Shatter - Stuart Whitman (1974) - Around Connaught Road Central

A few shots that I figured were worth combining because they are all really closely clustered around the small area where Edinburgh Place meets Connaught Road.

First we see (albeit a bit blurry in the background) the old Edinburgh Place carpark. It's still going strong as I write but who knows how long that will last. I've stuck a rough comparison after each one courtesy of Streetview.

The next one shows somewhere that has changed. A little further around Edinburgh Place (it's a small loop road that runs around the carpark) is the view of the old Star Ferry Pier which was still there until 2006.

As you can see the view these days is slightly less inspiring and I think most people will agree that HK is worse off now this area has changed.

Next we pop over a few metres to Connaught Road with a view down towards the old G.P.O. We can still see part of the old roof of the subway on the right. The subway is still there of course (though now there is less reason to use it) but the roof has been put back significantly and replaced with a new structure. Also we can see the Mandarin Oriental on the left and St George's Building behind it. Both buildings are still here but the one behind those - Chater House - is a more recent build. The grand old G.P.O was replaced by Worldwide House and this has to be one of the biggest travesties of HK redevelopment because the old building was quite spectacular. There are still some other relics left over at the back but I did a better post on this here.

Finally, the camera turns and we get to see to the east from this point (the last shot is looking west). Another travesty of a heritage preservation as this grand old building, the Hong Kong Club, was removed to make way for the current version. City Hall can be seen on the left along with the Connaught Road end of the car park and the Cenotaph on the right hand side.

Noble House (Mini series) - Pierce Brosnan (1988) - Worldwide House, Central

Worldwide House is well-known for its lower floors' dedication to the local Filipino community. It has a whole load of shops on the 1st floor that cater specifically for Filipino tastes and needs. Just head down there any Sunday and you'll see what I mean. In Noble House the building is the HQ for Gornt's empire, Rothwell-Gornt, and we get to see the ground floor entrance as well as the odd scene shot inside Gornt's office which does appear to be inside the building itself.

Not many people realise that the building itself is built on the former site of the rather elegant General Post Office that sadly, along with many other very grand and unique colonial-era buildings, disappeared throughout the 70's and 80's. On an aside, the sole remaining pieces of the old GPO building are several columns that were donated and moved to Kadoorie Farm in Lam Tsuen where they still stand today. Anywhere, here is the current building we are talking about.

The ground floor is also Exit A of the Central MTR station, hence the MTR sign on the wall.

The views from Gornt's office show not only Exchange Square on the left but also Jardine House. The lower picture seems to be showing the previous building to the current Chater House. It was in fact the old Swire House (demolished in 1998) with its rather more stylish rooftop - the current building is, unsurprisingly for modern HK, just a boring generic glass box.