Springbok Casino Pays Special Homage to Homegrown Filmed Entertainment

South Africa is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most beautiful countries on this planet, so it’s no wonder that big time Hollywood filmmakers want to use our gorgeous landscapes and diverse cityscapes for their upcoming projects.

Springbok Casino has decided to pay a tribute to those films or television series that were either wholly or even partially filmed right here in our backyard.

Check out the full article on their website for more information and video clips of the movies in question, here are a few mentioned in their tribute.

Honorable Mentions

Starting off strong, they introduce  Avengers: Age of Ultron. This massive blockbuster is the follow up to the massive collaboration film The Avengers released in 2012. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has become a household name in pop culture and launched way back in 2008.

The scene in question is a battle between Iron Man in his massive Hulkbuster armour versus The Hulk and takes place in the Johannesburg CBD.

Wide sweeping shots really show off the city in a breathtaking way.

Next up is an instant classic, District 9. This thought provoking film was shot entirely in South Africa and by South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp.

Taking place mainly in informal settlements, this movie showed off one of the sadder realities that many in this country face on a day to day basis.

Following on from there is Clint Eastwood’s retelling of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, Invictus.

Multiple South African landmarks appear in this stunning movie, locations such as Ellis Park and Robben island as well as various locations throughout Johannesburg and Cape Town.

While Morgan Freeman takes on the monumental task of portraying Nelson Mandela in the film, many South Africans had parts to play as well.

Cape Town in the Spotlight

Although it may not look like it, Maze Runner: The Death Cure was filmed almost in its entirety in and around Cape Town.

This highly anticipated movie is the final in the trilogy and boasts some incredible CGI work, which is a little bit of a pity due to the fact that it hides the spectacular landscape in which it was filmed.

Another movie offering that was mostly filmed in Cape Town is Tomb Raider, which is based off the hit video game franchise of the same name.

The majority of this film was shot on location in Cape Town except for a few, location specific, scenes. This shows once again that South Africa is capable of filming diverse scenes for various different films.

It’s fairly clear to see that South Africa, even as a country, is almost like an actor itself. The landscape is so unique in its offerings that it’s able to play multiple different roles in multiple different movies, it makes sense why filmmakers keep coming back to this amazing land.

Check out the list, in its entirety, on the Springbok Casino website complete with video clips of the scenes and trailers of the movies. Maybe make a short list of a few that you may have not seen yet and see if you can spot the distinct landscapes of the unique country that they were filmed in.

Source: “Movies and the South African Connection” 19 October 2020.