Visit Best Picture-winning locations all over the world
With the Academy Awards just around the corner, actors, directors and producers are not going to be the only winners. Any successful film that features a particular destination prominently is liable to kick start a tourism industry, spurring people to go and see where it was shot. Of course, it works the other way round too, and sometimes a stunning setting can help the movie scoop up the Best Picture Oscar. And here are some locations that have done just that…
Oscar-winning locations | Twizel, New Zealand
After three films worth of brave warriors, hilariously homo-erotic scenes between hobbits and big speeches, the Lord of the Rings trilogy came down to its last battle. 1,500 extras gathered for the siege of Minas Tirith on farmland near Twizel on New Zealand’s South Island (now better known as Pelennor Fields, of course). War cries were issued, Rohirrim riders plunged into Orcs and Witch Kings were slain in what has been dubbed as the greatest movie battle scene of all time.
The actual filming location is on private land, so the only way to get there is with Discovery Tours.
Oscar-winning locations | Bourne Woods, Surrey, England
And speaking of battle scenes, we can’t leave out the opening skirmish from Gladiator. Though supposedly set in the German forests, it was actually filmed in genteel woodland in the posh part of South-East England. Part of the Alice Holt Forest, Bourne Woods is usually taken over by people walking dogs and going for quiet strolls rather than sword-wielding Roman soldiers.
For the real thing, of course, it’s probably best to go to the Black Forest in Germany. Either way, it’s practically obligatory to shout: “At my signal… UNLEASH HELL!” whilst there.
As for the rest of the film, most of it was shot in Malta and Ourzazate, Morocco.
Oscar-winning locations | Philadelphia, the United States
The Rocky series is perhaps the greatest in film history, if only because the same piece of music is played all the way through, fast and brassy for the triumphant parts, slowly on the piano for the sad bits. However, it was only the original boxing flick that managed to win best picture (strangely, Mr T and Dolph Lundgren never got near Best Supporting Actor in parts III and IV either). Of all the iconic scenes in the film, it’s the training montages that not only stick out but became a Rocky trademark. And those steps that Rocky runs up? They’re outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The steps have become such an icon that a Rocky Statue can be found at the bottom, while pilgrims can be found doing their own jog every day. Most of them will be humming Gonna Fly Now without the faintest trace of embarrassment.
Oscar-winning locations | Ireland
Professional Pom-baiter Mel Gibson decided that, as Braveheart was to historical accuracy what Ben and Jerry’s is to dieting, it didn’t matter all that much if it was filmed in Scotland.
In fact, much of it was filmed in Ireland. Dusoghly Castle near Dublin was a neat stand-in for Edinburgh Castle, while nearby Blessington Lakes and Bective Abbey also had their turns in the spotlight.
However, the most famous sequence is the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Gibson decided that the Bridge part was rather optional, and elected to film it on a big open plain in The Curragh, County Kerry. The area is more commonly associated with horse breeding and racing than Irish army reservists pretending to be Scottish freedom fighters.
Oscar-winning locations | Jordan
The 1962 Best Picture winner was largely filmed in Spain (many of the desert scenes were shot around Almeria and Seville doubled as various Arabic cities). However, the most stunning desert sequences were shot in Jordan.
The most famous tourist destination of the ones featured in those long, lingering shots is Wadi Rum. A stark valley with incredible rock formations, this was where the real Lawrence based his operations during the Arab Revolt (which forms a major part of the film).
However, the Middle Eastern nation also hosts other scenes. When Peter O’Toole’s Lawrence gets his first taste of the desert it’s at Jebel Tubayq, while Omar Sharif makes his entrance on camelback at the Jafr mudflats.
Oscar-winning locations | Los Angeles, USA
After dining out on some fava beans and a nice Chianti in LA, why not head to the setting of 1992 Best Picture winner, The Silence of the Lambs? The jail cell in which Hannibal Lecter chilled the bones of both Clarice Starling and the entire viewing audience can be visited.
It’s in the basement of the Max Factor building just off Hollywood Boulevard, and the old make-up king’s HQ has now been turned into The Hollywood Museum. Anthony Hopkins is no longer hanging around in his fetching jump suit, but there is a whole host of other movie memorabilia to feast the eyes upon.
Naturally, LA has also hosted plenty of other Hollywood films – a trip to either Warner Brothers or Universal Studios will cover thousands. But for recent Oscar winners, American Beauty and Crash are the ones with scenes all over the city.
This article was originally written for Ninemsn.
Copyright David Whitley
