99 American Movie Locations
A July 4th tour of the United States
1. Flynn's Arcade - Tron Legacy (2011)
The distinctive corner building which served as the hip hangout for Tron 's hero in both the original and this year's sequel is now a restaurant called Akasha on Culver Boulevard in Los Angeles.
2. Randy's Donuts - Iron Man 2 (2010)
Iron Man slouches in the ring of the giant donut from Randy's in Inglewood, Los Angeles, which has also appeared in Mars Attacks! , Earth Girls Are Easy , 2012 and many more.
3. The Family House - Death At A Funeral (2010)
The family home of Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence in the dark comedy remake, which is actually a private house in South Pasedena.
4. The 21 Club - Wall Street (1987)
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The exclusive financial district establishment to which Michael Douglas takes a desperate-to-please Charlie Sheen is a real Wall Street hangout called The 21 Club.
5. The Office - Dinner For Schumcks (2010)
The imposing workplace of Paul Rudd's would-be executive high-flyer is actually the headquarters of the hugely influential Creative Artists Agency in Hollywood. [page-break]
6. The UN Building - Nighthawks (1981)
Rutger Hauer's crazed terrorist poses menacingly outside Manhattan's UN building in this gritty off-kilter crime thriller.
7. The Car Chase Bridge - Knight And Day (2010)
The climactic chase sequence of this fluffy spy thriller doesn't take place in Spain at all, but on the Queensway Bridge in Long Beach, California.
8. Driving Home - Serpico (1973)
Speaking of bridges, we see Al Pacino's hippy cop hero Frank Serpico motoring along the Williamsburg bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan early in the classic movie.
9. Knocking Off - After Hours (1985)
Griffin Dunne steps out of work and into an evening of bohemian distress, the gilded gates actually belonging to an office building on Madison Avenue.
10. School Front - Prom (2011)
The real school used for the filming of this critically derided mush is the John Burroughs Middle School in Los Angeles, which had better luck with Pretty In Pink and Teen Wolf. [page-break]
11 . The Firehouse - Ghostbusters (1984)
The ruined Lower Manhattan derelict that the start-up Busters make their home. In reality it's the still-operational firehouse at 14 North Moore Street, which also made an appearance in Hitch .
12. The Joint - Burlesque (2010)
Despite the construction work going on when the Google truck visited, the zig-zag fire escape gives away the Ricardo Montalban Theatre on Vine Street in L.A., bought by the actor to help promising Latino thesps.
13. Shanghai - Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)
This isn't really Shanghai at all, despite those fancy road signs, but the view of an overpass on Shoreline Drive in Long Beach, California.
14. The Tenenbaum House - The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
The Tenenbaum's towering Manhattan brownstone is a fancy corner building way uptown at 144th Street.
15. The Academy - Star Trek (2009)
This shot of the Star Fleet Academy in chaos as a giant laser strikes earth is actually a digitally altered look of the Delmar T Oviatt library at the centre of Cal-State University's Northridge campus, which we present from the veiw of a potentially death ray-weilding satellite.[page-break]
16. Lou Ferigno's House - I Love You, Man (2009)
The fancy Hollywood pad being sold by Paul Rudd in this bromance comedy, which really does exist in the Hollywood Hills but sadly doesn't belong to Hulk star Lou Ferigno.
17. The Library - Spider-Man (2002)
The fake drop-off point Peter Parker uses when actually competing in amateur wrestling matches is the famous New York Public Library in Manhattan.
18. Christine's House - Drag Me To Hell (2009)
The cosy suburban home of the cursed Christine from Sam Raimi's comeback nasty, which is real and only a few blocks away from the Dodger's Stadium in Los Angeles.
19. Tiffany's - Midnight Cowboy (1969)
The flagship Manhattan store of Tiffany & Co. as seen by Jon Voight's would-be gigolo on his woozy welcome tour through New York.
