Feeling the Heat at
DEATH VALLEY
Landscape Featured in First Star Wars Blockbuster
COLIN SIMPSON
THE sand dunes of Tatooine, the wilderness where Jesus spent 40 days and nights, and the Northwest Frontier of India have one thing in common. They’ve all been represented in famous films by the desolate, scorched landscapes of California’s Death Valley.
In the second post in our Movie Fans’ California series on famous movie locations in the entertainment industry’s home state, we visit the lowest – and hottest – place in North America.
Feeling the Heat at
DEATH VALLEY
Landscape Featured in First Star Wars Blockbuster
COLIN SIMPSON
THE sand dunes of Tatooine, the wilderness where Jesus spent 40 days and nights, and the Northwest Frontier of India have one thing in common. They’ve all been represented in famous films by the desolate, scorched landscapes of California’s Death Valley.
In the second post in our Movie Fans’ California series on famous movie locations in the entertainment industry’s home state, we visit the lowest – and hottest – place in North America.
THE biggest film shot in Death Valley is the one known to my generation as Star Wars, but which has been ponderously renamed Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes (right) is one of several areas used – it’s where R2D2 and C3PO are seen heading off in different directions after their escape pod crashes.
Scenes from the film I call Return of the Jedi were also shot in what is now a national park.
Tatooine is, of course, Luke Skywalker’s home planet. Other scenes set there were shot in Tunisia, including some in the troglodyte community of Matmata. Some sequences were filmed in Guatemala. When I visited the Tunisian sites a few years ago I was struck by the international scale of that first Star Wars shoot in 1976.
Star Wars is now such a monster franchise that it’s easy to forget how deeply unfashionable science fiction was back then. Director George Lucas had made only two movies previously, so it was quite an act of faith for the producers to authorise such an ambitious production.
Film-makers had been drawn to Death Valley for decades before Star Wars. They were attracted by the striking scenery, the variety of the landscapes and the proximity to Los Angeles. As well as sand dunes, there are mountains, salt flats (right), canyons, and strange geological formations.
IMDB lists 179 productions that were shot in the valley. It doubled for the Judean Desert in 1965’s The Greatest Story Ever Told, and India in 1939’s Gunga Din. Large-scale shoots are no longer allowed in the park.
The valley acquired its name during the 1849 California Gold Rush, when a group of pioneers became lost and feared they would die there. Sections of the park have equally striking names, such as Furnace Creek, Devils Hole, Hells Gate, and Stovepipe Wells.
It is one of the hottest places on Earth, and Badwater Basin – at 86 metres below sea level – is the lowest point in North America.
The highest temperature ever recorded on Earth, a blistering 56.7C (134F), was measured in Death Valley on July 10, 1913.
One famous place you can’t currently visit is Scotty’s Castle – the road leading to it was destroyed by flooding, and it’s not due to reopen until 2021.
Michelangelo Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point was named after an area of the park (right). It was released in 1970, a year after Easy Rider had proved there was a market for “counterculture” movies.
Zabriskie Point failed to repeat the Oscar-nominated success of its predecessor, however – it was a commercial and critical flop, though more recently it has edged towards cult status.
September 2019
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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE’S Death Valley website gives you all the information you need to plan a visit – pay particular attention to any extreme heat warnings. READ MORE
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Feeling the Heat in
DEATH VALLEY
Landscape Featured in First Star Wars Blockbuster
COLIN SIMPSON
THE sand dunes of Tatooine, the wilderness where Jesus spent 40 days and nights, and the Northwest Frontier of India have one thing in common. They’ve all been represented in famous films by the desolate, scorched landscapes of California’s Death Valley.
In the second post in our Movie Fans’ California series on famous movie locations in the entertainment industry’s home state, we visit the lowest – and hottest – place in North America.
THE biggest film shot in Death Valley is the one known to my generation as Star Wars, but which has been ponderously renamed Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes (right) is one of several areas used – it’s where R2D2 and C3PO are seen heading off in different directions after their escape pod crashes.
Scenes from the film I call Return of the Jedi were also shot in what is now a national park.
