Spitfire - Lance Henriksen (1995) - Hung Hom Train Station

Although we are supposed to be in the airport terminal, the cylindrical support columns threw me off for a few seconds because the columns at Kai Tak were square. The location is revealed when the actors head outside and we can quite clearly see - in large, thanks to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University across the road - that we are in fact at Hung Hom Station, and not the airport. Mr Pyun pulling a bit of bait and switch there. The bus terminus is still there although the inside of the station has had a very funky new redecoration (I know because I was there just last week - my first time since I caught a cross-border train back in 2016).

Spitfire - Lance Henriksen (1995) - Kai Tak Airport

I've been trying for some time to get hold of Albert Pyun's Spitfire because it was partially shot in Hong Kong. Sadly out of print, I haven't been able to find any copies that are attainable without re-mortgaging my house again. Such is life. However, I discovered a partial upload of it online which includes the Hong Kong footage and so have been able to finally include it here. I have no idea what the film is about, the bit I saw was just utter rubbish. Such is the way with Pyun films, some are good, some are complete pants. Sadly, this film appears to fall into the latter category.

It appears to be a sort of spy movie where Lance Henriksen plays a spy with access to some nuclear launch codes. He has an enemy who wants them and is killing off his family to get them, leaving his gymnastic daughter, Charlie (Kristie Phillips), to get to the codes before the enemy does.

Anyway, as with most films that feature some Hong Kong, there's the bit in the film where the location shifts (from the Philippines in this case) and it requires the obligatory footage of a plane landing at Kai Tak (it was filmed in 1995, so just a few years before it closed).

The building in the background of the last two images is not the airport terminal, but in fact the HQ of the EMSD (Electrical and Mechanical Services Dept). This place has cropped up as a location before because it stood in for a Police HQ a few years ago in Man of Tai Chi. I've been reliably informed that when the airport was in operation, this building was the air freight terminal.

The Blood Brothers - David Chiang (1973) - Pak Shek Au, North District

Another popular outdoor location for Shaw productions was the large area around Pak Shek Au near Sheung Shui. The British Military referred to this place as the "North Downs" and used it for tank manouvers sometimes. The unspoilt rolling hills were a great remote location for these period films until modern development started to encroach. In The Blood Brothers, this area served as the main location where the brothers wait outside Ma's nearby fortress where he has established his army.

You can see other examples of use of this area in The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires,  The Water Margin, The Fate of Lee Khan, and there are many other films that I have yet to cover.

Anyway, I may have mentioned on an old post that this area is scheduled for redevelopment into the so-called "Northern Metropolis". The specific are seen below, near Hang Tsai Shan (aka Mt Kirkpatrick), is already being developed - as I speak - into two large Govt housing estates. Such is life in Hong Kong.

Left background is Ki Lun Shan

The ridge behind Ching Li is Tai Shek Mo/Crest Hill

The Blood Brothers - David Chiang (1973) - Shaw's Movietown

It wouldn't be a Shaw movie without a trip to one of the outdoor sets built on the old Movietown lot. Actually, there are a couple of places here worth showing.The first is the "permanent" built-set of a Chinese street that was used a copious amount of times for Shaw productions as well as overseas productions in need of some traditional style architecture as a backdrop. Secondly, Shaw's had space at the back of the lot which they used for temporary set construction. It was the area we see in the second image with the view over Port Shelter and Shelter Island in the background. All that area has since been taken over by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The Blood Brothers - David Chiang (1973) - nr Wong Chuk Yeung, Sai Kung

The Blood Brothers is a Chang Cheh bare-chested male actioner (he was very much into that sort of thing) that is loosely based on the assassination of Ma Xinyi - a Hui Muslim official who was involved in the eventual suppression of the Taiping rebellion in the later stages of the Qing Dynasty. In the film, Ma is played by Ti Lung and the story is told in flashback as his assassin, Chang Wen Hsiang (David Chiang), is brought before the courts and writes his confession before sentence is pronounced.

In the film, Ma's assassination is a direct result of his affair with Chang's sister-in-law and the subsequent plot and murder of her husband, Huang Chang (Chen Kuan-tai). Whether or not this is true remains unknown, but historically Chang Wen Hsiang was indeed the man caught immediately following the assassin. What isn't really known is the true motivation, so Chang Cheh has used a significant amount of artistic license, as usual.

Anyway, the first location is taken from Chang's reminisences as he recalls for the court when he and his brother first met Ma. They are bandits waiting in the hills for unsuspecting victims and Ma happens to ride by on his horse but is too skilled for them to rob him. HK film fans will already be familiar with this location because it is the same place used for later films such as The Young Master, Mr Vampire and Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. This is the former open area close to where the Firetower now stands near Wong Chuk Yeung in the Sai Kung hills.

Shek O Bus Terminus - Now and Then

Not a great amount of time has passed since Contagion was filmed in Hong Kong - it was released in 2011 - so there's not a great amount of difference between the next two shots other than the fact that the building has since undergone some redecoration. It's funny, but the AMO (Antiquities and Monuments Office) grading report for the bus terminus mentions the film as well. This is the first time I've seen this, so perhaps the Govt is slowly coming around to leveraging Hong Kong's popular use as a filming location? Probably not. Anyway, here are the images. Remember, in the movie, this location is supposed to be over in the Mainland.

Shek O Beach - Now and Then

I'm currently on some down time while I work on other things and try to find a film to cover, but decided to make a trip out to Shek O today. It's one of the places I had yet to visit (yes, despite nearly 18 years living here and exploring pretty much every inch of everywhere else). Sadly I wasn't very organised for this trip and have to prepare a bit better for next time because I still have a load of images I want to capture - for all the films that have been shot in and around Shek O over the years. In the meantime, here is a comparison of the beach from Kill a Dragon (1967) and a quick snap I took today.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Stephen Rea (1995) - Ocean Terminal, Tsim Sha Tsui

Nikos is able to secure passage on another vessel and boards it at Ocean Terminal.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Stephen Rea (1995) - Tai Chi Garden, Hong Kong Park

Nikos finally catches up with Li at the "Tai Chi Garden". It's a terrace with a variety of white pavilions held up by large white columns. These days though it also has the SARS memorial - dedicated to some of the front line workers that were exposed to, and died from, SARS during the outbreak in 2003.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Stephen Rea (1995) - Hong Kong Park Children's Playground, Central

If you have ever had young kids in Hong Kong then the chances are you will have taken them to the huge playground in Hong Kong park at some point. This place was cool (it probably still is, I haven't been for a while now that most of my kids are now officially adults!) because it had some toy diggers in the sandpit with articulated arms as well as a bunch of swings, slides and a very cool tunnel slide etc.

This is where Nikos leaves Li as he heads off to the shipping offices to try and get a spot on another ship. He returns later to find she has disappeared.