Project A - Jackie Chan (1983) - Muk Min Sea Cave, Sai Kung

There is a sequence in this film when JC disguised as a fellow criminal boards the pirates boat to be transported to their coastal hideaway. There is an area in Sai Kung where many (if not all) of these shots were filmed and it can be found right next to Pak Lap Wan. Here is a reminder:

There are several caves here, and the one at the bottom is actually known as Muk Min Cave. This shot was filmed looking through its south/western entrance with Pak Lap Tsai immediately behind it. The shot at the top was actually taken with the camera placed looking down from the bit of land above the various sea caves although actually it was the next cave over used for this purpose. Here is a google shot to give some context. The circle marks the spot where the camera was placed to look down as the boat passes underneath and the arrow shows where Muk Min Cave is located.

Fist of Fury - Bruce Lee (1971) - Rua Dom Belchior Caneiro, Macau

One of a couple of scenes filmed in outdoor locations in Macau. The first one I have already mentioned here. This one is part of the scene when Lee disguises himself as a rickshaw puller in order to kill Paul Wei's effeminate translator character. We see the rickshaw being pulled down a road before it goes past the camera. The location used is very close to the church ruins, in fact just behind it. The lower photo shows (almost) the same angle today.

Lots of changes to note as you would expect but the main one being the building of the Catholic Art Museum on the left hand side. I'm not sure when it was built, but sometime around 1995 when it opened to the public, before that building there was a lovely house with an external stariway that can be seen in the back of the following behind-the-scenes shot of Bruce and Paul Wei (photo supplied by Marcos Ocana).

And again a modern day comparison. It's unfortunate that the housing estate we can see behind Bruce in the picture above has only just recently been demolished, In fact as of January 2010 those buildings with the balconies were still there, only to be cleared sometime between then and when I took this photo in the Autumn of 2010.

There is a wall that can be seen on the right of the film grab at the top that still partially exists. It's been reconstructed further down the road but an original piece still exists just off camera-left on the above picture can be found. Here is a picture of Bruce leaning against the wall.

The shot above shows the new version of the wall. Seems as though somebody must like the design to want to recreate it again.

The Protector - Jackie Chan (1985) - Shum Wan, Lamma Island

JC fans will know that there are in fact two versions of The Protector. There's the US version released internationally (that even did a stint at my old local Odeon Cinema back in Coventry when I was a schoolboy - though sadly I was too young to get in thanks to its 18 certificate) and the rewritten HK version that JC did because he was so pissed off at James Glickenhaus, the director. Due to the rewrite a bunch of scenes got chopped from the HK version and the following scene is one of them. It's when JC and gang go to meet Moon Lee's uncle on his junk only to find he has been killed and the boat set on fire (in the HK version he is found at a dockyard and Bill Wallace turns up again for another rumble). Here is a grab from the scene in the US version when they go to the bay and find uncle's boat on fire.

Check out the rock formation on the left hand side. This is important because it was key to identifying the location. So here is the same location today complete with the rock formation - although my camera hasn't stretched it the way the film's camera has (plus I was slightly further around as you can see by the angle).

Soldier of Fortune - Clark Gable (1955) - Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

There is a scene at the end of the Soldier of Fortune when Hank (Clark Gable) is watching Hoyt (Haywood - or at least her double) board a PanAm bus on the Peninsula forecourt. The camera then pans left and we get a view of Salisbury Road in its former low rise glory. Behold!...an unspoilt view of the clock tower when it was still part of the train station.

Here's a shot of my own (for a change) showing a similar angle. Can you still see the clock tower?(Answer: No, you can't :-( ).

The Private Eyes - Hui Brothers (1976) - Chater Garden, Central

Okay, granted you can't actually see Chater Garden on the next shot but it looks to be the approximate position (perhaps slightly more to the east) from where this shot was filmed. I believe this film was made just after the old Cricket Club grounds were turned into what we now know as Chater Garden circa 1975.

What we have here is a view of Central, lower left you can see the top of the old Supreme Court building which became the Legislative Council building and will soon again become law courts. Above that we have the Princes Building and to the right of that is the Mandarin Oriental Hotel followed by the iconic Jardine House (though at the time was still known as the Connaught Centre) with its round windows - HK's first official skyscraper. Moving on to the right we have the old Hong Kong Club building (such a shame that place was demolished) at the bottom of the screen and hiding behind that is the tower of City Hall. Next to the HK Club we have a building called Sutherland House which stood on the spot that was until recently occupied by the Ritz Carlton (it's currently an empty space).

With two exceptions: the HK Club and Sutherland House, all these buildings remain.

The Private Eyes - Hui Brothers (1976) - Pedder Street, Central

Classic Cantonese comedy from the mid-70's with a catchy theme tune sung by Sam Hui. The opening titles of the film have various snap shots of buildings until stopping on this junction that is actually where Pedder Street crosses Chater Road and Des Voeux Road.

Look carefully up Pedder Street (the road that leads of to wards the top left) and you should be able to make out the Pedder Building. Look right and you can see the old General Post Office with its colonial facade. The GPO was knocked down and replaced by Worldwide House but strangely several of the old columns from the Post Office were preserved and hauled half way up Kwun Yam Shan (behind Kadoorie Farm) where they form part of some bizarre misplaced memorial - perhaps to remind everyone just how crap at preservation HK truly is.

