Hong Kong Filming Locations: Infernal Affairs (2002)

Posted on May 14, 2012 by tokyofox

Like the majority of people in the western world I’d never heard of ‘Infernal Affairs‘ (2002) until ‘The Departed‘ (2006) came along. I even mistakenly rented out ‘Internal Affairs‘ (1990) starring Richard Gere before I got my hands on a copy of this Hong Kong movie featuring Andy Lau (Lau Kin-ming) and Tony Leung (Chan Wing-yan). Of course the cool thing to say is that the original’s the best but I’ve been never cool and as much as I love both versions I probably just about prefer the Hollywood re-make.

  

So ‘Infernal Affairs‘ starts off straight away at Ten Thousand Buddha’s Monastery (above) in Sha Tin on the KCR Railway Line on minute one. It may be only about 5-10 minutes away from the station but there are Continue reading →

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Hong Kong Filming Locations: Lara Croft Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003)

Posted on May 12, 2012 by tokyofox

Hong Kong has appeared in quite a few films over the years but one that is often forgotten about is the 2003 sequel ‘Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life‘. This much maligned follow up to the 2001 original was shot in various locations around Hong Kong Island and Kowloon with heavy use of CGI in places.

Hennessey Road (below) is seen briefly on 37 mins with its many double decker buses and trams going up and down it. Thats the first time Hong Kong is seen in this movie and its not until the 56 minute mark that it appears again as we see sunset over Hong Kong Island. HK Convention & Exhibition Centre can just about be made out in that picture and that is what is in my photo beneath it.

    

Times Square in Causeway Bay is shown on 57 mins and 61 mins with Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) and Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler) as well as one of the bad guys standing in the foreground of the clock in the respective screenshots below.

     

We go inside the shopping centre next and see that CGI has been used to make it look like there is a glass ceiling where you can see another skyscraper glistening in the sun through it. In reality the mall does not have a window of some sort on the roof. We briefly see Lara and Terry looking down to the ground floor from up high in the centre.

      

On 68 minutes the 415 metre high International Finance Centre Two (IFC2) Tower appears during its construction with Lara and Terry leaping off it and landing on a ship in Kowloon Bay. Although Angelina Jolie likes to do a lot of her stunts she didn’t do this one with the actual creators of sky-flying doing the jump a total of 8 times from that building and a further 20 from helicopters which was all edited together to make it look like one jump. No camera trickery was used at all for this stunt. IFC2 made a much bigger splash on the big screen five years later when the finished article could be seen in all its glory in ‘The Dark Knight‘ (2008) with Batman flying off it on 34 mins and landing on the IFC1 tower.

     

The view from Lara’s window on her boat (below) is seen on 70 minutes.

 

Aberdeen Harbour (below) is shown four minutes later. As I was only in Hong Kong for two full days something inevitably had to give and that was Aberdeen which is in the south-west of Hong Kong island. Maybe next time!

 

The ‘Avenue of the Stars’ is totally made up of Asian actors, actresses and directors etc but the area does feature big pictures of some international filmstars such as the one of Angelina Jolie above.

Click here to see my London & Angkor Wat ‘Lara Croft Tomb Raider‘ filming locations

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Back To Hong Kong After 6 Years

Posted on May 10, 2012 by tokyofox

Of the many Asian places I’ve visited over the last six years one of my favourites has to be Hong Kong which I visited during the World Cup in June 2006. Back then I slummed it at the infamous Chungking Mansions on Kowloon whereas this time we stayed in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island itself in much nicer accommodation which came as part of my air tickets and hotel package. No trip to Hong Kong is complete without taking a tram ride on up to The Peak, even for a guy like me who is usually on movie-themed missions only!

     

There was some pretty impressive architecture on Hong Kong Island such as Jardine House (below).

 

I don’t know the name of the building above but the Lippo Centre is below.

 

The HSBC Building is above. We went to Hong Kong Park which was ok but nothing special. Below are a couple more random photos including a British-style (albeit a green one) post box and the Forrest Gump bench (below) outside the Bubba Gump restaurant at The Peak.

