I found this post on the UK Curiosity Blog recently detailing some of the best known movie locations that weren’t quite where the film makers claimed.
The Da Vinci Code used many locations around Britain and to its makers credit, many of them were exactly where they claimed. However, they decided that Lincoln Cathedral was a good match for Westminster Abbey as named in the film, since that is the final resting place of Sir Isaac Newton.
The cathedral has since become a mecca for Da Vinci Code enthusiasts, and of course conspiracy theory buffs, but if you ignore them the cathedral is quite an impressive building in itself. Only one little thing we should mention – it is at the top of aptly named Steep Hill which is very steep.
The nearby Lincoln castle is also the location of one copy of the Magna Carta (3 others exist) which is a rather important historical document in the vein of the American Constitution, but 400 years earlier.
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves staring Kevin Costner amongst other Holywood stars was supposed to be set in Sherwood Forest and areas round about, but was actually set in Sycamore Gap, Northumberland.
A film buff fact is that although Robin Hood was meant to come from Edwinstowe in Nottinghamshire and the Great Oak tree still stands there, no significant Robin Hood films have ever used Sherwood Forest as the location. Considering much of it still exists, we really can’t work out why.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age obviously didn’t fancy a trip across the English Channel for their filming of The Court of King Philip III, so instead of Spain they used our old friend Westminster Cathedral. Perhaps Lincoln Cathedral would have been a cheaper alternative, but then it did quite well as the Oscars and Golden Globes.
Full Metal Jacket is a film I’d not heard of, but it’s meant to be set in Hue, Vietnam. However it turns out that for the destruction of the country during the Vietnam war, Beckton Gasworks in London (now gone) was more than ideal as the alternative and presumably slightly cheaper location for Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 film.
Watching the trailer for Full Metal Jacket, I can now rather see why he chose it, with a few added palm trees and bags of sand.
Thanks to the UK Curiosity Blog for the heads up on these.
Are there any locations we’ve missed?
Am I right in thinking the Chariots of Fire opening scene on the beach was meant to be somewhere entirely different?
