Whether it’s a breakneck avalanche stunt, a thrilling film biography or a romantic comedy – Austria has a lot to offer when it comes to filming locations. We tell you where you can follow in the footsteps of Hollywood and Co.
Possibly appearing in this article are isolated locations or To Dos that may not be open at the moment due to the Corona measures. Nevertheless we decided not to delete it to inspire you already now for the time to come. Our articles are not intended to be a call to disregard the measures in force – please stick to them! Take care of each other, keep your distance and get vaccinated if you can, so we can lower the Corona numbers as quickly as possible.
Home art thou to great sons and daughters – and pilgrimage land to many a great film crew. Yes, in Austria some international directors and actors have already fought over hill and dale. And no, for once we’re not talking about "The Sound of Music", the US-American image film of Austria, which was shot in Salzburg in the 60s. And not only from the Austrian film set numero uno: Vienna, where countless classics like "The Third Man", "The Piano Player" or "Before Sunrise" were filmed. We show you where else you can follow in the footsteps of Hollywood and co in Austria. But beware: Even if Vin Diesel is messing with an avalanche and extreme athletes are racing down the Molltal Glacier Road, you shouldn’t copy the stunts of some Hollywood movies just because of that. Seriously – it’s all just for show.
Tyler Rake: Extraction 2 (2022)
While not Hollywood, streaming service Netflix isn’t skimping when it comes to financially and organizationally lavish productions in 2022 either. The best example of this is the sequel to the successful action flick "Tyler Rake: Extraction", whose eponymous main character is embodied by none other than Chris Hemsworth. And it is precisely this film that will be visiting Vienna in February with an armada of production colleagues. For the second part with the (preliminary)?) Titled "Tyler Rake: Extraction 2," the Danube plate from 31. January to 14. Turn February into an adventurous battlefield. In fact, things are supposed to get so wild that parents are advised not to send their children to the surrounding kindergartens on these days and stores are temporarily closed.
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Mountain Eagle (1925)
In Obergurgl, Tyrol, people were certainly amazed when Alfred Hitchcock trudged through the snow in 1925. The English master director shot his second silent film, The Mountain Eagle, in the otztal Alps, where schoolteacher Beatrice (Nita Naldi) falls in love with hermit John Fulton (Malcolm Keen) of all people. The film is not one of the great successes of Hitchcock and is now even considered lost. But the Alps can’t help it.
James Bond 007 – The Touch of Death (1987)
In contrast, the James Bond films are more reliable class hits. "The Breath of Death" from 1987 was shot in England, Morocco, Gibraltar and – how could it be otherwise – Austria. Because director John Glen had participated in the shooting of "The Third Man" in Vienna at the beginning of his career, he let his double zero Timothy Dalton make the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel, the Volksoper, Schonbrunn Palace, the Sofiensale and the Gasometers unsafe. But Carinthia was not spared from the spectacular chase: parts of the film were shot on the Naggler Alm and on the frozen Weissensee below, over which James Bond sped in a cello box. By the way, only a little later the Dutch ice skating scene imitated him. Though instead of in the instrument case on skates, but still. Since 1989, thanks to the special agent, the annual speed skating races are held here.
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The Three Musketeers (1993)
En garde! To the swords and off to – Austria? Quite right! In the film adaptation of the novel "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas, some Austrian places slip into the role of France from the year 1625. The Vienna Hofburg had to serve as a backdrop for the Palace of Versailles, for example. St. Martin in Burgenland was a filming location as well as Petronell Castle, Korneuburg or the Retz Windmill in Lower Austria. The lake grotto Hinterbruhl also had its own screen appearance.
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Seven Years of Tibet (1997)
Although the US-American film "Seven Years Tibet" was mostly shot in Argentina, it has at least as strong an Austrian connection as "Sound of Music". For the central figure of the landscape epic is the Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer, played by Hollywood prototype Brad Pitt. Of course, they didn’t miss the opportunity to shoot a scene or two in Harrer’s country of origin. And it was shot on the mountains of Lienz and Asten in the Carinthian Molltal valley.
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xXx – Triple X
Compared to this, "xXx – Triple X" is much more brutal. What it’s about is quickly explained: testosterone, breakneck stunts that make the audience contort their faces into a sharp hiss, gangsters, parties and even more testosterone. Vin Diesel as Xander Cage also sprayed a little bit of it on the north-west slope of the Norderberg in the Tyrolean Kaunertal valley. This is where the winter scenes were shot and the scene where Diesel rides away from an avalanche on a snowboard. Realistic? Well. The main thing is that the avalanche has not caught up with him.
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Bridget Jones – On the Edge of Madness (2004)
In the Bridget Jones films, the only things that could be considered breakneck are the fatal accidents of the title character. Although Bridget Jones (Rene Zellweger) finally got together with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) in the first part. But in the second part their relationship is also already on shaky ground. Literally. Because during a joint skiing vacation in Lech am Arlberg, the clumsy main character hurtles across the Vorarlberg slopes in a cramped snowplow and even into a pharmacy.
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Jump! (2006)
Far more tragic is the story of Philip Halsman, a Jewish dentist’s son from Latvia, told in the film "Jump!" retold. When he went on a mountain tour with his father in the Zillertal, the latter fell to his death for unknown reasons. In 1928, Halsman was therefore convicted of patricide and was to go to prison for life for it. But his lawyer – played by Patrick Swayze in the film, by the way – together with prominent support from Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein and Thomas Mann, managed to get him off because of the dubious verdict. In 1930, Federal President Wilhelm Miklas pardoned the young Halsman, but expelled him from the country.
In the film, the scenes that are set in Innsbruck do not take place in the Tyrolean capital, however, but in Upper Austria at locations in Linz, Enns, Hinterstoder, Molln and Frauenstein. The Emperor’s Hall of Kremsmunster Abbey was used as a backdrop for the courtroom sequences. But please: Who’s going to insist on geographic accuracy with so much Hollywood hoopla going on?.
In the hectic pace of life, one or two mistakes can slip through the cracks. We show you where Hollywood got it massively wrong regarding Austria. You want more Dreohorte? Continue in our part 2.