      

Early evening saw me take the Star Ferry to Temple Street Night Market (above). Chungking Mansions seems to have cleaned itself up a bit compared to my original trip and was even lit up at night (below).

   

Apart from a couple of ever-so-short showers we felt very lucky to have got away with it regarding the weather given the thundery showers which had been forecast for the whole of my trip. We rounded off things by strolling along the ‘Avenue of the Stars’ which is similar to that of the Hollywood ‘Walk of Fame’ with handprints of famous people from the showbiz world of films. Ethan and I didn’t even bother going to the American one last August on our road-trip but I did wanna see the Asian stars on the Hong Kong version. These included Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and John Woo among many others.

            

After that we took the Star Ferry back to my Wan Chai base amid the beautiful harbour views which I never really get tired of seeing.

 

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Tokyo Daytripper: Fujishibazakura Matsuri

Posted on May 7, 2012 by tokyofox

As I had a very rare Saturday off last weekend my girlfriend and I took a long trip to Kawaguchiko station in the foreground of Mount Fuji where a special local bus took another 40 minutes to the viewing area of Fujishibzakura. It was a beautiful sunny day and though the flowers were only half in bloom it was my amazing to see such a spectacular picture postcard-type view of Japan’s icon looming in the background of the pink carpet of flowers.

             

This stunning landscape made the long journey worth it and to be fair just seeing either the Shiba zakura flowering or Mount Fuji on its own would have been very satisfying but being able to view the natural pink carpet on the skirt of Mount Fuji was a view like no other.

     

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‘Star Wars Episode II: ‘Attack of the Clones’ Filming Locations

Posted on May 4, 2012 by tokyofox

With the 10th Anniversary of ‘Attack of the Clones‘ coming up mid-May, and hot on the heels of Tokyo Fox‘s recent ‘Phantom Menace‘ movie location compilation, comes the Italian, Spanish and Tunisian scenes from the second of the prequel films. I was fairly underwhelmed when I first saw it a decade ago but as the years have rolled by, and with the saga more complete, I have been able to watch and enjoy it a whole lot more and this of course was heightened by my visits to the various locations used.

‘Return to Naboo’ is chapter 15 on the DVD. On 38 minutes Anakin, Padmé and Artoo are at the Plaza de Espana in Seville (below) for a fairly short scene which was cut down in the edit as an extended arrival on Naboo deleted scene appears on the DVD.

     

Caserta Palace (below) in Southern Italy makes a brief return for this movie after 39 minutes. It was used more extensively in ‘The Phantom Menace‘ and also features in ‘Mission: Impossible III‘ (2006) and ‘Angels & Demons‘ (2009).

  

The rest of the Naboo scenes which follow were all shot in Como in the north of the country. We first see the splendid Villa del Balbianello from the lake (below) on 44 minutes albeit with CGI domes added to the roof. Sadly I didn’t get to take a photo of the place from quite the same angle as I never took a boat to that part of the lake.

 

Anakin and Padmé arrive by boat at the lake retreat (below) on the latter’s home planet of Naboo which was a different place to where I arrived and this scene could not be perfectly re-created as it was shot from the stone wall which isn’t accessible to the public. I had to take my pictures of the boat dock and steps leading down to it from different angles.

      

After climbing the steps (off camera) we then see the pair of them walk along a terrace (below) with a pond in the foreground and a bush in the background.

     

They walk over to the balcony overlooking the lake. Notice the strange shape trunk on the right of the photo below.

  

This balcony (below) is where the two heroes kiss for the first time although Padmé later pulls away as their love is forbidden.

  

The picnic meadow where Anakin and Padmé get closer (47-50 minutes into the film) was filmed in a couple of private fields in Como which could be anywhere in the world to be fair! The waterfalls and the shaaks (indigenous Naboo animals) were added by CGI of course and this field can only really be recognised thanks to some behind the scenes pictures in the ‘Star Wars 365 Days’ book by John Knoll. By that I mean the shabby building in one of the photos below.

