Crossing Hennessy - Jacky Cheung (2010) - Island Eastern Corridor, Quarry Bay

They drive together through the rain along the Island Eastern Corridor towards Man-Yu's new studio site. Harbour View Gardens can be seen on the right.

The Confidence Man JP: The Movie - Masami Nagasawa (2019) - Quarry Bay Street, Quarry Bay

Perhaps another nod, or maybe just coincidental, to Transformers: Age of Extinction filming locations is the inclusion of a brief scene shot in Quarry Bay Street. Here it is in Transformers: Age of Extinction. Although in the image below we are looking in the opposite direction compared to Transformers. 

The Confidence Man JP: The Movie - Masami Nagasawa (2019) - Oceanic Mansion, Quarry Bay

I know this large block is actually several discrete smaller blocks (Oceanic & Montane Mansions + Fook Cheong, Yik Cheong & Yik Fat Buildings) but I referred to it as Oceanic Mansions when it first came to prominance following a starring role in Transformers: Age of Extinction, so for consistency I will stick to that.convention for the title.

In this film it is the location of the hostel where the gang set up their HQ and the main location shots are of the podium level located between Montane Mansion and the Yick Cheong Building.

This isn't the only way that this film copied Transformers: Age of Extinction and it makes me think that the Japanese film makers may have been reading this blog at some point...

The Confidence Man JP: The Movie - Masami Nagasawa (2019) - View over North Point

Another part of the montage that supposedly shows all the buildings with "Sagitarius Group" signage all over them is this shot. This particular view is at the Quarry Bay-end of North Point with the buildings around the junction of King's Road and Java Road. In the top image on the far right (with some weird structure on the flat roof) is the Java Road Government Offices where Infernal Affairs was filmed. And in the lower image the Kerry Centre is the building that has loomed into view from the left. The oval of the signage neatly covers the real symbol for the Kuok Group emblem (as in Robert Kuok, chairman of Shangri-La Hotel and Kerry Holdings groups).

City on Fire - Chow Yun Fat (1987) - King's Road Pedestrian Bridge, Quarry Bay

As Ko Chow goes home there is a shot of him walking over a pedestrian bridge in Quarry Bay. The pedestrian bridge looks pretty much now as it did then - although perhaps it was a bit cleaner back then.

V.I.P - Jang Dong-gun (2017) - King's Road, Quarry Bay

After taking care of business, Jang Dong-gun heads off and stops at some traffic lights to ponder the meaning of life. The traffic lights in question are located where Java Road joins onto King's Road between the Hong Kong Funeral Home and Kerry Centre in Quarry Bay. Then as he pulls out onto King's Road we get a brief glimpse to the east as the cars drives off. Actually, this later angle was also used in the opening scenes as one of the driving shots as he makes his way to his rendezvous.

The lower three images show the view along King's Road (looking east) but the first of those is actually from the beginning of the film. The latter two are from the end as he makes his way back to the airport.

Java Road with Towngas Building in the background

Hong Kong (series) - Rod Taylor (1960) - King's Road, Quarry Bay

This episode, The Dragon Cup, actually has a location in it that took a long time to track down, simply because the area has changed so much over the last 30 years that I was having a hard time reconciling the screen captures with how it looks today. Again, the mapping office aerial pictures were crucial to identifying where this was.

What you are seeing is how the section of King's Road in Quarry Bay used to look when it was largely filled with Swire/Tai Koo-related infrastructure. In the top two images we are looking west back along King's Road. The steep slope with the building at the top was located where Westland Gardens now sits. The building was one of the Tai Koo buildings but I'm not sure what it's role was.

as the car passes the location of the camera, although the background is blurred from the camera motion, it's possible to make out a flat area with a wall and gate. This open area corresponds with today's Fortis Centre/Eastern Centre and Shipyard Lane that runs in a loop around these two office buildings.

These final two images show the view looking east towards the curve in King's Road that existed prior to the road being straightened and becoming Kornhill Road. If you look at modern maps, you'll see that King's Road actually still follows its original route here, turning north where Kornhill Road begins. The tree covered hillside seen at the road bend below was excavated at some point. The road was straightened and the massive Kornhill development (including the north and south developments as well as the plaza) were built in the location. It is completely unrecognisable today. The excavation/removal of the hill and subsequent creation of Kornhill Road et al occurred sometime around the mid 1980s.

This same clip was also used in the later episodes Double Jeopardy, Lady Godiva.

Powaqqatsi - Godfrey Reggio (1988) - The Kornhill, Quarry Bay

Another of the large developments that is featured in the film is the Kornhill over by Tai Koo Shing MTR station. The Kornhill is named after some of the older staff accommodation blocks that used to serve the nearby Tai Koo sugar refinery and docks. The sole survivor from that time, and style of building, is Woodside up on Mount Parker Road.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Hoi Chak Street, Quarry Bay

Jonah follows Sally when she leaves her hotel and spots who she is meeting up with along Hoi Chak Street in Quarry Bay. You can just see the square columns of the Kerry Centre in the back left of the second image.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Montane Mansion, Quarry Bay

My most popular post on the blog is from the scene in Transformers that was shot around the Oceanic Mansion cluster of buildings in Quarry Bay. In this story it is a building that houses a variety of (seemingly) South Asian refugees. It's where the guy who was following Porter lives and she goes there to meet him to find out what's going on. The building is massive and separated into several (five, I think) differently named sections. This section is the courtyard between Montane Mansions and the Yick Cheong Building (Transformers was largely shot in the neighbouring courtyard).