Tatooine is, of course, Luke Skywalker’s home planet. Other scenes set there were shot in Tunisia, including some in the troglodyte community of Matmata. Some sequences were filmed in Guatemala. When I visited the Tunisian sites a few years ago I was struck by the international scale of that first Star Wars shoot in 1976.
Star Wars is now such a monster franchise that it’s easy to forget how deeply unfashionable science fiction was back then. Director George Lucas had made only two movies previously, so it was quite an act of faith for the producers to authorise such an ambitious production.
Film-makers had been drawn to Death Valley for decades before Star Wars. They were attracted by the striking scenery, the variety of the landscapes and the proximity to Los Angeles. As well as sand dunes, there are mountains, salt flats (right), canyons, and strange geological formations.
IMDB lists 179 productions that were shot in the valley. It doubled for the Judean Desert in 1965’s The Greatest Story Ever Told, and India in 1939’s Gunga Din. Large-scale shoots are no longer allowed in the park.
The valley acquired its name during the 1849 California Gold Rush, when a group of pioneers became lost and feared they would die there. Sections of the park have equally striking names, such as Furnace Creek, Devils Hole, Hells Gate, and Stovepipe Wells.
It is one of the hottest places on Earth, and Badwater Basin – at 86 metres below sea level – is the lowest point in North America. The highest temperature ever recorded on Earth, a blistering 56.7C (134F), was measured in Death Valley on July 10, 1913.
One famous place you can’t currently visit is Scotty’s Castle – the road leading to it was destroyed by flooding, and it’s not due to reopen until 2021.
Michelangelo Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point was named after an area of the park (right). It was released in 1970, a year after Easy Rider had proved there was a market for “counterculture” movies.
Zabriskie Point failed to repeat the Oscar-nominated success of its predecessor, however – it was a commercial and critical flop, though more recently it has edged towards cult status.
September 2019
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MORE INFO
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE’S Death Valley website gives you all the information you need to plan a visit – pay particular attention to any extreme heat warnings. READ MORE
RELATED
JOSHUA TREE PARSONS: Fifty years ago the Flying Burrito Brothers, a country rock band whose line-up included singer and guitarist Gram Parsons, released their seminal album The Gilded Palace of Sin… READ MORE
AMERICA’S GHOST HIGHWAY: Pulling in at Roy’s Motel and Café, a legendary fuel stop on Route 66 in California, I was astonished to see the forecourt packed with dozens of shiny Dodge Challenger muscle cars. There’d been almost no traffic… READ MORE
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WELCOME TO OUR WORLD! Afaranwide’s home page – this is where you can find out about our latest posts and other highlights. READ MORE
TOP 10 ATTRACTIONS: Many of the world’s most popular tourists sites are closed because of the coronavirus crisis, but you can still visit them virtually while you’re self-isolating. READ MORE
SHIMLA, QUEEN OF THE HILLS: Government officials once retreated to Shimla in the foothills of the Himalayas to escape India’s blazing hot summers. Now tourists make the same journey. READ MORE
TEN THINGS WE LEARNED: Our detailed guide to creating a website, one step at a time. The costs, the mistakes – it’s what we wish we’d known when we started blogging. READ MORE
TROUBLED TIMES FOR EXPATS: Moving abroad can seem an idyllic prospect, but what happens when sudden upheavals or the inescapable realities of life intrude? READ MORE
Disclosure: Afaranwide is an affiliate of leading travel operators such as Booking.com and Japan Rail Pass. If you purchase through our site we receive, at no additional cost to you, a small commission. We only work with companies we have used and recommend.
Big Star Wars fan 🙏. Really enjoyed your article
This is so pretty, but I would not like to get lost there. It looks huge! I guess that’s why it’s called Death Valley…
Great article!
Love the photos. We managed to hit Death Valley on a visit to Las vegas. I didn’t realise scenes from Star Wars were shot there! Thanks for posting.
Hello Jeremy, thanks for your kind words. We stayed at Beatty near the entrance to Death Valley and that was another experience altogether, real cowboys drinking in the bars! I loved it. Sue