Movies that do a terrific job showing off a city

[koolkid]

A movie that I thought did a terrific job showing off L.A's down and dirty areas was "The night before" starring Keanu Reeves. Kind of corny but adventurous nonetheless. I remember seeing it as a kid and thinking "wow, ny is so damn cool" only to find out it was LA, in the end. I don't know how i got that mixed up. We see a more "east coast, brick style" crime ridden city than the usual LA we're use to seeing, then again it's an 80's movie.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

I saw "Law Abiding Citizen" last night, and I have to say, I have a new found love for Philadelphia.

[Darkoshvilli]

The whole nine yards shows off Old Montreal nicely.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by AdrianXSands

and i don't know what IIRC means...

IIRC means "If I recall correctly"... it's one of your standard internet-speak abbreviations.

[andrew61]

I just thought of two more Chicago movies:

1. Gladiator (1992) -- about a teenager who finds himself the only white kid in a ghetto high school, has to defend himself, and takes up boxing. I thought it was an interesting, true-to-life glimpse into some of Chicago's rougher 'hoods.

2. There Are No Children Here (1993) -- starring Oprah Winfrey. Although it was a made-for-TV movie, I thought it was a good depiction of the hardscrabble life of a mother and her children who have to survive living in Chicago public housing.

[LeeWilson]

Short Circuit 2, Half Baked and especially Resident Evil Apocalypse are some movies that are filmed but not set in Toronto and do a poor job of hiding it. Resident Evil Apocalypse doesn't even seem to try to hide it at all.

[JDRCRASH]

500 Days of Summer shows a beautiful part of historic dtla.

[Strange Meat]

filmed in denver. local denver cast and crew mostly, too.

edit: since it's an indie flick none y'all probably even heard of let alone seen, some trailers...

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[Mr Roboto]

Originally Posted by andrew61

I just thought of two more Chicago movies:

1. Gladiator (1992) -- about a teenager who finds himself the only white kid in a ghetto high school, has to defend himself, and takes up boxing. I thought it was an interesting, true-to-life glimpse into some of Chicago's rougher 'hoods.

2. There Are No Children Here (1993) -- starring Oprah Winfrey. Although it was a made-for-TV movie, I thought it was a good depiction of the hardscrabble life of a mother and her children who have to survive living in Chicago public housing.

Another one like this is Judgement night, with evil gangsta Denis leary lol and his homies, chasing after Cuba Gooding, Emilio estevez etc through the projects. This is after they witness Leary shoot and kill Eddie Torres from NY Undercover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyB3R...eature=related


Another movie that shows chicago is 'heaven is a playground' starring Bo Kimble and Hakeem Olajuwon (for all hoops and bad 90's hiphop fans).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp7_Xy7slX8

[BTinSF]

Both Interview With The Vampire and Zodiac have fantastic opening scenes of SF and the Bay Area.

[brannelford]

My favourite thing about the 1955 movie "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" was seeing shots of what Hong Kong looked like before the explosion of highrises. However that was probably the only interesting part of the movie for me, as the rest was stereotypical and somewhat schlocky.

I did know that there used to be small farms in parts of Hong Kong up until the middle of the 20th century, but I'd never seen cinematography of Hong Kong without its highrises.

Some movies that showcase a city in years past:

Hong Kong
Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1955)

Toronto
Goin' Down the Road (1971) - a mediocre Canadian movie - but great skyline shots of downtown Toronto in the early 1970's. Also showcases other parts of downtown, like St. Jamestown when it was still somewhat trendy, and also Allen Gardens (which was still somewhat seedy even back in the early 70's).

New York
The Best of Everything (1959) - movie about working girls (office types) who are just starting out in New York city of the late 50's. Again a mediocre movie, but it stood out for me because of morning rush hour shots of people going to work in late 1950's New York (in colour).

Berlin
Die Mörder sind unter uns (1946)
The murderers are among us (1946) German with English subtitles.
This was the first film shot in postwar Berlin, and it shows several scenes of what Berlin looked like one year after the war ended. Also, if you don't mind subtitles, this movie had an interesting storyline, over and above the cinematography.

[Trantor]

Vicky Christina Barcelona?