20. Interrogation Scene - Fast & Furious (2009)
The apartment building from which Vin Diesel diplomatically hangs Ron Yuan, which is located on West 8th Street in Los Angeles.[page-break]
21. LAX - Taken (2008)
A shortly to be absolutely furious Liam Neeson drives to Los Angeles Airport, as seen from the approach to the airport on Sepulveda Boulevard.
22. The Liquor Store - Superbad (2007)
The liquor store in which Christopher Mintz-Plasse unleashed the most awesome fake ID of all time.
23. The Palantine Rally - Taxi Driver (1976)
The scene of Travis' fluffed political assassination, which takes place at Columbus Circus, on the southwest edge of Central Park. It can also be seen in I Am Legend and Die Hard With A Vengeance .
24. Dorothy's Apartment - Blue Velvet (1986)
The square apartment building that's home to troubled Dorothy, which view in daylight looks less menacing and much more like a regular building in Wilmington, North Carolina.
25. The CIA Office - Three Days Of The Condor (1975)
The CIA reading room from which Robert Redford is taking a fortunately-timed break in the classic '70s thriller is pretty much unchanged, and sits on Madison Avenue in Manhattan.[page-break]
26. Bigfoot Lodge - Yes Man (2008)
The incredibly-named Bigfoot Lodge from this Jim Carrey comedy is real and located on Loz Feliz Boulevard in Los Angeles.
27. The Nakatomi Plaza - Die Hard (1988)
The stylish skyscraper taken hostage by theving Euro-terrorists, which in real life is the much less exotic-sounding Fox Plaza, corporate home of the studio behind the film.
28. Ashley's House - Disturbia (2007)
Star Shai LaBeouf standing outside Sarah Roemer's house in this Hitchockian thriller. Spin the Google view to the left to see the house of LaBeouf's character, all located on Painter Avenue in Whittier.
29. Recording The Conversation - The Conversation (1974)
Francis Coppola's sweaty '70s surveillance thriller begins with a tightly orchestrated bugging in this San Francisco park, which is actually Union Sqaure in the city centre. Slide over to the corner of Geary and Stockton to see the spot where Harry Caul's crew park their van.
30. Entering The City - Get Him To The Greek (2010)
More New York bridge action, as Jonah Hill escorts Russell Brand across the Queensboro Bridge on their choatic route towards the Greek Theatre.[page-break]
31. The Finals - Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
The Redondo Suites - the final destination of the cracked and disfunctional Hoover family - is actually the Crowne Plaza Hotal in Ventura, California.
32. Hello, New York - When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Billy Crystal's beaten up car enters New York in this final shot of Harry and Sally's get-to-know-you roadtrip, which is dominated by the Washington Square Park Arch, in Greenwich Village.
33. Picking Up Walter - The Big Lebowksi (1998)
The anonymous liquor store front somewhere in the sprawl of suburban L.A. where the Dude picks up Walter before their ransom drop.
34. The Marital Home - Mr & Mrs Smith (2005)
The palatial residence of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in this bickering assassin comedy isn't in Long Island at all, but in Pasedena.
35. Cleaning Supplies - Leon (1994)
Jean Reno leaves the corner shop and heads over to the left (you can tilt the camera to follow) and into his apartment building, located on East 97th Street at Park Avenue in Manhattan.[page-break]
36. Mobile Home - Zathura (2005)
The house that goes on a space adventure in Jon Favreau's kiddie actioner is actually a very grounded private home in South Pasedena.
37. The Flatiron Building - Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)
Tony Curtis briefly shares the screen with this iconic early skyscraper - finished in 1902 - which sits on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan
38. Elliott's house - E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
The impossibly cosy all-American neighbourhood in which the tale of the universe's friendliest alien unfolds is actually a quiet street in Tujunga, California.
39. The Pirate Museum - The Goonies (1985)
The maritime museum in which Mikey's dad work and the gang make their last stop before their adventure starts is actually the Captain George Flavel House Museum.
40. The Chainsaw Apartment - Scarface (1983)
The white stucco ocean front setting for the film's most notorious scene. The Miami Beach address has been totally redeveloped since it was featured in De Palma's movie.[page-break]
41. Coffee And Pie - American Pie (1999)
The cafe where the boys make their idiocy-inducing pact to lose their Vs before college is a real establishment in Monrovia, California.
