Holidays For Movie Buffs



Posted: Monday, November 23, 2009

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If you like going to the cinema and enjoy your films then mixing a holiday with a trip to a famous film location may be the perfect way to spend some time on vacation.

We're not talking about a trip up the Towering Inferno, now a hotel in San Francisco, or reliving the fight scene from the James Bond film "A View To A Kill" when Sir Roger Moore and Grace Jones came together on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but perhaps a visit to a hot, sunny location to experience the best of both worlds.

Cartoon fans may remember the original versions of Popeye, but there were also real life film versions made of the little strong man's antics and adventures. The north west corner of Malta is home to Sweethaven village, a location also known as Popeye village after it was used as a film set in the 1980 film of the same name starring Robin Williams. The film makers built a real life village of ramshackle wooden dwellings, some on stilts at the water's edge. The small village remains today and is now a theme park for children featuring shows, rides, a museum as well as the interesting set. As well as being a popular summer resort, the village also comes to life at Christmas time when it becomes Santa's Toy Town for a few days, making it the most popular children's Christmas attraction on Malta. The authenticity of the village is quite amazing and even for adults it makes a very worthwhile place to spend a few hours exploring.

Many visitors travelling to the Greek Islands will already know that some of the film version of the hit musical Mama Mia was filmed in Skiathos. The film crew and stars such as Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth pitched up in the harbour area of the island and set up to spend a few days filming a scene where the stars arrived by car to just miss the departure of ferry leaving the jetty. The town does make play on the excitement that came to town back in August 2007 and if you visit you'll find plenty of locals prepared to tell you what went on. Of course this is a nice summer resort anyway, as is the rest of the island, but the Mama Mia legacy is not really enough of a reason to go there. In fact it does the place a little disservice in attracting more people than would usually go there.

For science fiction fans the Star Wars films were ground-breaking landmarks, using new techniques and introducing new twists in story lines to the established genre. The films were amongst the first to use high quality computer-generated images but that didn't preclude the use of some real life locations. The Tunisian island of Djerba and its capital Houmt Souk are very attractive places to spend a holiday, even more so if you are a fan of the Star Wars films though. There a several locations that fans may recognise when they venture out on one of the many desert safaris that are on offer. The village of Matmata was a location in the original Star Wars film as Luke Skywalker's home and the set at Onc El Jmel will also look familiar as the scene where Quin-ion and Darth Maul did battle. It was also used as a location in the film The English Patient. The Ribat Monastery was a feature in Monty Python's Life of Brian and was also used in Jesus of Nazareth.

On the island of Tenerife the Clash of the Titans was being remade during 2009, mainly during August. The original film, made in 1981 at Pinewood Studios, is receiving a fresh remake for release in 2010 and stars Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Gemma Arterton. The story of Perseus and his adventures in rescuing the Princess Andromeda was filmed in various locations including the Mount Teide National Park and Gua de Isora..

The ever-popular Bond films have used film sets all over the world during the making of the various adventures of the British Secret Service agent. Paris, Istanbul, Tokyo, Fort Knox, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, the Giza Pyramid and Monte Carlo have all been used in the films which are almost always filmed on location. In fact when you look at the list of locations used in the 22 films, there seems to be hardly any country that has been left out. In the film "For Your Eyes Only" the crews went to Madrid, Albania, the ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy and also the Greek island of Corfu, in particular the Achillion Palace in Gastouri. This impressive ornate palace was built almost 120 years ago and was the ideal place for a Casino scene starring Roger Moore. The film also featured a Greek wedding scene that was shot at the attractive village of Bouas-Danilia.

At some point every country must have been picked as a location for a film set but some have attracted the directors and producers more often than others. Mark Bartley reviews places like Mount Teide which can be reached on a short flight to Tenerife and is the scene of the new Clash of the Titans film or the numerous locations in Tunisia or Corfu.
Mark Bartley is a well respected writer on consumer affairs and a customer champion. He has experience in several industries including travel, finance, retail and leisure. He seeks to provide useful information from an unbiased viewpoint and helps people understand complicated market areas and find the best deals or services available.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)
» left by Nenita Wells
 2 years 75 days ago.
301 fans.
Hi Mark. I would love to visit Skiathos, a Greek island. Right now, it is just a wishful thinking. Great article and lots of beautiful places to go. Thanks. ~Nenita~
» left by Richard Vail
 2 years 74 days ago.
61 fans.
I didn't know that Popeye was filmed in Malta, much less the set still existed. Thanks for the info.
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