Some completely missed the mark
'Mamma Mia!' the hit musical romantic comedy, based in the songs of Swedish pop group ABBA, was filmed on the Greek island of Skopelos.
The final scenes of 'The Bourne Identity' feature Matt Damon and Franka Potente on the island of Mykonos as their characters reunite to conclude the story.
'Beckett' stars John David Washington as an American tourist vacationing in Greece who becomes the target of a manhunt after an accident. Much of the action takes place in Athens.
Shot on location in Crete, with additional scenes filmed in Chania and Kokkino, 'Zorba the Greek' stars Anthony Quin and Alan Bates. The iconic final sequence when Quinn's titular character dances the Sirtaki with Basil was filmed on the beach of the village of Stavros.
This comedy drama starring America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Blake Lively, and Alexis Bledel was partly filmed on Santorini in the southern Aegean Sea.
The sequel to Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004), Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy) are now a coupe and spending a vacation in Greece with their children. Filming took place entirely on the Peloponnese coast in Southern Greece.
The film's title is a wonderful play on words following as it does a tour guide, Georgia Ianakopolis (Nia Vardalos), who escorts tourists through the ruins of ancient Greece. Her life takes an unexpected detour when she meets Irv (Richard Dreyfuss). This was the first time that an American film studio was allowed to film on location at the Acropolis; other Greek film locations included Olympia and Epidaurus.
Athens and Crete were among the locations used to bring to life this thriller set in the early 1960s and starring Viggo Mortensen, Kirstin Dunst, and Oscar Isaac.
Melina Mercouri stars in this drama, directed by Jules Dassin, who costarred alongside her in 'Never on Sunday.' The film was shot on the island of Hydra, among other international locations, and costars Anthony Perkins, known for playing Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' two years earlier.
Melina Mercouri remains Greece's most famous movie star. She received an Academy Award nomination and won a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award for her performance in the film 'Never on Sunday' (1960), which costars Jules Dassin. The film, a romantic comedy, was made in and around Piraeus, a port city within the Athens urban area.
'Boy on a Dolphin' was the first Hollywood production filmed in Greece, on the Greek Saronic Islands, notably Hydra. It stars Alan Ladd and Sophia Loren in her English language film debut.
'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' pays homage to the the thousands of Italian soldiers executed at the Massacre of the Acqui Division by German forces in Cephalonia in September 1943. The film was made at various locations on the island and stars Nicolas Cage and Penélope Cruz.
British actress Pauline Collins reprised her titular role as the bored middle-aged housewife who travels to Greece and meets Costas Dimitriades (Tom Conti), the owner of a Greek tavern with whom she has a holiday romance. It all takes place on the island of Mykonos.
This charming British romantic comedy is set on Rhodes and again stars Jacqueline Bisset, as well as James Fox and Irene Papas.
A classic among war films, 'The Guns of Navarone' was shot on the Greek island of Rhodes. Gregory Peck, David Niven, Stanly Baker, Anthony Quayle, and Anthony Quin head the cast. Greek actress Irene Papas costars. Quinn was so taken with the Rhodes setting that he later purchased land on the island. There is still an area today called Anthony Quinn Bay, which is a popular tourist haunt.
Cliff Richard was in his prime when he made 'Summer Holiday.' Britain's answer to Elvis Presley, the singer plays Don, who sets off with a bunch of friends on a tour of Europe in a London bus. Along the way, the lads take in the Greek capital Athens.
Among the exotic locations serving as backdrops for the Bond movie 'For Your Eyes Only' is mainland Greece and the island of Corfu, where Roger Moore is pictured filming a scene on a beach, looking shaken but not stirred.
Much of 'The Big Blue' (released in some countries under the French title 'Le Grand Bleu') was shot on the Greek island of Amorgos. Directed by Luc Besson, the films stars Jean-Marc Barr, Rosanna Arquette, and Jean Reno.
Production of 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life' took place in part on the island of Santorini, with Angelina Jolie reprising her role as the highly intelligent and athletic English archaeologist Lara Croft. Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler) tries to keep up.
Loosely based on Aristotle Onassis and his relationship with Jacqueline Kennedy, 'The Greek Tycoon' was filmed in Athens, Mykonos, and Corfu, besides other international locations. Anthony Quinn and Jacqueline Bisset portray characters resembling the Greek shipping magnate and President John F. Kennedy's widow.
What better place for summer love to blossom than on the Greek island of Santorini? Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah, and Valerie Quennessen are the romantic trio.
The ruined Greek theater at Dodoni in northwestern Greece provided an authentic setting for this little-known film starring, among others, A-listers Christopher Plummer, Orson Welles, and a youthful Donald Sutherland.
The girls were back for this sequel, when Santorini once again provided a suitably blissful backdrop.
While much of the action in this celebrated heist drama plays out in Istanbul, the film's buildup takes place in other locations, including Kavala, a city in northern Greece. Melina Mercouri, Peter Ustinov, and Maximilian Schell are the ones out to steal the emerald-encrusted dagger of Sultan Mahmud I.
Harvey Keitel stars in this Greek film directed by Theo Angelopoulos about an exiled filmmaker who finally returns to his home country only to find the demons he thought he'd once banished are waiting to greet him. Greece briefly serves as a location, with much of the film taking place in Albania, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
Swiss actor Bruno Ganz heads the cast in this Theo Angelopoulos-directed drama, which was filmed in Thessaloniki.
An athletic Jean-Paul Belmondo is pictured in this scene from 'The Burglars' attempting to evade Athens police detective Abel Zacharia (Omar Sharif) by hopping from vehicle to vehicle on a busy city center street. This Italian-French neo noir crime caper is known as 'Le Casse' in Europe..
This British comedy, the fourth installment of director Michael Winterbottom's film adaptions of the popular UK TV series 'The Trip,' stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as fictionalized versions of themselves continuing their culinary travels away from home, this time sampling the gastronomic delights of Greek cuisine.
A loosely based, modern-day adaptation of the William Shakespeare play 'The Tempest,' this somewhat obscure movie was shot in various locations in the United States and Greece, namely Alypa Beach on the Mani Peninsula of the Peloponnesus, and in Athens. The picture features John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, and Susan Sarandon.
This Hollywood sword-and-sandal epic was largely shot in the village of Perachora in the Peloponnese. The plot is based on the historic Battle of Thermopylae, which took place in 480 BCE when 300 Spartans faced down a Persian army of thousands. Richard Egan and Ralph Richardson head the cast.
Sources: (Greek Reporter) (History) (DW) (The Guardian)
See also: Historic battlefields you should visit
Greece has always proved a popular location with filmmakers, but lately this sun-kissed country has emerged as the movie industry's preferred European film destination for high-end productions. These productions follow a long tradition of movies made in Greece. So, what are some pictures that feature an idyllic Greek backdrop?
Click through and look at the films made in Greece and the Greek islands.
Movies made in Greece and the Greek islands
Discover the films shot on the mainland and the islands
MOVIES Film
Greece has always proved a popular location with filmmakers, but lately this sun-kissed country has emerged as the movie industry's preferred European film destination for high-end productions. These productions follow a long tradition of movies made in Greece. So, what are some pictures that feature an idyllic Greek backdrop?
Click through and look at the films made in Greece and the Greek islands.