Filming the stars

You saw these views in space movies; They’re actually from this planet

Desert planets, rainbow skies, double suns... Science fiction films have always promised escape. When we see otherworldly landscapes like those frozen mountains in Interstellar or the endless golden dunes in Star Wars: A New Hope, we imagine that they were fabricated for the movies. But often that's not the case. Here are 10 spots on Earth that, as Hollywood has declared, look like they belong on other planets.

Few places on Earth look as convincingly alien as Death Valley National Park, which is exactly why it doubled as the desert planet Tatooine in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977). This George Lucas film used several real locations across Tunisia and the United States to build its now-iconic world.

In Death Valley, filming took place at striking spots like Zabriskie Point and Golden Canyon, pictured above. These scenes appear early in the story, as audiences are introduced to Luke Skywalker’s barren, sun-scorched homeworld.

Interestingly, the production’s impact on the fragile desert ecosystem led the National Park Service to restrict future film shoots, making Star Wars one of the last major productions allowed so much access to it.

Directed by Stanley Kubrick and released in 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey opens with the iconic "Dawn of Man" sequence, which shows footage of Monument Valley. These dramatic mesas were already famous from classic Westerns, but this 60s sci-fi movie repurposed them to suggest a prehistoric Earth that set the tone for a film obsessed with the future.

Long before CGI could conjure entire planets, George Lucas found "Tatooine" in the real deserts of Tunisia. The desert world was featured in Star Wars episodes IV, I, and II. The region of Matmata, with its troglodyte dwellings carved directly into the Earth, was built in Phoenician times (around 3000 bC). Their architecture was a clever design to avoid the desert heat.

The region of Tataouine didn’t just provide inspiration for the name of the fictional planet; Nearby desert locations, including salt flats like Chott el Djerid, were used for exterior shots: endless horizons, twin-sun vistas, and the harsh environment that defines Luke’s early life.

It rises abruptly from the plains of Wyoming in a way that has always reminded humans of otherworldly forces. Devils Tower National Monument became one of the most recognizable "alien" landscapes in cinema thanks to Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

This 1977 film follows ordinary people drawn to a mysterious location by visions and signals from extraterrestrials. That location is Devil’s Tower. This massive column of igneous rock with vertical lines is central to the story; it is the site where humans and aliens rendezvous. After the film’s release in the late 70s, annual visits to Devil's Tower surged, and its popularity has endured ever since.

The sweeping, untouched wilderness of Fiordland National Park plays a brief but striking role in Alien: Covenant, directed by Ridley Scott. This 2017 film is part of the long-running Alien franchise, and it follows a colony crew that lands on what appears to be a habitable planet, only to discover something far more dangerous there.

These ominous, mist-covered cliffs and deep waters that illustrate the fictional world were filmed with exterior shots in Milford Sound, a fjord in the south of New Zealand. Fiordland is one of the largest national parks in the world, covering over about 4,800 square miles.

It’s easy to imagine another planet looking at such an odd and majestic landscape. These towering sandstone pillars are located in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, in the northwestern part of central China, and they inspired the Hallelujah Mountains of planet Pandora, featured in James Cameron’s Avatar (2009).

In the movie, very similar mountains were created through CGI to appear like giant floating boulders covered in vegetation. So, the environment was constructed digitally using this real-world setting for inspiration. Following the film’s release and its global impact, one of the park’s pillars, formerly known as Southern Sky Column, was officially renamed "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain."

Released in 1992, Alien 3, directed by David Fincher, continued the story of Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver. The film strands her on a bleak prison planet, and for that desolate world, producers turned to a very real and very scarred landscape: Blast Beach, located in the Northeastern England.

The beach appears in exterior sequences depicting the surface of the fictional planet Fiorina 161. Those blackened rocks are the result of decades of waste dumping from nearby coal mines, which left the shoreline covered in slag. Since the 90s, however, Blast Beach has been largely restored through environmental cleanup efforts.

Skellig Michael provides one of the most unforgettable real-world backdrops in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. This 2015 film revived the saga decades after the original trilogy. Towards the film’s final sequence, this island that towers out of the Atlantic Ocean was used to depict, once again, Luke Skywalker’s residence.

This unforgettable backdrop of steep stone steps and ancient monastic structures play the part of planet Ahch-To in the film, where Luke has been living in exile. The same location was revisited in the next movie of the saga. This site is home to a 6th century monastic settlement protected by UNESCO, so filming was tightly controlled, with minimal crews and equipment allowed on the island.

"Starship Troopers" is a 1997 sci-fi action satire. It follows a futuristic military fighting giant alien insects, and it leans heavily on stark, hostile landscapes to sell the idea of distant planets.

