Arka Mukhopadhyay
2000 movie ‘Mission Impossible 2’ is the second installment of the popular action franchise. With Tom Cruise in the role of Ethan Hunt, the movies aim to revive the original television series of the same name by Bruce Geller. After Brian De Palma‘s stint with the first movie, Hong Kong’s new wave maestro John Woo took the helm of the second feature installment. The story follows Ethan Hunt as he gets the brief to find a dangerous bio-weapon named “Chimera.”
Teaming up with rogue IMF agent Sean Ambrose and his ex-girlfriend Nyah Nordoff-Hall, Ethan has to decode the mystery and save humankind from biological warfare on a massive scale. With an original track from Metallica, the film is as spectacular as explosive. The movie unfolds worldwide, from Spain to Australia and in transit. But if you are feeling like finding where the movie was filmed, that is where we come in.
Mission Impossible 2 Filming Locations
‘Mission Impossible 2’ was filmed in locations in and around the US and Australia. Principal photography commenced on April 18, 1999, coming to a close by December 15 of the same year. Jeffrey L. Kimball, whose past credits include ‘Top Gun‘ and ‘Jacob’s Ladder,’ joined the team as the cinematographer. At the same time, Thomas E. Sanders, the acclaimed production designer of ‘Crimson Peak‘ and ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ handled the production designing chore. Let us now transport you to the specific locations where the movie was filmed.
New South Wales, Australia
Most of the filming went underway in the southeastern Australian state of New South Wales. The cast and crew visited Sydney, the state’s capital, to film the bulk of the sequences. Filming went underway in Ashton Park, a popular park and tourist destination in the city, which stands in for the exteriors of Ambrose’s house in the movie. Located in the neighborhood of Mosman, on the outskirts of Sydney, the park features a great view of the seas. Governor Phillip Tower, a landmark building at Level 36/1 Farrer Place in Sydney’s bustling central business district, lent its premises for filming some scenes. You can recognize the building in the movie as the home to Biocyte Pharmaceuticals.
Some filming took place in the Holsworthy Barracks, an Australian Army military barrack located in Randwick, 25 kilometers from downtown Sydney. Ambrose’s bunker hideout seems to be on an island featuring dramatic views. The sequences were filmed at Bare Island, an islet (small island) located in the southeastern Sydney suburb of La Perouse. Other filming locations in Sydney included the iconic Sydney Tower (also known as Centrepoint Tower). Located in the shopping center of Westfield Sydney, at Level 5/108 Market Street, the tower, colloquially known as the “Big Poke,” is the second-largest observation tower in the Southern hemisphere.
In their sprawling filming schedule, the production unit also visited the Royal Randwick Racecourse, a horse racing course located in the suburbs of Randwick in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. Some parts of the movie unfold in Sevilla, Spain. While a trip to Spain did not fit in the budget, they filmed the scenes in Argyle Place, a heritage-listed row of Georgian Terrace Houses, in the incorporated neighborhood of The Rocks in Sydney. The Spanish driveway scenes were filmed at Boomerang, a heritage-listed house located at 42 Billyard Avenue in the inner eastern Sydney suburb of Elizabeth Bay.
The team occasionally ventured out of their base in Sydney to capture sequences in nearby areas. The sheep farm sequence was filmed in Broken Hill, a mining town situated far west of outback NSW. Some scenes feature Boora Point, a peninsula and an Australian National reserve located within Malabar Headland National Park. Filming also went underway in the Centennial Park, a suburb falling between Sydney and the City of Randwick. Located at Gadigal Land in the eastern suburbs of Sydney in New South Wales, the place is endowed with lush greenery.
Scenes also depict the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge, Darling Harbor, and the historic Sydney Opera House. Located at 2 Macquarie Street and crowning the Sydney skyline, the building is a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture. For the studio work, the team headed to Fox Studios Australia, a central movie production facility located at Building 16/38 Driver Avenue in the community of Moore Park in NSW. From ‘The Matrix‘ to ‘Superman Returns,’ the 32-acre studio has been home to an array of blockbuster movies.
Los Angeles County, California
Several scenes were filmed in and around California, a peaceful state located on the west coast of Los Angeles. Almost all of the car chase sequence of “Spain” was filmed in California, especially around the Angeles National Forest. The scenes were lensed near the Azusa Wilderness Park, a popular hiking park located at 100 North Old San Gabriel Canyon Road in Azusa. While spiking the adrenaline, the scenes feature an expansive view of the San Gabriel Mountains and canyons.
Furthermore, some of the studio work was also carried out in a production facility in Los Angeles. Filming went underway in Los Angeles Center Studios, an independent movie studio located at 450 S Bixel Street in the city’s heart. From ‘Fight Club‘ to ‘The Lincoln Lawyer,’ the studio has been home to several big-budget productions. Second unit filming took place on Edwards Air Force Base premises, spread across Kern County, San Bernardino County, and Los Angeles County.
Moab, Utah
The early rock climbing scenes were filmed in the city of Moab in eastern Utah. The cast and crew visited the Dead Horse Point State Park, a state park near Moab that features a great look at the Colorado River, and the Canyonlands National Park. Scenes from the first ‘Mission Impossible’ movie were also filmed in the state park. Filming also went underway in the surrounding Monument Valley, which extends from Utah to Arizona in the south.
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