Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Tai Nan Street, Sham Shui Po

Okay, I know I should've included this on the last post but I only started looking a few minutes ago before realising that this next screen grab was taken a one block to the east of the last Tai Nan St post. Anyway, as before you can still see a few remnants from the shop signs despite the fact that most have been removed. This is actually at the junction with Wong Chuk Street looking east down Tai Nan Street. Lower picture courtesy (as always) of Google Streetview.

And with that we can finally bid farewell to Rush Hour 2.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Tai Nan Street, Sham Shui Po

Well, I guess I am getting better at identifying these seemingly generic local streets because here is one from Rush Hour 2 that I was expecting to take me longer (it actually took me about 5 minutes). It's just another one of those shots that shows off a bit of local life in HK but is irrelevant to the plot. It's a busy street somewhere, adorned in shop signs of a magnitude in number that is rarely seen since the Govt decided to crack down on them (too dangerous/illegal blah blah blah).

It is in fact Tai Nan Street in northern Kowloon and, as you can see from the Streetview below, its number of signs has been drastically reduced, although there are still a few key ones that help identify the location (if you look closely enough you'll see which ones they are) along with the columned shophouse that can just be seen centre right in the screencap.

Coincidentally, this is the second time we have seen this exact location on this blog because it was this same stretch of road (at the junction with Shek Kip Mei St) that was used in Transformers: Age of Extinction a while back.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok

Fittingly, the final scene involving Hong Kong is outside the Terminal 1 building at HKIA as Carter is ordered back to the USA. You can just see the Zone 4 sign on the top picture which is actually the furthest drop of area, so the camera was placed at the very far end of the building (as you can see from the Streetview grab below).

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Graham Street, Central

On his walkabout, Carter (Chris Tucker) performs an amazing feat by walking all the way from Yau Ma Tei Police Station to Graham Street and then Gage Streets in Central (not forgetting the scene afterwards when he also manages to walk all the way back to Marsh Road) - quite an impressive bit of footwork.

Anyway, the first street we see him walking down is Graham Street. Currently being redeveloped for some reason which will no doubt ruin the original character of the place. At the bottom of Graham Street, after visiting a tailor and getting a new shirt, he turns onto Gage Street and starts to talk with the chicken vendor.

Graham Street looking south (up the hill towards Hollywood Road)

The Graham St intersection with Gage St

Gage Street - where Carter ends up rescuing a doomed chicken.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Public Square Street, Yau Ma Tei

Some of the action takes place in the famous Yau Ma Tei police station on Public Square Street. It's long been a popular location for filming and has recently been decommissioned (May 2016) and it's future doesn't look very clear at the moment which is a big shame for everyone. Let's hope sense shines through and the building can be retained.

Anyway, there's also a lot of the scenes involving the explosion at the station where we are out and about on Public Square Street following Carter as he wanders off in general ignorance of the events unfolding around him. The top picture shows us looking east up Public Square Street, the building on the right is the Henry G. Leong YMT Community centre.  

In the third picture we can see a residential building behind Carter with a Wellcome shop at the bottom. This is Block 5 of Prosperous Garden and according to Streetview the Wellcome is still around. I've stuck a Streetview image below to try and match the angle in the lowest picture.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Marsh Road, Wanchai

The junction between Marsh Road and Jaffe Road features quite a bit because it's where we first encounter Ricky Tan and his entourage. The scenes supposedly outside the sauna were filmed on Jaffe Road but we also see Carter walking down Marsh Road when he accidentally stumbles across the same location later on. The top picture shows us Jaffe Road looking east towards Marsh Road with the latter's road ramp. The same ramp behind Carter as he walks north towards the junction with Jaffe.

The last picture above is looking in the other direction down Jaffe Road and you can see the Canal Road flyover at the far end. There's been a significant amount of redevelopment in this small section of Jaffe Road, most recently with the completion of the Mira Moon Hotel on the corner south east corner of the junction - next to where Carter is standing in the picture below.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Tai Wo Street, Wanchai

One of the standout set pieces of this film is the fight on the scaffolding where Chan prematurely proclaims the robustness of Chinese bamboo. The building on which all the action takes place is called Wanchai House (built 1959) and stands on the corner of Tai Wo Street and Wanchai Road.

Here are some recent images I took - coincidentally with scaffolding erected around the building.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

Here's the famous Emperor Jewellers sign again that hangs over the southern end of Nathan Road near to the iSquare mall. Of course, back in 2001 it was the Hyatt Regency Hotel that was nearby but as mentioned many times previously on here it was demolished in 2006 and the iSquare replaced it.

