Newsletter
Movie Magic: 5 Films You Didn’t Know Were Shot in Thailand
From Leonardo DiCaprio’s heartthrob days in The Beach to the Wookie homeworld in Revenge of the Sith, the remarkable landscapes of Thailand have been inspiring both travelers and Hollywood directors for decades.
From Leonardo DiCaprio’s heartthrob days in The Beach to the Wookie homeworld in Revenge of the Sith, the remarkable landscapes of Thailand have been inspiring both travelers and Hollywood directors for decades. The dramatic limestone mountains and azure blue waters have made the Land of Smiles a versatile destination for filmmakers, and there are a number of big-budget movies that you may not know were filmed in Thailand.
THE DEER HUNTERFilmmakers have often turned to Thailand as a stand-in for Vietnam, including films such as Good Morning, Vietnam and Operation Dumbo Drop, but few more classic than The Deer Hunter in 1978, starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep. Garnering five Oscars, the film relied heavily on Bangkok to act as Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, and the iconic Russian roulette scene was filmed on the Kwai River in Kanchanaburi. Before you ask, Bridge on the River Kwai was shot in Sri Lanka.
TOMORROW NEVER DIESEveryone knows that The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed in Thailand — so well-known that the most famous limestone karst in Thailand is called James Bond Island. But, trading Connery for Brosnan, fewer people know that Tomorrow Never Dies, the 1997 Bond blockbuster, was also filmed in Thailand. Bangkok stood in for the thrilling motorbike race through Ho Chi Minh City as Bond travels to put a stop to a megalomaniacal media mogul, and Brosnan’s Bond also visits Phang Nga Bay to stand in for Halong Bay.
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVEConsidered one of the finest Hong Kong films ever made and the masterpiece of auteur Wong Kar-wai, In the Mood for Love was released in 2000 and used Bangkok for the grungier, outdoor scenes of 1960s Hong Kong. Wong Kar-wai would return to Bangkok for 2046, the follow-up to the original In the Mood for Love.
DA 5 BLOODSFor a more modern film, Spike Lee’s recent Da 5 Bloods in 2020 follows aging Vietnam vets as they return to their former battleground in search of redemption. The jungles of Vietnam, however, were in fact shot near Chiang Mai in Thailand’s mountainous north. The film sees the characters roughing it through the peaks of Doi Suthep National Park — but Remote Lands suggests you instead stay at the Four Seasons Chiang Mai or 137 Pillars.
ALEXANDER No western conqueror had ever marched further east than Alexander the Great — but not quite as far as Oliver Stone took him. The 2004 Alexander epic starring Colin Farrell and Angelina Jolie would take Alexander to the edge of his empire at Hyphasis, which was actually filmed in the lesser appreciated Eastern Thailand at the confluence of the Mun and Mekong rivers, on the border with Laos. The bloody battle of Hydaspes actually took place in the Central Botanical Garden in Saraburi Province about an hour’s drive from Bangkok.#TAKEMETOREMOTELANDS AS RECENTLY FEATURED IN • The Wall Street Journal • Town & Country • Departures • Travel + Leisure • Forbes • Condé Nast Traveler • BusinessWeek • National Geographic Traveler • Palm Beach Post • Chicago Tribune • Financial Times • BBC • Fox Business News • The New York Times REMOTE LANDS, INC.
120 East 56th Street, Suite 1600 PH, New York, NY 10022 USA Phone: +1.212.518.1618 Email: [email protected] REMOTE LANDS (THAILAND) CO., LTD
7/F Mahatun Plaza 888/74 Ploenchit Rd., Bangkok 10330 Thailand Phone: +66.2651.5401 Email: [email protected] You are receiving this e-mail message because you are signed up for Remote Lands alerts at this address. If you feel that you have received this message in error, or if you no longer wish to receive these messages, you can unsubscribe anytime by clicking here Unsubscribe from this list.
Copyright © 2021, Remote Lands, Inc.
|