I should have reread that note more carefully before I posted it. Aside
from letting some obvious typos slip through, I overlooked the fact that
someone already answered my question about the film production's locations.
I believe that I was told the film was shot in New Zealand.

I also am wondering about my description of Nero as being known to history
as "effeminate." I suppose that may be an unfair stereotype. It is curious,
however, why the film's writers chose to make Nero the villain, considering
his historical image, fair or not. A much better choice would have been the
feisty Emperor Commodus of GLADIATOR fame. If they had played their cards
right, the producers could have cast Joaquin Phoenix in the role, and he
could have worn an aluminum foil skullcap to keep the good-guy alien from
reading his mind. (The latter remark is an allusion to his role in SIGNS.)