Sammo Hung and his Five Stars Cleaning Crew happily stroll along the Hong Kong Coliseum in Hung Hom Bay, Kowloon. The building was inaugurated in April 1983, Winners and Sinners was released three months later. Accordingly, this was probably the stadium's first appearance on the big screen.
Regular readers of my blog may have already noticed that some of the oldschool filming locations in Hong Kong's New Territories have been used more then once. Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall was a very popular place for filmmakers, especially at the end of the seventies. I've already written a few posts about it, but I have three more for you here. Just in case you are losing faith in your eyesight: Yes that is actually Chong Li from Bloodsport. A few years younger and with a slightly different hairstyle.
This masterpiece needs no introduction. Sammo Hung's and Lau Kar-Wing's martial arts weaponry at its very best. Just like The 36 Deadly Styles, Odd Couple was released in 1979. If you lived near Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall at that time, you had a good chance to watch some of the best kung fu actors of all times live at work.
Despite top-class actors such as Michael Chan Wai-Man and Fan Mei-Sheng, Mysterious Footworks of Kung Fu is probably the least known film of the three. If you haven't seen it yet, you should catch up on it as soon as possible. Interesting sidefact: The film was produced by Betty Ting Pei, who, despite her work as an actress, was primarily known for being the extramarital lover of Bruce Lee. The Little Dragon passed away in her apartment on July 20, 1973. Mysterious Footworks of Kung Fu is the only film that she has ever produced.
Thanks to director Joseph Kuo, the abandoned and meanwhile very dilapidated luxury villa can be admired in its '79 glory. This was the second filmshoot for actor Nick Cheung on the property. Two years before The 36 Deadly Styles, he had already filmed a fight scene for the film 10 Magnificent Killers at this location.
The Godfather's Daughter Mafia Blues (what a title) is the fourth directorial work of the unforgettable Fung Hak-On. The film features some of Hong Kong Cinema's most legendary action actors and stunt performers, including Ken Lo, Benny Lai, Yukari Oshima, Dick Wei, Anthony Carpio, Leung Kar-Yan, Tai Bo and Wong Yu. By the way, the same part of Stanley Military Cemetery can also be seen in Tragic Hero (1987)
Michael Chan Wai-Man's uncompromising gangster flick offers us a nice view of Des Voeux Road Central on the north shore of Hong Kong Island. The street was named after the 10th Governor of HK, Sir William Des Voeux. The busy intersection of Des Voeux Road Central, Chater Road and Pedder Street is a well chosen location to capture the district's pulsating ambience.
There's a nightly encounter of various shady gentlemen right at the Court of Final Appeal. The neo-classical building is also known as the Old Supreme Court Building. Its beautiful exterior is one of the declared monuments of Hong Kong.
Queensway is a major road in the Admiralty area of Central, Hong Kong. The four skyscrapers are (from left to right) Pacific Place, Conrad Hong Kong, Island Shangri-La and the Queensway Government Office Building.
Just as it should be in a film about influential bigtime gangsters, there are of course a few shots from the money district. IFC means International Finance Centre.
These two identical skyscrapers are known as Harbour Centre and Great Eagle Centre (from left to right). Inside the two buildings, there are shopping facilities and business premises.
With the help of the tricolour flag, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker float gently down from the Eiffel Tower. The extensive Fontaine du Jardins du Trocadéro offers them an equally gentle landing area. The place was named in honor of the Battle of Trocadero (1823), in which the French forces captured the Isla del Trocadero in southern Spain.
Now that the bad guy is finally dead, Jackie and Chris have every reason for a happy dance. Edwin Starr's song War (What is it good for?) drops in and the two cop buddies prance across Place de Varsovie (Warsaw Square).
Angel II aka Iron Angels 2 starts at the colorful beachfront Tin Hau Temple at Repulse Bay. Moon Lee operates undercover to get in contact with some criminals. By the way, the villains hide in an abandoned villa in Fanling, a frequently used filming location that I wrote about a while ago. If you want to find out more about the fascinating building and its history, then click here.
Jet Li pays the old man his last respects. For this, he laid the corpse in front of one of the biggest tourist hotspots in Paris. When we were there, the areal in front of the church was so crowded that a ceremony of this kind would probably have been quite disturbing.
Yu Yuen Mansion's idyllic garden has given way to a parking lot and the building itself hasn't changed favorably either. Garbage and junk give the already run-down former luxury home a sad aura.
