Fantasy worlds in film from Metropolis to Hunger Games

The four Hunger Games films are the most recent example of imaginary cinematic worlds. The set cost $4 million, while the rest of the film was mainly created via computer animation. After its premiere in Berlin on November 4, "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2" is released this week around the world.

French director Georges Méliès is considered a pioneer in creating fantasy sets for the big screen. His most famous film, "A Trip to the Moon" from 1902 demonstrated to cinema-goers of the time just what the new medium had to offer. The moon was portrayed on screen in great detail.

German director Fritz Lang was a visionary with his 1927 milestone film "Metropolis," portraying a futuristic urban dystopia. The sci-fi masterpiece set the bar high for future works in the genre and continues to inspire directors even today.

American animated film pioneer Ray Harryhausen perfected the stop-motion technique in the 1950s. Many famous genre films like "It Came from Beneath the Sea" (1955) and "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers" (1956) were created using stop-motion. Catastrophe films and sci-fi flicks got an extra boost thanks to Harryhausen.

Science-fiction films came to rely on elaborate sets and imaginary worlds. For the "Star Trek" series in the 1960s, space ships were built, along with numerous foreign planets. Another "Star Trek" remake is set to come out in 2016.

In 1977, American director George Lucas released the first "Star Wars" film, launching a phenomenon that would last for decades. Merchandising and a slew of additional films would follow, with the most recent "Star Wars" picture coming out in December 2015.

Two years later, Australian filmmaker George Miller released the first part of "Mad Max." Miller demonstrated a great deal of imagination and mixed a futuristic vision with elements of the past. In "Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015), the future looks pretty old.

US director Tim Burton demonstrated his skills as a fantasy artist in films like "Edward Scissorhands" (1990) and "Alice in Wonderland" (2010). His artistic worlds have even made it into museums. Here at the Max Ernst Museum in Brühl, Germany, Burton presents his film designs.

German-born Hollywood director Roland Emmerich has emerged in recent years as a destroyer of film sets in his epic catastrophe films like "Independence Day" (1996) and "Godzilla" (2014). While his films are generally largely created using computer animation, the setting is usually demolished by the end of the picture - whether by a natural catastrophe or unusually large animal.

One of the most impressive cinematic worlds ever created was in the 1982 film "Blade Runner." Character Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford, chases replicants, or human clones, through imaginary worlds that - unlike films like "Star Wars" - have a very realistic dimension to them.

While "Blade Runner" set the bar high in Hollywood, the French film "The Fifth Element" (1997) proved that European directors could also compete in the genre, complete with flying cars. Luc Besson's picture resembles "Blade Runner" in several scenes, but nevertheless stands clearly on its own.

The "Lord of the Rings" trilogy from 2001 to 2003 was a landmark in the fantasy film genre, mixing in historical elements. After the three movies were a hit at the box office, "The Hobbit" was also filmed as a trilogy.

James Cameron's "Avatar" (2009) was one of the most successful films of all time. The imaginative setting was mainly created on the computer and the 3D effects marked the beginning of a new era in cinema. Now movie watchers are accustomed to picking up their glasses at the door.

While most fantasy and sci-fi films come out of Hollywood, a few are also made in Europe, like Lars von Trier's "Melancholia" (2011). The art film, starring Kirsten Dunst, focuses on two sisters and a rogue planet that is about to collide with Earth. Computer animation also plays a central role in this work.

Fantasy worlds aren't just for the big screen these days, as the successful TV series "Game of Thrones" shows. Since 2011, the American series, which has run for five seasons, is a hit around the world.

"The Martian" (2015), about an astronaut who gets stranded on Mars and survives there for many months, is the most recent example of impressive sci-fi backdrops. While the scenario is of course fictional, it is nevertheless presented in a realistic way - without introducing aliens or monsters. Created entirely on the computer, Mars seems very believable.