            

The loggia (below) at Villa del Balbianello, which also appeared in ‘Casino Royale’, features on 59 minutes though only the area under the arches is seen beginning with Anakin in a Jedi trance looking out across the lake early in the morning following his nightmare.

  

The sunlight made the photo below hard to re-create but typically I didn’t think about closing the door until later that same evening. “Jedi don’t have nightmares” is what Anakin tells Padmé at the loggia but she says that she heard him and then he explains that he saw his mother in pain in his dreams and that he must return to Tatooine to try and save her.

  

So it’s back to Tunisia on 64 minutes and the Mos Espa set near Tozeur is used again as Anakin is re-united with Watto at the workshop (below) where he was a former slave.

     

The Lars Homestead (below) is in Matmata (south east Tunisia) and returns to our screens for the first time since 1977 with Anakin and Padmé meeting Lars Clieg in the courtyard as they search for Anakin’s mother Shmi Skywalker.

      

They then sit around the famous table in the dining room (below) where Luke had some blue milk with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru in the original Star Wars movie.

  

The exterior of the Lars Homestead (below) is actually many many kilometres away in the middle of nowhere in Chott el Djerid, Nefta. It can be seen on 71, 74 and 83 minutes.

 

‘Attack of the Clones‘ draws to a close on 124 minutes with the secret wedding of Anakin and Padmé at the Naboo lake retreat known as Villa del Balbianello in Como. The flowers seen on screen (below) were far brighter and in much better condition than when I was there.

  

Droids C3P0 and R2D2 were in attendance for the wedding (below) whereas I only had R2D2 with me!

 

Deleted Scenes: Firstly, we will look at deleted scene #4 from the DVD which was an extended arrival on Naboo where we see a bit more of the Plaza de Espana below.

  

Parco Civico di Tremezzo in Como is where Anakin and Padmé leaving Naboo for Tatooine following the former’s nightmare about his mother being in pain back on his home planet. That’s one train of thought anyway due to the clothes they are wearing but the very chunky ‘Star Wars 365 Days’ book by John Knoll suggests that their spaceship landed near here and then they got into a gondola and sped across the lake to the Villa del Balbianello.

It appears that their clothes have changed there whereas they are the same on arrival in Tatooine as they are in the photo below. I had to get into the water with my camera early morning to recreate the shot which wasn’t easy as it was deep and swimming out for 10 metres or so while holding a camera up in the air out of the water is blo*dy difficult!! All that effort for a cut scene which didn’t even make it on to the deleted scenes chapter of the DVD!!

     

Above is how the park looks at the top of the steps and the rectangular sign seen in the screenshot as well as the male toilets (below) where Hayden Christensen (Anakin) got changed into his brown Jedi robe. Natalie Portman (Padmé) was given a little domed building nearby.

 

Deleted scene #5 is of Padmé‘s parents house and after arriving at the place and having dinner we see Padmé talking to her mum and sister whilst supposedly looking out of the kitchen window into the garden where Anakin is being questioned by Padmé‘s father about his intentions. This shot was done using a platform, fake window and window sill and in reality is just the garden out the back of the ticket office and bookshop at Villa del Balbianello in Como.

 

Another scene to end upon the cutting room floor (deleted scene #6) starts with a view of the villa shot from below in the garden (below) although as you can see CGI magic makes the two look quite different.

 

The deleted bedroom scene (no, not a sex scene!) was shot in one of the loggia rooms (below) although they basically stripped it of its period furniture and imported a rug, bed and so on to make it more Naboo-like.

 

You can see other Star Wars Traveller entries by clicking on the following:

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Review: Films Set In Japan – Enter The Void (2009)

Posted on May 1, 2012 by tokyofox

Starting off with a hard techno beat and flashing credits this arty-farty French directed film comes across as tediously excruciating with any real story replaced by indulgence for the sake of art.

