Top 10 Best Movie Sets

J.K. Rowling built one of the most magical and carefully constructed worlds in all of fiction with her phenomenal creation of “Harry Potter.” The film adaptations of her novels did a miraculous job of bringing the wizarding world to fruition, the liveliest location being Diagon Alley. Between Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, Ollivander’s Wand Shop, and an assortment of other bustling establishments packed into every corner, there’s simply too much to behold with one pair of eyes. If only this were a theme park we could actually explore…oh wait!

Computer-generation imagery may be a faster, more efficient way of envisioning fantastical worlds in modern cinema, but this method usually lacks the personal touch of handmade sets. This makes an epic like “Intolerance” all the more special. Produced in an era without shortcuts, this silent picture masterfully built the Great Wall of Babylon from the ground up. The size and scope of this set truly makes you feel just how huge D.W. Griffith’s revolutionary magnum opus is, providing an early example of why film is the ultimate visual storytelling medium

In addition to being among this generation’s finest storytellers, Christopher Nolan is one of the few modern visionaries to primarily rely on practical sets. Nolan’s team of art directors had already blown our minds with the zero gravity hallway in “Inception” and Bane’s underground lair in “The Dark Knight Rises;” but Nolan’s crowning achievement, has to be “Interstellar’s” Tesseract. The essence of a mirror maze meets M.C. Escher’s “Relativity” in this ingenious set, which carves out its place between the past, present, and future where science, logic, and gravity are defied.

For a film that emits a claustrophobic vibe, “Alien” often seems grander than space itself. Much of this can be attributed to the film’s imposing sets, the most haunting of which is a crashed alien spacecraft. Housing a fossilized space jockey and litter of alien eggs, the set designers tell us so little about this ship’s misty origins while also telling us so much through visuals. Utilizing miniatures, glass paintings, and life-sized environments, the filmmakers engage us in a fraction of a much bigger universe where no one can hear you scream.

The sheer spectacle of this silent picture will leave you speechless from start to finish. It’s hard to think of a film that looks so high-tech and yet so biblical, almost like a futuristic Garden of Eden. Everything moves like clockwork, as if the inventive sets are part of one giant machine occupied by a million tiny citizens. Whether observing the dystopian Worker’s City below the earth’s surface or the alleged utopian city above, “Metropolis” is a constant wonder on the eyes that’s fortunately been greatly restored for our viewing pleasure.

That’s no moon! In building this impressive space station, the “Star Wars” production designers make the audience feel all the power this Imperial space station encompasses through their daunting sets. Although we see a great deal of the Death Star’s interior and exterior, it still seems like we’ve only scratched the base’s surface by the explosive climax of “Star Wars.” Convincingly huge and overwhelmingly destructive, there’s just one tiny, little problem with this triumph of intergalactic architecture: they seriously couldn’t cover that exhaust vent?

After decades of being deemed unfilmable, J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic world of fantasy was fully realized in live-action through the visionary direction of Peter Jackson. While “The Lord of the Rings” has no shortage of amazing sites, we’re singling out the environment we’d like to inhabit the most: The Shire. Tranquil, quaint, and welcoming, this home to the Hobbits seems detached from the larger problems plaguing Middle-Earth. It’s the ideal place to settle down and live in peace. Of course if you’re seeking adventure, there’s an immense world waiting out there.

Wes Anderson has a one-of-a-kind gift for transporting audiences to worlds that are whimsically improbable and remarkably believable at the same time. Part of that is because his sets always appear so energetic, colorful, and passionate. While Anderson’s “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” is a true artistic achievement, the main setting in “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is practically alive. Draped in pink, this old fashion palace atop a hill is decorated like a delicious pastry. Using models and full-scale sets, Anderson envisions a nostalgic wonderland we’d all love to check into.

While we’ve credited a few groundbreaking sci-fi sets on this list, none proved more influential that the Discovery One in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” On the heels of countless B-movies – many of which looked fairly cheesy – Stanley Kubrick strove to create the most detailed futuristic tool imaginable. He succeeded with a spaceship that broke new ground for art direction and special effects. You really believe that the astronauts aboard are running on the centrifuge’s walls and floating in Hal 9000’s processor core. On cinema’s timeline of evolution, it’s a landmark and a turning point.

Before we visit our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- The Chocolate Room
“Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971)
- Gotham City
“Batman” (1989)
- Moulin Rouge
“Moulin Rouge!” (2001)
- Egypt
“Cleopatra” (1963)
- The Whole Movie
“Brazil” (1985)
- Highway
“The Matrix Reloaded” (2003)

Through painstaking research and a $200 million budget, James Cameron settled for nothing less than perfection in taking audiences back to the Titanic. Cameron’s labors paid off with a cinematic triumph that’s every bit as gigantic as its title suggests. Realized through glorious interiors, larger than life models, and a jaw-dropping, full-scale reconstruction of the Titanic’s exterior, every set piece feels 100% authentic. The art direction embodies all the majesty, dominance, and beauty of the actual Titanic, which only makes it more tragic when the cold, dark sea claims the supposedly unsinkable ship.

Do you agree with our list? What’s your favorite movie set? For more entertaining Top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.