42. Load Of Bull - The Other Guys (2010)
The Charging Bull, scene of a Ferrell meltdown in this underrated buddy cop comedy, is a real piece of modern art which has sat in New York financial district since 1993.
43. OCP Headquarters - Robocop (1987)
The imposing headquarters of the sinister mega-corporation that creates Robocop in Verhoeven's trashy tech-noir thriller is really the architecturally distinctive City Hall in Dallas, Texas.
44. Doing Some Good - The Untouchables (1987)
A tour de force shot of Chicago from Brian De Palma's mobster classic, with the Treasury Office to the left (actually The Rookery Building) and the scene of their first raid at the Post Office (actually the City National Bank and Trust Company Building) all in the shadow of the Chicago Board Of Trade building at the end of the street.
45. Merry Christmas - Scrooged (1988)
Frank’s office building, from which the Christmas-hating TV exec watches an employee being ejected at the start of the movie. It's actually the Seagrams building on Park Avenue in Manhattan.[page-break]
46. Chopper Chase - The Island (2005)
In one of Michael Bay's many, many chase scenes in this sub-Blade Runner clone 'em up Long Beach's Gerald Desmond Bridge is clearly visible.
47. The Disco - Boogie Nights (1997)
'Hot Traxx' Disco, the starting point for rising star Dirk Diggler, is now the Iglesia Cristiana Nuevo Empezar – a Latino church which probably offers a bit less in the way of casual sex and coke.
48. Factory Pressed - Killer's Kiss (1955)
The gripping climax of Kubrick's noir debut takes in Brooklyn's dockside factory district, and this distinctive view of the Manhattan Bridge.
49. Donnie's School - Donnie Darko (2001)
Donnie's school, as introduced by a breathtaking montage of wailing Simple Minds and woozy camera zooms, is Loyola High School in Los Angeles.
50. United We Stand - Transformers (2007)
A little bit of movie history, as Decepticon Blackout perches on the old United Artists building in the final battle of the movie. The famous Orpheum Theatre is also featured - swing the camera down and to the left for a look.[page-break]
51. Hanging On - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
The overpass bridge from which Robert Downey Jr finds himself hanging near the close of this tetchy Tinseltown comedy is the Queensway Branch over West Shoreline Drive in Los Angeles.
52. Smart Tech - The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
The workplace of Steve Carell's tardy dater is the very real Encino Courtyard Mall on Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley.
53. The Church - The Graduate (1967)
Benjamin’s desperate journey to reach Elaine climaxes at this deco temple. It's the Methodist Church of La Verne in L.A., which also showed up in Bubble Boy and Wayne’s World 2 – both times in homage to the original.
54. Ned Ryerson! - Groundhog Day (1993)
The corner of that infamous meet between Bill Murray's grumpy weatherman and Stephen Tobolowosky's super-annoying insurance man is a real square in Woodstock, Illinois.
55. Libyan Encounter - Back To The Future (1985)
The fateful site of Doc's supposed murder at the hands of plutonium-hungry Libyan terrorists isn't the Twin Pines Mall but the Puente Hills Mall in California.[page-break]
56. The McCallister's Place - Home Alone (1990)
The big, empty McAllister house is a regular private residence on Lincoln Avenue in Illinois. A perfect slice of leafy suburbia. Wonder what kind of security they have over the holidays?
57. The Cop Shop - Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Eddie Murphy's bad-lad Detroit detective is hauled into the local station by his new Hollywood colleagues, and it turns out it's the real Beverly Hills Police Station.
58. High-rise Helicopter Rescue - Superman (1978)
Daily Planet, workplace of Clark Kent and potential deathtrap to Lois Lane, is a skyscraper on 42nd Street in Manhattan that was once headquarters to the real Daily News. Though the paper’s moved on, the skyscraper is still known as the News Building.
