The Dragon from Russia - Sam Hui (1990) - Portas do Cerco, Macau

I first thought this might be a replica of the border gate, but it looks as though it's the real thing. This is where Yao and May try to make a break for it after being chased by the police from the hotel. I haven't been through this border post since 1996 when it looked fairly similar to how you see. These days it's quite hard to believe how busy the border gets and the requisite infratstructure that had to be built to handle the Macau<>Zhuhai-bound foot traffic is immense. See here. I did a post a while back with some old photos from 1996.

The Dragon from Russia - Sam Hui (1990) - Hotel Bela Vista, Macau

Another place that has cropped up a few times on here over the years is the Bela Vista Hotel. It was a tourist favourite in the 80s and 90s and I even got a comment from the old manager many years ago on my old history blog - he tantalisingly asked me what I wanted to know about only to never return. What a pity because I'm sure he had some fantastic stories. The building is now occupied by the Portuguese Consul to Macau and has been that way since the Macau handover in 1999. Bruce Lee fans (who often read my blog) will probably remember it appearing briefly in Ahna Capri's home video shot during the filming of Enter the Dragon in 1973.

Anyway, this is where Yao and May go to celebrate Christmas before they are interrupted by the police.

The Dragon from Russia - Sam Hui (1990) - Cemitério São Miguel Arcanjo, Macau

We move to Macau now for Mr Kushido's funeral as a variety of people turn up to pay their respects. This was all filmed at the Cemitério São Miguel Arcanjo aka St Michael's Catholic Cemetery.

The Dragon from Russia - Sam Hui (1990) - No.8 Police Station, Sai Ying Pun

You may or may not remember that the police station where May is taken after the assassination at HSBC has been featured previously on the blog, although it is no longer in police hands. This is the same location that Chuck Norris is taken to in Forced Vengeance. It was one of my "pandemic finds" - those locations I found when I had very little else to do in hotel quarantine and lockdown. Anyway, as mentioned on that linked post, it is now the "David Trench Rehabilitation Centre" and has undergone some renovations including a large glass front entrance.

The Dragon from Russia - Sam Hui (1990) - HSBC Main Building, Central

Oops, I forgot the previous location. Mr Kushido is apparently based in the Norman Foster monstrosity otherwise known as "HSBC Main Building". Bring back the previous art-deco version of this building please because it was just so much nicer to look at.

Anyway, there are several shots of the building including the void on the ground floor. But most of the action takes place on the Queen's Road Central side (i.e. the main entrance) of the building which faces Battery Path. Look out for the old Hongkong Hilton and Beaconsfield House in the background as Yao leaps across Queen's Road Central. Both now gone of course.

Hongkong Hilton and Beaconsfield House in the background

The Dragon from Russia - Sam Hui (1990) - Queen's Road Central, Central

We stay on Queen's Road Central for the next location but move down to the junction with Ice House Street as Yao and Teddy make their getaway on a motorbike. The old Govt West Wing building seen in the back of the top and bottom images is still around (renamed to Justice Place West Wing) but the Sing Pao Centre, seen at the back right of the bottom image, has since been redeveloped into 8 Queen's Road Central.

The Dragon from Russia - Sam Hui (1990) - St John's Cathedral, Central

Yao launches his attack on Mr Kishudo from the courtyard of St John's Cathedral. There is a brief scene there as he rushes past May again and then runs down Battery Path steps before jumping across the street for his attack.

The Dragon from Russia - Sam Hui (1990) - Yee Wo Street, Causeway Bay

Yao is first introduced to his assisstant, Teddy (also Yuen Tak) when he is attacked by the latter as some sort of skills test. Teddy breaks into Yao's apartment, which is supposedly located in the building at 60-62 Yee Wo Street (not sure if it has a name). They jump out of the apartment window and continue their fight along the top of the famous circular pedestrian bridge that straddles Yee Wo Street. This is the same walkway that was facsimiled and used for the finale of the live action version of Ghost in the Shell. They then run into Paliburg Plaza next door and this is supposedly where the 800 Dragon's have a base.

Jumping down from 60-62 Yee Wo Street

The Dragon from Russia - Sam Hui (1990) - The Peninsula Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui

Yao does his first major contract hit on a guy in Hong Kong as he is leaving the Peninsula Hotel. This is where May (Maggie Cheung) first thinks she sees him after not seeing him since he was kidnapped in Russia.

