Attack Of The Clones Filming Locations: Star Wars Traveller – Naboo (a.k.a. Como)

Posted on September 7, 2010 by tokyofox

You may think that an afternoon of seeking out ‘Casino Royale‘ and Star Wars Episode II film scenes at the Villa del Balbianello would be enough for one day. Not for me though because while I was walking back to my hotel I came across the Parco Civico di Tremezzo which featured in a cut scene from ‘Attack of the Clones‘ and was where Anakin and Padmé left 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 Lake retreat a.k.a. the Villa del Balbianello. We saw that at the very start of Euro Trip 2010 Pt VI but it appears that their clothes have changed there whereas they are the same on arrival in Tatooine as they are in the first photo below.

I took some pictures of the steps and that rectangular sign at the top of them…

…as well as the male toilets where Hayden Christensen (Anakin) got changed into his brown Jedi robe without complaint.

   

Natalie Portman (Padmé) got something a bit better after the crew cleared out a nearby little domed building for her.

I woke up early the following morning and got into the water with my camera to get a shot of the arrival steps. This wasn’t so easy as it was deep and swimming out for 10 metres or so while holding a camera in the air 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!!


Later that morning I set out on foot following the excellent directions from Mark Dermul’s third Star Wars filming locations book to find the picnic meadow where Anakin and Padmé get closer. Lots of overgrown grass in the foreground of some amazing, huge waterfalls in the film but in reality it was just a private field which could be anywhere in the world to be honest!

 

The falls 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 aforementioned John Knoll book. By that I mean the shabby building in one of my photo’s. There had been a heavy downpour the night before so with the grass still wet I could only crouch down rather than imitate their sitting pose.

  

A different field was used nearby for the scene where Anakin was playing around on the back of the Shaak until he fell off and played dead in the name of luring Padmé into his arms whereby the viewer assumes they kiss not that we see that. The rodeo bit was obviously done against a blue screen but the rolling around was done in this very field which again really could be any grassy area.

     

A restaurant called Fagurida was frequented by Sir Alec Guiness (Obi Wan Kenobi) in the 1960’s.

A house used as Hayden Christensen’s and Natalie Portman’s dressing room rounded off my Star Wars adventure.

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Attack Of The Clones Filming Locations: Star Wars Traveller – Naboo (a.k.a. Villa del Balbianello)

Posted on September 5, 2010 by tokyofox

Ask almost anybody what their 6th favourite Star Wars film is and chances are that they will say ‘Episode II: Attack of the Clones‘. To be honest, I wasn’t overly impressed with episodes I and II but my opinion changed with the former after visiting the filming locations in Tunisia last year. Visiting the Plaza de Espana in Seville at the start of the year heightened my interest in episode II and that was extended even further in anticipation of seeing the following at the Villa del Balbianello in Como.

Unlike the ‘Casino Royale’ shots (done at the same place) Star Wars episode II included a bit of CGI here and there. The first such example is when we see the villa from the lake (below) albeit with 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 Skywalker and Padmé Amidala arrive at the lake retreat on the latter’s home planet of Naboo. They arrive by boat (below) but this 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 (not on 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 each photo below.

 

This balcony is where the two heroes kiss for the first time (below) although Padmé later pulls away as their love is forbidden. Sadly my girlfriend wasn’t with me on this trip to re-create such a scene which I would have insisted upon no doubt to her disproval. By that I mean the geekiness of it rather than the kiss!

 

We return to this part of the villa for the film’s climax (below) as Anakin and Padmé get married in secret with R2D2 and C3PO the only ones in attendance. The former managed to turn up for my appearance again as he did in Tunisia and Spain. Sadly the beautiful red flowers in the movie are not so distinct now.

  
 

The loggia which appeared in ‘Casino Royale‘ was used a little differently in ‘Attack of the Clones‘. Only the area under the arches (below) is seen beginning with Anakin in a Jedi trance looking out across the lake early in the morning following his nightmare.

 

“Jedi don’t have nightmares” is what Anakin tells Padmé (below) 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. The sunlight made this one hard to re-create but typically I didn’t think about closing the door until later that evening!