59. Street Fighter Cinema - True Romance (1993)
The sleazy cinema where Clarence and Alabama have their first date. Supposedly in Detroit, but actually it's the Sunset Drive in Los Angeles.
60. End With A Flourish - Ocean's 11 (2001)
The gathering spot for George Clooney's gang of theives after their successful heist is the fountain-decked front of the real Bellagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas.[page-break]
61. Taking In Some Culture - Red Dragon (2002)
The supposed Brooklyn Museum to which Ralph Fiennes madman goes and eats a picture of a dragon is in real life a cleverly disguised Baltimore Museum Of Art.
62. Camping Out - Body Double (1984)
The amazingly neon-looking Hollywood Tower apartment buildings from Brian De Palma's thriller are real, perched on Franklin Avenue in Los Angeles.
63. Wrigley Pair - The Blues Brothers (1980)
A scary, Nazi Henry Gibson rallies the troops to find the runaway Blues Brothers right in front of Chicago's famous Wrigley Field, home of - well, you can read the rest.
64. Ida Down - Chinatown (1974)
The distinctive apartment where Jack Nicholson discovers Ida is dead in this dark modern noir is still standing on Kensington Road in Los Angeles.
65. Home Field - Friday Night Lights (2004)
This early aerial shot in Peter Berg's superb High School football movie sweeps over Ratliff Stadium in Odessa, Texas, the playing field used by the real Permian Panthers.[page-break]
66. Happy Meal - Falling Down (1993)
The infamous Wammy Burger scene from Michael Douglas' violent breakdown movie is actually Angelo Burger in Lynwood.
67. Championship Vinyl - High Fidelity (2000)
John Cusack's hipper-than-thou record store is now just a closed black front underneath some apartment buildings on North Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago.
68. The Queensborough Bridge - Manhattan (1978
Woody Allen and Diane Keaton's all-day date ends with this beautiful black-and-white poster shot, which is a view of the Queensboro Bridge from Sutton Place off 58th Street in Manhattan's Upper East side.
69. The School - Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)
The real school behind Ridgemont High is Van Nuys High in Los Angeles, which has also been seen in Twin Peaks and Grease, and is the alma mater of Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
70. Domestic Scene - Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
The house of Vernita Green, the first of the old Deadly Viper Assassination Squad hunted down by The Bride, is a nice end of row place on Atlas Street in Los Angeles.[page-break]
71. Cobra Kai - The Karate Kid (1984)
The home of Daniel's enemies, the Cobra Kai students, is still a workshop for martial arts in North Hollywood.
72. Rydell High - Grease (1978)
No tight trousers or John Travolta in sight at the location for the iconic '70s musical, which is actually Venice High School in Los Angeles.
73. Initech's Offices - Office Space (1999)
The dull office home of tedious software outfit Initech, where Peter decides he's had enough of the corporate merry-go-round, is a nondescript office building on Freidrich Lane in Austin, Texas.
74. Drug Bust - L.A. Confidential (1997)
Danny DeVito and Kevin Spacey on the scene of a drugs bust, which actually took place in Gramercy Place in Los Angeles.
75. Memorial Coliseum - The Last Boy Scout (1991)
The finale of this overly-slick Bruce Willis action thriller takes place in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, built in 1921 to remember victims of the First World War.[page-break]
76. Barefoot In The Park - Pretty Woman (1990)
The small green patch outside Richard Gere's office building where he goes for a barefoot walk is on Hope Street in Los Angeles, where you can clearly see the arching red piece of architecture.
77. Waking The Gimp - Pulp Fiction (1994)
The front of the Pawn Shop where bad things happen to Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames after their car accident is a real pawn shop which has barely changed its window stickers in 16 years.
78. Wayne's Place - Wayne's World (1992)
The home of the awesome Wayne Campbell is a real private residence on Texhoma Avenue in Van Nuys, California.
79. The Firehouse II - Backdraft (1991)
The fire station used in the dramatic early '90s hit is still located on West 42nd Street in Chicago.
