When Filming Locations Confuse

Living in France, pretty much every foreign movie where the action is supposed to take place in Paris, just because every room of every building seems to have a window with view on the Eiffel Tower.

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Two films come to mind:
Eyes Wide Shut...London subbing for NYC
The Machinist...the insomnia film that takes place in a nameless but obviously American city, but which was filmed in Spain (I think.) But...since both films were deeply weird, and had disorientation as part of their themes, I think the distraction actually worked.

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I was confused during the second half of "Death Proof" -- the first half is obviously set in Austin, but the second half is supposed to be set elsewhere, even though many of those scenes were obviously shot in Austin. In fact, I think the drive from the airport was partially along the road where I commuted to/from my last day job. Weird and a little distracting.

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On the other side of the coin, Ben Affleck did a superb job using authentic locations for "Gone, Baby, Gone".

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The Big Chill. At the beginning, when they are driving to the funeral, they drove out on the island, then back onto the mainland, and back onto the island again. It was as if they were lost, and retracing their steps over and over. Very pretty scenery but entirely silly.

I should have stopped watching right there, because I hated the rest of the movie, too.

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I thought that was the GW bridge in the background in that scene, and others, so I thought it must have been Washington Heights. I didn't get that is was supposed to be NJ until later. I guess it could have been Englewood, which I think is right on the other side of the GW bridge.

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I used to live near McCarren Park, so I was confused by American Gangster, too. I didn't understand Crowe was a NJ cop until he was confronted by Josh Brolin.

I live in L.A. now and I love watching Swingers when they all drive from the party in the Hollywood Hills to the Dresden on Vermont Ave. But to get there, the boys drive all the way down Fairfax by Canters, then go down Santa Monica Blvd. by the (now demolished) Hollywood Bowl bowling alley. It's a weird roundabout journey. Also, the gun scene behind the Dresden is obviously actually filmed in the lot behind Musso & Frank's restaurant on Hollywood Blvd.

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It happens to me all the time when the setting is supposed to be New York. The obvious winner is Jackie Chan's 'Rumble in the Bronx". Set in that borough but you could see snow capped mountains in the distance (Vancouver).

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The headquarters of the Umbrella Corporation in Resident Evil Two was actually Toronto City Hall. The fact that they used one of the most famous buildings in the city, and then blew it up (with digital effects), was hilarious.

Maybe they were making some kind of political statement...

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John, you beat me to it but I was going to mention "Rumble in the Bronx" as well...and I didn't even live in NYC when it came out! It was so obviously fake.

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Who knew that half of US activities occurred in....Canada??

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The ending of War of the Worlds was supposed to be Boston, but it was clearly Park Slope in Brooklyn, which makes the journey from New Jersey a little less dramatic. It was like Spielberg got a two for one deal that year because Munich ended in Brooklyn as well, although it was supposed to be Brooklyn.

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As a former Las Vegas resident, I get that every time I see a movie or show based there. How many times have we seen someone stumble out of a casino along the strip only to wind up in the middle of the Fremont Street Experience? You get the same thing when they drive up and down the strip driving away from casinos they claim to be driving towards or even switching between north and south-bound in the same shot.

I've only been to New York once since I've been old enough to remember. I was born in New Jersey, but I wouldn't be able to recognize one place form another. I haven't seen American Gangster yet, but I can be fairly certain that I'm not going to spend 3 seconds questioning the filming locations.

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Just imagine if this film were made in Canada.

For once a film is made on location and now people complain that all the landmarks don't match up.

There is just no pleasing some people. But at least all the "runaway production" crybabies can't pin one one this film. Now it's just down to they didn't film at the exact intersection with the correct bridge or building in the background.

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Also from Nevada, but Reno. Anytime any film shows "Nevada" and has trees and lawns and lushness, it just seems wrong. Sure, we may have pockets of that, but in the background, there are always those high desert mountains. Best use of location for a Nevada film: The Cooler. Shot in Reno, supposed to be Vegas, but it captures the heartbreaking beauty of my hometown like no other movie I've seen.

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A recent example that bugged me a lot more than it should have was the car chase in SHOOTER. The car chase is supposed to be through downtown Philadelphia, and the beginning and end locations seemed like they were actually in Philadelphia, but part way through they go down a very steep hill next to the river and there is no such hill in the Philly area...

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This is more a "mistake" than a wrong location, but...

I was living in San Francisco when The Graduate came out in movie theaters.

There is a scene in which Dustin Hoffman is going to Berkeley and he's driving on the upper deck of the Bay Bridge, which only goes in the direction towards San Francisco. I remember right then, everyone in the theater began laughing and making comments about it.

And at the fact that he's driving from Los Angeles to Berkeley in a huge hurry and crosses the bridge again (in the wrong direction).

The most direct and fastest route from L.A. to Berkeley doesn't require you to cross the Bay Bridge in EITHER direction.

Mom

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