40 Fascinating Facts About Movie Locations That’ll Make You Go, ‘Huh, Neat’

Sorry for ruining that whole ‘suspension of disbelief’ thing
40 Fascinating Facts About Movie Locations That’ll Make You Go, ‘Huh, Neat’

Even when movies rely heavily on green screens, locations are still essential for helping to build the world they’re set in. And “the world” doesn’t necessarily mean fictional places. Period pieces need that authentic vibe from present-day locations, and present-day movies use certain locations to convey messages to the audience. Whether a protagonist lives in a run-down, hellhole of an apartment or a swankier penthouse says a lot about their character.

Today, we’re focusing on the perfect and not-so-perfect places that helped make movies what they were.

Caserta Palace

Why does this look SO familiar? These stairs at Caserta Palace are the Tom Hanks of Italian architecture. This location appeared in blockbusters such

Love, Actually

The pink house LOVE, ACTUALLY CRACKED.COM The owners say they're living under a blanket of selfies, tour guides, and a queue of tourists. But they've tried to make the most of it, by collecting donations to combat local homelessness.

The Goonies

The Goonies house THE GOONIES CRACKED.COM The owner of the Goonies house built a landscaping wall and tarped up the windows and doors, in an effort to ward off the hundreds of thousands of Truffle Shuffling pilgrims she's forced to witness.

Field of Dreams

The field FIELD OF DREAMS CRACKED.COM The owners of the field in lowa tried to go back to farming after the movie came out, but fans hounded them so much, they had to resort to selling souvenirs to try to make some money.

The Haunting in Connecticut

The Snedeker house THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT GRACKED.COM The movie was mainly filmed in Canada, but the supposedly haunted house it was based on started getting lots of unwelcome visitors - some of them scaring our kids, telling them the house is haunted.

The Force Awakens

Skellig Michael, Ireland THE FORCE AWAKENS CRACKED.COM The UNESCO World Heritage Sight served as Ahch-To, the planet where Rey found Luke sucking off thala-sirens, but overtourism is now threatening local bird habitats.

The Incredible Hulk

THE INCREDIBLE HULK CRACKED.COM The film was set in New York, but the climactic fight scene takes place directly in front of Toronto's iconic Sam The Record Man on Yonge Street.

Tommy Boy

TOMMY BOY CRACKED.COM For the film's big finale, Tommy Boy confronts Ray Zalinsky (Dan Akroyd) in Downtown Chicago but the Toronto streetcars (famously known as 'The Red Rocket') are dead giveaways!

Twilight

TWILIGHT BE CRACKED.COM The books and films are famously set in Forks, Washington, but when Edward shows Bella Vampire Baseball, Oregon's Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge can clearly be seen behind home plate.

Amityville Horror

AMITYVILLE B HORROR CRACKED.COM After being denied permission to film in Amityville, NY, the iconic house was recreated in Toms River, NJ. Town exteriors were shot in New Jersey, and nowhere is this more obvious than the Sunken Garden at Georgian Court University in Lakewood.

Anchorman

ANCHORMAN KWW GRACKED.COM Anchorman is set in San Diego (German for a whale's vagina, of course) but the film's opening shot has Burgundy's helicopter touching down right in front of the cylindrical and very recognizable International Tower in Long Beach.

Dallas Buyers Club

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB CRACKED.COM McConaughey may have won the Oscar, but New Orleans' portrayal of Dallas, TX fell short. McConaughey revealed In some places you can see where mother nature takes over in New Orleans. That ain't in Dallas.

The Dark Knight

THE DARK B KNIGHT ATHERN TEST IAN K CRACKED.COM The fictional city of Gotham needed the non-fictional city of Chicago, so when Batman's motorcycle flips the Joker's semi truck, we clearly see the Chicago Board of Trade building straight down LaSalle Street.

Django: Unchained

DJANGO: UNCHAINED CRACKED.COM In the opening credits (right before the title card, Somewhere in Texas) we see distinctly rounded rock formations that are unique to the Alabama Hills at Lone Pine in Central California.

Escape From New York

ESCAPE FROM B NEW YORK CRACKED.COM Filmmakers avoided New York to escape St. Louis! In possibly the most audacious swap ever, St. Louis' Union Station - a historical landmark and once-largest train station on Earth - was used as the world famous Grand Central Station!

Half Baked

HALF BAKED NO BEST WINGS DAY SPECIAL 99 BEST VEW ANDWICH 2017 - ausage sub POP CRACKED.COM Dave Chappelle's stoner comedy was set in NYC, but Harland Williams feeds the police horse directly in front of Toronto's Pizza Pizza, an unmistakable chain only found in Canada.

RoboCop

ROBOCOP BE CRACKED.COM Robocop is set in crime-ridden Detroit, but producers thought Detroit had too many featureless, indistinct buildings. They filmed almost entirely in Dallas, TX, and a car chase features Reunion Tower, one of Dallas' most distinct landmarks.

Spider-Man 2

SPIDER-MAN 2 CRACKED.COM For Spidey's fight scene with Doctor Octopus on top of a moving train, Richard Moskal, director of the Chicago Film Office, says the film used the Chicago L train to replicate New York with a fictitious sense of geography.

