Tragic Hero - Chow Yun Fat (1987) - Queen's Pier, Central

This is one of the locations that Yung and Kwok's adoptive father goes to when he arrives back in Hong Kong from Malacca. Yung is having him followed by one of his goons so he knows whether or not his dad is on his side or Kwok's. My understanding is that the old structure - removed when reclamation started back in 2007 (after a delay due to the growing awareness of heritage protection in HK). The pier structure is supposed to be restored back to its original, although now landlocked, location in front of CIty Hall, but I haven't been there for a while so can't confirm whether or not it has been done. I'll confirm later.

Killer Angels - Moon Lee (1989) - Queen's Pier, Central

Queen's Pier is the location where Michael is sent to kill Moon as she stands looking across the harbour at the signboards on Ocean Terminal.

Royal Warriors - Michelle Yeoh (1986) - Queen's Pier, Central

The finale of the car chase takes places in the same location as the film's proper finale, so I'll post about that at the end. In the meantime, determined to get revenge for his wife and daughter's deaths, Yamamoto secretly makes a deal with some local arms dealers, headed by HK movie stalwart, Eddie Maher. Yamamoto is picked up by the landing steps of Queen's Pier in Central and taken to a cargo ship moored in the harbour. Sadly, like the rest of the old Central waterfront, Queen's Pier is a distant memory (it was demolished in 2008), though not so long ago the idea of it being re-erected at the same site, as a monument, was being discussed. I have no idea whether this has/will happen.

City on Fire - Chow Yun Fat (1987) - Queen's Pier, Edinburgh Place

Ko Chow has a clandestine meeting with his handler, Inspector Liu, on Edinburgh Place in Central. The opening shot shows Ko Chow waiting at Queen's Pier before he sees the inspector's car arrive. The scene was shot with the car pointing in a variety of angles so we get to also see a bit of City Hall and the very much missed old Star Ferry pier.

For some reason,this shot above shows the car pointing at City Hall

Le Monocle Rit Jaune - Paul Meurisse (1964) - Edinburgh Place, Central

"Le Monocle" (Paul Meurisse) can also be briefly seen catching a rickshaw from next to Queen's Pier in Edinburgh Place.

Weiße Fracht für Hongkong - Dietmar Schönherr (1963) - Queen's Pier, Edinburgh Place

Back to Edinburgh Place for a brief glimpse of Queen's Pier. The odd thing about this scene is that it immediately follows the previous scene at The Ambassador Hotel. The actors, standing at the corner of Nathan and Middle Roads, look past the camera to see some policeman waiting to speak to them, but the policemen are actually over by Queen's Pier!

The Million Eyes of Sumuru - George Nader (1967) - Queen's Pier, Central

While his buddy is being kidnapped by Sumuru, Frankie Avalon runs around Hong Kong trying to locate him and meets a mysterious women along the Central harbour front who claims to have information.

The encounter occurs right next to the famous Queen's Pier. It's been a regular feature on this blog. The fate of the disassembled (and supposedly stored) pier has yet to be decided, but it looks as though it may be reconstructed between the two public piers along the Central waterfront.

Noble House (Mini series) - Pierce Brosnan (1988) - Queen's Pier, Central

This place is still in the news despite it being removed several years ago. Apparently, the Govt took the step of dismantling it rather than destroying (unlike its neighbour, the Star Ferry Pier) and have it in storage awaiting reconstruction somewhere appropriate. There are basically two camps - the restore it in its original location (now reclaimed) or build it at the new waterfront area. I'm not sure which camp I fall into at the moment. Restoring it to its original location (if the Govt can actually remember where it was exactly) adds historical context but renders it useless as a pier (although I guess it would make a welcome shade from the intense HK summer sun) whereas reusing it as an actual pier means the public will once again get to use it properly but removed from its original context. Hmmm...

Anyway, this is the point where Dunross and Tcholok catch the former's boat to take the trip to Macau.

 

The Man with the Golden Gun - Roger Moore (1974) - Queen's Pier, Central

The Queen's Pier post from Bons Baisers de Hong Kong reminded me of another post I should have done several years ago but couldn't due to the poor quality of my screencaps (from an old VCD). In time I forgot about it so here it is now that I have some better quality screencaps. It's just the scene where Bond is taken onto the Police launch by Hip (Soon-Tek Oh) and their embarkation point is Queen's Pier along the Central harbour front.

Star Ferry Carpark in the background

These top two pictures show the car driving along Edinburgh Place in front of City Hall (you can see the ramp of the car park at the background of Pic 1) before turning into the pier area. The following pictures show the boat tied up at the dockside with the pier's recognisable cylindrical columns to one side.

Bons Baisers de Hong Kong - Les Charlots (1975) - Queen's Pier, Central

There is some recent talk about resurrecting the demolished Queen's Pier along the current waterfront. When it was removed to make way for the latest round of reclamation in Central, there were some calls to have it rebuilt in its original position - regardless of the fact it would be landlocked. Personally I think it would be great to get it rebuilt as a working pier rather than having it sitting in the middle of a park as a sun shade, but that's just me.

Anyway, once again this is cropped from the real Royal Visit footage in 1975 and incorporated into this amusing French comedy.

Soldier, Soldier - Robson Green (1992) - Queen's Pier, Central

Here's a blast from the more recent past - Queen's Pier in Central, like the neighbouring Central Star Ferry Pier, it recently became victim to the Central to Wanchai reclamation. The whole area of harbour in the background of these two screen shots is now - almost unbelievably - reclaimed, and has the Lung Wo Road running along it.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson (1975) - Edinburgh Place, Central

Following on from the nearby HMS Tamar, the next scene has Jones walking down to try and hail a cab outside the Star ferry piers. Of course the pier has long since gone - getting demolished almost 10 years ago now - but the adjacent car park in Edinburgh Place is still around and has featured on this blog before.

Another recently removed pier in the above shot: Queen's Pier. Although (rumour has it) it has/will be replaced in its original position (as a monument) once all the faffing about with the reclamation is finished. Don't hold your breath just yet.

Outside Star Ferry. In the background of the above and below screen captures you can make out some of the buildings that used to front the harbour along Connaught Road.

Here is a rather nice shot of Tien Ni with Edinburgh Place as a backdrop. The building behind her head is the City Hall building (on the left) and the former Supreme Court and LegCo building (on the right) - and of course there's the familiar side of the car park.

Finishing on a high, here is the famous Star Ferry clock. There were various proposals made to try and preserve this artifact once the pier was demolished, and I believe the Govt were quite open to it (in hindsight, probably another hollow gesture), however, as is typical in Hong Kong, someone decided it would look better buried under several feet of refuse at the Tuen Mun landfill.