Surrey Film Locations: Action
PUBLISHED: 14:33 28 July 2017
'Hankley Common', Rob Young, Flickr CC 2.0
Archant
The films below see Surrey transformed from its usual peaceful self – it is barely recognisable as it becomes a scene for drama and explosions!
1. 47 Ronin 2012 – Frensham Ponds , Near Farnham
The Keanu Reeves starring samurai movie was based at Shepperton Studios but also ventured further afield to Frensham Ponds. Tonnes of slate from the film set was donated to be used as seating at the park that borders Shepperton Studios’ backlot.
2. A Night to Remember (1958) – Great Fosters , Egham
A group of wealthy people prepare for their doomed voyage on the Titanic at the luxurious Great Fosters hotel, Egham.
3. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) – Bourne Wood , Near Farnham
The bulk of filming took place at Shepperton Studios, but Bourne Wood was one of the external sets and provided the scenery for an explosive car chase through snow. The cast, including Robert Downey Jr and Samuel L Jackson, also popped into Petersham Nurseries near Richmond for lunch.
4.Casino Royale (2006) – Dunsfold Park , Near Cranleigh
Home to the popular BBC TV show Top Gear, Dunsfold Park, near Cranleigh, also doubled as Miami International Airport in the James Bond blockbuster, Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig.
5. Clash of the Titans 2 (2012) – Redlands Wood , Coldharbour
Based at Shepperton Studios for much of the filming, this movie starring Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and the Caterham born Bill Nighy also ventured out into the Surrey countryside. Signs were spotted by the famous Dorking Cockerel roundabout.
6.The Dark Knight (2008) - Longcross, near Chertsey
The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman, may be set in the none more gothic city of Gotham. Infamously, a stuntman was killed during filming at the QinetiQ site, Longcross, near Chertsey, in 2007.
7. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – Croydon
While some locals may have been interested in taking this one into their own hands, Delta Point in Croydon was put through a Hollywood-style destruction for this instalment of the multimillion-dollar Batman movie series.
8.Gladiator (2000) – Bourne Wood, Near Farnham
The opening battle scene of Ridley Scott’s epic, starring Russell Crowe and former Surrey resident Oliver Reed, was filmed in Bourne Wood, near Farnham, where the wooded countryside provided the perfect substitute for the forests of Southern Germany.
9. Golden Eye (1995) – Epsom Downs Racecourse
The Queen’s Stand at Epsom Downs Racecourse has been used in several films, and on this occasion doubled up as a Russian army airport in this Pierce Brosnan starring Bond classic.
10.Green Zone (2010) – Sandown Park Racecourse
Matt Damon movie, Green Zone, features airport scenes at Saddam International Airport, which were actually shot at Sandown Park in Esher. Scenes also featured Windlesham’s £70 million mansion, Updown Court.
11.Inception (2010) – Chertsey
No stranger to turning dreams into reality, the modern steel and glass lobby of a Chertsey building, previously used by gaming giants EA, was where Arthur demonstrates the paradox of the Penrose steps to Ariadne.
12. The Rainbow Jacket (1954) – Lingfield
A 1954 British Ealing Studios horse racing drama featuring, among others, Robert Morley, Kay Walsh, Bill Owen, Honor Blackman and Sid James. The most recognisable Lingfield aspect in the film was a shot of Bill Owen (‘Sam’) walking away from the church towards Church Road and past an old half-timbered building which, once upon a time, was a butcher’s shop.
13. Reds (1981) – Frensham Ponds, Near Farnham
A radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in, erm, the usually tranquil Frensham Ponds – which provided the setting of a house in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Starring Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton.
14. Rush (2013) – Blackbushe Airport, Chobham
Two-time Academy Award winner Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon), teamed up with writer Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen), to make Rush, a spectacular big-screen re-creation of the merciless 1970s rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda.
15. Skyfall (2012) – Hankley Common, near Elstead
All action shooting took place with Daniel Craig, Dame Judi Dench et al on MoD land near Elstead, where the childhood home of James Bond was created. The mountains and lake were later added by CGI.
16. Superman II (1980) – Chobham Common
The largest National Nature Reserve in the south-east of England, Chobham Common was transformed for the Gene Hackman and Christopher Reeve starring Superman II. A mock up of a small American town with a tarmac road, shops, a car lot and more was constructed to replicate where the super villains land on earth.
17.The World is Not Enough (1999) – Hankley Common, Elstead
The Pierce Brosnan starring Bond flick features action sequences, including the main pipeline explosion, filmed at Hankley Common. More recently the location has been revisited as the setting for Bond’s childhood home, Skyfall.
