8. Batman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezBOV5sPprI Many real-life cities have been dragged up as Gotham City with varying degrees of success, from the obvious (New York, Chicago) to the surprising (parts of Hong Kong, Manchester and Scotlanda locale where, amid bizarrely-costumed knife-fighters, Batman might feel right at home). But the most elaborate Gothamcertainly the closest to the comics operatic derelictionwas built in Pinewood Studios backlot by Anton Furst (yes, him again). The first time filmmakers turned the lights off on the Dark Knight, Furst looked to Albert Speer and Shin Takamatsu. With all the enormous, grim-faced statues, gnarled sun-blocking skyscrapers, and Bob Kane-ish gags like the Flugelheim Museum, it was an Expressionist triumph and a city planning disaster. Augmented by filming at Acton Power Station (whose industrial bleakness was used to great effect in a certain James Cameron film well get to next), and Knebworth and Hatfield Halls doubling for Wayne Manor, its moody timelessness was only slightly marred by the Jokers inexplicable taste for late-80s dance music.
Give-away British character actor: Michael Gough (Alfred).