One of those landscapes is this rugged badlands area of eroded cliffs, deep ravines, and jugged rock formations, used to represent the planet Klendathu. In the movie, this area looks barren enough, but it turns out to be bug-infested with giant creatures, and epic battles ensue. In real life, Native American tribes used this area to drive bison to their deaths during their hunts.

Few places on Earth have played as many "other planets" as Wadi Rum. These vast, red, towering sandstone cliffs seem to scream "Mars" to a lot of Hollywood producers. For example, in Ridley Scott’s _The Martian (_2015), this desert stood for the surface of Mars. The same desert was later used in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2021).

The sense of isolation and lack of vegetation in this scenery is palpable and has inspired many stories of adventure, danger, and survival. The rocks of Wadi Rum have a deep reddish hue due to iron oxide. Its staggering formations make for excellent backdrops, and the sparse population of the area allows filmmakers to shoot wide, uninterrupted vistas.

The 2014 movie Interstellar follows a team of astronauts traveling through the universe in search of a new habitable planet. In their journey, they visit a few. Christopher Nolan’s vision implied filming on location as much as possible. One of the uninhabitable frozen planets was depicted with takes of Svínafellsjökull, a glacier in Europe’s largest ice cap, in Southeastern Iceland.

Meanwhile, not far from there, scenes of a "water planet" were filmed in Iceland’s Mafabot, a lowland between the sea and a river. Also, Dust Bowl inspired scenes of a barren, futuristic Earth were shot in rural areas of Alberta, western Canada.

Money talks

Extra money might insult some people: Tipping traditions around the world

Who wouldn’t want a little extra money in recognition for good service? Well, as it turns out, not all people! In the U.S., tipping feels like second nature. But step outside the country, and that well-meaning habit can turn awkward or even insulting. Let’s look at how tipping follows cultural rules shaped by history and local values!

Image: Emilio Takas

In the U.S., tipping is one of the most pronounced service customs. Tips of 15–20 % in restaurants are widely expected.

The ritual extends to taxis, bar staff, hotel porters, housekeeping, and more. Leaving little or no tip can be seen as extremely rude, since it suggests the service was truly poor.

Image: Possessed Photography

In Japan, leaving a tip is decidedly not part of the culture. It can even offend people! That’s because excellent service is expected as standard, and workers take pride in doing their job well. Extra money would be a bit condescending!

In fact, if you leave tips at casual cafés or traditional restaurants, staff sometimes chase you down just to return them!

Image: Roman Wimmers

In France, restaurant bills usually say service compris ("service included"), meaning a service charge is already baked into the price.

On special occasions or for truly exceptional service, leaving an extra 5–10 % or simply rounding up the bill is appreciated, but massive tips would surprise many French servers.

Image: Christian Dubovan

In Italy, even small tips are rare, but welcome! Locals often leave round-up change or a euro or two at cafés or gelaterias. Anything larger for exceptional service might catch them off guard.

Beyond that, you may see a coperto (cover charge) on your bill. That’s a small fee that isn’t a tip but rather covers bread and table service.

Image: John Vid

What stands out in Germany is the interaction. Tipping is a matter of rounding up or adding a modest 5-10 % in restaurants, but rather than leaving cash on the table, Germans often tell the waiter the total they want to pay. For example, handing over €28 for a €25 bill.

Image: Sarah Agnew

In the UK, tipping norms depend on the context. In many restaurants, a service charge (often around 10%) may be added automatically; if so, you don’t need to give more.

In pubs and casual spots, tipping is far less common, and bartenders don’t usually expect anything extra.

Image: Melissa Walker Horn

Down under, a little extra something is optional and often reserved for truly outstanding service. In restaurants, 5-10 % might be left for extraordinary meals; elsewhere, rounding up a taxi fare or leaving a small amount for hotel staff is appreciated, not expected.

Image: Mitchell Luo

Tipping has long been uncommon in China. In most of the country, leaving extra money on the table isn’t seen as normal. That said, Western influence and booming tourism are beginning to shift things!

In upscale restaurants, five-star hotels, and tour settings, particularly in megacities like Beijing and Shanghai, a small tip might be expected, but in most establishments, it still isn’t the norm.

Image: Eduardo Soares

Many restaurants in Brazil include a 10 % service charge on the bill. Locals may leave a small tip beyond that for excellent service, and tour guides receive modest tips for a job well done. But, beyond that, tips aren't universally expected.

Image: Marco Antonio Casique Reyes

In Mexico, tipping (or propina) is commonly expected by most services. It doesn’t have to be much, but you would be kind to give small amounts to staff, from waiters and bellboys to housekeeping employees.

Image: rupixen

India’s tipping scene seems to combine tradition and tourism influence. In tourist areas, tipping has grown more expected, while more informal local spots may see casual rounding up of the bill.