Hong Kong cinema had a terrible time in the early 2000s. Here's why
Although there were ups and downs, the golden age of Hong Kong cinema extended from the 1960s to the 1990s. But significant problems beset the film industry in the first decade of the 2000s, and it suffered a massive slump.
We take a deep dive into its difficult decade. The way we were
Local films used to rule the roost in Hong Kong, beating out Hollywood blockbusters.
The decline set in around 1993, with the situation getting worse throughout the rest of the 1990s. Viewers increasingly preferred the high production values of Hollywood films, and local films lost their dominant position at the box office.
Hong Kong filmmakers did not want to give up without a fight. Special effects were improved for films like The Storm Riders , but they could not match Hollywood's technology. Studios like Media Asia internationalised their films with movies like Purple Storm , but the results were not brilliant. People walk past posters for The Storm Riders outside a cinema in Tsim Sha Tsui in 1998. Photo: SCMP
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