[bry456]

Chicago:

Ferris Buellers Day Off-1986

Vice Versa- 1988

About Last Night- 1986

Nothing in Common- 1986

Any movie made in Chicago in the 1980s and early 1990s


New York:

Any Woody Allen movie,
I'll just say Hannah and her Sisters - 1986

Quick Change 1990

When Harry Met Sally 1989

Any movie made in NYC in the 1980s and early 1990s

[Metro-One]

Unfortunatley none of these movie "take place" in Vancouver but all of them have the majority of their running time filmed in Metro-Vancouver.

The Fantastic 4 movies (show a lot of downtown)

The first 3 X-Men movies (lots of downtown and local parks)

Butterfly Effect (shows a lot of our local universities)

The Sixth Day (big panoramas of downtown, mountains, Stanley Park, and the public Library, which was the evil comapnies HQ)

The Final Destination movies (the roller coaster was in Playland, the highway was on Vancouver Island, lots of New Westminster)

The Fog (new one)

Juno

The Day the Earth Stood Still (New one, my university was the Government containment site) Lots of Burnaby shots, Deer Lake park was the grave yard with the Metrotown skyline in the background.

Alien vs. Predator, Requiem. Filmed all thought the suburbs, the power plant was Burrard Therma near North Vancouver,

Jumanji, filmed in my home suburb Maple Ridge.

Rumble in the Bronx, again, filmed in Maple Ridge (gold course) and in New Westminster (industrial area scenes, jumping off bridge) and other local areas.

Blade 3 and parts of Blade 1. Blade 3 has some good Vancouver skyline shots.

Those terrible Cats and Dogs movies

Saving Silverman, one of the best for Vancouver scenery, many Vancouver skyline shots and many shots of the Lions Gate Bridge. (but most Americans will think it is San Fran skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge)

Deck the Halls (unfortunetley)

It

Watchman (lots of Burnaby)

Agent Cody Banks

The Fugitive (the dam scene is Cleavland Dam in North Vancouver for example)

Double Jeopardy (lots of local nature scenery, BC ferries)

The Scary Movies, Lots of Suburb shots.

The Scooby-Doo movies (again, unfortunately) The old mine is north of Vancouver.

Are we there yet and its sequel.

Happy Gilmore (filmed in Maple Ridge and other suburbs for the Gold Courses)

Dreamcatcher

Taken

Catwoman

Jennifer's Body

Battle in Seattle (thats right, its filmed in Vancouver)

And many more, to many to list, lots of bad kids movies and cheesy action movies.

Also I should note, the vast majority of 2012 was filmed in British Columbia (the province Vancouver is in). All of the Yellowstone park scenes were filmed in the semi-desert valleys of B.C., only 3 hours east drive of Vancouver.

Also, they are currently filming "The A-Team" movies in these same valleys, and Vancouver!

Notable TV shows that show off the Vancouver area:

X-Files
Smallville
Stargate SG-1
21 jump Street
Battlestar Gillatica

etc... (I dont watch much TV so i dont know as much about it)

Cheers!

[tintinex]

Chicago:
The Weatherman
Windy City Heat
A sound of Thunder - terrible movie but really cool futuristic skyline shots
i-Robot

LA:
Predator 2 - the first 10 minutes are priceless

[TonyAnderson]

The Matrix does a great job showing off the Great Machine City. Of course, you'll only know what that city is if you've been freed.

[Metro-One]

i-Robot

I-Robot was filmed in Vancouver, sorry man, all studio shots and some outside Vancouver shots (and the tunnel when he is on the motorcycle is a highway tunnel in Vancouver (The Cassiar Tunnel). I have actually wanted to go through this list and see what films that were filmed in Vancouver were placed as movies that show off other cities.

[vanman]

^Ha I was an extra in I Robot. Never did end up seeing myself in it though. And the movie was terrible.

[#10 Shirt]

Minneapolis/St. Paul

PURPLE RAIN
Do I even need to explain...?

FARGO
Despite the name, most of the story takes place in Minnesota with a good portion of that happening in the Twin Cities area.

THE MIGHTY DUCKS TRILOGY
I know it sounds lame, but these movies actually show a lot of the Twin Cities. (Though you can't actually rollerblade from St. Anthony Falls to Edina to the Mall of America in 5 minutes).

JINGLE ALL THE WAY
Again, not a great movie, but shows the area a lot.

FEELING MINNESOTA
GRUMPY OLD MEN
A SERIOUS MAN
A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION
MALLRATS
etc...

[Busy Bee]

pAris

The Red Balloon
1956