7. New Zealand
"The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass... And then you see it... White shores... and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise. " While historians suggest that New Zealand did actually
exist prior to the Lord of the Rings movies, it's hard to ignore that, since the trilogy was released, there has been an uptick both in using the country as a filming location, and as a favorite travel spot. The variety of different landscapes, largely untouched by humanity makes the land ideal for shooting wide, outdoor shots when creating a fantasy world. The effects were so pronounced that parts of New Zealand still trade on the fame brought by Lord of the Rings. For example, the town of Hobbitonwhich was actually built, another instance of practical effects was left largely undisturbed for the nearly ten years between the end of the old trilogy's production and work on The Hobbit. While it's mainly used for movie set tours, the NZ government did allow the producers to leave the hobbit-holes in place since they blended so nicely into the scenery. Of course, as wonderful as the landscape was, the respect that Jackson and Friends (which isn't the Jackson Five tribute band it sounds like) had for their environment was even greater. The city of Edoras was built in its entirety for filming and then dismantled such that it was never evident it was there. Most on-location sets were treated in such a way. It's not
entirely new for a production company to leave a place the way they found it, but given how much more exposure New Zealand has received as a filming spot, it was nice of them to keep things clean for the people who came after (which, as it turns out, includes themselves).