80. The Mural - White Men Can't Jump (1992)
The wall painting that Woody Harrelson walks past is still to be found on the side of a building near the ocean front in Venice Beach.[page-break]
81. The Stickup - The Usual Suspects (1995)
The revenge heist pulled off by Keaton and the boys is supposedly aimed at the New York police department, but was shot in Normandie Avenue in Los Angeles.
82. Matt's Big Speech - The Adjustment Bureau (2010)
Matt Damon gives a political speech but can't get Emily Blunt out of his mind, standing on the Fulton Ferry pier under the impressive Brooklyn Bridge.
83. The Pack - Reservoir Dogs (1992)
The movie's slouching cool opening sequence has the crew walk in slow-motion to their cars, and as they do they're crossing Eagle Rock Boulevard in Los Angeles.
84. The Jumper - To Live And Die In L.A. (1985)
William Petersen's on the edge Treasury cop shows just how manic he is in the opening moments of William Friedkin's thriller by jumping off a bridge - the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro.
85. And Then? - Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)
The Chinese drive-thru scene is one of the only funny moments in this messy slacker comedy. This is what the real Los Angeles restaurant looks like.[page-break]
86. The House - Halloween (1978)
The house in which Jamie Lee Curtis babysits for the Doyle family, with the Wallace house - where the murders take place - across the street if you turn the camera.
87. City Hall - Out Of The Past (1947)
Robert Mitchum drives down Main Street in Los Angeles in Jacques Tourneur's all-time-classic noir, with the white peak of the City Hall in the far distance.
88. Maroon Cartoons - Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
The cartoon studio from Robert Zemeckis' ambitious genre-crosser. It's really Red Studios, a tech company who provide cameras to big productions like The Hobbit , although previously it was Desilu, home of I Love Lucy.
89. Studio Gates - Sunset Blvd . (1950)
Norma Desmond pulls up at the Paramount Pictures entrance. The same gate was also used in The Godfather as Wolz International Pictures. It's the real Paramount gate, although now the lot has expanded so it's now a little further into the site.
90. Santa Monica Pier - Ruthless People (1986)
When Judge Reinhold drives his beat up car into the ocean in this twisting comedy caper he does it here, at the road entrance to the Santa Monica Pier.[page-break]
91. Studio Gates II - A Star Is Born (1954)
Another fading star, another studio entrance. This time it's Judy Garland visiting the Oliver Niles Studio, which is actually the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, and it's still there today.
92. Deckard's Apartment - Blade Runner (1982)
This shot of Deckard arriving home is an altered image of the drive up to the very unusual Ennis Brown House in the Hollywood Hills. The all-concrete Mayan design home doubles for the blade runner's apartment, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and also appears as the House On A Haunted Hill .
93. Joel's Office - Risky Business (1983)
The gorgeous suburban pile in which a college-bound Tom Cruise is left unattended in this coming of age classic is actually a private home on Linden Avenue in Illinois.
94. The Firetruck - The Cameraman (1928)
The infamous shot in Buster Keaton's amateur cameraman slapstick where he hops aboard a moving firetruck took place in the heart of old Hollywood at the southeast corner of Hollywood and Vine.
95. Another School - A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Nancy and her nocturnally troubled pals attend what in real life is the John Marshall High School in Los Angeles. [page-break]
96. The House - Double Indemnity (1944)
The big white house where Barbara Stanwyk's scheming housewife lives, which is still up in the Hollywood Hills on Quebec Drive.
97. The Palomino - Every Which Way But Loose (1978)
The site of the old Palomino nightclub - as visited by Clint Eastwood in the movie - is now Le Monge Banquet Hall on Lankershim Avenenue.
98. The Meet-Up - Union Station (1950)
The Los Angeles train station around which the action in this classic noir is focused. Blame a pesky one-way system for us not being able to get you in for a closer look.
99. The Neighbourhood - Once Upon A Time In America (1984)
Some of the most iconic location shots are of New York's bridges, but none can match this beautiful image from Sergio Leone's mobster masterpiece, which shows the Manhattan Bridge from the corner of Water and Washington Street in Brooklyn.