We see all the action through the eyes of the main character Oscar in ‘Peep Show‘ style and I’d also compare it to watching ‘Big Brother‘ Live as there are times when the characters are just chatting or not doing much in a film which certainly doesn’t rush in its pacing. At 154 minutes in length (it was originally 10 minutes longer than that!) it is unnecessarily long and could surely have been edited down to a more respectable time. Whereas ‘Peep Show‘ has two main characters and a strong support cast this film only has one main (weak) character who we see very little of meaning that the film has very little to focus on in terms of characters and instead we have to suffer constant dreamy, hallucinogenic scenes for a frustrating amount of time. Don’t expect to see any recognisable places in Tokyo whatsoever either. As for character development, don’t make me laugh! There really is no one to care about in this film…or a story for that matter!

Still reading? If so then the movie centres around Oscar; a drug dealer living in Tokyo who goes to a bar called ‘The Void’ to deliver some drugs to a guy who has grassed him up (the probable reason why is explained later) as the police raid within seconds of his arrival. Locking himself in the toilet Oscar is unable to flush the drugs away and tells the police he has a gun in the hope he’ll get more time but instead he gets shot through the door and then the film becomes weirder and weirder.

On the way to the bar that fateful night Oscar’s mate Alex had been talking a lot about ‘The Tibetan Book of the Dead’ which is a Buddhist book about the afterlife and he refers particularly to how the spirit of a dead person sometimes stays among the living until it begins to experience nightmares, after which it attempts to reincarnate. After being shot Oscar’s body (who we had only ever really seen from his view-point) rises from him and he floats his way through his life in chronological order. This includes the backstory of his family particularly his sister and how they both ended up in Tokyo. What follows includes some pretty f*cked up sh*t such as travelling inside his sisters vagina to witness his mate Alex thrusting and then ejaculating and we lucky viewers get to follow the semen into the fertilisation of his sister’s ovum.

If you are disturbed by strobe effects, shaky hand-held cameras, psychedelic images, abortion, breast-feeeding, drug use, graphic sex, blood and so on over the course of two and a half hours then this is definitely not the film for you. If you do like any of that stuff then there are way better films out there catering for such topics. Avoid the void.

 

Tokyo Fox Rating 4/10

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Australia 2012 Pt VIII: Friends Reunited in Sydney

Posted on April 28, 2012 by tokyofox

The main reason for my trip ‘Down Under’ was to see my family but no way was it going to be exclusively about them due in part to not wanting to outstay my welcome at my sisters house. As there are no direct flights between Tokyo and Melbourne I had to transit in Sydney so I decided to catch up with a few British friends from my past now living in the New South Wales state.

On my first night I met up with Andy who I travelled with for a bit in Oz 11 years ago. Our conversation was pretty much identical to the last time I saw him which was in Stockport back in 2003! We had dinner and a few schooners of beer at a bar somewhere in The Rocks. It was a great laugh and I could so easily have stayed chatting to him all night but sadly we only had a few hours of talking b*llocks!

It was the turn of Bev the following night at Bondi Junction where another pub meal and beers were consumed. I hadn’t seen her since I moved away from Humberside in January 2001 to go travelling for a year ‘Down Under’. I worked with her at Butler Group in Hull as part of the I.T. company’s telesales team for the two years I was there and it was great (as well as a bit strange!) to catch up on the company gossip from yesteryear including stuff which I was unaware of when I was working there!

On my third day in Sydney I met up with Aaron who I also met in Hull as we were both successful graduates from the same Economics & Business course. We even lived together for a few months in late 1998 and like Bev I hadn’t seen him since my farewell weekend in Hull in January 2001. Having done the bridge climb in the morning I met him in the CBD early-afternoon where we went to a couple of bars (including one on a skyscraper roof with a pool) before taking a taxi back to his place by the beach in Tamarama late afternoon. I had wanted to do the Coogee to Bondi coastal walk whilst I was in Sydney on this trip but had no time to fit it in but Aaron and I did do a small section of it when we walked to Bondi Beach but just to go to another bar albeit one with a very fine view. I have never actually stepped onto the beach at Bondi during two visits now!

