In terms of global recognition, Malaysia has strong regional competitors, with Singapore and Thailand being better known overseas.

However, Malaysia has made the occasional appearance in international film productions. Besides some Hollywood blockbusters, Malaysia had cameos in films from India and China as well as Hong Kong.

Here is a selection of films which likely sent Malaysians into a patriotic frenzy:

1. Venom (2018)

In the film “Venom”, a rocket carrying a dangerous alien symbiote crashes in a forest near the town of Sibu, where it escapes and infects a paramedic.

It then travels into town to find a means to get to its destination in the US, infecting a few other Bahasa Sarawak-speaking folks to do so.

While the scene takes place in a village in Sibu, the set resembles a 20th century Hong Kong night market instead. Sadly, nothing was actually filmed in Sibu, with the majority of “Malaysian” locations shot in a studio in Atlanta, Georgia instead.

2. Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

When it comes to Hollywood disaster films, it’s part of tradition to destroy national landmarks in the most spectacular way possible.

If it’s an American landmark, the Statue Liberty, the White House and the Golden Gate Bridge are up for destructive grabs. For Malaysia, it was the Petronas Twin Towers.

As such, the iconic buildings were smashed to smithereens during an alien attack in Roland Emmerich’s 2016 flick.

And just to make sure the structures were destroyed in a spectacular fashion, the towers drop onto London’s Tower Bridge, which in real-life is more than 10,000km away on the other side of the planet.

3. Peninsula (2020)

Malaysia is not actually a physical location in this sequel to the Korean blockbuster “Train to Busan”.

However, it does make a brief appearance in a subtler way, with eagle-eyed cinemagoers only catching it in one of the final scenes where the surviving characters scramble aboard a rescue helicopter sent by the UN, with a uniformed character welcoming and comforting them.

This is none other than Malaysian actress Bella Rahim, whose uniform featured a patch of the Malaysian flag which flashed on-screen for a few seconds.

4. Entrapment (1999)

The Bukit Jalil LRT station became a location in this 1999 American blockbuster film starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

In the film, the two are art thieves targeting the headquarters of a bank located in none other than… the Petronas Twin Towers (again).

However, the film does take creative liberties with Malaysian geography; the towers are somehow visible from Melaka, more than 100km away from KL.

Funnily enough, then-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad took offence at the fact that the film depicted the towers surrounded by slums, an inaccurate image of KL’s city centre.

5. Zoolander (2001)

This Ben Stiller comedy flick was banned from Malaysian cinemas for its negative depiction of the country.

The film’s plot included an assassination attempt on a fictional Malaysian prime minister, who was pushing for progressive work policies.

There were also complaints about the film’s depiction of Malaysia as a country economically dependent on illegal textile sweatshops.

Funnily enough, despite the film centring around Malaysia, not one scene was shot in the country.

6. Kabali (2016)

A blockbuster in both Malaysia and India, this action-drama film was shot and set in Malaysia, with quite a few local actors participating in the production.

Kabali, played by movie star Rajinikanth, faces off with a Malaysian gangster, Tony Lee. After being falsely implicated for a massacre, the hero ends up engaging his rival throughout Malaysia, with both wits and bullets.

In addition to Melaka, other locations included Bandar Sunway, KLCC, Batu Caves and Pulau Carey.

Given that 80% of the film was shot in Malaysia, Tourism Malaysia quite correctly jumped aboard the bandwagon, later offering a Kabali-themed package deal to Indian tourists.

7. Anna and the King (1999)

This Jodie Foster and Chow Yun Fatt classic may have been about King Mongkut of Siam and an English schoolteacher, but Malaysia was the shooting location for much of the film.

Apparently, this was because the Thai authorities found the film to be distasteful and refused to allow the filmmakers to shoot in Thailand.

As such, the crew headed to Penang and Perak instead, with filming also taking place in parts of Langkawi and Shah Alam. Penangites are likely to spot Armenian Street standing in as a street in Bangkok and Swettenham Pier doubling up as Bangkok Harbour.