What Are The Biggest Movie Sets In Cinema's History?

Nowadays, with the advent of realistic visual effects, most big movie sets are actually just digital extensions of much smaller practical sets and locations. However, in the earliest days of cinema, some of the biggest epics actually had to physically create massive sets. And if you've ever wondered just how big some of the most massive sets in cinema's history have been, we have an infographic that takes a look at some of the biggest movie sets that we've ever seen on the big screen. Check out the list below!

Here's the infographic of the biggest movie sets in film history from Wallpaper Direct (click to expand):

There was no way that the epics of the early years in cinema weren't going to be on this list. Ben-Hur, Cleopatra and The Ten Commandments are known for their large scale productions, which is even more impressive considering when they were made. In some ways, these sets were superior to some of those created for films today. At the same time, visual effects sometimes allow for more complete and immersive sets, especially when it comes to sci-fi and fantasy films.

But despite the rise of visual effects in filmmaking over the past couple decades, it's nice to see that some of the more remarkable big scale productions have gone the way of creating real sets. Even up through the 90s, you can see there were still some truly mind-blowing sets being built to go in front of the camera. Titanic is obviously a staple of that decade with a scale model of the real-life vessel actually put in the water, made to be tilted to help reenact the sinking of the ship. And kids of the 90s remember wanting to play with the Lost Boys in Neverland thanks to such an awesome set design for Hook.

In recent years, giant practical sets have wound down even more, but there are plenty of modern films that have been made all the better for their dedication to creating tangible sets. The set for Hobbiton from The Hobbit, which isn't exactly the same as what was used for Lord of the Rings, is now a tourist staple in New Zealand. But those kind of sets are rarities nowadays, if only because they just end up getting torn down when production is over.

What are some of your favorite real sets in cinema's history?