Spy Game - Robert Redford (2001) - Central, Hong Kong

The final sequence is the one that sells us the lie that the HSBC building in Central is actually the US Consulate. In fact, not a single on-site shot was done here and all of David Hemmings' scenes were filmed back in London - at Lloyd's of London on Lime Street. The various shots of Hemmings in the external glass lift quite clearly reveal Leadenhall Street in the background and not downtown Hong Kong as we are supposed to think. On the plus side we do get brief glimpses at the former Prince of Wales building in HMS Tamar, the Furama Hotel and Ritz Carlton. Both these latter two have since given way to redevelopment.

Spy Game - Robert Redford (2001) - Victoria Harbour Part 2, Hong Kong

The second sequence is one that swoops across the harbour from the opposite direction and is the sequence over which the film title is overlaid. We see the Convention Centre in the first image and the camera quickly zips by to focus at the same point that was reached in the initial sequence - in front of Elizabeth House with its Panasonic advert.

Spy Game - Robert Redford (2001) - Victoria Harbour Part 1, Hong Kong

It's a slow time for my chosen selection of films at the moment, so maybe it's time to dig out some classics. Case in point is Tony Scott's Spy Game released in 2001. This really isn't a made in Hong Kong film at all, there are really only three very brief snippets of Hong Kong - all of them essentially establishing sequences that set the scene for what follows. What follows is usually David Hemming's character, supposedly base in Hong Kong and speaking from what is purported to be the US Consulate.

The first establishing sequence we see involves the camera zooming along the harbour from the east towards a building in Wanchai, Elizabeth House in Causeway Bay.