We've seen this sign a few times on this blog before - not surprising given its prominence at a very busy part of Kowloon - but most recently we had a post from Noble House. Incidentally, the Chairman/founder of the Emperor empire, so to speak, is the infamous *cough cough cough* Albert Yeung (seriously though, great guy...) who has been involved with Jackie Chan in various business ventures over the years - including a housing development I used to live near in Taipo called JC Castle. It was in the news a few years ago when it was discovered that Robert Mugabe had bought a house there. So, it's not surprising to see the Emperor sign so prominently on display in a Chan film.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Austin Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

The US consulate - where Zhang Ziyi places the first bomb - was actually the Tsim Sha Tsui Police station (or more correctly - the District Police HQ) on the corner of the junction of Austin Road and Nathan Road.

In the above shots, Austin Road is going from lower left to centre right and Nathan Road from centre left to bottom right. Although the building itself hasn't been altered for the film, the large hoarding that has been placed on the corner is (obviously) a fake one for the film, although the wall below it is a real wall. These days it is rather more obscured by tree growth.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Un Chau St, Sham Shui Po

I was recently lamenting the demolition of the Tung Tak Pawn shop in Wanchai and, sadly, it wasn't saved - the site is now empty of what was a great looking building. Back in 2001 when this film was made there was another worthy addition to HK's small but aesthetic portfolio of curved, corner shophouses and another one could be found along Un Chau Street in Sham Shui Po on the corner of Pei Ho Street. There is a brief glimpse of it at the beginning of the film - just one of many scene setting shots.

It was a great little building but was sadly ripped down soon after (circa 2008) and replaced by...well, another high rise (called "Court Regence"). Although actually the lower section where the former shophouse stood is the entrance/lobby portion of the residential block behind, it seems to occupy a similar area. I think it's a shame they couldn't have kept the facade of the older building and incorporated the new building into it, like the way they have done with Wanchai Market. Oh well, it's too late now. Here's the modern Streetview below.

Incidentally, the excellent HKMan has a great Now/Then comparison over on his FLICKR page.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Aberdeen Harbour, Aberdeen

Another part of the opening titles gives us a quick look at Aberdeen Harbour.

However, can you spot something that's a little bit off? Those of you familiar with Aberdeen should be able to tell that the scene in the film is actually flipped! I can't see any reason for a deliberate flip - it's an inconsequential brief shot at the beginning of the film - so I guess this is one of the things that can happen during the editing process. Anyway, the lower picture shows the proper orientation. 

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter, Hong Kong

Causeway Bay Typhoon shelter actually pops up several times throughout the film. The first time is during the opening credits as an establishing shot (top picture), but also when Carter and Lee are dumped naked on the highway (second shot) - the road is the Island Eastern Corridor and you can see the shelter area at the back. In fact the same overhead road sign board can be seen in both pictures.

The final appearance of the typhoon shelter is when the action moves to the yacht. The pier at which the boat is berthed is actually the eastern edge of the shelter. There is a misleading sign on the left which states we are at North Point Pier, but it's lying (like a cheap watch).

Actually, the area where Lee (played by Chan) used the polystyrene box to board the boat is still around but is currently covered in construction works for the Wanchai bypass reclamation. The wooden piles seen on film can still be seen on Google Earth, but it's unclear how much of the area will stay the same once the reclamation is complete. If you look closely at the lower picture, you can see the underside of the Eastern Island Corridor highway in the top right.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Big Buddha Statue, Lantau

The Big Buddha only featured as one of those travelogue style opening shots, just to make sure we all know that we are in HK (in case the Peak shots didn't convince you).

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - The Peak, Hong Kong

I know, I should have done Rush Hour first, but I don't seem to be able to find my copy so I shall start at the second installment. Plus, this one (I almost called it "number 2" which might be a bit unfair because I actually enjoyed it a lot) has a lot more HK-based locations than its predecessor. The opening shot is almost an updated of the one in Spider-man: The Dragon's Challenge with a helicoptered shot starting somewhere on the southside of the Peak moving up to the top so we get a nice view of the viewing tower and beyond.

Up the hill...

...to the top...

...and beyond.

The only thing missing (that is noticeable for me anyway) is the 2 IFC tower which should be on the left of the lower picture but it seems construction had either not started yet, or not reached a height where it can be seen over the other buildings (most likely the former reason).