Bavaria Film Studios – Munich – Germany

Posté le Jeudi 22 mai 2008dans Allemagne, Attractions, Cinéma, Musées, Payspar Alexandre RosaImprimer

If you’re familiar with the Walt Disney Studios theme park in Paris, you know what this park lacks. When it first opened in 2002, it was a small park with very few rides. Today, it looks more competitive, thanks to the opening of the long awaited the Tower of Terror last month. But still, this is just a theme park. It’s Tram Backlot Tour has nothing very attractive, simply because it lacks the true ambiance of movie filming, that you easily find in other places such as the Universal Studios Resort in California. What about passing through the sets of Sex & the City, seeing the crashed Boeing 747 of The War of the Worlds, right before your eyes? It’s quite more exciting than just a small piece of a Dinotopia set and a few movie cars, isn’t it?

Well, they understood this quite well in Germany. No no, i’m not going to talk to you about the Movie World Germany theme park, but about a real studio. It’s located in the south of Munich, in Bavaria, and it’s home to the german smash-hit tv-sop Marienhof. It’s also here that Wolfgang Petersen shot his first success Das Boot. The first Asterix and Obelix movie, with Christian Clavier and Gerard Depardieu, were also partly shot here, as an european production. This is the Bavaria Filmstadt.

No rides heres, except one small 4D Dynamic Cinema. This is a real working studio, still used for german and international productions. Some of their soundstages are brand new, and can rival easily with the state-of-the-art soundstages of Pinewood in England. Let’s see what’s inside…

Asterix and Obelix vs Caesar
The French comic book was first adapted as a movie a few years ago. The super-production was made possible by an European partnership between several big production companies. One of them was German, and that’s why part of Asterix’s village was built here. The Roman circus arena scene was also shot here. Visit the set in pictures.

The Neverending Story (L’Histoire sans fin)
Who hasn’t seen this movie trilogy from the early 80s? Wolfgang Petersen (still the same guy!) shot here the first movie starring the famous white flying dragon Ururur. No need to mention that i couldn’t resist riding it! Except it’s not a real dragon… As you can see, blue screens and the magic of cinema helps to make it fly!

Stunt Show
No car stunt here. We’re not in the Walt Disney Studios! But this is indeed a show aimed at entertaining the public visiting the Filmstadt. In an indoor theatre, you’ll discover the secrets of special effects such as flying, burning alive, and of course fighting.

Traumschiff Surprise – Periode 1 (shoot your own Star Trek parody movie)
This Star Trek parody is not well known outside Germany, but it’s all right because you’re not just here to visit a used set : you’re here to shoot your own movie! Le’ts put on some pajamas and set the cameras rolling. Motors! Action!

Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen)
Ever wanted to visit a german U-Boat? Well you can do it here, without even getting wet! Built inside a long tent, this submarine is the exact reproduction of a real one, full scale! It was used for the movie Das Boot by Wolfgang Petersen. And the machines are still working!

Marienhof
This is the most famous German TV series. In France, we have Sous le Soleil (well known internationaly as St Tropez), and they have Marienhof. If you believed in was actually shot in the streets of Cologne, you were wrong. Here, all the streets are made almost full scale and out of plywood. As for the interiors of the houses, the hospital etc… they’re all next to each other, inside a huge dedicated soundstage nearby…

4D Cinema – Sissi
This is the only ride that you’ll find in the Bavaria Filmstadt. Those who are familiar with the Futuroscope in France won’t be surprised. It’s a basic simulator using a 4D movie, set in the universe of Sissi, a 3D animated film released in 2007 in Germany. It’s obviously a parody of Sissi for children.

Munich Street Sets
Those sets are again what the Walt Disney Studios lack the most. Street sets are the soul of amovie studio. Used and resused in many productions, those sets are life-size, except they’re just facades. Go around and you’ll realize there’s nothing behind those realistic-looking buildings.

DWK5
Small productions are also shot in the Bavaria Filmstadt, such as DWK. This teen movie tells the story of a group of teenagers who have to play football against aliens and vampires on a distant planet to save their lives. Lots of special effects included, but no story…