I recently scaled the deer Park hieghts in New Zealand, just outside Queenstown.
Right on the top is a bloody great 'Korean' prison set built for this terrible movie. Can anyone explain why this was allowed to remain yet the NZ government were fanatical about making sure every trace of the Lord of the rings movies were eradicated?
"If you disagree with me, convince me. Don't just throw a rock at my head."
I dont really have an Idea. This movie was much more fun that LOTR anyway. I think it was used not long ago in a TV add (it was about freeing your mind), but that wouldnt be the reason it was left.
shareWell Robbie, having pondered the same myself having recently been there (twice), we think we have two fairly good reasons.
1) New Zealand DOC (Dept of Conservation) insisted that all public land be returned to its natural state after LOTR had finished filming. Deer Park Heights is privately owned, hence they would not have had to and in any case, no LOTR construction was required for the shooting that occured on said hilltop.
2) With regards to the wider picture, the above requirement was also demanded by Christopher Tolkien when he finally gave permission for the films to be made. This is why very little to no evidence of the trilogy ever having been fiklmed exists about New Zealand. Matamata (Hobbiton) have had to adhere to some pretty stringent guidelines from New Line regarding their tours.
So there you have it, the ugly jail remains 'cos unlike Rings, no one's ordered its removal (thought they probably should).
Regards,
Miles.
The bizairre thing is the DOC is making a fortune from péople coming to NZ to see where LOTR was filmed, and loads of private companies are raking in cash from showing you where it was (I.e. a field).
You´d have thought someone with half a brain would have worked around this. Im sure one or two sites wouldn{t have all the ramblers up in arms. Oh well.
"If you disagree with me, convince me. Don't just throw a rock at my head."
"You´d have thought someone with half a brain would have worked around this"
I think that's the problem! And we (wife and I) paid $NZ195 each to stand on Mount Potts, the site for Edoras. Maybe I'm just as stupid...
Mind you, I'm now going to have watch The Rescue for the sole reason that I've inadvertently visited its set. Now that is stupid.
All the best, Miles.
Did you break in to the prison?
There was a really cool truck in there which had been made to look like it had rocket launchers on the back.
"If you disagree with me, convince me. Don't just throw a rock at my head."
No, it's falling to pieces. Between the two months apart that I visited it, extra corrugated iron has been added to keep it together. These things certainly aren't built to last. I had a damn good sneak through mind.
share"There was a really cool truck in there which had been made to look like it had rocket launchers on the back."
That's a real vehicle, a Russian-made artillery rocket truck. They called them "Calliopes" in WWII due to all the pipes looking like a pipe organ.
So it was a real version? Cos it looked like someone from the Doctor Who school of special effects had simply cut up a load of drainpipe and shoved it on the back!
"If you disagree with me, convince me. Don't just throw a rock at my head."
Come now, Doctor Who special effects have improved somewhat since the series' original run in 1989. But I know what you mean...
shareThe bulilding is an old prison that was used for filming. It has been standing for decades and has been used for many ads since The Rescue. The reason why LOTR sets are so popular is because the whole movie was filmed here and it's a great way to see the country. They also had to destroy the LOTR sets because it was apart of the deal done with the Kiwi government so that the place stayed clean and green. The prison was an existing building when they started filming so there was no need to destroy it
I LOVE HOLLYWOOD!!!
Here's a picture of said fort:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/Konev/DSC_3737-1.jpg
They also had to destroy the LOTR sets because it was apart of the deal done with the Kiwi government so that the place stayed clean and green.
I'll disagree with the "terrible movie" part, but maybe that's just because I grew up with this film and loved it when I was a kid ;)
My wife and I drove through NZ in a campervan on our honeymoon, and Deer Park Heights was about the only LOTR set we could afford to see (except for Matamata/Hobbiton) since most of the others required helicopters or very out of the way 4x4 driving to get to. I was absolutely blown away to drive to the top of the summit and see the prison camp from my favorite movie as a kid, since I had no idea it was there!
After watching the film again I realized that the jetboat scenes were all filmed on the Shotover, with one scene filmed right where the Shotover Jet company puts their boats in near Frankton. So I got to see the prison camp, rode a jet boat on the same river, and I had no idea that it was all there before we drove into town! Halfway around the world just to run into that... Very cool.
That is fairly cool if you're into the movie. I must say it did add to the trip as me and my wife love visiting set locations. I just wasn't expecting it, and I can see the ramblers getting a bit annoyed (mind you it's private property). In fact I'm slightly surprised it's not even mentioned in any literature about the place - I'm sure there are many travellers who would think it's pretty cool (although as its shut off I suspect it's dangerous).
Best we ever went to was the Bokor Hill station in cambodia which was used in the great movie R-Point (Korean vietnam/horror movie). It was an old French resort abandoned in the fifties, complete with a huge hotel / casino, church and various buildings all pearched atop a clifftop. It was very very eerie indeed.
If you click on this link and scroll to the bottom you can see the hotel/casino.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bloody-disgusting.com /images/features/rpoint/rp2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bloody-disgus ting.com/interview/216&h=300&w=300&sz=24&tbnid=cQ22ZA0 LTzKEUM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3DR-point%2Bim ages&hl=en&usg=__WNvVA_jFt6JWKhZOqRyXzLc1o0E=&ei=bGnZS--AI t-kOMWO8L0P&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=7&ct=image& ;ved=0CBIQ9QEwBg
"If you disagree with me, convince me. Don't just throw a rock at my head."