Ghost in the Shell - Scarlett Johansson (2017) - Quarry Bay Street, Quarry Bay

Just a quick glimpse of Oceanic Mansion/Montane Mansion in Quarry Bay. You may recall that Michael Bay filmed Transformers: Age of Extinction here back in 2014 and was attacked by one of the shop owners demanding compensation.

Trivia: that Transformers post is currently my #1 most popular on this blog. I have no idea why.

It looks like the Ghost in the Shell film makers also used one of the podiums at the back for a brief shot looking up to the sky, a very similar aspect to the one shot at Mei King Mansions earlier but without the futuristic plane flying overhead. This shot was taken from Quarry Bay Street looking east near to the start of the Mount Parker Green Trail.

Blackhat - Chris Hemsworth (2015) - Quarry Bay MTR Station, Quarry Bay

Okay, so after darting down a fake Quarry Bay MTR station entrance, the action that follows does indeed take place inside the real station. I should know as I go here quite often.

In fact if I remember correctly, it looks as though the desperate duo turn right at the bottom of the main escalator and head onto the westbound Island Line platform where they just manage to board a train in time.

Transformers: Age of Extinction - Mark Wahlberg (2014) - Quarry Bay Part 4 - King's Road, Quarry Bay

The final Quarry Bay location is along King's Road at the junction with Mount Parker Road. The pedestrian bridge you see in the screen caps below starts on the north side of King's Road and extends all the way over to the Quarry Municipal Services Centre mentioned in previous posts.

Here's a shot I took a couple of days ago. The building in the background is the focus of much of the action around Quarry Bay. Mount Parker Road (and slightly further in - Quarry Bay Street) starts it's slow climb uphill just past the walkway on the right hand side.

Transformers: Age of Extinction - Mark Wahlberg (2014) - Quarry Bay Part 3 - Mount Parker Road, Quarry Bay

Just at the start of Mount Parker Road is a small road that leads up to some older flats named Parker Court and Parker Terrace. Some of the filming was also done up here but to start off here is a shot looking down from Oceanic Mansion's rooftop that shows the entrance to the side road.

The road is a dead end and the following shots were filmed near to the end.

This is also the same small road where the truck comes crashing down the hillside and where one of the dinosaur robots runs down to join the fray.

Unfortunately Streetview hasn't ventured into this small road yet, so I actually got off my fat lazy arse for a change and went to get some snaps.

Transformers: Age of Extinction - Mark Wahlberg (2014) - Quarry Bay Part 2 - Quarry Bay Street, Quarry Bay

The film makers made good use of Quarry Bay and there are several distinct locations we will see over the next few posts. Here is a brief look down a side alleyway off Quarry Bay Street, in fact immediately behind the central rear section of the main building.

The interesting thing to note here is that this small alley has a staircase immediately behind where the camera is sited. This means the stunt rider either had to slam on the brakes quite hard or they constructed a ramp for then to drive up so they could film them travelling past at speed.

Either way, the Google car couldn't drive down here and so I had to go myself and the result can be seen below.

Interestingly, the building seen behind the bike is the Quarry Bay Market and Cooked Food Centre which is part of the Quarry Bay Municipal Services building. We've seen it before on this blog many moons ago from an episode of Yellowthread Street called Angel Eyes. At that time though it was still under the auspices of the now defunct Urban Council and was called the 'Quarry Bay Complex'.

Quarry Bay Market and Cooked Food Centre

Transformers: Age of Extinction - Mark Wahlberg (2014) - Quarry Bay Part 1 - Oceanic Mansion, Quarry Bay

In the first of quite a few posts concerning the Quarry Bay area, we are looking at the residential building that was used as the initial location for all the subsequent To Kwa Wan rooftop shots. In the Quarry Bay case the building in question - although very similar in shape to I-Feng Mansion, with a large front section with 3 rear sections perpendicular to the front (a bit like a digital "3" shape) - is actually made up of several separately named blocks: Oceanic Mansion and the Fook Cheong Building front King's Road, whilst Montane Mansion, the Yick Cheong Building and the Yick Fat Building make up the three rear prongs.

This location was actually the place where the film crew, and Michael Bay in particular, ran into a spot of trouble with a couple of local businesses who felt they were owed some money for the inconvenience of the filming and attacked the crew with aircon units!! The culprits were arrested and, in fact, given prison sentences.

You can see the entirety of the building in the following screencaps that show it from the north looking south. The new building left of screen is One Island East.

Another view from the south looking north (i.e. rear to front of the building) as the spaceship is about to crash (and in a bizarre twist of geography ends of in a scenic country park in rural China - I don't recall seeing it when I went hiking over there not so long ago...)

We also get some close up views of one of the podium levels at the back of the building.

As well as some shots of the roof top, where you can see all the clutter and why the other roof in To Kwa Wan had to double for this location's chase scenes.