     

Last but certainly not least is Ruth (not to be confused with my sister Ruth) who was so kind to me as always and let me stay with her, her husband Damian and their housemate Claire for my three nights in the city. I met her in Brisbane around August 2001 and then again up in Cairns and I think we even met up in Perth at the end of that year for a brief day on the beach in Cottesloe. I really can’t thank her enough for her hospitality (an air bed, towel, house key, food, drinks etc) on both this trip and back in London in 2005 when I was doing my FELT course before returning to Japan to start working for the company I am still with today. I had already arranged to meet Andy, Bev and Aaron on my first three nights before Ruth offered to accommodate me but fortunately we were able to spend some time together in and around everything else going on and a bloody good laugh it was too.

     

I brought the curtain down on this trip by taking the short walk to Coogee Beach from Ruth’s house where it all began for me back in February 2001 BUT amazingly I had no recollection or affinity to the place. I think that must be because I was with a big group of people back then and basically just followed others. It was only after leaving Coogee that I had to really make my own decisions and for that reason I have a good memory of everything I did after Coogee. Leaving that all aside, it was still a very nice area and though we didn’t have too long there it was nice to chill on the beach for a bit.

  

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Australia Filming Locations #2: The Matrix (1999)

Posted on April 25, 2012 by tokyofox

Can’t say I ever cared too much for this 1999 film but it does have some great action scenes which in some ways compensate for the “as if!” moments. Even though it doesn’t reference Sydney that is where most of it was filmed as the city’s Central Business District portrayed a generic metropolis better than most of its world city counterparts due to the lack of highly recognisable skyscrapers.

Keanu Reeves plays Neo; the computer programmer who leads a double life and is chased down by Matrix agents on 12 minutes at the Westpac Plaza (below) on 273 George Street where he works. He does try to escape from them by climbing out on to the window ledge on 16 mins before admitting defeat and giving himself up for capture.

The combat training featuring the distracting woman in the red dress takes place at Martin Place (below) on 57 minutes where the street meets Pitt Street. This circular fountain is where Morpheus tries to explain something or another about the Matrix and six years later the very same fountain appeared in ‘Superman Returns‘. A screenshot and different photo from that film can be seen here.

 

Chifley Plaza at 2 Chifley Square is the tower (below) holding the restaurant which comes on screen after 64 minutes where Cypher switches sides over a juicy and delicious steak with Agent Smith whilst uttering some b*llocks about his steak not really existing.

  

The Westin Hotel at 1 Martin Place (above) was used for interior shots involving the chase scenes and the ‘deja vu’ cat around the 78 minute mark on the hotels grand staircase below.

 

Below is the Colonial State Bank Centre which can be found at 52 Martin Place. Agent Smith holds Morpheus captive here on 91 minutes after their slowly choreographed fight 27 minutes earlier.

 

 

On 106 minutes the Aon Tower (above) at 201 Kent Street can be seen behind the building rooftop where Neo and Trinity take part in one of the most ridiculous slow-mo shooting scenes in cinema history before they take a helicopter on 107 minutes and fly in front of the aforementioned Bank Centre where they fire at the evil Smith and his fellow kidnapping pals. Morpheus leaps for freedom and is miraculously caught by Neo as tends to happen in films.

The helicopter then flies over Sydney’s relatively anonymous skyscrapers with them dangling down from it. Having dropped off Morpheus, Neo lands safely on the Allianz Centre on 110 minutes but the helicopter crashes into the British Telecom Tower opposite it. These two buildings (below) are located at 2 Market Street and 1 Market Street respectively.

 

Much of the film was of course made in the studio with Fox Studios Australia (below) in Moore Park being the ones used. ‘Star Wars Episode III‘ and ‘Moulin Rouge‘ among others were also shot here.