 

The shot below was done using a platform and fake window and window sill but in reality it is just the garden out the back of the ticket office and bookshop. This was cut from the movie but does appear in the deleted scenes chapter on the DVD. It see’s Anakin being questioned in the garden by Padmé’s father about his intentions.

 

Another scene to end upon the cutting room floor was Padme’s bedroom (no, not a sex scene!) and this started with a view of the villa shot from below in the garden although as you can see CGI magic makes the two look quite different.

 

The deleted bedroom scene (seen on the dvd) 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.

  
 The Villa del Balbianello as seen in ‘Casino Royale’ can be seen here.
Posted in Euro Travel, Movie Locations, Star Wars, Star Wars Filming Locations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Casino Royale: James Bond Filming Locations In Como

Posted on August 31, 2010 by tokyofox

Daniel Craig’s first outing as 007 in ‘Casino Royale‘ (2006) re-booted the James Bond franchise and gave it the kick up the ar*e that it needed. It is in fact one of the best Bond films and the ending to the movie was filmed in Como at two locations.

The Villa del Balbianello is where Bond recovers from his beating by the main antagonist Le Chiffre and is being questioned by the dodgy(?) MI6 Agent Mathis in the garden which is actually just outside the ticket office and bookshop entered through the door on the left of the picture below.

 

Bond is one step ahead of Mathis though and has him tasered and arrested. He is then dragged away across the garden below)  as we get to see the opposite direction of the first scene I mentioned.

  

The next scene begins with a beautiful sweeping shot of the loggia as seen below.

  

Bond wakes up to see Vesper (Eva Green) and they start to whisper a load of sweet nothings to each other on the south side of the loggia below.

  

Monsieur Mendel interrupts the romance by coming up the path (below) which tells anyone who has visited the Villa that he actually arrived by boat. One would think that that kind of thing is fairly unlikely but you never know. Like it matters anyway!

  

Swiss Bank manager Mendel then ignores Vesper’s pleasantry and puts his briefcase on the table where, after a joke about Swiss chocolates, he asks Bond to input the account number and password into some special device within the case so that his 120 million (dollars?) casino winnings can be transferred. Herr Mendel then exits leaves the Villa grounds the same way he arrived and for all we know he may have sped off on his boat!

  

More flirting, a declaration of love for each other (basically) and a kissing scene follows before the camera is peering down on them from up somewhere in the loggia and that is the last time we see the Villa del Balbianello.

The very final 90 seconds of ‘Casino Royale‘ were shot at Villa La Gaeta in Aquaseria, and was not easy to get to. First, I had to wait about 90 minutes for a bus but that bus stopped at the depo where I had to wait a while longer before changing to another bus which needed another ticket.

Although very easy to see from the lake, when going there by road it is a lot more difficult to spot. After going through a long tunnel you come out and then go almost straight away into another tunnel and as soon as you exit that one its on the right. Very easy to miss!

The first shot of the villa is from its front gates as the car of the mysterious Mr White goes down the driveway.

 

This is easy enough to copy as one can just poke their camera through the gates and snap away. At worst this is all I thought I might get as the villa is a private home but I was determined to try and get in somehow. Luckily, as soon as I arrived at the villa a young guy in his twenties was going in the side gate. I asked in my bad Italian if he spoke English to which he thankfully said yes. I asked if I could go in for a few moments to take a photo or two but he said it wasn’t possible as it might upset the other guests.

I begged and begged and even offered cash but he wasn’t gonna change his mind. He did say he would take a few quick photo’s for me and sensing that this would be as good as I would get I duly handed him the camera and so that’s why the following photo’s aren’t as good as match-up as I’d usually try and do.

A fantastic aerial shot of the villa in all its glory is followed by Mr White parking his car, looking out across the lake and getting a call from Bond not that he knows it’s him. In fact he even says “Who is this?” which sets up the final line very well.

The response to Mr White’s question is a shot in the leg from a hidden Bond which leaves him crawling across the gravel in front of a bench.

      

Mr White is then shown crawling towards the steps of the villa of which the second step is very recognisable as it has a rusty colour mark in the middle of it. As the villain tries to climb the steps we see the feet of Bond appear and the camera pans up to show his face and we see him holding his mobile in one hand and the gun in the other which he used only moments before. Proof that some things are best left to last as Bond finally answers Mr White’s question in typical 007 fashion; “The name’s Bond…James Bond.”

