Some say the movies could never happen in real life, but the cameras needed to film somewhere. After all, the Philadelphia Museum of Art was already there when Sylvester Stallone ran up the steps in “Rocky,” and the hills were already alive in the German Alps when Julie Andrews sang the opening to “The Sound of Music.” If you want to relive some of your favorite scenes in cinematic history up close, these landmarks are home to some of your favorite movie moments.
Labeled as Morocco’s movie set by the locals, Ait Benhaddou is a small village filled with shrubs, clay buildings and views of Biblical proportions. That’s one reason why it's a popular shooting location for religious epics such as “Jesus of Nazareth,” “The Last Temptation of Christ” and “Son of God,” as well as historical epics including “Gladiator,” “Kundun” and “Kingdom of Heaven.” Fantasy also came to its earthen buildings with the likes of the 1999 film “The Mummy” and the 2010 film “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.” Other tooth-and-nail thrillers such as 007’s “The Living Daylights,” “Babel” and “Hanna” were also filmed on the sandy streets, and if you hear a cello playing, you might want to run because the village was also a popular shooting site for the city of Yunkai in HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”
With 9th century buildings and castles lined up alongside the 260-mile-long Vltava River, Prague is one of the most scenic film sites in the Czech Republic. The historic Estates Theatre captured Mozart’s moving operas in “Amadeus.” You’ll find Tom Cruise escaping the Liechtenstein Palace during his team’s botched operation in the opening to “Mission: Impossible,” then again in his breakout from the Mlada Boleslav Prison in “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol.” Ethan Hunt isn’t the only spy to film a fight scene in Prague, as both Jason Bourne and James Bond filmed parts of “The Bourne Identity” and “Casino Royale” in the Petschek Palace and the Danube House. If the Tisa Rocks seem familiar, that’s because the faun Mr. Tumnus led Lucy through them to his home in “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Even Spider-Man swung into town to shoot a scene on the Charles Bridge in “Spider-Man: Far From Home.”
If you can hear William Wallace screaming freedom by the hills and countryside of Glencoe, Scotland, that’s probably because you saw it before in Mel Gibson’s Oscar-winning epic “Braveheart.” Or perhaps it was the time when he stepped into the court of Dunnottar Castle to play “Hamlet?” Maybe you would remember it better from when Arthur, King of the Britons, galloped through the meadows in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail?” Chances are you’ve seen Glencoe before, no matter what you watch. You’ll notice it in the opening credits of every “Outlander” episode, or on the Jacobite steam train from the Harry Potter series or in the Rosslyn Chapel in “The Da Vinci Code.” Even James Bond’s family home can be found in the valleys of “Skyfall.”
If a film needs dusty sandstorms and desolate canyons, Jordan is filled with miles of bleak landscapes perfect for any wide shot. Peter O’Toole experienced the cliffs up close in the 1962 epic “Lawrence of Arabia,” and since then, the desert has become a popular filming spot for several blockbuster movies. Walt Disney Studios film 1n the desert frequently with projects ranging from “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and “Rogue One” to the 2019 “Aladdin” remake. Other science fiction filmmakers such as Ridley Scott used the rocky formations along the valley to portray different planets in “Prometheus” and “The Martian.” Directors like Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay also traveled to the village to shoot their blockbuster sequels, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” More recently, Denis Villeneuve filmed the adaptation to Frank Herbert’s “Dune,” which is set for release in December 2020.