COLD PLACE: Hoth
The first Star Wars trilogy presented a generation of moviegoers with some wondrous locales. Hear the words cloud city, you reflexively think of Bespin. Hear the words ice planet, and your mind instantly takes you to the snow-covered (and Wampa-infested) desolation of Hoth. Located in the Outer Rim Territories — according to that indispensable trove of Star Wars arcana called the Wookieepedia — the sixth planet of the Hoth system (so what are the other planets called?) served as the temporary base of the Rebellion, following the destruction of the Death Star. The Imperial attack on the base, with the tiny Rebel airspeeders buzzing the lumbering AT-AT “walkers,” is justifiably celebrated as a bravura action scene, but we were equally impressed with Princess Leia, who looked mighty fetching in her form-fitting snowsuit.
WHERE THESE SCENES WERE SHOT: Finse, a remote region of southern Norway, and Hardangerjøkulen, a nearby glacier.
OTHER “COLD” SCENES FROM SCI-FI AND FANTASY MOVIES: The icy world of Robert Altman’s Quintet, and the blizzard-y passage through Caradhras in the first Lord of the Rings movie.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhpS69eAXrU]