Peninsula - Gang Dong-won (2020) - Victoria Harbour

Next up is this 2020 Korean semi-sequel (i.e. same universe, different characters) to Train to Busan starring Gang Dong-won. Gang plays a former soldier whose family is affected by the zombie virus as they are making their escape from South Korea to Hong Kong via a refugee ship. Fast forward to now as he and his brother-in-law are living in squalor as refugees in Hong Kong and are given the chance to return to the Korean peninsula to retrieve a shipment of gold, abandoned in-situ as the zombies took hold.

The initial Hong Kong sequences are establishing shots only and I don't think any on-location filming of the actors took place, but feel free to let me know if this is not the case. First up is the initial establishing shot to show where the protagonists are currently located. It's a nice colourful shot of the harbour looking towards Hong Kong Island.

Bamboo Gods and Iron Men - James Iglehart (1974) - Morrison Hill Road, Wanchai

The last post for this film and the pair are staying at what sounds like the "Shangri-la Hotel" when they give the delivery instructions to the antiques shop owner. But actually this film precedes any official Shangri-La Hotel being set up in Hong Kong and the hotel we see for the establishing shot was the 帆船酒店 - Caravelle Hotel - on Morrison Hill Road. After it closed, the building was, for a long time, used by a large hotpot restaurant before being restored back to a hotel circa 2011 as the Vela Hotel. I'm not completely sure what its current status is following the pandemic but I understand it has closed again. If you saw my Election posts then this is the building that Big D and associates are arrested in front of.

The taller building at the back right is the Yue King Building (still around) and the pinkish low-rise building on the far right was once part of the Hong Kong Volunteers (aka Royal HK Regiment) HQ. You may or may not remember that place being used as the main Police Station in Police Story. That, sadly, has gone.

Bamboo Gods and Iron Men - James Iglehart (1974) - Ferry Point Estate, Yau Ma Tei

As mentioned in the last post, as the Jeffersons get into a cab on Aberdeen Praya Road following the rescue of Charley, there is a brief shot of a soaking wet Charley supposedly running towards their cab which was filmed elsewhere. As you can see from the image below, this was filmed at Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter with the Ferry Point Estate in the background. Maybe the film crew just ran out of time and Aberdeen was too far away to return to for a brief pick-up shot like this?

The location shows the additional reclamation of the typhoon shelter that was going on in the early 1970s and the kink in the sea wall behind tells me that Charley (Chiquito) was standing roughly on the opposite side of the road to where the Public Square Street Playground is located (next to the old YMT Police Station). It's a busy road junction here now.

Bamboo Gods and Iron Men - James Iglehart (1974) - Aberdeen, Hong Kong

Next up is a trip to Aberdeen. The main character, Cal Jefferson (Iglehart), jumps into the rather gross water of 1970s Aberdeen Harbour to rescue a mute, Charley (played by Chiquito), who then attaches himself to the pair in some sort of life-debt scenario. We get to see some scenes around the old waterfront (now Wu Nam Street bus terminus) as well as some shots of the floating restaurants and waterfront pontoons.

After saving Charley'slife, the pair jump in a cab and decide to go back to their hotel. The cab is parked on the corner of the old Praya Road. The small cluster of shrines on the left (see below) are still there in some form or another.Weirdly though, as Charley runs towards them it's quite obvious that short scene was filmed elsewhere - I'm not sure why though.

Bamboo Gods and Iron Men - James Iglehart (1974) - Square Street, Hong Kong

In the film, they order a wooden buddha statuette and ask the shopkeeper to deliver it to their hotel. He gets an errand boy to deliver it, but as the youngster is walking along Hollywood Road he is pulled aside by a gangster who wants to smuggle the "secret powder" in the statuette. The scene shows the boy walking along Hollywood Road before being pulled to one side - however, the next scene cuts to a different location - given away by the street sign in the background. From the angle on the street sign, I believe this is the narrow alleyway right next to the Ladder Street steps.

Boy walking along Hollywood Road

Grabbed off Hollywood Road but appears around the corner in Square Street

Bamboo Gods and Iron Men - James Iglehart (1974) - Hollywood Road, Hong Kong

As mentioned in the previous post, the pair exit "Cat Street" and head into the "Yue Po Chai Curios Store" on the corner of Hollywood Road and Ladder Street. This place is quite popular for filming. In fact we were here just a few months ago during the exploration of locations for Blade in Hong Kong. And remember, this is the same location (but not the building) that served as the "Nam Kok Hotel" in The World of Suzie Wong.

Bamboo Gods and Iron Men - James Iglehart (1974) - Upper Lascar Row, Hong Kong

After lunch, the pair go for some touristy sightseeing and there is a shot of them walking out of Upper Lascar Row - a.k.a "Cat Street" - onto Ladder Street. In the film they look past the camera location and see the "Yue Po Chai Curios Store" when in reality they would just be looking to the other side of Ladder Street. The aforementioned store is on Hollywood Road, up some steps on their right.

Upper Lascar Row is really disappointing to visit these days - I guess you could say the same for many places in Hong Kong. It's just full of nasty cheap tat - the same sort of stuff that can be bought at the equally disappointing street markets in Mongkok.

Bamboo Gods and Iron Men - James Iglehart (1974) - Golden Crown Court, Tsim Sha Tsui

Golden Crown Court contained a very popular restaurant for many years. In the film, the two protagonists go there for lunch (looks like the interior was a set though). The scene starts with a view across Nathan Road to the building exterior. The building is still around even if the restaurant has long disappeared.

Bamboo Gods and Iron Men - James Iglehart (1974) - Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui

As I continue to scrape the bottom of the barrel for foreign movies made in Hong Kong (let's face it, I've included quite a few stinkers here previously), I have to thank the Wu Tang Collection on Youtube for this next one. It's a great collection of obscure, low budget, and often forgotten about movies and Bamboo Gods and Iron Men is one of their recent (2023) additions. Although filmed largely in the Philippines and with some pretty awful fight scenes, the first part of the movie was shot on location in Hong Kong - a bit like the previously covered T.N.T Jackson - both films co-starred famed Filipino actor/comedian (and later, politician), Chiquito. 

The plot lines revolves a dodgy looking, baldy, bearded guy called Leo King who has financed an expedition to retrieve a substance, rumoured to be able to control the world, from an ancient Chinese burial site. What the retrieved goods are I shall not reveal, just watch the movie, but suffice to say this film has some funny moments. Just don't watch it for the action.

The opening Hong Kong scene sees us at the waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui as a ferry comes in to dock at the pier.

The last Hong Kong location scene (before everything moves to the Philippines) also sees us back at the ferry pier as one of the bad guys hangs out by the pier with the Ocean Terminal neon lights shining down behind.

Hong Kong Confidential - Gene Barry (1958) - Queen's Road Central, Central

I'll be honest and say I haven't been able to confirm exactly where this location is but I *think* it is Queen's Road Central somewhere east of Queen Victoria Street. Please feel free to let me know if you can pinpoint it any better.