Movie places, between reality and fiction check this article

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Movie places-We are going to make a film trip to places that move between reality and fantasy. Places that in many cases you will recognize without problems.

They are places that we have seen in the cinema or we have imagined when reading unforgettable stories. Movie places that exist, that sometimes were created as cinematographic scenarios or that, simply, have “adapted” for it. We invite you to visit places of film that, sometimes, are not so much. Or if?

Movie places: Popeyes’s Village

Movie places

This unique town was built on the island of Malta to shoot the film version of the famous comic book. A fantasy scenario that today anyone can step on. And enjoy since it has been converted into a theme park. If you are one of those who enjoyed the Popeye stories, this place will love you.

Hobbiton

Do you want to visit an authentic hobbit village? Then you will have to travel to New Zealand, to Matamala. There you will find one of the most curious movie places you can imagine. Among small hills you can enjoy the home of Frodo and Bilbo. A fantasy scenario that was decided to continue after filming The Lord of the Rings.

Juliet’s balcony

Apparently, this is the house in Verona in which Shakeaspeare placed the home of the Capulets. In fact, in the Middle Ages here lived a family called Cappelletti. But the truth is that Juliet could never peek into this balcony. Or Romeo says that of Silence! What glow breaks through that window? It is the East, and Juliet, the sun! The reason? The balcony was added to the house early twentieth century.

Rick’s coffee

Neither Humphrey Bogart nor Ingrid Bergman set foot in Casablanca to shoot the unforgettable film. Of course, neither did Sam touch anything in any cafe in the Moroccan city. But a few years ago an ex-diplomat decided to recreate the legendary venue. And opened an exact replica of what can be seen in the film; almost like immerse you in it.

Bridge over the River Kwai

Here fiction and reality are also mixed. There was a bridge built by prisoners and the allies destroyed it. So this is not the real one. But it is from World War II and crosses the Kwai River, although with a trap, the river used to be called Mae Klong. What’s more, the film was not even shot in Thailand, but in Sri Lanka

Bridge of the spies

This is one of the movie places whose story is real. Border between the eastern block and the western block in Berlin, during the Cold War this bridge was the scene of the exchange of captured spies while conducting their investigations in enemy territory. The first exchange took place in early 1962 and the last in 1986.

House of Shelock Holmes

The 221B Baker Street, in London, is perhaps one of the best known addresses, at least for lovers of detective stories. Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character. But in this direction there is a house-museum in which he could perfectly have resided. Although something curious happens, the house is between numbers 237 and 241. Why? We only tell you one thing: put your detective skills to the test.

Tataouine, Tunisia

Tatooine is one of the planets that appear in Star Wars. Well, the inspiration to give it shape you will find it in Tunisia, in Tataouine. Here some scenes of the saga were recorded. Curious cave-dwellings and barns built by the Berbers served to set the home of Luke Skywalker.

Zhangjiajie

In this case, it is a real place that was transformed into a fantasy world thanks to technology. The landscape of Zhangjiajie, in China, was the inspiration to create the Hallelujah Mountains of Pandora’s paradise in the movie Avatar. And such was the success and the gratitude, that one of these rocks was baptized, precisely, with the name of Hallelujah.

Desert of Tabernas

It is the Wild West in the south of Spain. Yes, the desert of Tabernas, in Almería, was a filming set for the so-called spaguetti western. And watching those films nobody would say that they shot a few kilometers from the Mediterranean. If you visit, you will feel almost like one of those feature films. For the landscape and because you can enjoy a small theme park.

8 SCIENCE FICTION MOVIES WITH TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE NOW A REALITY

The fact that reality exceeds fiction is something that we have been checking over the years. The cinema is a clear sign that strange objects and curious ideas have become everyday tools in our day to day. An example of this we have in films like “2001: an odyssey in space”. Stanley Kubrick already showed some advances translated today as videoconferencing or tablets.

Other masterpieces of cinema have also left clues in recent years about the gap that robotics or artificial intelligence would occupy in our lives. Her by Spike Jonze and how the protagonist falls in love with his assistant is brilliant . In fact, he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

What made us dream in the sci-fi movies of the 70s, 80s or 90s is now part of our current reality. It seems strange to think, therefore, that there is something to discover, but some current series such as Black Mirror have the key to what we can see in the future. It is true that some things cause some concern. Will we witness some of them in a few years? It’s possible. We leave you while some of the technologies that appeared in old science fiction films and that are already part of the present.

MATRIX

The first Matrix movie premiered in Spain in June 1999. It has been one of the most acclaimed science fiction films, especially for its idea of the dystopian future. What is perceived as reality is merely a virtual simulation created by machines that have taken over the human population. This reminds us a lot to the current glasses of augmented reality. We can say that they are very close to the feeling of being totally immersed in a new world. The Oculus Rift or the Samsung Gear VR is some of those that are currently commercialized.

Any of them have the same purpose as Matrix, to enter into another reality parallel to ours to do what we want without having consequences for it. At least, as far as the physical plane is concerned. Although it is true that there is still a lot of work to be done, with augmented reality glasses we can play games, watch concerts, dance believing that we are in a disco or even make porn more real. In some therapies are also used to cure certain phobias, such as fear of flying.

BACK TO THE FUTURE 2

When we saw children as Return to the future we could not guess that some things that left us with their mouths open were going to be a reality years later. It is true that even cars can not fly and that there are no skateboards like the ones in the second part. Yes, on the other hand, Robert Zemeckis predicted communication with household appliances, drones, augmented reality glasses , or the use of the fingerprint to unlock a security system.

