Sydney has served as a filming location time and again. Often, viewers had no idea they were looking at one of the world's most premium cities.
Add this to your Australian travel list: a retrospective tour of the big-budget makeovers of "Sydneywood".
Colonial State Bank: "The Matrix"
If you're a fan making the pilgrimage to "The Matrix" locations, start at Martin Place. This is where Keanu spots his woman in red by the fountain.
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But it's on the middle floors of the neighbouring Colonial building that all the real action happens. Agent Smith holds Morpheus hostage before Neo's daring rescue, complete with a Gatling gun, snatching Morpheus out of the air while leaning from a helicopter.
Be warned, though: the suited-up bankers and businessmen give the place a far less adventurous vibe.
Colonial Centre, 52 Martin Place, Sydney, entrances on Phillip and Elizabeth Streets
Martin Place: "Superman Returns"
In "Superman Returns", Kitty Kowalski nearly mows down pedestrians as she barrels a battered Mercury along Martin Place to distract Superman, who stops the car and sets it down in front of the fountain.
That gives Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) the chance to break into the museum (the Australian Museum, on the far side of Hyde Park) and steal a dreadful, securely locked chunk of kryptonite.
He uses it in his grand scheme to build a new continent in the Atlantic, whose rising waters would kill billions of people.
Martin Place fountain, Pitt Street, access from Martin Place Railway Station
Bare Island: "Mission: Impossible 2"
Unlike "Superman Returns" and "The Matrix", which are set in fictional places, John Woo's "Mission: Impossible 2" was both filmed and set in Sydney, featuring the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House and Mrs Macquarie's Chair.
The starring role, however, goes to Bare Island in Botany Bay: its rocky shoreline and former military fort stand in for the villain's heavily fortified secret hideout.
This is where the famous final motorcycle duel plays out, with Tom and the villain grappling in mid-air after their bikes collide, classic Woo-style action.
Bare Island, next to Botany Bay, access via the footbridge at La Perouse
Fox Studios: "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" and "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith"
How could we leave out Fox? The final two chapters, "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" and "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith", were completed at Sydney's Fox Studios.
The Fox lot has always drawn film buffs: it was also transformed into jazz-age New York for "The Great Gatsby" (2013) and turn-of-the-century Paris for "Moulin Rouge!" (2001).
Fox Studios, 38 Driver Avenue, Moore Park, Sydney; tel. +61 (0)2 9383 4200
Strickland House: "Australia"
Baz Luhrmann's epic "Australia" was shot across Queensland, the Northern Territory and Sydney. Perched on the shore of Sydney Harbour, Strickland House in Vaucluse doubled as the colonial Government Residence in Darwin.
In the ball scenes, filmed outdoors, Drover (Hugh Jackman) reluctantly dons a white suit for the sake of Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) as she mingles with high society.
True to the stereotype, a kangaroo even bounds across the green lawn. The house can be reached through Sydney Harbour National Park.
Strickland House, 52 Vaucluse Road, Vaucluse, Sydney; tel. +61 (0)2 9337 5999
Colin Delaney is a Sydney-based freelance journalist who writes about travel and the arts.