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Euro Trip 2010 Pt IV: Como (Italy)

Posted on August 30, 2010 by tokyofox

When I planned this whole Euro trip I had never for a moment thought that rain may scupper my plans but as I took the train from Lucerne to Como there were a few rainfalls. Thankfully it had cleared up when I arrived at Como station and got on the hourly bus (almost immediately) which took me to Tremezzo (about 45 minutes away) which is home to two of the most luxurious villa’s in all of Como; Villa Carlotta and the Grand Hotel Tremezzo. Next to the latter was a two-star hotel so I am sure you can guess which one I had booked to stay at in advance! To be fair the view from my window was great….if I leaned out far enough!

     

After checking in I immediately set out by ferry to Lenno where I then had to take a much smaller boat to the Villa del Balbianello which can only be accessed from the lake on weekdays (excluding Tuesdays). It’s probably quite fair to say that my trip was based around this place for reasons which will follow in Euro-Trip Pt V and Pt VI. This delightful villa was built in the 18th century and belonged to a few people before a businessman/collector/explorer from Milan bought it and turned it into a museum which was eventually left to the FAI (an Italian art, nature and landscape foundation) who still run it and show the tourists around which is the only way to see it.

This place was one of the highlights of my trip. As nice as the villa was it was the gardens that were most impressive and particularly the loggia (featuring the map room and the library containing over 4000 geography and travel books) which dominates the terraced garden and from here as well as just about everywhere else there were great views of the lake and its shores.

 

The following day I took a ferry to Bellagio which is situated perfectly in the crotch-part (for Lake Como is shaped like a man although Y-shaped is probably a safer way to describe it!) and is probably the most touristy part. There are many narrow streets lined with souvenir shops and restaurants which eventually sprawl out into a piazza or two with the Villa Serbelloni towering in the hills above.

I ate the typical Italian food (pasta, pizza and gelato) and walked along the shore to Villa Melzi which is the most famous villa in Bellagio. I didn’t go in though as I was already tired of villa’s and gardens by this stage and of course I didn’t want to splash out more more cash on entrance fees! I finished my day at the five-star Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni which had a display of messages written by the rich and famous who have stayed there since it was opened 37 years ago with the most interesting one for me being that of Mr Star Wars himself; George Lucas.

 
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Euro Trip 2010 Pt III: Home Of FIFA

Posted on August 29, 2010 by tokyofox

On the morning I left Zurich for Liechtenstein I went to the home of FIFA which I hadn’t expected to as I thought it was further out of the city. The home of the world’s governing body of football is located near the zoo in the north-east of Zurich. I hadn’t seen it mentioned or even on a map in any guidebook but on the morning I was leaving my hostel I got a map and realised it was very possible to go and see what was there.

      

Neither Sepp Blatter or Michel Platini were there to greet me on my arrival. In fact, no-one was, as I just walked in and no-one stopped me. It’s not as if there was actually much there – just a handful of trophies inside and artificial, sand and mini pitches outside. Like many though I just expected the home of such an important organisation to not be so accessible to random people turning up of which I was inevitably the only one! Sadly the conference room wasn’t accessible but I was free to roam the huge foyer area which, after reading a pamphlet I picked up there, sets benchmarks for the environment in terms of its zero-emissions.

  

Outside was far more impressive with the pitches and a meandering footpath leading through beautifully landscaped gardens which are split up into the six football continents with special plants from each one catching the eye. Not mine though as I didn’t know any of this until after my visit but I could still appreciate it all.

    
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Euro Trip 2010 Pt II: Vaduz (Liechtenstein)

Posted on August 28, 2010 by tokyofox

I went to Liechtenstein and all I got was a lousy passport stamp! Of course there’s a lot more to this tiny country than that and Vaduz (where I went) isn’t the be-all and end-all but most people seemingly go there just to be able to say that they have done so! A bit sad of course but even the locals know that the majority of tourists are usually just passing through and it’s how they make their money. Three Euro’s for the aforementioned stamp and a now or never moment so I stumped up the cash.