Do you remember when the Marty McFly of the past used the fingerprint of his girlfriend to open the door of his house of the future? The interaction with television, refrigerator and other appliances was also very present in the second installment of the trilogy.

Likewise, videoconferencing, something unthinkable to be carried out at home in 1989, was also shown in this part. Little by little, Return to the future is becoming like Return to the past. In any case, it is still to be seen that we drive on motorways with the car as if it were an airplane. We imagine that it will be much more complicated than talking to the washing machine.

STAR TREK

One of the most brilliant series of all time also predicted some of the technological advances that are now part of our reality. One of the most important was the mobile phone. To the point that its inventor, Martin Cooper, publicly acknowledged that he had the idea to see one of the chapters. But how did the mobile appear in Star Trek? As a kind of intercom through which Captain Kirk communicated with the rest of the crew. This device opened up and gave him the possibility to communicate with his interlocutor just by mentioning it. Today we can also do that thanks to mobile assistants like Siri.

Star Trek also predicted things as important as TACs. Thanks to a tiny device, Dr. McCoy was able to make a diagnosis without having to open the person for it, as it did in the reality of that time. Although these devices are part of the present, it is true that its size is much larger than that shown in the series. Also, what we know as USB memories, and that we are so useful to save data or transfer from one team to another, had its appearance in Star Trek. In the ship they used small square and flat discs, of about 7 centimeters, that were inserted in the central computer. At that time we also saw in the series giant plasma screens, navigation systems such as the current GPS or tablets.

STAR WARS

If you are a Star Wars fan, you surely know perfectly well what futuristic technologies were shown in movies and that are now well known by all. Do you remember how Princess Leia implored help in a tiny three-dimensional projection? Star Wars anticipated what we know today as holograms and that we saw, for example, with the image of Michael Jackson in the 2014 Billboard Awards. These holograms try to make us believe that this person is present in the place where they are projected.

The bionic hands of Luke Skywalker when he lost his after fighting with Darth Vader can also be described as a visionary scene that has come to come true. It is true that the price of these devices is quite high. In addition, there are not many who can access them. However, this new technology is changing the lives of hundreds of people and we imagine that it will be perfected for the future.

As if this were not enough, in Episode I, George Lucas also showed an armored train that ran at a great speed defying the laws of gravity. This is already a reality in places like Shanghai or Japan, where the magnetic levitation train, better known as maglev, transports thousands of people every day.

HER

She is one of the most moving and brilliant films of recent times. Spike Jonze presents us with an apocalyptic future in which loneliness through dehumanization, the result of living in a big city, and technology come together to give rise to a tender love story with tragic ends. It is true that although technology is everywhere, it is silent and discreet, intertwining perfectly inside and outside the life of the protagonist Theodore. There are no keyboards in this world. Everything, from your desk to your game console, is activated with voice commands. How could it be otherwise, the artificial intelligence Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with in the movie, Samantha, too.

Although Samantha goes beyond the capabilities of current virtual assistants such as Google Now or Siri, the futurist Ray Kurzweil believes that this could be the world in 2029. Scientists are already experimenting with ways in which technology can help to human psychological problems, such as robotic seal pups for patients with dementia. Technology as a cure for loneliness is just around the corner.

ELYSIUM

In 2154, humanity is divided into two. The most privileged live comfortably in the space habitat of Elysium, the rest is found on Earth, a devastated, polluted and impoverished shell of their old self. Before a critical mission to Elysium, Max Da Costa, who lives on Earth, is equipped with a motorized exoskeleton. This type of futuristic clothing is no longer just a science fiction thing. It came true a year after the premiere of the movie.

A group of Brazilian neuroscientists developed a complete exoskeleton suit that was inaugurated in the 2014 Brazilian Soccer World Cup. It served for a paraplegic person to perform the first service of honor despite his inability to walk. Two years later, in 2016, we also saw the exoskeletons of Panasonic. They are prepared so that in some jobs employees suffer less, or so that people with some type of disability have it easier in their day to day.

BLADE RUNNER

Ridley Scott once made one of the greatest cult movies, futuristic where ever there was one. Blade Runner not only left the best phrases and scenes from the history of cinema, but also some predictions that today are part of our reality. This is the case of giant advertising signs with LED lights that appeared in the movie and that nowadays we can see in some of the big cities of the world, such as New York, Paris or Tokyo.

Other famous predictions of Blade Runner that are no longer a thing of the future are video calls. Do you remember Agent Deckard talking face to face with Rachel from a booth? In the film the operation of applications like Skype was predicted, that ended up becoming something of the most daily thing in homes and companies of the whole world years later.

FORGET ABOUT ME!

In this film by Michel Gondry, lovers Joel and Clementine hire a company to erase their memories after their breakup. The doctor records and tracks Joel’s brain activity, while Joel describes how he and Clementine fell in love and fell out of love. Systematically use this “Clementine map” to point and selectively erase the painful memories of Joel de Clementine. Most of the film takes place in Joel’s mind.

Although it is true that there is not yet a technology as such that can alleviate the pain of a rupture. Scientists have recently discovered the gene that erases memory in mice. They have tried a drug called HDAC2 inhibitor to manipulate the brain of a mouse, successfully “erasing” traumatic memories. This study could be more beneficial for patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition, according to the scientific writer Steven Johnson. The visual cinematic effects of how memories are formed, how they deteriorate. And how they are stored are really very accurate when it comes to modern neuroscience.