FEATURE: Films

Off the Edge

Filmed in the South Island

By Gavin Bertram

As a postcard to the world, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies couldn’t have been a more effective South Island promotion.

The huge mountainous vistas, raging rivers, and foreboding forests depicted the broad variety of landscapes to many who’d never before witnessed them. Film tourism became its own industry, with 18% of visitors saying that The Hobbit sparked their interest in coming to these shores.

But the South Island has long been favoured by filmmakers due to exactly the variety of amazing locations within a relatively short distance. It’s been said before that the place is like one giant film set.

“Point a camera in any direction here and you’ve got a shot,” Great Southern TV producer Phil Smith says.

From the early days of film in New Zealand the South Island’s potential was recognised, with the James R. Sullivan’s Venus of the South Seas being filmed there in 1924.

Later, government promotional travelogues 1925’s Glorious New Zealand and 1934’s Romantic New Zealand featured the beautiful, unpopulated wilderness of Central Otago and the West Coast.

Road movies and wild scenery became synonymous with the South Island in locally made films - including 1981’s groundbreaking Goodbye Pork Pie.

Co-productions with overseas companies during the 1980s saw bigger budget action films being shot among the mountains and lakes of Central Otago, including Race for the Yankee Zephyr and Shaker Run.

Hollywood really came knocking in the new millennium, with Jackson’s immense Tolkien works, along with Vertical Limit, The Chronicles of Narnia, X Men, and Mission Impossible all shooting here.

With so many big films already having been made in the South Island, it’s little surprise that more productions are in the pipeline. There are highly experienced film crew members working from here, and a good support infrastructure.

But while the New Zealand film industry has already reignited in the midst of Covid-19, international tourism may take years to recover.

So in the absence of hordes of film tourists, it’s the perfect time to enjoy some famous South Island film locations for yourself.

30 movies filmed in the South Island

Venus of the Southern Seas (1924)

James Sullivan’s silent feature was shot in Nelson, a South Seas epic that has been called a great example of “the way New Zealand took to the fledgling film industry”.

Glorious New Zealand (1925)

A documentary feature made for the New Zealand Government Publicity Office as a promotional device, with footage of Queenstown and Lake Wānaka.

Down on the Farm (1935)

Filmed in Otago, little of Stewart Pitt’s melodrama has survived. The Kinematograph Weekly noted “the film is poor entertainment and worse propaganda”.

Snows of Aorangi (1955)

The first New Zealand film to be Oscar nominated was a tourism promotion, shot in the Southern Alps by Brian Brake, with a James K Baxter written narration.

Runaway (1964)

Westland and North Island locations featured in John O’Shea’s road movie about a fallen from grace accountant and those he encounters.

This is New Zealand (1970)

The National Film Unit’s panoramic promo directed by Hugh MacDonald included stunning aerial footage of the Southern Alps, viewed by millions at Expo ‘70 in Japan.

Off the Edge (1977)

Filmed in Mount Cook National Park, Mike Firth’s adventure doco showed off the thrilling exploits of skiers Jeff Campbell and Blair Trenholm, including hanggliding.

Goodbye Pork Pie (1981)

Geoff Murphy’s irreverent New Zealand cultural icon has the protagonists traverse the length of the country in a stolen yellow mini. A local game-changer.

Race for the Yankee Zephyr (1981)

A big-budget action flick shot around Queenstown, this stunt-laden co-production had big name actors like Donald Pleasance and George Peppard.

Battletruck (1982)

Set in a dystopian future, this local production in the wake of Mad Max’s success across the ditch was dubbed “a thinking man’s action movie”.

Carry Me Back (1982)

More road high-jinks in this tale of brothers trying to get their dad’s body from Wellington back to his Marlborough farm so he can be buried there.

Bad Blood (1982)

A tense, powerful retelling of alienated West Coast farmer Stan Graham, and his 1941 killing of seven people, including policemen.

Shaker Run (1985)

This adrenaline packed action film directed by Bruce Morrison, told the unlikely story of a scientist on the run from the New Zealand Security Service in the South Island.

The Leading Edge (1987)

Another Mike Firth adventure extravaganza, this is a strange entity spanning drama and documentary, with some awesome Southern Alps' sequences.

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)

Vincent Ward’s hallucinogenic fantasy classic included sequences around the Southern Alps' Lake Harris, only accessible by helicopter.

Willow (1988)

An American production directed by Ron Howard, this included scenes from Queenstown, Cardrona Ski Field, and kayaking at Milford Sound.

Illustrious Energy (1988)

Central Otago plays a lead role in Leon Narby’s evocative story set among Chinese prospectors during the Otago Gold Rush of the 1860s.

Never Say Die (1988)

Another Geoff Murphy roadie featuring Temuera Morrison as an investigative journalist fleeing a trumped-up murder charge. Yet again, the West Coast is a co-star.

Heavenly Creatures (1994)

Peter Jackson’s compelling triumph related the grim 1953 Parker-Hulme matricide in Christchurch. The screenplay was nominated for an Oscar.

Scarfies (1999)

Dunedin student culture and a fraught criminal enterprise were the backdrop for Robert Sarkies' dark comedy, where one Taika Waititi was first spotted.

Vertical Limit (2000)

Filmed in the Southern Alps, this massive budget US production starred Chris O’Donnell and Bill Paxton. The climbing action is extreme.

Lord of the Rings (2001)

One film to rule them all. The first of Peter Jackson’s Tolkien epics changed the face of the New Zealand film - and tourism - industries.

Sylvia (2003)

Coastal Otago was the scene for this biopic about the brilliant, tragic poet Sylvia Plath and husband Ted Hughes, played by Gwyneth Paltrow and Daniel Craig.

In My Father’s Den (2004)

Maurice Gee’s haunting novel was vividly brought to life in frozen Central Otago by Brad McGann - a stunning epitaph for the director who died in 2007.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)

The South Island is not only Middle Earth, it’s also Narnia, with locations in Canterbury, North Otago, and the Catlins featured in the first Chronicles of Narnia.

X Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Hugh Jackman has made the Marvel legend his own, including in this prequel, partially filmed in Dunedin and Central Otago.

Two Little Boys (2012)

Robert Sarkies directed the black Southland comedy of his brother Duncan’s novel, with Brett McKenzie and Hamish Blake starring.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Jackson’s second Tolkien trilogy again included locations across the South Island, including Fiordland, Marlborough, Otago, and the Mackenzie Basin.

The Light Between Oceans (2016)

Starring Michael Fassbender, Rachel Weisz, and Alicia Vikander, this drama was filmed around Dunedin, and the isolated lighthouse at Cape Campbell in Marlborough.

Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018)

The sixth installment from this huge franchise starring Tom Cruise included scenes shot around Queenstown and Milford Sound in mid-2017.