Forced Vengeance - Chuck Norris (1982) - TyTam Villa, Tai Tam

Bruce Lee fans will recognise some of the scenes of the coastline where Chuck makes his final ascent to battle because this is the same area used in Enter the Dragon when the fighters leave their boat and disembark onto Han's Island.

Well, roughly the same area at least because you can see the stone jetty and pillbox that are seen in that film in the shot below (the ramp and pillbox are centre left). I'm sure Chuck probably knew that was where his former buddy, Lee, had filmed 10 or so years earlier.

Next up we see a small hut on the hillside with some guards at the entrance to an uphill path that leads to the boss's estate.

It's a bit over grown these days, so without physically going there it is hard to see if the hut is still around, but I suspect it is. The way it works in HK is that unless you will make a pile of money by knocking it down and redeveloping it, it stays intact - so my betting is that the hut is still standing along with that concreted ledge in the lower picture.

As if we needed anymore confirmation of the location, here is a shot of the area I have shown before in various places. It shows the three former mansions that occupied the top of the cliff before the American Club came along and knocked them all down to build their country club. The buildings are, in left to right order, Stanley Lodge, Tytam Villa and Palm Villa (the latter with the terraced tennis courts used in Enter the Dragon). The picture was taken circa 1982 - so about the same time as this filming - and I have circled the area we see on Forced Vengeance. Can you see the little hut? If you zoom in you can also make out the steps that lead up through the trees.

Anyway, the path leads up to...well, in the film it leads up to Tytam Villa, which serves as the big boss's lair. In reality I have no idea, it could have led to anyone of these three former great houses.

When I originally viewed this film I thought that Chuck may have been filming at Palm Villa, but on closer inspection (largely by looking at the window pattern and the existence of annexes either side) it seems that this garden and house were Tytam Villa.

It still looks in okay condition in the film, at least the grounds do, but it wouldn't be long before it was removed and the same spot now seems to house the main clubhouse of the American Club.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Shek O Road, Hong Kong

Bruce Payne is following some dodgy Triad guys in his Mustang in the first episode: Power Play. The scene involves some nice driving along a picturesque rural road which turns out to be Shek O Road on the southside of Hong Kong Island.

This particular section of the road involves an almost right angled bend towards the east above Tai Tam bay (see location at the bottom of the post). Here's what the same area looks like today courtesy of Streetview.

Men of the Dragon - Jared Martin (1974) - Palm Villa, Tai Tam

It wasn't just the various plot lines and characters that were pinched from Enter the Dragon, there is also a moment in Men of the Dragon when Martin and Ito go and see their wise master at his serene retreat in the countryside. The following will be more obvious to ETD fans but the fact is that the location used was none other than Palm Villa - the same place that doubled as Han's island training grounds in Enter the Dragon.

Appalling quality screen grabs aside, you can see the upper garden with the tree and its doorway that Bruce Lee walks out of at the end of Enter the Dragon (the bit when he gives the thumbs up sign to John Saxon). Look carefully and I would venture that the gold lion statue by the door is the same one seen in Enter (and coincidentally, it is standing in the very same place).

It's quite possible some of the props were left lying around after the completion of Enter the Dragon in 1973, and it's not too far beyond the realms of possibility that the Men of the Dragon guys filmed there not long after...anyway, I'll let you be the judge.

 Anyone who has read and understood my previous ramblings on this location (I do mumble quite frequently, so it's understandable if you didn't) will know that this tree (seen above) is the same tree that Lee magically leaps up into when he is about to be discovered by Han's guards on one of his night time recces in Enter, but that was pretty much all we saw of the place in that film. However, the arched stone doorway was seen quite a bit because it fronted the main fighting area. Here is a reminder where you can also see the gold dragon and all the black suits piling through the gap.

Sadly. that's all we get to see of the place in Men of the Dragon which is a big shame when you consider how iconic it has turned out to be.

Enter The Dragon - Bruce Lee (1973) - Tai Tam Bay, HK Island

 The location used in the film to represent the waterfront on Han's Island was a small bay at the foot of the Lo mansion on Tai Tam Road. The bay is still there and fairly unchanged despite the massive redevelopment that the former tennis courts and mansion underwent just up the hill. These days access is from two directions - either by copying Bruce and going by boat (as John Little does in his "Pursuit" documentary) or via a small gateway on the main road next to the monstrous Pacific View apartment complex (the development that eradicated forever all traces of the tournament grounds - i.e. tennis courts - from the film). Here's a reminder.

...and here is how it looks today (although the jetty has collapsed somewhat and needs re-concreting in one spot).