 

The corner of Pitt Street and Hunter Street (above) was the location for the fake phone box where Neo makes a final phone call to the machines on 128 minutes.

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Australia 2012 Pt VII: Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb

Posted on April 22, 2012 by tokyofox

Even though I spent a whole year in Australia 11 years ago there were still many things that I didn’t do for various reasons usually related to money and this trip was intended to bring almost complete closure to what I wanted to do Down Under. Having been to Alice Springs and Ayers Rock for the first time my mind turned to doing something in Sydney for the first time. I set my mind on climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge and thanks to the better half of my mate Andy I even got a 25% discount which made the final price (about A$150 instead of A$200) a lot easier to swallow.

Not wanting to waste time in my day I decided to do the 9am climb which involved introductions, a video, getting breathalysed, signing disclaimer forms, changing into the suits provided and being equipped with all kinds of things which might be needed. Of course they attached everything in some way and we even had a scan and walked through a detector thing like you do at airports to make sure we had no loose coins or were trying to sneak our own camera on to the bridge with us. We did an indoor practice run of climbing up and down the ladders to prepare us for the ones we’d have to do on the real thing. There’s more to this climbing lark than meets the eye……or so they say anyway!

So after about an hour of all the pre-climb stuff we finally got outside with me leading from the front apart from our female leader Ed (as in Edwina) who was followed by our all-male group. We all had earphones and a kind of walkie-talkie pack so that we could hear her instructions and information about the bridge, harbour and so on. For once I actually took in most of what a guide said which is very rare where I’m concerned.

As for the actual climb it was fairly easy starting off with a few ladders and then a gradual incline of steps leading up the to the top where we then crossed over the bridge before descending on that side of the bridge. I thought it was great but it didn’t exactly quite give me the adrenalin rush I hoped it would other than a slightly nervous shaking leg at the times when I really did stare down on to the road and water below. The highest point of the bridge is 134 metres which is exactly the same height as my biggest bungy jump but as I looked down into the harbour I was sure that I couldn’t do such a thing again!

 

Of course the “free photo” in the climb package was always going to be the group one  which no one really wants. I think we all had three individual or small group photos taken at different points of the climb but the only one that I really wanted was the one above and it didn’t come cheaply at A$26 but it’s not as if I am going to ever do such a climb again is it?!

Part of the Bridge Climb ticket also included entrance to one of the towers which we learned on the climb do not support the bridge structure in any way but are just there for design and to give ease of mind to many people. As we had finished our ascend of ‘The coathanger’ it started raining and quite hard too which was fortunate for our group but it did mean that I got quite wet making my way to the tower where I could actually take my own photos of the Opera House and the rest of the Harbour from up high.

     

There was a little museum up there with the construction photos and the simple Question & Answer cards being of most interest to me.

 

Bonus: I’ve still never been inside Sydney Opera House and to be honest I don’t really have any interest in doing so. On another day I was more than happy to spend a lovely sunny afternoon walking from Circular Quay to Mrs Macquaries Point and back via the Royal Botanic Gardens.

     

Unlike Melbourne I really don’t know my way around Sydney so well despite spending two weeks there at the start and two weeks at the end of my years working holiday in 2001. Obviously its a more beautiful looking city than its rival due to its harbour setting and famous landmarks but I can’t say I’m too keen on its Central Business District (CBD).

Two of the most notable films to have been made in Sydney are ‘The Matrix‘ and ‘M:I-2‘ (a.k.a. ‘Mission Impossible 2‘) and they will have their own separate entries soon. One other movie to have been made in part in Sydney is ‘Superman Returns‘ (2005) and its just ahead of the hour mark (58 mins to be a bit more precise) that Superman is ‘distracted’ by an out-of-control car which was all part of the diversion plan from his nemesis Lex Luthor.

 

Superman saves Luthor’s henchwoman Kitty Kowalski by the circular fountain (below) on Martin Place in the middle of the CBD.

