Movies you didn't know were filmed in the north of Scotland

Move over Butler, McGregor and McAvoy; the real Scottish A List star is Location, Location, Location.

Scotland punches above its weight when it comes to producing big Hollywood stars, with the likes of Robert Carlyle, Peter Capaldi and Robbie Coltrane flying our nation's flag for decades. But what you may not know is that our wee bit hill and glen also provides the perfect backdrop for big budget movies.

Aside from the likes of Trainspotting, Gregory's Girl and Loch Ness - all of which are unashamedly set here - movie directors are choosing our uniquely beautiful landscape to add drama to films even when there is no obvious connection to Scotland.

For example, in Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig as 007, it makes sense that director Sam Mendes chose Glen Coe as the location for some of the main scenes to the movie, at Bond's family home, Skyfall Lodge. A major plot point of the film was that the secret agent was returning to his Scottish roots so choosing a location as iconic as Glen Coe was a wise move.

On the streets of Philadelphia Glasgow

But what if the story has nothing to do with Scotland? Glasgow's city centre was chosen to represent Philadelphia in the 2011 movie World War Z starring Brad Pitt.

1200 cast and crew descended on Scotland's biggest city while the opening scenes of the film were shot in a transformed George Square, complete with American cars, traffic lights and road signs.

And although the movie was set in Philidelphia, the American city lost out to Glasgow due to special tax credits designed to attract Hollywood directors to Scotland.

In August 2011 George Square and surrounding streets in Glasgow were transformed into Philadelphia for the filming of World War Z | Photo by Mark Harkin

So there are good reasons for film-makers to shoot here and the good news is it's not just happening in the big cities. We have discovered 3 recent Hollywood blockbusters that feature scenes filmed in the north of Scotland.

The Dark Knight Rises

The end of the Batman trilogy opens in Cairngorms where a CIA plane is hijacked by Bane’s army.

In an interview with Empire magazine, the movie's special effect's supervisor revealed that they had planned to shoot the scene over Arizona but director Christopher Nolan chose to film the aerial action scenes over the "more visually distinct" Highlands.

Still taken from Dark Knight Rises Trailer. Copyright Warner Brothers.

Prometheus

The 2012 science-fiction film’s opening scene was shot at The Storr on the Isle of Skye. Director Ridley Scott also chose Inverness, Rannoch Moor and Fort William as part of the set.

The Storr can be seen in the first few seconds of this trailer.

Snow White and the Huntsman

The Storr and Quiraing areas of Skye that appeared in Prometheus also featured in Snow White and the Huntsman, starring Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron.

Photo by John McSporran.

And it's easy to see why directors choose these locations. Last year Macbeth - starring Michael Fassbender - was filmed on Skye and the movie was nominated for Best Film at the Empire Awards earlier this week.

Producer Iain Canning told Empire magazine that shooting scenes in Scotland were "incredibly crucial".

He said: "You go to Skye, and it's almost an otherworldy place, and you imagine witches could come out of that landscape."

So the next time you're watching a film and think to yourself, "hold on, that looks like the place along the road," there's a very good chance it might be.

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