Budget limitations, political tensions, and historical change all contribute to the practice of one city masquerading as another on film. Filmmakers often go to great lengths to dress locations in the garb of their subjects, while others rely on the fact that few will notice or even care. As war flick "Black Hawk Down" crashes on to DVD, we pay tribute to some of the best location liberties:

Rabat as Mogadishu in "Black Hawk Down" Another decimated warzone where the subject is too sensitive to be shot in its true locale (see also Dublin as Derry in "Bloody Sunday".) Morocco as a whole makes a lucrative sideline in portraying pretty much anywhere in Africa and occasionally, Tibet ("Kundun", "Seven Years in Tibet").

Budapest as Berlin in "Spy Game" An establishing shot of an elegant green bridge taken from a hill swathed in fog. The caption reads 'West Berlin'. There is no such bridge in Berlin, nor was there ever. This is Budapest's Liberty Bridge. The film flaunts the Hungarian capital's skyline, including the distinctive domes of the world's second largest synagogue, the like of which would be hard to find in latter-day Berlin.

Prague as London in "From Hell"The Hughes brothers put huge effort into transforming the Czech capital into the setting for the Whitechapel murders. A CGI London skyline replete with St Paul's Cathedral is grafted onto Prague's cobbled streets. The results are a tab more convincing than Johnny Depp's accent.

Glasgow as New York in "House of Mirth" It's the end of the 19th century and the Scottish city lends its costume drama credentials to the slightly smaller apple that was New York in 1900. Visitors to the US city today would be disappointed to find that such handsomely purloined locations as Kelvingrove Art Gallery or the Theatre Royal are on the other side of the Atlantic.

Brandenburg as Stalingrad in "Enemy at the Gates" A host of cities scrabbled for the opportunity to play the ravaged Soviet battleground in Europe's costliest film to date. An abandoned barracks in the German city of Brandenburg provided the ideal location while most of the inhabitants were employed on the production in an effort to minimise complaints about the pyrotechnics.

London as Vietnam in "Full Metal Jacket" Where the Philippines have defined our imaginary Vietnam in every venture of its type since "Apocalypse Now", Stanley Kubrick decided that London's docklands would suffice. The effect of this, the strangest of all municipal casting choices, was a refreshing change from the nightmarish jungle visions to which we're accustomed. The late director's reluctance to leave the UK had nothing to do with it, of course.