 

Talking of stamps, that is another main trade for this country as they are considered to be very rare but I kept my money in my pocket on that one as I couldn’t be bothered to write a postcard there and then.

I was actually looking forward to my day trip to Vaduz as I was curious to see a capital city which has a population of just over 5000 people. It is basically just one shopping street full of restaurants, souvenir shops and a few museums with a castle up in the hills behind it and that is where I started. As I was moving between Zurich and Lucerne I had to do it with my backpack and all but it wasn’t so bad and the views of the castle and the city were quite wonderful with lots of cultivated fields and small farms forming the landscape.

 

In the distance I could see the football stadium (for the national team and FC Vaduz) known as Rheinpark Stadion so once I’d descended I set off in that direction which was a 10 minute walk away from the main strip and of course no other tourist was in sight. It has a capacity of 6,127 and unlike any other stadium I was able to just walk into this one and snap away with my camera. Well I don’t know if I was able to but I did anyway and no-one intervened!

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Euro Trip 2010 Pt I: Zurich and Lucerne (Switzerland)

Posted on August 25, 2010 by tokyofox

I hadn’t stayed in a YHA since my early days of backpacking in 2001 but on my arrival in Zurich I eventually managed to find my way to my pre-booked accommodation.  No such thing as a cheap place to stay in Switzerland so I had to fork out 50 swiss francs just for the one night which is 50% more than one usually has to pay for such a place. The good thing about this chain of hostels is that they are very clean and had a fantastic breakfast included in the price which I took full advantage of the following morning.

My expectation beforehand of Zurich was that it was just a boring city full of bankers. However, I was quite surprised at what a nice city it was to walk around on a warm sunny summer evening. As well as the city centre itself I also chilled out for a bit by the lake at one of the many park spaces where locals go to sunbathe and have a quick dip in the lake.

     

I arrived in Lucerne the following afternoon and wasted no time getting out to see the sights dotted round the lake which were very pretty particularly the two main bridges (Spreuer and Chapel respectively with the latter featuring the city’s trademark water tower) which feature on all postcards for the place.

A day trip that I took on August 11th was to Mount Pilatus which was a kind of conveyor-belt way of travelling as it involved a 90 minute boat cruise followed by a 40 minute ascend of the mountain on the world’s steepest cog railway. All of it was amid beautiful scenery and at the top I was taken back by how cold it was. I hadn’t given it a thought when packing and so was about 2000 metres up in t-shirt, shorts and sandals while others were in hiking gear!

Of course I didn’t need to do anything at the top other than sit in the restaurant and admire the views (beautiful but often obscured by the fog) but that’s not my style so I persevered and did the trails up there including the climb to the highest point (2132m) which was a 30-40 minute gentle hike though a bit rocky near the summit which is still very do-able in good sandals.

    

A large gondola followed by a smaller one took me all the way down and in-between I took a stop to do the toboggan ride which was good fun and gave me a brief adrenaline rush on a trip which overall was lacking in activity of that nature.

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TF Film Review: The Karate Kid (2010)

Posted on August 23, 2010 by tokyofox

I recently saw the 2010 re-make of the Karate Kid and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Admittedly I had low expectations as the original is one of my all-time favourite films and didn’t want to see the usual bad re-make. Perhaps the reason it was better than I thought was that it stayed true to the original in many ways with the main changes being the location (China rather than California) and of course kung-fu replacing karate as the martial arts skill. Why its even called the Karate kid I don’t know!

I was surprised by how much I liked the Jackie Chan ‘Mr Han’ character (a chance for him to actually act for once!) and indeed the remake but its just not as powerful as the original. Will Smith’s son Jaden may only be 12 but he was charismatic and cool in the lead role. Incredible to see a boy of that age with muscles!

  

The chemistry between the two heroes in the original can’t be beaten and that film has had a lasting impact on many lives. It may not be in those top movie lists but its known by so many people. I can’t imagine the new one being remembered too far into the future although I did hear they were going to make another one. Not sure if it will follow the original part 2 as close as this one.

Given that the new one’s main character is so young the girl interest in the film is not so necessary and as much as I like Asian girls (not 12 year old ones though!) the Elisabeth Shue character is one I still look at and think as being very pretty which certainly can’t be said about most 80’s film actresses!

