Hong Kong Entertainment 1979: A Beating Up the Manager at the Start

After another week of filming, "A Better Tomorrow" was gradually moving towards its final scene before wrapping up.

Sham Shui Po Pier.

This is where the final scene was filmed.

Before it even got dark, Li Jiangbo brought the film crew here to start setting up.

Because this scene also includes two explosion scenes, one at the dock and one at a house.

For the safety of his crew members, Li Jiangbo decided to use Dao Ge's men.

Anyway, these scoundrels aren't exactly good people, so Director Li is just doing his part for Hong Kong's security. Of course, he still has to pay them, since Director Li is a man of principle.

Another concern is the police; they will definitely not approve of any bombings involved.

However, where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure. Generally, filmmakers complete their movies without prior approval; if they get caught later, they just have to pay a fine.

By the time everything was ready, it was already 9 p.m.

Li Jiangbo, holding a walkie-talkie, shouted, "Is everyone ready?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, Li Jiangbo asked, "How long will it take for the patrol officers to arrive?"

"The patrol officers just passed by, and they expect to be here again around 10 p.m.

Li Jiangbo nodded. "Then everyone get into position and let's get started!!!"

As the script supervisor struck the clapperboard, filming officially began for the dock scene.

First, Chow Yun-fat's character, Little Ma, took Tan Cheng hostage with a gun, while Dillon's character, Song Zihao, drove the car, and the three of them drove all the way to the dock.

As soon as the car came to a stop, you could see people moving around the dock.

Then, Little Ma and Song Zihao, holding Tan Cheng hostage, arrived at the yacht that had been prepared in advance.

Sung Chi-ho drove away Mark Gor, but Leslie Cheung's character, Sung Chi-kit, arrived at the dock alone and was immediately subdued by Tam Shing's men.

During the hostage exchange, Song Zijie attempted to take Tan Cheng hostage but was shot and wounded.

What followed was a chaotic battle, after which Little Ma made his dazzling entrance.

There will be two explosion scenes here, with the last explosion causing a burst of flames into the sky.

Several short mules were overturned by the heatwave because they were too close.

Li Jiangbo cursed under his breath, "Damn it!" He then called the doctor to check the injuries of the men, thankfully nothing serious.

Filming continued. Here, because Song Zihao was injured and had some difficulty moving, the three of them fought and retreated.

Seeing the injured Brother Hao, Little Ma was furious and immediately drew his gun to attack.

After taking down countless enemies, Little Ma limped and pulled Song Zijie to Song Zihao's side.

"Come here, this is your own brother. Look at him, look at him carefully."

Song Zijie looked full of regret.

"Whatever mistakes he made in the past, he's made them all come back to you. He had the courage to change, so why don't you have the courage to accept him? Why?"

"As brothers!"

Bang! A gunshot rang out. Xiao Ma pushed Song Zijie aside and was riddled with bullets by the enemy. Before he died, he still tried to fight back with his gun.

Song Zihao cried out in anguish, "Xiao Ma!!!" He scrambled over and caught the fallen Xiao Ma in his arms.

Enraged, the two brothers began to hunt down Tan Cheng.

The police only arrived late in the pursuit of Tan Cheng, and then called on Song Zihao to surrender.

Tan Cheng walked past Song Zihao triumphantly, while the seriously injured Song Zihao watched with tears in his eyes as Tan Cheng walked toward the police.

Song Zijie handed the gun in his hand to Song Zihao.

Tan Cheng was shot and killed by Song Zihao in shock.

Song Zihao removed the handcuffs from his younger brother's waist and cuffed them to his own wrists. Song Zijie looked at his older brother with a surprised expression.

"Ah Jie, you're not wrong. We're on different paths..."

Song Zijie, accompanied by his brother Song Zihao, walked toward the police station under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

"Cut! I hereby declare 'A Better Tomorrow' filming wrapped!"

