Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - Lan Kwai Fong, Central

Lan Kwai Fong is where the old man catches up to May and tries to convince her to go away with him. The scene starts on D'Aguilar Street (top image) but then moves to Lan Kwai Fong as he jumps out of his car to stop her, only to have Michael muscle in and whisk her away.

Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - Stonecutter Island, Kowloon

Stonecutter Island (or is it Stonencutters? I never been able to determine which is correct) features extensively in this film because it was the old barracks there that stood in for the prison that Brandon is sent to after being found guilty of manslaughter. But it's not just the old Stonecutters barrack buildings that appear on film, there are a few other locations as well so I'll include them here as well.

First up is the block where Brandon is imprisoned. The building itself is still around and is located on the slope of a hill at the north west side of the island (although it's no longer an island). The best way to show this is by with a GoogleEarth link.

As you can see, when Google did their 3D rendition of Hong Kong (circa 2015 I think, it's not particularly up to date and certainly not complete) the block had lost its naked brickwork and acquired a white paint covering.

The beach cleaning scene, as Brandon ponders escaping, was filmed on the northwest coast of the island. Look closely at the background in the third image below and you'll see one of the "prison" blocks. This beach has now completely disappeared due to the reclamation and redevelopment of the north side of the former island. The GoogleEarth view here will illustrate what I mean by the development.

Next up is a quick scene as Regina is taken to see Brandon in her husband's car. The tall thin structures on the left are part of the barrack's firing range and it is still located on the east side of the island - although its wood veneer has been removed and the upright sections have now been painted white (same as the barrack block mentioned above). The road the taxi is on below is now completely out of bounds for civilians but is does run parallel to Ngon Shung Road.

Last but not least is the supposed front entrance to the prison. Again, this is now off bounds to non-military - although perhaps on the various PLA open days it is accessible? - but it is/was located at the eastern section of the island. We see it later in the film when Brandon gets out of prison and in that scene you can see one of the old Victorian towers in the background. As far as I know that structure is still there and can be seen on the left hand end of the row of trees in this GoogleEarth view.

Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - Kau Sai Chau and Tiu Chung Chau, Port Shelter

The scene where Michael and Brandon do some target practice with Michael's .357 Magnum was filmed in the waters between Kau Sai Chau and Tiu Chung Chau. In the top image we are looking south east towards Tiu Chung Chau and the beach shot in the second image was taken from Kau Sai Wan with Tiu Chung Chau on the left hand side.

Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - Clearwater Bay Country Club, Clearwater Bay

Michael and his old-school gangster father (played by old-school gangster, Chan Wai Man) are having a meeting with a corrupt policeman at the Clearwater Bay Country Club. The guy is after a bigger cut of the profits and so has sealed his doom.

Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront Promenade

We were here just a few short posts ago, but this is where Brandon goes to meet his girlfriend. She's a bit angry because he's late but being the nice guy he is he makes no mention of his altruistic sprint through Kowloon to reunite and little girl with her family.

Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui

Phew! Brandon finally catches up with the bus at the southern end of Chatham Road South. The giveaway is the New World Centre behind. All that has now been demolished and replaced by the godawful new K11 malls.

Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - former East TST Bus Terminus

Brandon is a fast runner because after picking up the girl, he manages to run the whole length of Kowloon, whilst carrying her, and almost catches up with the bus at the old East TST bus terminus. The bus terminus is still there in the same place, but it is now covered by Concordia Plaza. The top image shows the Polytechnic University in the red brick over the road. It still looks much the same but has had some extra buildings added on the left hand side which further obscures this view. In the distance are the newly-built high rises of Wylie Court, so this view is looking north. Amongst the foliage on the left is one of the old Colonial military buildings of the Gun Hill Club Barracks.

Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - Lai Chi Kok Road, Mongkok

The scene where we find out how good-hearted Brandon is involves a little girl being left stranded by her family as they all board a bus and disappear down the road. The road in questionis Lai Chi Kok Road close to the junction with Nathan Road. This area hasn't actually changed that much but the number 6 bus no longer goes this way. In the second image, the building that the "Hong Kong"sign appears to be pointing to is the former Royal Theatre. This was demolished around 1990 to make way for the Pioneer Centre. The Royal Theatre was the one used for the robbery scene in The Private Eyes.

That Man Bolt - Fred Williamson (1973) - Valley View, Jardines Lookout

We interrupt this Legacy of Rage broadcast to bring you a location that I could not track down when I first looked at this film back in 2015. Over the years the tools at my disposal have got much better (3D GoogleEarth is a HUGE help) and so I had remembered this place from That Man Bolt. It's a rather nice looking property with an extensive garden that Bolt (Fred Williamson) wakes up at one day. It's been a while since I saw the film so I can't remember the story but I expect it was some sort of romantic liaison.

I was eventually able to identify part of the background and have pinpointed it to the property located at 15 Cooper Road in the Jardines Lookout area above Happy Valley. The building is still around and also goes by the name of Valley View (also 愉苑 in Chinese which basically means "happy garden"). It was built in the 1950s, and if you look at GoogleEarth you can still make out the kidney-shaped pool and stone bridge in the back garden.

I have no idea who owns the property but a lack of recorded transactions are usually indicative of it being owned by a limited company. This allows it to change hands via selling the company rather than the property - a common occurance in Hong Kong because it avoids Govt stamp duty and usually keeps the owner anonymous (unless their names get leaked in a "panama papers" style data dump).

Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - Duddell Street, Central

After doing the swap, the rollerskating courier stops at a phone box at the bottom of the Duddell Street steps to check in with his boss, Michael (Michael Wong). He then decides to check the bag and help himself to some of the proceeds. Unbeknownst to him he is being filmed by another of the boss's men at the top of the steps and is rumbled.

Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - Chater Road, Central

The exchange goes down on Chater Road so we get some views of the Supreme Court Building.

Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - Albany Road, Central

The opening drug exchange features a dude on a pair of roller skates who has been tasked with doing the swap of the drugs for the money. We see him first as he bombs down Albany Road, dodging cars as he goes and not really making much effort to be discrete. He then continues down onto Glenealy (3rd image).

Legacy of Rage - Brandon Lee (1986) - Various views from the Opening Titles

Next up is Brandon Lee's sole foray into Hong Kong action cinema, Legacy of Rage, and he did a pretty good job. It's quite hard to believe this was made only 13 years after his dad died (he was 21 at the time the film was made), and yet it's now been 30 years since Brandon himself passed away!

Anyway, the story revolves around Brandon (you guessed it, played by Brandon Lee), his girlfriend, May (Regina Kent), and their friend Michael (erm...Michael Wong). Michael is a gangster's son (dad played by Chan Wai Man) and gets Brandon implicated in one of his gangster hit jobs, ending up with Brandon going to prison for a crime he didn't commit.

The opening titles do the usual thing by including a sort of montage of Hong Kong scenes, so for the sake of brevity I have taken a few and identified where they are.
 

View across the Wanchai waterfront looking west

Showing where Des Voeux Rd W becomes Kennedy Town Praya, before reclamation.

The harbour end of Western Street

Central Market after the Fire Station was demolished but before the Hang Seng Bldg was built

Jardine House and Exchange Square

Statue Square

Wanchai with the (now demolished) Excelsior Hotel in the foreground

Victoria Park in the upper part of the frame

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Victoria Road, Mount Davis

A couple of scenes from this chase were showdown on Victoria Road on the west side of Mount Davis. In the first sequence, we can see the hairpin bend where Mount Davis Road joins with Victoria Road. The last shot shows the road further north with Green Island in the background.

  

Flight to Hong Kong - Rory Calhoun (1956) - Peak Road, Magazine Gap

Once the bad guys spot their car, a chase begins. This first shot shows the car driving down Peak Road towards Magazine Gap with 40 Peak Road just out of shot in the top right. Similar shots of the area from other films can be found here.