15 Movie Sets That Were Nowhere Close to Where They Were Supposed to Be
Movies have spent more than a century proving that geography is mostly optional. If the mountains look right, a beach is wide enough, or a studio can build several city blocks from scratch, almost anywhere can become somewhere else. Vietnam has appeared in London, New York has been rebuilt in Rome, and Russia once materialized outside Madrid during one of Spain’s warmest winters. Sometimes the stand-in is only a few hundred miles away. Other productions cross oceans and continents without the audience ever noticing. One movie even found a reasonably convincing version of Mars without leaving Earth. Here are 15 movie sets that were nowhere close to where they were supposed to be.
Vietnam Was Actually London
Stanley Kubrick barely had to leave Britain to make Full Metal Jacket. The ruined streets of Hue were filmed at London’s abandoned Beckton Gasworks, with other British locations doubling for Vietnam and Parris Island.
Omaha Beach Was in Ireland
The opening of Saving Private Ryan recreates the Normandy landings, but Spielberg filmed the enormous Omaha Beach sequence at Curracloe Beach in County Wexford, Ireland.
Scorsese Built New York in Rome
Rather than transform modern Manhattan into the city of the 1860s, Gangs of New York constructed its huge Five Points sets at Cinecittà Studios in Rome.
Russia Was Having a Very Spanish Winter
Most of Doctor Zhivago was filmed in Spain, where an enormous Moscow set was built outside Madrid. Unfortunately, an unusually warm winter meant the production sometimes had to manufacture its own snow.
Japan Was Actually New Zealand
Much of The Last Samurai filmed around Taranaki, New Zealand. The Uruti Valley became a 19th-century Japanese village, while Mount Taranaki convincingly stood in for Mount Fuji.
Montenegro Was in the Czech Republic
Bond may arrive in Montenegro in Casino Royale, but the elegant Casino Royale exterior was actually the former Kaiserbad Spa in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.
The American West Was Mostly Spain
The landscapes of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly are supposed to be the American Southwest, but Sergio Leone found his frontier across Spain, including Burgos and AlmerÃa.
Cold Mountain Was in the Carpathians
Despite being named for a real North Carolina mountain, much of Cold Mountain was filmed across Romania. The Carpathian Mountains provided the sweeping landscapes supposedly surrounding the characters’ Appalachian home.
Korea Was Just Outside Los Angeles
The Korean War camp in the 1970 movie MASH* was actually constructed at what is now Malibu Creek State Park in California, with additional scenes shot around Los Angeles.
The Overlook Hotel Crossed an Ocean
The Shining places its isolated hotel in the American Rockies, but most of the Overlook’s interiors and even a full exterior facade were built at Elstree Studios in England.
Tehran Was Partly Istanbul
Argo needed 1979 Tehran but filmed significant portions of the production in Istanbul, using Turkish streets and landmarks as part of its recreation of Iran.
Pakistan Was India and Jordan
Zero Dark Thirty used Chandigarh, India, to stand in for Pakistani locations including Lahore and Abbottabad, while Amman, Jordan, doubled for Islamabad.
Stalingrad Was Rebuilt in Germany
For Enemy at the Gates, the Battle of Stalingrad unfolded around Brandenburg, Germany. A derelict factory became the tractor works, while an enormous Red Square set rose near Potsdam.
The Titanic Sank in Mexico
James Cameron’s Titanic obviously could not shoot most of its shipboard story in the North Atlantic, so a massive production facility and ship set were built in Rosarito, Baja California.
Mars Was in Jordan
Ridley Scott found Mars on Earth for The Martian. The red rock formations and desert landscapes surrounding Matt Damon were filmed at Wadi Rum in Jordan.