into the not-so-clean waters of Aberdeen. This is the eastern end of the harbour because, low-and-behold, in the background of several shots is the dilapidated carcass of the original Jumbo restaurant. Old readers may remember years ago (2011) when I first identified the old Jumbo in the background of a shot from Enter the Dragon. It seems that at least one narrator (I'm looking at you Frank Djeng) had picked up on this for the recent Enter the Clones of Bruce - Enter the Dragon locations featurette, but failed to look further into the location of the Sammo fight. Shame on you. 

Anyway I digress. If anything, it was just an indication of how long the burnt out wreck was left to fester at the side of the harbour since it tragically caught fire in October 1971 i.e. the best part of two years at least.

We see it again, albeit in low-res, during the Aberdeen harbour sequence. The first image below shows Terracina braving the harbour waters to escape the henchmen and, in the second image, you can see the old Jumbo on the left hand side. This shot was taken from the promontory where the Aberdeen Seminary is located. Even in low-res it looks like a sorry sight. In image three, you can see its collapsed roof in the background.

Anyway, that appears to be all from Ming, Ragazzi! aka Mr Hercules Against Karate. The final scenes appear to have been shot at a sort of Chinoiserie-style building, but it's not somewhere I recognise and it wouldn't surprise me if it was in Thailand or the Philippines. If you know better then feel free to let me know (remember, I posted the film link in the first post).

Mr Hercules Against Karate - Alberto Terracina (1973) - Tiger Balm Gardens, Tai Hang

I don't know why they boys come to Tiger Balm Gardens, but at every step they are being followed and chased by the very inept henchmen of the main bad guy. The place, with its colourful statues and grottos, has been showcased far better in other films so I won't inundate you with low resolution ones from this film. Suffice to say everything you see here, other than the mansion, no longer exists.

I tell a lie, this tiger now adorns the layby in front of the old property on Tai Hang Road.

Mr Hercules Against Karate - Alberto Terracina (1973) - Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui

The hotel where the boys are staying is the Empress Hotel on the corner of Mody Road and Chatham Road South. There are a few shots done outside the main entrance and surrounding area throughout the film. What I will say is that the hotel interior was not filmed here.

The images below start with a view of the overhanging signs along Mody Road before pulling out to reveal the front of the hotel and its characteristic crowned 'E' symbol. The last image is from a sequence where the camera pointed at the opposite side of the junction and you can see the empty space (Chatham Road Military Camp) of what would become East TST in the background.

Mr Hercules Against Karate - Alberto Terracina (1973) - Central Vehicular Pier

The crew disembark from the ferry at its logical end, Central. Not much to be seen on these low quality grabs but worth including regardless. There's not a great number of locales included in the movie. As a reminder, this pier, which was still in use into the early 1990s, was located (more or less) where 1 IFC now stands - on the waterfront in front of the old Fire station (now the Hang Seng HQ). You can see the aforementioned station in the background of the third image.

Mr Hercules Against Karate - Alberto Terracina (1973) - Jordan Road Vehicular Ferry Pier #2

 After arriving at the airport, the pair are picked up by a friend and driven to the former "double-deck" vehicular ferry pier at the end of Jordan Road. This one was specifically used for the double-decker ferries that allowed smaller/lighter vehicles to park on the upper deck. In relation to today's geography, it was located at the far end of Man Wui Street in front of the westernmost section of the Man King Building (which you can see behind in the top two images) - part of the Ferry Point Estate. Once again, the Google marker doesn't allow me to be exact, but you can clearly see where it was located in relation to the aforementioned building.

Mr Hercules Against Karate - Alberto Terracina (1973) - Kai Tak Airport,Kowloon

Despite having already included a scene that was unmistakeably shot in Hong Kong, we now move to the bit where the pair arrive in Hong Kong officially to undertake their rescue mission. There's a nice sequence of a plane landing at Kai Tak that pans across and ends on the terminal building. Pity the quality isn't better.

Mr Hercules Against Karate - Alberto Terracina (1973) - The Peak

Next up is another Italian production, Mr Hercules Against Karate (original title: Ming, Ragazzi!), that appears to have been shot in Sydney, Hong Kong as well as some other unknown places that are beyond my remit. The story follows a couple of oil workers who are hired by an Chinese restaurant owner, in Sydney, to go to Hong Kong and rescue his young son, who has been kidnapped by the usual meglomaniac gang leader (played by George Wang). I don't know much about Italian cinema, but the pairing of these two seems to be a cheap knock-off of the pairing in the Terence Hill and Bud Spencer movies. With the 'Bud Spencer' role (superhuman strength, big bushy beard etc) being taken by Fernando Bilbao. 

Anyway, weirdly, part of a Sydney-shot sequence, as the pair walk up by the side of the Sydney Harbour bridge, was partially filmed on the Peak in Hong Kong. The scene has been edited together so that when Terracina looks off camera (in Sydney) to his friend, his point of view is looking at Bilbao at the peak as he rips a safety rail off a bus he was about to board. It's an odd combination of locations having the Sydney Harbour bridge in one direction and the Peak viewing tower in the other.

The film is available to watch on Youtube here (no doubt it will disappear at some point), but it's pretty poor quality, both in terms of resolution and entertainment.

Anyway, here are some screen captures from the 'supposedly still in Sydney' scene. The Peak Cafe is the location of the Chinese restaurant where the guys are hired by the owner.