Chinese Box - Jeremy Irons (1997) - D'Aguilar Street, Central

The next shot shows the familiar curve in the middle of D'Aguilar Street as it turns north down the hillside. There have been a few changes here, most obvious is the business occupying the Yau Shun Building on the right hand side, but also note the former colonial red post box and it looks as though the brick wall on the right might be in need of some re-pointing soon.

Here is the most recent Streetview.

Soldier, Soldier - Robson Green (1992) - Fuk Hing Bridge, Pak Tam Chung

Here's a location that should be familiar with anyone who follows my Bruce Lee exploits because I was able to identify it as the filming location for Lee's outdoor BTS footage that was cobbled into the final print of Unicorn Fist.

Anyway, in this episode called Lifelines, the lads from the King's Fusiliers are on border patrol to try and nab illegal immigrants. In reality this area is not even close to the border with China but this is movie world so some pragmatism is needed with regard to filming logistics.

Chinese Box - Jeremy Irons (1997) - Cochrane Street, Central

Yes, Cochrane Street again but this time from the street level and including an old friend of this blog, Chaplin Chang.

Chaplin, as you will remember, has been cropping up in the films on here for quite some time - his earliest appearance being for 1959's Ferry to Hong Kong. By virtue of Chaplin's excellent English skills and general kind nature, he seems to have been the favourite man for foreign companies to go to for any kind of local liaison. As such became involved in many of the productions featured on this blog both in front and behind the scenes (and more often than not, both). Anyway, here he is again playing a down and out who seems to live at the entrance to Jeremy Irons flat and spends all day crushing cans.

The view is from a few metres down into Cochrane Street looking back up towards Lyndhurst Terrace (Gage Street being just off camera to the right)

Chinese Box - Jeremy Irons (1997) - Pak Fuk Road, North Point

In the scene when Irons and his buddy ride the latter's bike up to the Peak, we catch a brief glance of what we are led to believe is the route up there but is in fact located quite a significant distance away on Braemar Hill in North Point.

The scene starts with a view over Bedford Gardens before panning right as the motorcycle passes by up to the junction with Tin Hau Temple Road.

Bedford Gardens seen from Pak Fuk Rd

The building at the end of the road in the lower picture is Ho King View and on the left is a partial view of Pacific Palisades.

Soldier, Soldier - Robson Green (1992) - Kai Tak Airport, Kowloon

A quick glimpse of Kai Tak as Jerome Flynn heads off to meet his new wife in the form of Holly Aird. At this point, for most foreign film companies would cut to the obligatory aircraft on its final approach over Kowloon, but with Soldier, Soldier we just jump straight to the tarmac and also get a quick shot inside the terminal.

Chinese Box - Jeremy Irons (1997) - Cochrane Street, Central

Jeremy Irons' flat in the film appears to be looking out onto Cochrane Street next to the mid-levels escalator. Judging from the angle it looks as though the building has now gone and been replaced with the corner construction on the junction with Gage Street that currently houses a Pizza Express (at least at the time of writing).

Actually, this view is just a few very short steps away from The Dark Knight scene filmed on the walkway above Gage Street.

Soldier, Soldier (TV Series) - Robson Green (1992) - Stanley Fort, Stanley

As the base for the fictional King's Fusiliers throughout their stay in HK, Stanley Fort features fairly heavily throughout the series (so I am sure this is the first of several similar posts). Here are a few shots from A Touch of the Sun.

I've never been to Stanley Fort and therefore am not 100% sure of the building identities, but I'll give it a stab. The first picture is of the accommodation of the battalion commander, Lt Col Fortune, which, I believe, is Conway House (aka Building 18).

Conway Hse/Building 18?

Next up we see the swimming pool down by the lowest row of accommodation blocks that face Stanley Bay - although in the background we can see the row of blocks on the higher terrace. They are (from right to left) Richmond, Halifax, Chester and Windsor (Buildings 89 thru 86).

The next building is one we have seen on this blog before - it can be seen in Bloodsport - but I am not sure of whereabouts it is within the fort. I am guessing it is the nameless E-shaped block on the maps in the centre of the Fort (now called Chek Chue Barracks, by the way) that has the bowling green in front of it?

Another block, also seen in the above Bloodsport link, is what I believe to be Building 10. An elongated colonial building that sits on the road just above the parade ground and sports field.

Building 10 - also seen in Bloodsport

We get to see a brief glimpse of the road in front of the lower accommodation blocks (buildings 90 - 95), although I am not sure which one we are looking at.

And rounding off this post with a quick look at the parade ground with Building 10 in the background.

I'm not familiar with the fort and so can't say how much has changed since the P.L.A moved in to Chek Chue Barracks (Chek Chue is the Chinese name for 'Stanley' in case you didn't know), but judging from GoogleEarth, the majority of landmarks we see in the series are still around as far as I can tell. I'd love to hear from anyone familiar with the compound or perhaps who actually lived there with the army.

Chinese Box - Jeremy Irons (1997) - The Centre, Central

A particularly poignant film to watch at the moment given what is going on with the city's struggle for genuine democracy. I wasn't here for the handover, although I did stay up and watch events as they were being broadcast in the UK and this film blends drama with real documentary footage from the time.

Before we get to that though here is the very first shot that shows a large skyscraper under construction. The building in question is in fact The Centre - the tall building that featured (or at least the foyer) in The Dark Knight.

Anyway, the building was started in 1995 and finally opened in 1998, so the filmmakers got it pretty much mid-construction. The initial screencaps look as though the camera was placed on either Wellington Street or Gage Street looking down the gap in the buildings made by Graham Street (please correct me if I am wrong). Look carefully at the lower part of the screencap and you can just make out the top corner of the Haleson Building which stands between The Centre and Central Market.

There's also a later night shot that has been taken from a different angle (possibly further east and south?).

Soldier, Soldier (TV Series) - Robson Green (1992) - The Noon Day Gun, Causeway Bay

I've never been down to the Casueway Bay harbourfront to watch this thing being fired, in fact I think I've only ever heard it being fired a couple of times in the last 10 years. Perhaps I will make the effort to do the touristy thing at some point. Until then, here is a brief glimpse from A Touch of the Sun.

Soldier, Soldier (TV Series) - Robson Green (1992) - Harbourfront, Hong Kong

Another TV series for the blog and this time one that I missed when it was originally shown back in 1992 - I was grotty student in Leeds at the time spending most of my time listening to music rather than watching the box. Strictly speaking the episodes I am looking at are from series 2, when the so-called King's Fusiliers move to Hong Kong. The first two episodes of the series were still based back in the UK but the remaining 4 episodes were filmed in their entirety in Hong Kong.

One of the first scenes we are shown an army helicopter flying along the harbour front with a few sights to look at including the Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan (pic 1), the old vehicular ferry pier (pic 2 & 3) and finally the Bank of China and its surrounding buildings such as the Furama Hotel, the Ritz Carlton (both redeveloped), Hutchison House, Bank of America tower etc.