To be fair to the new film, Smith’s portrayal of ‘Dre’ is probably actually more convincing than Ralph Macchio’s ‘Daniel’ who, as much as I liked, didn’t really make me believe that he had become a karate expert. Though fearsome, the protagonists don’t play as much a part in the film as the ‘Cobra Kai’s’ (and particularly their leader Kreese) in the original which may be due to Smith featuring in almost every single scene if not them all!

Overall, this updated version of the Karate Kid was quite satisfying and very likeable and hopefully over time it will stand on its own feet without being compared to the original which of course is quite ironic as that’s exactly what I have done here!

Tokyo Fox Rating 8/10

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A Spiritual And Physical Challenge

Posted on August 15, 2010 by tokyofox

A few years ago I saw the second season of Jack Osbourne’s Adrenaline Junkie series on youtube. It featured many daredevil stunts of which I have done a few (bungy jumping, jungle trekking, marathon running, rock-climbing, kayaking, thai-boxing, kushti wrestling, skydiving etc) but one of the challenges caught my eye more than any other and it just happened to be filmed in Japan. The problem for me was finding where and when I tried to find this information or watch the video online a few months ago I just couldn’t find any thing on it.

Consequently I splashed out a tenner on the dvd box set of series one and two (season two wasn’t available on its own) and when it arrived I went straight to that part (episode 3) and was a little disappointed that they never did say exactly where they were. It just mentioned that it was somewhere in the mountains north of Kyoto.

As for the challenge itself, the idea was for Jack to be able to spend three minutes under what was dramatically described as a “freezing waterfall which will hammer body-numbing glacial melt-water on to him with the pressure of a fire-hose”.

This is something I’d like to try myself which is why I was interested in the location. I certainly know it wouldn’t be easy as having experimented a few times with standing under a cold shower I know all too well that you have to tap into your inner energy and detatch your mind from the freezing water pouring down on you.

In the episode, Jack had to train his mind using shintaido warrior techniques while getting in touch with Jedi-like inner force and after a very quick first attempt he then managed to stay under the waterfall for just over 10 minutes seeing off the attempts of his two companions with ease. The grand-master Japanese guy had to pull him out for his own safety as its said that just 12 minutes under it is enough to kill you from hypothermia.

 

Posted in Japan Life, Japan Travel, Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Star Wars Shop In Tokyo!

Posted on August 11, 2010 by tokyofox

A couple of months ago I found out about a Star Wars shop in Koenji which is a station lying nine minutes west of Shinjuku. Despite living in Tokyo for many, many years I didn’t know about this place and in fact found out about it when Jason Swank and Jimmy Mac mentioned it on the Star Wars podcast ‘The ForceCast‘. (*)

When I went first went there it was closed but as I finished work very early on a Saturday last month I thought I’d try again and I wasn’t disappointed. Located on the second floor at the end of a shopping street ‘Star Case’ (below) is not much to look at from the outside with just a window displaying old and slightly yellowing full-size cardboard characters.

   

It’s a small shop inside but is absolutely packed with Star Wars related stuff with the majority of it being figures which isn’t something I want to get into. More of interest were the weirder items which have come out over the years such as a BMX, a video-game machine, curtains, posters, vintage soap, badges, cards, stickers, Pepsi-related products and so many more things which have carried the Star Wars logo over the last 33 years. Needless to say, I bought a load more stuff to add to my growing collection. I’ve heard photo’s are not really allowed in the shop but managed to take a few cheeky ones.

IMG_6991  IMG_6993  IMG_6994  IMG_6995  IMG_6996  IMG_6997  IMG_6998  IMG_6999IMG_6992

How to get there:

Take the Sobu Line to Koenji station. Leave by the North Exit. Across the road in the top left corner is a 7-11 (below) and a shopping street. Head for this and walk down the shopping street all the way to the end. Turn left and at the end of that lane you will see ‘Star Case’ on the second floor. It is open from 1-7pm everyday except Tuesday’s.

Address: Amanaya Buiding, 3-25-25 2F Kita-Koenji, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 166-0002

(*) They have been hosts of Rebel Force Radio since 2013

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Posted in Films, Japan Life, Star Wars | Tagged , , , , , , , | 25 Comments