Scenery from around the world. Locations used to film other worlds

In this article, we asked film columnist Satomi Shintani, who was in charge of the commentary for the book "Visiting the World's Greatest Sights with Foreign Masterpiece Movies" (Impress), released in 2019, to pick out four memorable filming locations. Why not immerse yourself in the world of the movies while you can and get ready to go on your trip?

Text: Rie Shintani

The filming locations for "Star Wars," which was inspired by a galaxy far, far away, are the ruins of the Mayan civilization and are World Heritage sites.

The Star Wars series is well known for its opening line, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...". It is a very famous work that has been woven over the course of 43 years. Sci-fi movies are often thought to be filmed in studio sets with backgrounds made with full CG, but the "galaxy far, far away" where the story is set was actually filmed all over the world.

The memorable first film in the series, "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope," was filmed in California, Tunisia, Guatemala, and other locations, and features stunning scenery with world heritage sites and vast natural scenery. You'll be amazed to know that such places exist on Earth.

For example, the location for the rebel base that appears in the second half of the film is the ruins of Tikal in Guatemala, the largest city ruins of the Mayan civilization. In the film, there is a scene where the national park where the ruins are located is overlooked from the top of the temple.

The ruins here were registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, so the scenery remains the same to this day. It's amazing that you can still see the locations used in movies from about 40 years ago.

Queen Amidala's palace was filmed at the Royal Palace of Caserta in Italy.

There are nine Star Wars films in total, including the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, and the sequel trilogy (as well as spin-offs, dramas, and anime), and many people may have started watching from the prequel trilogy, Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Here is a little information about the filming locations of The Phantom Menace.

The palace where Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) of the planet Naboo lives was filmed at the Royal Palace of Caserta in Italy. It is said to have been built to rival the Palace of Versailles in France, and was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1997. Both the palace and the gardens are simply gorgeous and vast, with a theater and museum on the premises, and the gardens stretch an astounding 3km deep.

The village featured in "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" is in New Zealand!

The most famous movies shot in New Zealand are "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit." It is also the hometown of Peter Jackson, the director of both series, and you could say that the whole of New Zealand was a filming location.

One of the most popular filming locations is the town of Matamata in the north, where you can find Hobbiton, the village where the main character Frodo and his friends live. It was rebuilt during the filming of The Hobbit, the prequel to The Lord of the Rings, and has been turned into a tourist attraction without being demolished. It's a dreamlike place where you can experience the scenes depicted in the movies in real life and instantly enter a fantasy world.

With the advancement of technology, humans and animals can be depicted realistically with CG, and this series also uses CG abundantly, but the scenery on the journey of Frodo and his friends to throw away the ring in "Lord of the Rings" is the great nature of New Zealand such as Mount Victoria, the plateau overlooking Mount Sunday, and the Kawarau River. Mount Doom, the final destination of Frodo and his friends' journey, was filmed on Mount Ngauruhoe in Tongariro National Park.

Why is the capital city of Wellington called "Wellywood"?

Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, not only has a wide range of tours that allow you to enjoy nature related to movies, but also has the appeal of being a cultural city. It is also known as "Wellywood" because it is home to director Peter Jackson's film studio "Weta Digital" and has many film studios and other film-related companies.

Incidentally, "The Hobbit" was filmed in all six studios at Stone Street Studios. In addition, at the Weta Cave facility adjacent to Weta Digital, you can see various exhibits and videos about "The Lord of the Rings," and there is also a workshop tour where you can see the production site of the props used in the movie, making it a must-see spot for movie fans.

A theme park where you can meet dinosaurs, built in the natural wonders of Hawaii, Kualoa Ranch

"Jurassic Park" is a hugely popular movie where you can meet dinosaurs. "Jurassic World", the fourth movie in the series, is a panic-adventure story that begins when the dinosaur theme park that was not able to open in the first movie finally opens after 22 years.

Hawaii was the main location for both films. Although there was a shocking incident during filming of the first film when a hurricane destroyed the set, most of the locations from that time remain as they were. In "Jurassic World," the "Petting Zoo" where you could touch and feed herbivorous dinosaurs was filmed at the Honolulu Zoo on Oahu.

Kualoa Ranch on Kamehameha Highway is also a filming location. Kualoa Ranch has been used to film many movies and TV dramas, including not only the "Jurassic" series, but also "Godzilla," the TV drama "Lost," and "Hawaii Five-0," and filming location tours are available.

There are also plenty of other activities available, such as horse riding, kayaking, mountain biking, ocean voyages where you tour the ocean by boat, and jungle expedition tours where you drive through the jungle in specially designed vehicles.

Oahu and NASA facilities come together in the virtual world

The main street of the theme park in "Jurassic World" was filmed not in Hawaii, but in New Orleans, on a huge set built in a studio that was built using NASA facilities that had become vacant after the halt of the space program.

The world of "Jurassic World" is created by combining these realistic sets, the real scenery of Hawaii, and virtual dinosaurs. If you visit Hawaii after seeing the movie, you will feel like dinosaurs might actually appear.

Colmar, the small town in Alsace that inspired "Beauty and the Beast" and "Howl's Moving Castle"

What beautiful scenery...the worlds of enchanting animated films are often modeled after real cities.

For example, the Alsace region, located in eastern France on the border between Germany and Switzerland, is home to the Alsace Wine Route, many Michelin-starred restaurants, and is the birthplace of the Christmas market, making it a place visited by people from all over the world. Among the cities in Alsace, Colmar is famous as a town that feels like it's from a movie. It is said to be the model for the Disney animation "Beauty and the Beast" and the Studio Ghibli film "Howl's Moving Castle."

The square with the fountain where Belle stops at the beginning of "Beauty and the Beast" overlaps with the scenery of the Ancienne d'Huanne Square in the center of the city of Colmar.

Meanwhile, in the town where Sophie lives in "Howl's Moving Castle," there is a house that looks just like the Pfister House, a uniquely shaped building built in the 16th century, and it is a must-see tourist spot for fans of Howl.

A little Venice, with colorful streets that look like they came straight out of a storybook

One of the characteristics of the Alsace region, including Colmar, is the half-timbered houses called Colombage. There are also canals in the town, and it is also called Little Venice. Such a colorful and cute fairy-tale townscape is certainly photogenic, and it is no wonder that it is popular with women.

Although the filming locations are locations, I tried to pick them out from the perspective of "another world". What do you think? When I think that there are real places and not just sets, it tickles my travel spirit. When I watch the movie again after knowing what places were filmed, I can imagine the filming scenes and I feel closer to the world of the movie.

Watching a movie and planning your next trip will likely be one of the joys of living while you can't go out as much as you'd like.

Rie Shintani

After working as a magazine editor, he is now a freelance film writer and columnist. In addition to introducing films in magazines, online, TV, radio, and other media, he is also active in a wide range of fields, including writing columns, being an official film writer, and MC for the Tokyo International Film Festival and talk events. He was in charge of writing commentary for the film photo book "Visiting the World's Greatest Scenery with Foreign Masterpiece Films," released in 2019.
https://note.com/rieshintani

Touring the world's most beautiful sights through classic foreign films (Impress)

¥3,500+tax
https://book.impress.co.jp/books/1117101125

*Some content was updated on June 12, 2020.