Top Film Locations
1.Star Wars Episode IV (1977) : Matamata, Tunisia
It’s set in a ‘galaxy far, far away’, but that doesn’t mean you can’t visit the locations of George Lucas’s ground-breaking fantasy. The Hotel Sidi Driss in Matmata is designed as a traditional Berber troglodyte underground building, and was used as a filming location for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which it featured as the home of Luke Skywalker, his Aunt Beru Lars and Uncle Owen Lars on the planet Tatooine. It featured again in the 2002 prequel film Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. The gully where R2D2 is captured by the Jawas, now known locally as Star Wars Canyon, is Sidi Bouhel which is on the edge of Chott el Jerif, Tunisia.
2.The Beach (2000): Ko Phi Phi Leh, Thailand
Danny Boyle’s film of the Alex Garland novel starred Leonardo di Caprio and was filmed in Hat Maya, the main beach on Phi Phi Leh Island. Hat Maya can be reached daily by a passenger ferry from both Krabi and Phuket, but bear in mind that the special effects crew digitally added some of the surrounding mountains during the post-production phase! The actual beach was also transformed from its natural look, as it is reported that crew members flattened the beach, much to the locals’ dismay. The waterfall scene, where DiCaprio and others jump from a high cliff to the water below, was filmed in Khao Yai National Park in central Thailand, at the Haew Suwat Waterfall. This is Thailand’s second largest park which is a three hour drive from Bangkok and well worth a visit.
3. Skyfall(2012): Istanbul, Turkey
The film starts with the lovely Daniel Craig, as Bond, on the trail of a stolen hard drive in Istanbul, Turkey. He chases the man in possession of the drive through the crowded Eminonu Square, one of Istanbul’s most iconic. The high speed pursuit continues across the rooftops and then enters Istanbul’s famous Grand Bazaar, which is one of the oldest covered markets in the World. Skyfall is the third Bond film to feature Istanbul, following From Russia with Love and The World is Not Enough.
4.Ghostbusters (1984) : New York
A number of New York’s iconic buildings, such as the New York Public Library were used to film this 80’s blockbuster. The New York City firehouse at North Moore Street served as the exterior for the Ghostbusters’s headquarters in the film, while The Manhattan City Bank, which hands out the loan to set up the business is on Fifth Avenue, is directly opposite the New York Public Library.
5.The Shawshank Redemption (1994): Ohio, USA
Although the film is set in Maine, the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio was actually used as the fictional Shawshank Prison. After filming, a large portion of the prison was torn down, however the main administration building and two cell blocks remain which is now a tourist attraction.The oak tree where Andy Dunfresne (Tim Robbins) proposed to his wife is located near Malabar Farm State Park, in Lucas, Ohio. During a thunderstorm in the summer of 2011, the iconic oak tree was heavily damaged, but thanks to rally groups the tree still stands today.
6.Lord of the Rings: Matamata, New Zealand
Two hours south of Auckland, Matamate is famous for dairying and fine thoroughbred horses, so it’s easy to see why these green pastures and rolling hills were chosen to portray Hobbiton and The Shire. Hobbit fans can visit the Hobbiton Movie Set on a guided tour. There are more than 44 unique hobbit holes, including Bag End (Bilbo’s house). Here you can also see the mill, the double arched bridge and the famous Party Tree.
7.Mamma Mia (2008): Skopelos, Greece
The beautiful wedding scene in this feelgood movie was set on the east side of Skopelos, one of the Sporades Islands in the northwest of Aegean Sea, and has an amazing view of the St Nikolaos Bell Tower of the church of Aghios Nikolaos. Glysteri, on the northern coast of Skopelos, was where Amanda Seyfried read her mother’s diary to her friends. The beach bar for the Does Your Mother Know? scene was built on Kastani beach on the western coast of Skopelos.
8.Lost in Translation (2003) : Shinjuku and Shibuya, Tokyo
The locations for Lost in Translation can mainly be found in the Shunjuku and Shubuya districts of central Tokyo, although some short scenes are also filmed in Kyoto. The bright neon lights which dazzle Bob (Bill Murray) on his arrival in the city are filmed in Shinjuku, the business and entertainment centre of Tokyo. Bob stays in the Park Hyatt Hotel where he meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) in the hotel’s top floor New York Grill restaurant. The temple which Charlotte visits is the Jugan-ji Temple in Shinjuku.
9.Twilight Saga (2009): Vancouver, Canada
In the previous film, the town of Forks was based in Portland, Oregon, but for the New Moon movie the location was moved across the Canadian border to Vancouver. The home of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) was recreated in Surrey, southeast of Vancouver, and for Jacob (Taylor Launtner)’s house, a real property was used on a half-acre private creek-side property in West Vancouver. Forks High School, which Bella, Jacob and Edward (Robert Pattinson) attended, was actually David Thompson Secondary School in Gordon Park, south Vancouver. Some of the stunning scenery shots were aerial views of many of the most iconic landscapes of Canada.
10.The Sound of Music (1965): Salzburg, Austria
The opening aerial shots take in Salzburg’s wonderful Lake District, the Salzkammergut, and the iconic scene of Maria (Julie Andrews) twirling on the mountain tops is set in Mehlweg, which is around six miles from Salzburg. However, a number of birch trees and the babbling brook were added for the movie. Although the convent interiors were recreated in the studio, the exterior really is Maria’s abbey – it’s Nonnberg Abbey, and you can visit the courtyard and have a look inside the chapel. As Maria leaves to start her job with the Von Trapp family, singing I Have Confidence In Me, the surroundings are Salzburg’s old Town, in the Residenplaz. This is where you can see the Domplatz arches, which Maria enters, along with the Residenz Fountain, in which she splashes.