The Black Dragon's Revenge - Ronnie Van Clief (1975) - Villa Alfavista, Tsing Lung Tau

I think this will be the last post from me here for a while as, due to various circumstances, I have to head back to the UK. Sadly for me, the UK has been put on a high risk list for HK returnees which mean my stay will be much longer than originally intended. Anyway, I'll still be online, just not able to produce anything for this blog for the time being.

Anyway, back to Tsing Lung Tau and this time we are next door to Dragon Villa at an apartment complex called Villa Alfavista. For some reason, for the finale, the film crew decided to film the actors walking through the grounds here rather than the actual location next door (even though they filmed much of the finale next door anyway).

You can also see Villa Alfavista in the background behind Ronnie's head in the next image.

The Black Dragon's Revenge - Ronnie Van Clief (1975) - Essex Crescent, Kowloon Tong

More scenes around the Kowloon Tong Estate include this one taken at close to where Essex Crescent joins on to Cumberland Road. The irony is that, given this is a film about Bruce Lee's death, his house is a 20 second walk from this location - and in 1975 it was still in the same condition as it was when Bruce lived there. What a shame the film makers didn't make an effort to try and use it properly.

The Black Dragon's Revenge - Ronnie Van Clief (1975) - Kowloon Tong Alleyways, Kowloon

In the scene where Charles Bonet is attacked by a bunch of marauding bad guys, the action takes place in a sort of curved alleyway that is supposed to be at the back of his shop. In fact it was the alleyway located behind Essex Crescent and the Kowloon Tong Club. Anyway, here are the grabs.

The Black Dragon's Revenge - Ronnie Van Clief (1975) - Chak On Road South, Tai Wo Ping

Here's one that I was quite quick to recognise because I actually live not very far away and often walk by. It's Chak On Road South. The sequence in the film is when the bad guys decide to take out all the enemies one by one and the next target is Chan Yiu-lam (陳耀林). He is walking along a deserted road when he is attacked and beaten with poles before eventually getting stabbed to death.

In the top two images below you can see, in the distance, a building painted red with a staircase attached to the side. This was actually the original rear annex of the Society of Boys' Centres The Chak Yan Centre School. The school is still there but this rear annex has been replaced by something a bit bigger. I should add that this view is no longer available because of all the development that has taken place at the northern end of Nam Cheong Street and along Cornwall Street. However, the building is quite easy to see on the "history" section of the centre's website.

The road appears to have been a service road for some of the building sites that were springing up in the area as Cornwall Street was extended from Kowloon Tong to this part of Nam Cheong Street. These days it is a dead end that leads to another service road that provides access to the Shek Kip Mei service reservoir, later built at the back of Garden Hill.

The Black Dragon's Revenge - Ronnie Van Clief (1975) - Junction Road, Lok Fu

After their ambush at Lok Fu Park, the guys go to try and find the journalist who they were supposed to be meeting, only to find out he was murdered that morning. The scene involves a car driving along Junction Road in order to reach the guys house. The camera is placed at or close to the junction with Inverness Road, opposite the Chinese Christian Cemetery, and films the car driving from south to north. Interesting to note is the old ornamental archway that formed the old entrance to the cemetery. You can also see the old chapel inside the grounds. Sadly, the rather picturesque piece of Junction Road has been replaced by a rather bland flat building frontage that is marked on maps as the "ossuarium". This location is just down the slope from the previous Lok Fu Park location, so no doubt filmed around the same time.

The Black Dragon's Revenge - Ronnie Van Clief (1975) - Lok Fu Park, Kowloon

After meeting up with someone they believe to be a journalist, the pair are then taken elsewhere so they can discuss the events surrounding Bruce's death inconspicuously. So the guy drives them to Lok Fu Park - located on what is perhaps better known as Checkerboard Hill - where they realise they have been set up as a bunch of goons appear.

This is actually one of my favourite locations from the film because I don't recall any other movie (that I've covered on the blog) using this location previously. The location itself remains unchanged even today with the exception of the usual tree growth that now limits the view. In the screen caps below though we can clearly see the old Wang Tau Hom Estate in the centre background down the hill. This area was redeveloped in the early 80s and much of the visible area you can see in the closer background has become Lok Fu MTR and surrounding area.

This section looks almost the same today, except much more shaded

Wang Tau Hom Estate down the hill, Wong Tai Sin beyond

An entrance portal to the covered reservoir is in the background

The Black Dragon's Revenge - Ronnie Van Clief (1975) - Tin Hau Temple, Yau Ma Tei

Ronnie and his buddy also try to make contact with the journalist and instead are duped into meeting one of the bad guys masquerading as him. They arrange the meet up for outside the Tin Hau Temple in Yau Ma Tei. Note that by 1975, the temple and surrounding area was already looking pretty much as it still looks today. The old market having been ousted from the public square and the front wall of the temple (and the temple itself) undergoing a renovation.

The Black Dragon's Revenge - Ronnie Van Clief (1975) - Aberdeen Harbour, Aberdeen

The students go and speak to a local reporter who wrote an article about Bruce's death, but he tells them he will be killed if he says anything. The meeting takes place on a sampan in the middle of Aberdeen Harbour. An interesting point to note is that in the panning shot of the harbour, the Tai Pak is no where to be seen. It's possible it was being refurbished when the film was made because it did undergo some changes in structural design at some point between 1973 and 1975. The Sea Palace can be seen in the first few images though.

The Black Dragon's Revenge - Ronnie Van Clief (1975) - Man Mo Temple, Sheung Wan

Man Mo Temple actually makes two appearances in this film. Its main role is of the interior of the temple/kung fu school where "Bruce" is supposed to have studied. The interior of the temple is used for all the scenes involving the students training and talking inside with their master. If you're wondering why it looks so spacious, it's probably because it is missing the large rack of incense coils that normally hang from the ceiling. All the exteriors for the temple/school were another location that I have yet to find.

However, the temple forecourt also shows up later in the film as the training ground for a kung fu master who claims to have killed Bruce with his deadly fists and two of the students go to his school to challenge him to ascertain whether or not he has the power/ability to have done what he claims (spoiler: no).

Anyway, the first few images show the Man Mo Temple interior as the inside of the good guys' kung fu school and the lower images obviously show the mentioned challenge fight. The funny thing to see in these images is all the locals sticking their heads through the railings to watch the filming. I guess the location manager for this film was on holiday that day.

The Black Dragon's Revenge - Ronnie Van Clief (1975) - Fa Po Street, Yau Yat Chuen

 After leaving Verbena Road, the next shot of the trio sees them walking along Fa Po Street just the other side of Tat Chee Avenue in Yau Yat Chuen. This shot below shows the view looking from the lower end of Fa Po Street between the Chinese Rhenish Church and Tak Nga Secondary School. Actually, the wall on the right is the school wall and still looks the same today.