The Dragon from Russia - Sam Hui (1990) - Park Lane Shoppers Boulevard, Tsim Sha Tsui

Next up is an oldie starring Sam Hui in what is apparently a version of Crying Freeman, although I haven't read the manga, so I can't comment as to how closly it follows the story. In this film, Sam Hui is "Yao", a Manchurian (i.e Northern Chinese) living in Moscow with his girlfriend and adopted family. The leader of the "800 Dragon" assassins sees Yao's potential as a killer and kidnaps him, brainwashes him and trains him as a deadly killer.

One of the odd things about this film is the leader of the 800 Dragons is played by Yuen Tak in a very odd prosthetic face and I wonder if it has anything to do with the initial scenes being filmed on location with Yuen Wah as the character, then perhaps not being able to complete the film once back in Hong Kong? It's very odd because Yuen Tak also turns up later, minus prosthetics, as Yao's equally capable killer assistant.

Anyway, the first scene involves a fight between the 800 Dragon head (Yuen Tak) and his mortal Japanese enemy, Mr Kushida (Lau Shun). It takes place in what looks like a modern temple setting but is actually a rudimentally disguised entrance to Kowloon Park on the Nathan Road side. The famous "fight not fight" hand sculpture (actually, it's called "Please") by sculptor, Van Lau, still located along the "Park Lane Shoppers Boulevard", figures as part of the scenery. I seem to recall it being a donation from the HK Rotary Club.

Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street - Sam Hui (1984) - Shek O Quarry

The scene where James Bond takes Baldy Jr captive at the end appears to have been filmed in (the now decommissioned) Shek O Quarry. I only know this because the Shek O Quarry Company is acknowledged in the end credits, but a quick scan of the 1982 aerial imagery shows that there was indeed some similar machinery in the area at that time. (Caveat: I've been wrong about quarries before, so I will keep an open mind about this one) 

Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street - Sam Hui (1984) - Lok On Pai Desalination Plant

Mad Mission 3 also seems to have been one of the first films to use the (then) recently decommissioned Desalination Plant at Lok On Pai. In 1984 the plant was supposedly still able to operate but had been put into "Standby"mode in 1982. That's why we can still see all the processing works in the images below as well as the inside of the main structure which still stands today. This is where Sam and the gang go to meet the Governor and CIA and are asked to help bring down the nefarious James Bond and his plot to sell the crown jewels.

For a bit of context, I've snipped an aerial view from 1982 which gives a god view of the site (credit to Tymon Mellor and his excellent https://www.hkmaps.hk/).

Lok On Pai circa 1982

Below is the entrance road and, as you can see, it ran along next to two large oil/gas storage silos. These can be seen in the top right of the b&w image.

The next images show the area where the filming takes place at the sw corner of the site. We know this because in the last image you can see the building furthest away (with all the windows) is the one that ran south from the middle of the main structure. Obviously the interior (with the Union Jack flag) is the main structure that still stands today and has a new life as a sort of freelance sound stage (Jet Lee's scenes from Expendables 2 was also shot in here, believe it or not).

Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street - Sam Hui (1984) - Hong Kong Satellite Earth Station, Stanley

The next shot shows us the satellite dishes located in the Hong Kong Satellite Earth Station at the very end of the Stanley peninsula. I'm not sure if this is part of Chek Chue Barracks aka Stanley Fort, but I suspect it is as you have to go through the army base to get there. Those same dishes are still there as far as I can tell.

Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street - Sam Hui (1984) - Lok Fu MTR Station, Kowloon

I'm not sure about the initial scene of the MTR exit, but the subsequent sequence, where Kingkong flies through the subway system on his airborne contraption, appear to have been filmed at Lok Fu MTR Station. As far as I am aware this is the only MTR station that has a green colour scheme with red stripes. I could be wrong so please feel free to correct me if so. Anyway, some more poor quality green screen SFX as commuters run in panic and stare in awe as the thing flies by. This takes me back to my first trip to Hong Kong, before the launch of the now ubiquitous Octopus card, when you had to buy single journey tickets or could get a stored value card. They were these flimsy plastic things. Wish I had kept all that stuff as a keepsake.

Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street - Sam Hui (1984) - Various Harbour Views

As Nancy (Sylvia Chang) pursues Kingkong's weird plane contraption, we get a few nice views of the harbour area. Although the first image looks like they shot it above Hung Hom with the old Whampoa dockyard buildings below. The building with the sawtooth rooftop was located where Cotton Treet Mansions now stands. There's lots to see in the mid-80s images (too many buildings to mention).