TRACKING JACKIE CHAN’S POLICE STORY ON THE STREETS OF HONG KONG.
When we were preparing the Dragon Dynasty releases of the classic Jackie Chan Police Story films, label chief Brian White asked me to work on some location report featurettes. I’d done these before, both as bonus material for the Hong Kong Legends releases and for various documentaries I’ve been involved with. I remember when Brett Ratner, my co-commentarian on the Police Story DVDs, came to Hong Kong to shoot Rush Hour 2, and asked me to take him on a tour of the Bruce Lee locations. One thing I’d learned since relocating to Hong Kong is that the city is constantly changing, with the new replacing the old at a sometimes unnerving rate. Just a few years back, I shot footage for a Bruce Lee documentary showing his childhood home, the office where he signed his first film contact and the Golden Harvest studios where he made his films. All three have since been demolished. It was with some trepidation that I set out to see what remained of the Police Story locations. I was surprised to find that, Jackie’s films being far more recent than Bruce Lee’s, quite a number of locations remained the same. I actually researched locations for both films, but, in the end, we only had time to put together a featurette for the Police Story 2 DVD. In case anyone visiting Hong Kong wants to do the full Police Story tour, here’s what I found out about locations from the first film: The police station seen in Police Story was actually the headquarters of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, located in the Happy Valley area. The building was demolished to make way for the new Jockey Club headquarters, and there is a plaque outside to commemorate the place. The scenes where Jackie has his buddy Mars terrorize Brigitte Lin were actually shot in one of Jackie’s homes. The apartment building, Goodview Garden, is located at 24, Stubbs Road, also in Happy Valley. Though, in the film, Jackie and Brigitte seem to drive some distance before being attacked by the villain’s thugs, that scene was actually shot right outside Goodview Garden, in front of the Edward Hall of the Lingnan College. This location looks pretty much the same today, as does the one used for the exterior of Jackie’s characters home. This in an apartment building situated next to the Pooi To Primary School, at 3, Fuk Cheung Street in Kowloon City. The interior of the Police Story court-room scene was shot at the now-defunct Golden Harvest studios, but the exteriors were filmed at what was then the Supreme Court, now known as the High Court. The court is still located at Admiralty, on Hong Kong Island. The entrance looks the same, but the fountain outside (seen in the film) has been demolished. The setting for Police Story’s final action sequence is the Wing On Plaza at 62, Mody Road in Tsim Sha Tsui east. The mall itself is well past its sell by date, and looks very much the same inside and out. (I actually came back there with Jackie to shoot scenes for the Jackie Chan: My Stunts documentary, and the Wing On management made things very difficult. They charged a huge fee and insisted that we could only come at night. I always take a special pleasure now when I see Jackie wreck the place in the film.) The exterior walkway from which Jackie and Maggie Cheung stake out the place is no longer there. One small note on Police Story 2: Near the start of the film, we see an exterior shot of Maggie Cheung’s apartment. I wasn’t able to locate the actual building. However, if you watch that scene carefully, you can see the familiar figure of Jackie’s father, Papa Chan, with his trademark sailor hat and Popeye pipe, at left of frame. I’m embarrassed to say that Brett and I forgot to mention it on the Police Story 2 commentary!
Comments
- Chevalier Dragon D'Or, Quebec, Canada | 2007-03-17 11:14:16
- Bey Logan, Hong Kong | 2007-03-18 07:32:00
- Jeff, www.hkcuk.co.uk | 2007-03-27 09:50:50
- Philip Kenny, Hong Kong | 2007-05-31 21:38:12
- James Lee, Rowland Heights, CA | 2007-06-01 23:32:52
- Foo Zhu, Jakarta, Indonesia | 2007-09-20 22:51:01
- Nathan Taylor, England, UK | 2007-07-23 12:23:59
- Challeng, Escondido, CA | 2007-03-12 22:10:00