[2013.12.04] ANDY LAU LEADS SQUADS INTO A CENTRAL STREET FIGHT

Andy Lau

Ray Lui, Terence Yin

Gordon Lam

courtesy of mingpao.com

The film FIRESTORM (FUNG BO) will open in Hong Kong on December 19. The film had a 20 minute long gun fight at Central, with Andy Lau Tak Wa leading a squad to capture robbers like Ray Lui Leung Wai, Gordon Lam Ka Tung and Terence Yin (Wan Chi Wai). They fought from Bridges Streets to Wyndham Street to Queen's Road Central to finally Pedder Street; they shot on actual location as well as a 1:1 scale set. This scene used almost 20,000 prop bullets, over 100 prop guns, as well as towing, crashes and explosions with many cars; over 100 extra actors participated. Such a large scale gun fight at Central was a rare sight in recent years, it was also the first scene that was permitted to shoot a gun fight at Central.

Lau Tak Wa was FIRESTORM's producer and actor. He said that the shoot was limited to weekend morning between 7AM to 11AM. Originally a ten day shoot, it took 20 days to completed and shot over 3 months. Thus it was a race against time and money. Chin Kar Lok was the action director. He said that actors felt great too with the gun fight scene at Central, making them stop was not easy. Lau Tak Wa in the film rushed into the scene and exchanged fire with enemies. Chin Kar Lok joked that it was not easy to make because Wa Jai had too many fans. The crowd hindered the production. On the Central gun fight route, Pedder Street could not have road block for an explosion scene. The team constructed a 1:1 actual scale Pedder Street at the Kai Tak airport and blew it up until they got their fill.