The Protector - Jackie Chan (1985) - Man Mo Temple, Sheung Wan

Perhaps one of the most famous temples on HK Island rears its head in The Protector - 25 years after it appeared in The World of Suzie Wong, but looking very similar to how we now it today. You also get a nice shot looking up Ladder Street. Visitors to the area today will recognise the red-tiled round window of the neighbouring antiques emporium.

What has disappeared in the intervening years are the octagonal headed fire hydrant (a increasingly rare relic of  HK's past) and of course the red pillar box. Both were also seen on The World of Suzie Wong, but have since been replaced/removed.

Enter The Dragon - Bruce Lee (1973) - Aberdeen Harbour, Hong Kong

Okay, I am repeating myself here a bit because I quickly covered Aberdeen Harbour for Enter the Dragon in this post - however, that post was merely to point out the fact that the film makers inadvertently captured the burnt out wreck of Jumbo Floating Restaurant Mark 1 (mark 2 - the current version - actually opened in 1976).

Of course the Aberdeen scene in Enter is quite crucial because it's where all the fighters board the junk bound for Han's Island. There are two shots in particular I would like to show you, the first taken when Bruce is sitting at the front of the sampan getting rowed to the junk. You need to look at the hillside on the right hand side to see what is the Old Aberdeen Police Station.

Believe it or not this building still exists and after several incarnations and usages it now seems to be some sort of youth centre called "The Warehouse". I wrote an article for Time Out Hong Kong a few months ago and needed a comparison shot, so out of the kindness of his own heart Thomas Ngan provided me with one. As you should be able to see the amount of development in Aberdeen has been considerable - not surprising considering the Govt had to rehouse several thousand boat-dwellers over the past couple of decades. Anyway, trust me when I tell you the Old Police Station is still there, just hidden behind those block you can see on the opposite side of the harbour (in fact behind the brown highrise that i sitting above the two side-by-side boats on the water).

Photo courtesy of Thomas Ngan

The next shot was taken - I believe - from one of the tall buildings that line the Aberdeen Praya Road i.e. the road in front of the aforementioned Police Station. It shows a great view of the whole harbour from 1973 in which we can see several points of interest.

The first is the power station in the background on Ap Lei Chau. This was HK Electrics power station, it was diesel-powered (see Thomas's comment below) and sat on the spot for quite some time before the powers-that-be decided to shift it over to Lamma Island and ruin the natural scenery over there instead. The site was then used for the development of what is now called South Horizons. Yes, if you live in South Horizons you are sitting on the site of an old power station. Don't worry, I'm sure they decontaminated the earth before they built it :-)

Enter The Dragon - Bruce Lee (1973) - Kau Yi Chau, Outlying Islands

Despite the fact that all of the filming of Han's Island actually took place at a private property in Tai Tam called Palm Villa, there was a real island used for the black and white photo shown to Lee during his mission briefing with Braithewaite (played by Geoffrey Weeks).

The picture was an aerial shot taken - according to Paul Heller's film commentary - from a plane flown by Roy Chiao. Chiao, of course, played the head monk in the film who is seen at the beginning of the film. He was a noted Chinese actor of high repute as well as being a top class pilot.

What we see on film though is actually a composite photo containing three elements: a real island (Kau Yi Chau), Palm Villa's stepped tennis courts and King Yin Lei (used in the film to represent Han's mansion).

Unfortunately I don't have the resources to rent a helicopter and try to reproduce this angle for you. However, courtesy of GoogleEarth we can get a rough approximation - minus the superimposed elements of the tennis courts and mansion - looking almost as it did in 1973. No surprise really because I don't think this island is actually inhabited. The first shot is to give you some context so you can see where the island actually lies within HK waters. For those who aren't familiar with the geography you can see HK Island at the right hand side, the c-shaped island on the left is Peng Chau and the development to the north of there is, believe it or not....Disneyland.

The Man with the Golden Gun - Roger Moore (1974) - R.M.S Queen Elizabeth, Hong Kong Harbour

When I did a locations thread for this film on Gwulo a while ago, this was by far the most interesting one - mainly because no one knew where it had finally sunk. Anyway, the guys on there got their resourceful hats on, as always and finally nailed it as being a part of the sea off Stonecutters Island that now sits under a bit of reclaimed land.

Of course everyone who has seen the film knows this location served as the covert HQ of Bond's boss in HK but, in reality, it was the old Queen Elizabeth ship that had been bought by the shipping magnate C.Y Tung (the father of HK's first lame duck Chief Executive - Tung Chee Hwa - the first of many I suspect). He bought the ship and was in the process of turning it into a floating university (called the S.S Seawise - C.Y's...geddit?) when it caught fire under mysterious circumstances in January 1972 and was burnt to the rusty hulk you see on film.

The main part of the superstructure that was above water was broken down and (I believe) was used to form some of the ground on which Chek Lap Kok airport now stands whereas the remaining part remained on the seabed until the area known as CT9 was built over it (CT stands for Container Terminal) at the SE tip of Tsing Yi island (the new Stonecutters Bridge virtually passes over the top of the area now).