Sydney Locations Made Famous In Film

Sydney, with its iconic sights, beaches, blue mountains to the west and national parks to the north and south, is one of the world’s most famous cities, known throughout the world. Peter Templeman’s Not Suitable For Children has recently brought cinematic eyes to the city, but this is not the first film to do so.

Here, we take a look at some of Sydney’s most famous film locations.

MARRICKVILLE

It may resemble a million other shop fronts all around the world, and for anyone unaware of its existence it’s anything but memorable, but the corner of Marrickville and Victoria Roads is actually one of the town’s most famous landmarks.

The setting for some of the dancing lesson scenes in Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom, the most memorable being when Scott and Fran danced to Cyndi Lauper’s 'Time After Time' in the moonlight. The area may not be that recognizable immediately, but it still attracts camera flashes twenty years later.

BARE ISLAND

A small island just a few kilometres south-east of Sydney, Bare Island is considered a mecca by scuba divers, with as many as two hundred sometimes present on hot, summer Sundays. Surrounded by a reef, the waters around the island are home to some of the area’s most colourful marine wildlife, with sea horses, red indian fish, grey nurse sharks and seals often spotted by swimmers.

Connected by a footbridge to the suburb of La Perouse, Bare Island is the site of a historic military fort, which later became a retirement home. Featured in a number of different films the island was most famously used as the backdrop for the famous motorcycle duel between Tom Cruise and Dougray Scott in Mission Impossible 2 in the scene most commonly seen on some of the movie’s more iconic posters.

STRICKLAND HOUSE

Completed in 1858, Strickland House sits on five hectares of harbour-side land near Neilsen Park. With sloping lawns, stables, mature trees, terraces and a croquet green, the property is open to the public daily, offering spectacular views of the Victorian Mansion, and the landscape beyond.

After adapting it to resemble Darwin’s Colonial Government House director, Baz Luhrmann shot scenes there for his mildly received, pre-war epic, Australia.

ST MARK’S CHURCH

Modelled on Holy Trinity, Horncastle, in Lincolnshire, England, the first stone for what would become the glorious St Mark’s was laid in 1848 by William Broughton, the then Bishop of Australia. Four years later the church was completed and it remains in operation to this day.

More than just a house of worship, St Mark’s church was setting for the wedding in Muriel’s Wedding - the story of a peculiar young woman that’s never dated, who changes her name, goes on a tropical vacation with stolen money and meets the wacky swimmer, David Van Arckle.

WHITE BAY POWER STATION

The setting for yet another Baz Luhrmann film, as well as The Matrix Reloaded and Red Planet, the White Bay Power Station was the longest surviving in Sydney until it ceased operation on Christmas day in 1983. Since then it’s remained an imposing building, and has attracted tourists, photographers, explorers and film makers alike.

The production of Luhrmann’s 3D retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tragic tale of obsession and ill-fated romance, The Great Gatsby has seen the area transformed, with scores of extras and some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, all in 1920s dress, bringing some long absent excitement to the site.

THE ROCKS

Full of cobbled streets, pretty buildings, gorgeous shops and plenty of vibrant nightlife, The Rocks is as popular with filmmakers as it is the public. Featured in movies like Dark City, Lantana, Beyond The Realm and Mission Impossible 2, The Rocks is the historical heart of Sydney.

During the filming of Mission Impossible 2, Argyll Street in The Rocks was transformed, with the help of dust, passionate music and a morbid religious procession, into a bastardised version of Seville in Spain, as Tom Cruise and Thandie Newton met under the cover of crowd and darkness.

BONDI BEACH

Known worldwide, Bondi Beach is one of Australia’s most famous and popular beaches. Roughly a kilometre long, it receives visitors all year round in the shape of surfers, walkers, sun worshippers and backpackers. Constantly patrolled by lifeguards, the beach is surrounded by an underwater shark net out to sea, and boasts views of pods of whales and dolphins.

Bondi Beach and the suburbs surrounding have been the setting for several movies, including The Last Wave, Flame Of The West, They’re A Weird Mob and Empty Beach.

BT TOWER

Just another seemingly faceless building in the Sydney skyline, the 135 metre, 32 floored BT Tower at 1 Market Street isn’t exactly striking.

The tower was used in The Matrix’s spectacular helicopter crash. Considered to be one of the most engaging, iconic and expensive scenes in the movie, it shows the helicopter fly across the city’s fairly anonymous skyline before colliding with the tower in an explosion of fire and glass, with Neo landing safely on the Allianz Centre opposite.

DARLINGHURST

Peter Templeman's Not Suitable for Children, starring True Blood star and Aussie wunderkind Ryan Kwanten, and introducing the beautiful Sarah Snook, is definitely one to watch.

Shot in a number of different places around the city, including Darlinghurst's Pocket Bar, the movie saw location manager Kingston Anderson work long hours, coming up with such great choices as Jonah’s party house in Newtown. While many of the film’s locations might not be easy to find for non-natives, anyone that calls the city home will easily lose count of the familiar things they see.