Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Tai Wo Street, Wanchai

One of the standout set pieces of this film is the fight on the scaffolding where Chan prematurely proclaims the robustness of Chinese bamboo. The building on which all the action takes place is called Wanchai House (built 1959) and stands on the corner of Tai Wo Street and Wanchai Road.

Here are some recent images I took - coincidentally with scaffolding erected around the building.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

Here's the famous Emperor Jewellers sign again that hangs over the southern end of Nathan Road near to the iSquare mall. Of course, back in 2001 it was the Hyatt Regency Hotel that was nearby but as mentioned many times previously on here it was demolished in 2006 and the iSquare replaced it.

We've seen this sign a few times on this blog before - not surprising given its prominence at a very busy part of Kowloon - but most recently we had a post from Noble House. Incidentally, the Chairman/founder of the Emperor empire, so to speak, is the infamous *cough cough cough* Albert Yeung (seriously though, great guy...) who has been involved with Jackie Chan in various business ventures over the years - including a housing development I used to live near in Taipo called JC Castle. It was in the news a few years ago when it was discovered that Robert Mugabe had bought a house there. So, it's not surprising to see the Emperor sign so prominently on display in a Chan film.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Austin Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

The US consulate - where Zhang Ziyi places the first bomb - was actually the Tsim Sha Tsui Police station (or more correctly - the District Police HQ) on the corner of the junction of Austin Road and Nathan Road.

In the above shots, Austin Road is going from lower left to centre right and Nathan Road from centre left to bottom right. Although the building itself hasn't been altered for the film, the large hoarding that has been placed on the corner is (obviously) a fake one for the film, although the wall below it is a real wall. These days it is rather more obscured by tree growth.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Un Chau St, Sham Shui Po

I was recently lamenting the demolition of the Tung Tak Pawn shop in Wanchai and, sadly, it wasn't saved - the site is now empty of what was a great looking building. Back in 2001 when this film was made there was another worthy addition to HK's small but aesthetic portfolio of curved, corner shophouses and another one could be found along Un Chau Street in Sham Shui Po on the corner of Pei Ho Street. There is a brief glimpse of it at the beginning of the film - just one of many scene setting shots.

It was a great little building but was sadly ripped down soon after (circa 2008) and replaced by...well, another high rise (called "Court Regence"). Although actually the lower section where the former shophouse stood is the entrance/lobby portion of the residential block behind, it seems to occupy a similar area. I think it's a shame they couldn't have kept the facade of the older building and incorporated the new building into it, like the way they have done with Wanchai Market. Oh well, it's too late now. Here's the modern Streetview below.

Incidentally, the excellent HKMan has a great Now/Then comparison over on his FLICKR page.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Aberdeen Harbour, Aberdeen

Another part of the opening titles gives us a quick look at Aberdeen Harbour.

However, can you spot something that's a little bit off? Those of you familiar with Aberdeen should be able to tell that the scene in the film is actually flipped! I can't see any reason for a deliberate flip - it's an inconsequential brief shot at the beginning of the film - so I guess this is one of the things that can happen during the editing process. Anyway, the lower picture shows the proper orientation. 

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter, Hong Kong

Causeway Bay Typhoon shelter actually pops up several times throughout the film. The first time is during the opening credits as an establishing shot (top picture), but also when Carter and Lee are dumped naked on the highway (second shot) - the road is the Island Eastern Corridor and you can see the shelter area at the back. In fact the same overhead road sign board can be seen in both pictures.

The final appearance of the typhoon shelter is when the action moves to the yacht. The pier at which the boat is berthed is actually the eastern edge of the shelter. There is a misleading sign on the left which states we are at North Point Pier, but it's lying (like a cheap watch).

Actually, the area where Lee (played by Chan) used the polystyrene box to board the boat is still around but is currently covered in construction works for the Wanchai bypass reclamation. The wooden piles seen on film can still be seen on Google Earth, but it's unclear how much of the area will stay the same once the reclamation is complete. If you look closely at the lower picture, you can see the underside of the Eastern Island Corridor highway in the top right.

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - Big Buddha Statue, Lantau

The Big Buddha only featured as one of those travelogue style opening shots, just to make sure we all know that we are in HK (in case the Peak shots didn't convince you).

Rush Hour 2 - Jackie Chan (2001) - The Peak, Hong Kong

I know, I should have done Rush Hour first, but I don't seem to be able to find my copy so I shall start at the second installment. Plus, this one (I almost called it "number 2" which might be a bit unfair because I actually enjoyed it a lot) has a lot more HK-based locations than its predecessor. The opening shot is almost an updated of the one in Spider-man: The Dragon's Challenge with a helicoptered shot starting somewhere on the southside of the Peak moving up to the top so we get a nice view of the viewing tower and beyond.

Up the hill...

...to the top...

...and beyond.

The only thing missing (that is noticeable for me anyway) is the 2 IFC tower which should be on the left of the lower picture but it seems construction had either not started yet, or not reached a height where it can be seen over the other buildings (most likely the former reason).

Day of the Panther - Eddie Stazak (1988) - King Yin Lei, Wanchai

My quick foray into Day of the Panther ends with a bit of a surprise - for me at least. Jason Blade (Stazak) is inducted into his secret kung fu society at a temple. The interior is what can only be best described as low-budget, and the building used to portray the temple was none other than King Yin Lei up on Stubbs Road.

The angle is a bit odd because we are looking from the west, so I can only assume the camera was placed further along Stubbs Road where it bends sharply northwards around the hillside. Anyway, this view will soon be gone as the developer responsible for trying to demolish the place several years ago (he's called Cheung Chung-kiu and was just in the news again today) was given the adjacent land in compensation and he's building a massive development right there between the camera position and King Yin Lei.

Day of the Panther - Eddie Stazak (1988) - Central Harbourfront, Hong Kong

This is the clip that confirms that Trenchard-Smith cheated a bit on the HK footage. The film was made in 1988, but the following screencaps show us this footage was made several years previously.

We have the usual suspects to look at including the Furama Hotel, City Hall, the Mandarin Oriental, Jardine (then Connaught) House. But look closely and you can see some stuff that really shouldn't have been there in 1988. The most obvious is the old HSBC Building (see second pic above the "Exe" of "Executive Producers". This building was demolished in 1984 and replaced by the current Foster designed iconic (but ugly) structure. But actually, there is a building that was demolished even earlier, it's the Hong Kong Club - you can just see it on the far left of the second picture. This place was demolished in 1981. Sadly, my knowledge can't place it any earlier than that, but feel free to comment if you can see a building in there that was knocked down even earlier.

So, I wonder if this was footage that Trenchard-Smith still had from his earlier forays into filming in Hong Kong? It certainly wasn't filmed for the purpose of this movie.