FORTITUDE VALLEY (Chinatown):
Copy Shop
Shop 12, TC Beirne Centre, Duncan & Brunswick
Streets, Fortitude Valley.
A photocopy shop that also rents out HK videotapes. Copied tapes of movies and TV dramas
are available at $2 overnight or $3 for a week. A $30 deposit is needed before renting.
Movies can be identified from the posters on the walls and shopfront, or by looking
through the albums of video jackets.
Oasis & HK Trading
153 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley.
This shop sells a small range of sealed original VCDs at around $18 dollars each. The
selection on display includes discs released in HK a couple of weeks earlier. Also
available are HK glossy magazines filled with star snapshots, and various comics. Also
worth noting is the large HK/Taiwan entertainment store across the road, specialising in
music and books.
OVC Video Club
157B Wickum Street, Fortitude Valley.
The last place worth visiting in Brisbane for HK movies. Rental videos for recent films
are sourced from bootlegs, while older tapes are copied from HK video releases. This shop
also sells bootleg VCDs - the only Brisbane shop visited that does - at prices comparable
to the better-looking official releases at Oasis (listed above).
Trash Video
Shop 1, 73 Vulture St, West
End. Tel 07 3844-7844 Fax 07 3844-7877
Website: http://www.trashvideo.com.au/
Email: trash@trashvideo.com.au
Trash features a healthy rental collection of domestic-release HK film fare, including the
entire Chinatown Video range and out-of-print kung-fu titles. Various dubbed action
flicks, such as Mad Mission and Roboforce, are also in the racks.
Occasionally, HK films can also be found for sale second-hand. Membership is required,
rentals vary between $1 and $4 per week, and the staff are helpful. Mail order is
available too - check the website
for all kinds of neat stuff, and sign up for the dandy monthly email newsletters which
often feature one-of-a-kind Hong Kong bargains. Open 10:00am to 10:00pm 7 days a week!
THE CITY:
Nippon-ya
Adelaide Street, opposite City Hall, Brisbane.
A Japanese supermarket and entertainment store mainly catering to students and tourists.
Original Japanese videotapes of Hong Kong movies can be rented here, though the tapes have
no English subtitles. The likes of Black Mask and Blacksheep Affairs are
in the general section while the "Asian Movie" section features lesser-known
choices including Shaolin Challenges Ninja and Calamity of Snake.
Rentals are $2 for one night or $4 for three nights. Tapes are NTSC format, though some
are PAL.
Rockinghorse Records
Adelaide Street, opposite King George Square,
Brisbane.
The upstairs video section offers a healthy selection of the Chinatown Video range for
sale. Also on offer are a variety of kung-fu movies and occasional imports. Hong Kong
movie books are also for sale. For the Hong Kong movie completist, scout the vinyl and CD
racks for the outstanding Girls in the Garage Volume 9: Oriental Special
compilation of buzzing 50s and 60 HK garage rock, featuring actress Nancy Sit!
Comics etc
45 Adelaide Street, Brisbane.
The very small HK movie selection includes expensive imports of US Tai Seng (NTSC format)
videos such as Heart of Dragon and Heroes Shed No Tears. Surprisingly,
the shop has copies of the useful reference book Hong Kong Films 1992 from the
Hong Kong Motion Picture Industry Association.
Record Market
Top of the Queen St Mall, Brisbane.
A row of HK films includes several Chinatown Video releases and several other tapes for
sale.
WEST END:
Minh Phu'o'ng Video
58 Vulture Street.
Hong Kong movies on video for rent. A collection of original Hong Kong movie posters hangs
above the counter to assist in identifying films, as do books of video covers.
SUNNYBANK:
Oriental & HK Products
Shop 18A, Market Square Shopping Centre, Corner of
Main Road & McCullough Street, Sunnybank.
Tucked away in its corner, this shop holds an impressive rental sellection of original HK
videotapes (PAL format) organised by genres - horror, drama, sleaze, comedy and kung-fu.
Select rentals from browsing original video boxes as you would at Blockbuster, or by
asking the helpful staff. Original VCDs are on sale, priced from $15 to $30 each,
including several Korean and Japanese releases put out in HK. Collector photos of
celebrities are for sale, as are several Hong Kong magazines. Rentals are $2.50 a night
with a $30 membership deposit.
Hong Kong Video Q
Shop 11B Market Square Shopping Centre, Sunnybank.
Hong Kong laserdiscs for rent, as well as videotapes of movies and plenty of TV dramas.
Catalogues of titles are at the counter and the staff are also helpful. Rentals are $3.50
each.
[Name unknown]
Shop 19B Market Square Shopping Centre, Sunnybank.
Videos for rent, with new films copied from bootlegs. The selection shown on posters and
in picture albums.
Chinese Video Shop
Next to Welcome Fresh Food supermarket at Sunnybank
Plaza.
Videotapes for rent, copied from official VCD releases. Albums along the
window contain clippings from City Entertainment Magazine and other pics to
assisting in choosing.
* While HK VCD (Video CD) releases could be bought at a couple of Brisbane shops, HK
DVDs weren't available for rent or purchase at any of the places I visited in June 2000.
This list of HK-related stores in Sydney has been compiled by Tim at the request of Ryan for inclusion in the Hong Kong Movie Resource, a list of places to
find HK film worldwide. Check it out, and contribute if you can. Currently Brisbane,
Melbourne and Sydney are represented.
To print out this guide, remember to set your Page Setup options to
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