Wu Qihua, who plays Tan Cheng, immediately got up and asked with a grin, "Director Li, when are we having the wrap party?"

Li Jiangbo checked the time. "It's too late now. Everyone pack up and go home to rest. We'll have the wrap party at Fulin Hotel tomorrow at noon."

The crowd cheered.

Li Jiangbo approached Brother Dao and said, "Brother Dao, this is your territory, so I'd appreciate it if you could take some men and clean it up."

After saying that, he took out seventy or eighty thousand yuan from his pocket and stuffed it into Brother Dao's hand, saying, "Take this and share it with the brothers below."

Brother Dao held a wad of cash, a strange look appearing in his eyes.

What's going on? You can actually make money filming a movie? That's great!

Although it was dangerous, it was clean money earned through his own labor. For the first time, Brother Dao felt the joy of earning money, and earning clean money.

Before he could even count the money, his underlings surrounded Brother Dao, looking at him with hopeful eyes.

"What are you doing? What are you all doing crowding around here? Hurry up and pack up, are you even going to do business tomorrow?"

The dozen or so henchmen didn't dare disobey Brother Dao's orders and slowly dispersed with resentment on their faces.

Dao Ge's voice rang out from behind again, "Hurry up and pack up, then we'll go back and split the money."

Another cheer erupted, and Dao Ge's men worked even harder to clean up.

Li Jiangbo pulled Yuen Woo-ping aside. "Old Yuen, how was this collaboration?"

Yuen Woo-ping nodded, "It's so great to work with Director Lee! Having the triad members help me saves me a lot of medical expenses."

Li Jiangbo laughed heartily, "Interested in working for my company? What Jiahe gives you, I'll give you; what Jiahe can't give you, I'll also give you."

Yuen Woo-ping was very tempted by Li Jiangbo's offer to recruit him.

However, Li Jiangbo's Time Pictures was still too small, far smaller than Golden Harvest.

Yuen Woo-ping came to Golden Harvest with Jackie Chan because he had filmed two blockbuster movies the previous year, "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" and "Drunken Master," which earned him the appreciation of Chow Wen-huai.

These two films established Jackie Chan's style of comedic kung fu films and also brought Yuen Woo-ping a certain degree of fame.

Then, leveraging this reputation, Yuen Woo-ping established the Yuen Clan.

Currently, the only competitor of the Yuen Clan at Golden Harvest is the Sammo Hung Clan, so the situation is very promising.

After much deliberation, Yuen Woo-ping finally said, "Director Lee, Golden Harvest has already started preparing for my new film, so..."

Li Jiangbo didn't wait for him to finish speaking, "It's alright, it's alright, even if we can't buy it, we can still be righteous!"

"Okay! Director Li, feel free to contact me anytime you need anything."

Li Jiangbo and Yuen Woo-ping chatted for a few more minutes before parting ways.

As they parted, Li Jiangbo thought to himself: Did you really think Jiahe would support you? You're dreaming. In front of Big Brother Long, everything has to take a backseat, and Hong Jinbao is no exception.

Later, when Lung founded the Cheng family stunt team, Yuen Woo-ping was able to understand what it meant to be abandoned.

This isn't just something Li Jiangbo made up. In later years, Yuen Woo-ping, with the support of Golden Harvest, made a few flops and was then abandoned.

It wasn't until the appearance of Jet Li that Yuen Woo-ping was able to establish himself in the Hong Kong film industry.

Li Jiangbo currently lacks his own team and has to rely on others.

If others have time, that's great; if they don't, then Li Jiangbo won't be able to conjure up the Dragon Tiger Martial Artist.

In Hong Kong these days, filmmaking is all about stuntmen. If you don't have your own stuntmen, you'll be at the mercy of others, unless you're making an art film.

Even in the 1990s, Hollywood only opened up the Asian market with the support of stuntmen from Hong Kong, which shows how important stuntmen are in the development of film!