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Australia Filming Locations #1 – Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)

Posted on April 19, 2012 by tokyofox

‘M:I-2‘ as it was officially titled is probably the worst of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ films but that’s not to say that it’s bad. It’s just that John Woo’s direction of the sequel grates with me a bit because of all the ridiculous acrobatics, somersaults and slo-mo action scenes.

A lot of the movie was filmed in New South Wales (NSW), particularly in Sydney and it starts straight away with the camera panning over the Opera House (below). 

  

Next is Biocyte Pharmaceuticals which in reality is Governor Phillip Tower (below). It can be found in the north-east area of the Central Business District (CBD) at 29/1 Farrer Place, Sydney NSW 2000.

 

Argyll Street in The Rocks (below) doubles up as Seville in Spain and is where Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) meets Nyah (Thandie Newton). During filming the street was totally transformed with dust added to the streets and passionate music playing whilst a religious procession took place.

 

The Spanish driveway scene in “Seville” on 17 minutes was shot at Boomerang Mansion (below) at 42 Billyard Avenue in Elizabeth Bay. This three storey mansion has been described as the oldest and finest example of Spanish architecture in Australia and is private property so the only view I could really get of it was from Beare Park.

 

On 34 minutes the beautiful Nyah is driven under Sydney Harbour Bridge on the boat which takes her to villain Sean Ambrose’s apartment which was located at Bradley Head on Mosman and can be seen again on 36 and 42 minutes. The apartment was just a set prop so I didn’t feel it too necessary to take a boat over to Mosman instead settling for a long distance view of it taken from one of the towers on the bridge.

     

Broken Hill in the far west outback of NSW appears on 35 minutes as the remote sheep station where Hunt meets up with his team; the Aussie pilot and the computer expert.

 

46 minutes in and we see Royal Randwick Racecourse. This is the type of place I wouldn’t bother with usually when hunting down filming locations but as I was staying five minutes walk away at my friends house I jumped at the chance of seeing it. The course is undergoing a bit of reconstruction at the moment which probably worked in my favour as it meant it was open and I could just walk in and take the photos below.

 

The screenshots (below) are of Darling Harbour; the location featured on 86 minutes where Ambrose parks up and shows the virus in the test-tube to Nyah leading her to slap him and is then left to wander the streets of Sydney in a daze having previously injected herself with the virus to stop him killing her to get it. I had planned to go here but ultimately ran out of time and considered it low priority as it was a little out of the way from all the other areas of Sydney I was concentrating on on this trip.

 

The most interesting filming location from ‘M:I-2‘ has to be Bare Island in La Peruse down in Bottany Bay which makes its big screen debut at the 87 minute mark. The place where Cruise climbs up the cliff face is on the left side near to the back and is usually just a place for fishermen to dip their tackle in and see what bites. The tower with all the satellite dishes on it was a prop added to the island by the producers.

              

This island fortress is Ambrose’s bunker headquarters where his transition with Biocyte’s CEO takes place. Cruise rides his motorcycle through balls of fire in what is perhaps the most iconic scene from the whole movie. Its certainly the one which is seen on most posters or pictures relating to the film. The little castle looking building (above) can be seen 104 minutes in as a fairly lengthy motorcycle chase seemingly goes round in circles and doesn’t actually go as far as it would appear on screen. It can be seen in the top of one of the pictures below which shows how close it is to the point where Hunt escapes from the fort.

       

The film ends in the Royal Botanic Gardens (below) by the Opera House on 117 minutes with the two heroes kissing and walking off arm in arm through the place as we get a final aerial view of Sydney’s two most famous landmarks.

  

Click here to read ‘London Filming Locations: ‘Mission: Impossible’ (1996)’ 

Click here to read ‘Prague Filming Locations: ‘Mission: Impossible’ (1996)’

Click here to read ‘Shanghai 2013: Mission Impossible III Filming Locations’

Click here to read ‘Italia 2009: Mission Impossible III Filming Locations’

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