Before he was Mark Gor in A Better Tomorrow, before he was that cool assassin in The Killer, before he was John Lee in The Replacement Killers, he was Mun Gor in The Bund. In case you haven't noticed the similarities in his characters, its was the first time he had that slick back hair style, and don on his long trench coat. Even in Chow's TV series days, he was already an ultra cool icon. **SPOILER ALERT** Similar to ABT, both Mun Gor and Mark Gor dies at the end by machine gun fire.
Production budget for these things were pretty low, so its surprising that it turned out as well as it did. A lot of sets are obviously done in studios, but there are quite a few exterior shots which were probably done in Macau. In many ways Macau preserved its old European architecture better than H.K., so its an ideal double as old Shanghai's French or English "leased" territories. BTW, Macau was a Portugese colony, about 2 hrs hydrofoil boat-trip from HK. Sovereignty of Macau was returned to China soon after the historic HK ceremonies in '97. Anyway, the period costumes as I mentioned before looked great, especially on Chow. The props and especially vehicles are not necessarily pre-WWII era, which is when the story takes place. But the cars are antiques, looks to be from about circa late 1940's.
Furthermore, I always thought Angie Chiu was one of the most beautiful Chinese actress to ever grace the screen. She still looks great today, after 20 odd years! So a solid female lead really helped make this series a success.
Lastly, the theme song has got to be the most well known and often sang title songs ever to come out of HK. I believe it was written by HK's musical dynamic duo: Joseph Koo and Jim Wong. The music had a great beat and lyrics told so much of the story.
This series had it all: romance, drama, action. We have lots of gangster drive-by shootings with their tommy guns a la Godfather. The writers picked a time and place where ideals and politics of the Chinese people were changing. China was a Republic under the newly formed government; for the first time in centuries, there was no Emperor. People were expecting great changes for China, but who new the Japanese invasions were just around the corner, and then communism. Anyway, in this setting we see 2 friends rise and fall in the underworld of Shanghai. Their rise to power kept them close, but their mutual love for Ching Ching (Angie Chiu's character) drove them apart.
Part II and III were not nearly as good, and neither were the movie versions. I hadn't seen the series in DVD format yet, but they're definitely available on VCDs. Just check out any books & media shops in your local Chinatowns. Its certainly worth watching for the first time or as repeated viewing.
Production budget for these things were pretty low, so its surprising that it turned out as well as it did. A lot of sets are obviously done in studios, but there are quite a few exterior shots which were probably done in Macau. In many ways Macau preserved its old European architecture better than H.K., so its an ideal double as old Shanghai's French or English "leased" territories. BTW, Macau was a Portugese colony, about 2 hrs hydrofoil boat-trip from HK. Sovereignty of Macau was returned to China soon after the historic HK ceremonies in '97. Anyway, the period costumes as I mentioned before looked great, especially on Chow. The props and especially vehicles are not necessarily pre-WWII era, which is when the story takes place. But the cars are antiques, looks to be from about circa late 1940's.
Furthermore, I always thought Angie Chiu was one of the most beautiful Chinese actress to ever grace the screen. She still looks great today, after 20 odd years! So a solid female lead really helped make this series a success.
Lastly, the theme song has got to be the most well known and often sang title songs ever to come out of HK. I believe it was written by HK's musical dynamic duo: Joseph Koo and Jim Wong. The music had a great beat and lyrics told so much of the story.
This series had it all: romance, drama, action. We have lots of gangster drive-by shootings with their tommy guns a la Godfather. The writers picked a time and place where ideals and politics of the Chinese people were changing. China was a Republic under the newly formed government; for the first time in centuries, there was no Emperor. People were expecting great changes for China, but who new the Japanese invasions were just around the corner, and then communism. Anyway, in this setting we see 2 friends rise and fall in the underworld of Shanghai. Their rise to power kept them close, but their mutual love for Ching Ching (Angie Chiu's character) drove them apart.
Part II and III were not nearly as good, and neither were the movie versions. I hadn't seen the series in DVD format yet, but they're definitely available on VCDs. Just check out any books & media shops in your local Chinatowns. Its certainly worth watching for the first time or as repeated viewing.