Movies set in Extotic Locations

Movies set in exotic locations! Our real lives are often mundane and incredibly boring. It is movies that take us to unfamiliar territories and make us vicariously fulfil our fantasies. I have prepared a list of films that take us to remote and exotic locations, the ones that transport us to worlds we have not seen, the ones that invoke a sense of wanderlust, the ones that make you feel like packing the bags and going in search of the endlessly fascinating mother nature. A bollywood song showing an exotic location does not count, the location has to be an essential part of the story. Some films in the list might be slow and minimalist, approach with caution.

Mutluluk(Bliss) - This cute Turkish film is set in a yacht sailing in the Exquisite coasts of Turkey, plenty of picturesque scenery and an engaging story. Highly recommended.

Bond films - Right from the days of Dr No and On her majesty's secret service Bond films have had gorgeous foreign locations as their major attractions.

Nordwand(North Face) - This German film is the story of men trying to climb the Eiger mountain(Part of Switzerland's Alps), it captures the terrifying and harrowing beauty of the Alps with impressive camera work. This might be the most realistic climbing film out there.

Around the world in 80 days(the one made in 1956) - Hold your breath: They shot in 112 locations in 13 countries and as if this was not enough they erected 140 sets, the cast including extras totalled 68,894 people as per Wiki. This film was actually shot around the world in around 80 days!

The Buffalo Boy (2004): Nobody seems to have watched this story of a boy who lives in the flooded lowlands of Vietnam. The boy has to take his buffalos to a place where they can find grass. Watch it for those Floating villages of Vietnam , the primitive yet beautiful landscape and a lyrical narration.

African Queen - Master director John Huston directing Humphrey Bogart and the characters are floating in a boat in the rivers of Congo in East Africa, it was shot on location, what more do you want?

Dersu Uzala (1975) - A less known film of Akira Kurosawa, It is about a Mongolian tracker who acts as a guide to a Russian surveyor in the Siberian wilderness. Scenes in the wilderness look so realistic.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring - This Korean film plays like a Buddhist parable. Entire film is set in a floating Buddhist temple in a secluded lake. It is the story of a boy told through different seasons, as he learns to be a monk. Very interesting premise, executed in a visually arresting fashion, narrated poetically.

Vertical limit - Vertical limit is set in the Himalayan peak K2(Shot in New Zealand), It is your standard high-octane Hollywood action film, there are many snow-capped settings, there is enough eye candy to warrant a one time watch.

Himalaya - Nothing great but this one is actually shot in a remote Himalayan village in Nepal, A realistic depiction of the salt caravans that traverse the majestic Himalayan Mountains in Tibet. Can be watched once for the magnificent panoramas and the mountains and glaciers.

Days of Heaven by Terrence Mallick - This very slow-moving poetry on screen is hypnotic. They shot most of the film during the "magic hour"(between darkness and sunrise/sunset), Must watch for the astonishing images of the endless wheat fields and one lonely farmhouse. I had once said that you can take any scene from the films of the great Greek filmmaker Theodorous Angelopoulos, pause it and send the paused scene to a photography competition. I would say that about this film.

Dreams of dust - Set in the rural, dusty African country of Burkina Faso, this one shows the Gold mines in that place. It is slow, bleak, primitive and terrifying and makes you feel like you have learned a bit about a completely different culture. A quietly affecting, sombre story about grief, survival and hope.

Mountain Patrol (2004): This one chronicles the stories of the Tibetan vigilante group who fought poachers in the Chinese highlands, one of the most remote, harshest environments in the world, a haunting, stark, desolate region.

Tulpan - Steppes of Kazakistan. It shows a place where there are no landmarks, no roads, nothing. It is a funny, fascinating and charming story of people living in such an isolated place.

Eight below - Story of an explorer who has to leave his team of dogs in Antarctica. Of course, it is not shot on location!(Greenland and Canada were the shooting locations) But there are stock footages of Antarctica and the vistas are beautiful and convincing, the heartwarming story makes it a good watch.

Medicine Man (1992) - Directed by John McTiernan of Die hard fame, starring the charismatic Sean Connery, this one has breathtaking outdoors and a decent story. It is a Story of a scientist trying to find cure for Cancer in the jungles. Set in the Amazon rain forests of Brazil(Shot in Mexico), this one is an an old fashioned entertainer.

The way back- A treacherous trek to freedom across the world’s most merciless landscapes – from Siberia to India.

Lawrence of Arabia - Needs no introduction. An epic, majestically captures the desert.

The Hunter (2011) - Filmed on the Australian island of Tasmania, it is the story of a man hired to locate and extract the DNA from the last remaining Tasmanian tiger. Has unique landscapes,forests, highland lakes and valleys.

A far off Place - A standard Hollywood style journey for survival in the Kalahari Deserts of Africa.

Aguirre the wrath of god - Well, there are 2 types of people in the world. There is Werner Herzog and there is the rest of the world. Herzog once made a film called Fitzcarraldo(set in the South American jungles), a ship had to be moved from one river to another via a piece of land in the story. Guess how Herzog filmed it? He actually took a 320 ton ship there and asked people to manually pull it! In Aguirre: The Wrath of God, he tells the story of explorers searching for gold, floating down a river in the middle of the godforsaken jungle. There were no computers, no special effects -- everything that happened in the film had to happen in real life. Those pictures of Amazon rain forests in Aguirre are hypnotic, stunning and gorgeous. Fitzcarraldo, Rescue Dawn and all of his documentaries are also recommended.

Honourable mentions:
Blackboards - Iranian. A group of teachers with blackboards strapped to their backs, wander in search of students they can teach in the rugged terrain of Kurdistan
The English Patient (1996) - A grand, sweeping romance and an Oscar winner, this one has some real good scenes set in the African Sahara desert.
The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) - This is another film set in Sahara. It is the story about a group of people getting stranded in the desert after a plane crash.
Alive (1993) - Another plane crash/survival story set in the snow capped Andes mountains.
The Blue Butterfly (2004) - Story of a boy who wants to capture a blue butterfly, the film was underwhelming but the jungles of Costa Rica looked really good.
Jeremiah Johnson - Woods and snowy mountain regions of Utah
Munyurangabo - Landscapes of Rwandan countryside
Vodka Lemon - Iranian. A remote,snowy village in Armenia
Kandahar(Borders of Afghanistan)- Iranian. Story of an Afghan-Canadian lady journalist returning to her homeland after receiving a suicidal note from her sister who lives in the city of Kandahar. Shows the Talibani regions and provides indelible and touching images.

Yet to watch:
Postmen in the Mountains
The Thaw (2009)
Pathfinder (2007)
Sanctum (2011)
Black Water (2007)
Iron Will (1994)
Farewell to the King (1989)
Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
Jungle Child (2011) - A family of a German linguist lives with an indigenous tribe in Papua New Guinea

Suggestions are welcome