Clerks

CRACKED.COM Quick STOP GROCERIES CLERKS The Quick Stop used for the film is a real store that director Kevin Smith worked at during filming. The crew was only permitted to film after hours as to not interfere with the store's customers. Quick STOP GROCERIES To get around this obstacle, Smith rewrote the film to have a joke where someone shoves gum in the locks of the store's shutters. This way they could have the shutters closed whenever they shot inside and make it look like it was set during the day. 364

Malcolm X

Malcolm X Malcolm X was the first non-documentary given permission to film in the holy city, of Месса. As only Muslims are allowed into the city, a special second- ary crew was assembled. Spike Lee and crew had to wait outside. CRACKED COM

Pasadena

This Pasadena home was featured in the 1991 film Father, of the Bride and its sequel. - Almost 25 years later, it still gets visited daily by fans, and couples get engaged on the doorstep. I feel guilty on trash day, the owner says. CRACKED.COM

Hatley Castle

Is this the home to Charles Xavier, Oliver Queen or Lex Luthor? It's actually all three. Hatley Castle in British Columbia served as a filming location for Smallville, Arrow and the X-Men films. GRACKED COM

A Christmas Story

In December 2004, Brian Jones received an email from his wife alerting him about an eBay auction for this home in Cleveland. Brian immediately made an offer on the home and owned it 24 hours later. Two years later, with the house restored to its more familiar former exterior, he opened it to the public as A CHRISTMAS ST RY House &museum Oh, and 'Randy' gives tours there CRACKED.COM

The Lady Washington

This beautiful girl is the Lady Washington but she goes by many names... The Jolly Roger from Once Upon a Time... The Enterprise from Star Trek: Generations ENTERPRISE FORCED FOR The Interceptor from Pirates of the Caribbean CRACKED.COM

Super Troopers

HIG The Bullet-Proof Cup Scene from Super Troopers was filmed outside of a real prison. During filming, the actual prisoners gathered in the yard and started to verbally harass the nearly naked Steve Lemme. GRACKED.COM

THX 1138

Escape scenes in George Lucas's first feature film THX 1138 (1971) ba 1162 were shot in the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) San Francisco/Oakland transbay tunnel while it was under construction. CRACKED.COM

The Truman Show

Ever wanted to visit the idyllic town seen in The Truman Show? You totally can! The movie was filmed in the city of Seaside, FL. All those pastel houses and brick-paved streetswerepart of the planned design of the city. CRACKED.COM

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

DEVILS TOWER is America's first National Monument as declared by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Geologists disagree about the exact process of its formation. Native American tribes tell many different legends of its origins. But it's an undeniably cool place to land your space ship. CRACKED.COM

The Avengers

40 Fascinating Facts About Movie Locations That’ll Make You Go, ‘Huh, Neat’

EuroTrip

EUROTRIP CRACKED.COM The characters in this movie travel the whole continent. But it was filmed entirely in Prague. The Vatican, Parisian museums, hellish Eastern Europe, and even the American college-all Prague.

The Martian

THE MARTIAN CRACKED.COM Want to experience the grand vistas of Mars but don't have $6 billion to spare? Go to Wadi Rum, Jordan! The Valley of the Moon has appeared in The Martian, Red Planet, and Last Days on Mars.

The Matrix Reloaded

THE MATRIX RELOADED CRACKED.COM They built a 1.5-mile freeway replica on an old naval base for the big chase. It cost $2.5 million, and it needed to be surrounded by a 19-foot wall to block the view of San Francisco.

Waterworld

WATERWORLD CRACKED.COM The atoll was a 1,000-ton set that floated off the coast of Hawaii. Craziest part: they forgot to install bathrooms. Boats had to take crew members to a separate barge to relieve themselves.

Groundhog Day

GROUNDHOG DAY TOP TIP Dieg CRACKED.COM The Tip Top Cafe where plenty of the action took place in Groundhog Day was just a set, unsurprisingly. Post-filming, though, it had enough customers to operate for real for 20 years.

Star Wars

STAR WARS GRACKED.COM Locations around the Tunisian city of Tataouine served as sets for the planet Tattooine in most Star Wars movies. Later, the region became a waypoint for padawans looking to join ISIS.

Harry Potter

HARRY POTTER GRACKED.COM If a story's set in England, it's negligent NOT to shoot in Alnwick Castle. Besides Hogwarts, it has served as Nottingham and Queen Elizabeth's throne room, and also popped up in Downton Abbey.

Gone with the Wind

GONE WITH THE WIND CRACKED.COM For the burning of Atlanta, the sets of several previous movies were set ablaze, including King Kong and King of Kings. New sets for the sprawling production were built in the space cleared.

School of Rock

SCHOOL OF ROCK CRACKED.COM This film was shot at John Marshall High School in Los Feliz. As was Zapped!, Rebel Without a Cause, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Charlie Bartlett, Good Burger, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Grease, Austin Powers 2 ...

Mission: Impossible III

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III CRACKED.COM The stairs at Caserta Palace have appeared in a bunch of blockbusters-besides MI3, they've been in Angels & & Demons, The Phantom Menace and more. Now it's falling apart thanks to all the tourists who come see it.

Session 9

SESSION 9 CRACKED.COM Session 9 was shot at the Danvers State Mental Hospital, which had decayed for over a decade. No set decoration needed-old patient records and various bits of nightmare fuel were already there.

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