# Do Movies and TV shows depict your city well?



## Taylorhoge (Feb 5, 2006)

If this topic hasnt been used before then how did they show your city?

New York for the most part is somewhat depicted well howerve some shows and movies make it out to seem like its a war zone outside of Manhattan


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## hudkina (Oct 28, 2003)

People who watch movies set in Detroit think the city is a dull, gray wasteland full of crime, poverty, and abandonment. It started out in the 80's with Robocop but has grown to include movies such as 8 Mile, Assault on Precinct 13, Four Brothers, etc.

Interestingly, most of those movies weren't filmed in Detroit. And ironically, two recent films that featured Detroit (Transformers and The Island) portrayed the city as Los Angeles.


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## RawLee (Jul 9, 2007)

Many films(especially Us ones)depict my city as a medieval,commie-ridden sh*thole(Underworld,Van Helsing),and the other,"normal" films dont show the reality either(I spy,Evita). The only films where Budapest is not just a backdrop,are the hungarian films.


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

Many movies show my city as a monocultural and monoethnical romantic museum city, Where everyone is white, arrogant, rude, sit in a cafe and the worst, many people think that these sterotypes are the reality of Paris. 

If you see the KGT photo thread, per exemple you will see a different Paris that portayed in most movies : the real Paris.1 2 
Fortunaly some movie show Paris as a real city.


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

When it comes to my state in the US, no. We're perceived to be a prep's utopia.


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## mhays (Sep 12, 2002)

Sometimes. Other times, they show thunder and lightening, which Seattle almost never gets.


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## OMH (Aug 21, 2007)

mostly...most movies depict munich as a rich city,but i don't know so much movies from munich actually...


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## eusebius (Jan 5, 2004)

^^ Heimat II (Edgar Reitz)

Nah, A Bridge Too Far wasn't even shot near Arnhem because of the 'skyline' with ugly office blocks. The film was shot at Deventer.


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## Darryl (Jan 14, 2007)

*Baltimore*

Absolutely not. My city, Baltimore, is always portrayed by Hollywood as a stereotype of the ultimate crime-ridden, hopeless city of urban decline/decay. Drug dealing and murder take center stage. Yet, they film in Baltimore's MANY nice areas all the time and pass them off as other cities! It's maddening. Baltimore has (in the movie called "Washington Square") even portrayed 19th century Paris!! It also portrays Washington DC and New York frequently.


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## ØlandDK (May 29, 2005)

Copenhagen is only shown in Danish films...


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## krudmonk (Jun 14, 2007)

My city is not depicted.


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## dennol (Sep 11, 2002)

The only 'movie' (a TV-series) with Eindhoven in it I know of is Band of Brothers which was actually filmed on set somewhere in England. Filming it here wouldn't make much sense anyway because most 1944 buildings are no longer standing and sixties style office blocks don't make a good war movie (just like Arnhem).

I must say they did quite a good job. There were some minor mistakes but you could see that the set builders took their inspiration from old photographs and did not made it up from their mind. The biggest mistake wasn't even the visual aspect but the accent of the Dutch people which is definitely not an accent from the Dutch south. Ironically getting that right should have been the easiest part.


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## Northsider (Jan 16, 2006)

I can think of a dozen movie that portray Chicago in a good light. There are countless TV shows I can think of as well, but I can't think if they portray the city well...Boondocks? lol


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## Xelebes (Apr 1, 2007)

I can't think of a specific movie that references Edmonton. I know there have been a few movies shot here but little to actually refer to the city.


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## goschio (Dec 2, 2002)

Just watched the movie "flight plan" and they portrait Berlin as some kind of winter wonderland. 

In other movies such as "The Bourne Supremacy" they portrait Berlin as some kind of post-communist shithole with ugly commie blocks and lots of crime.

And of course lots of Nazi movies use Berlin as a setting. One recent example is "Downfall".


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## phattonez (Sep 14, 2006)

I can't really think of anything that depicts LA in a good way. No wonder everyone hates it.


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## hudkina (Oct 28, 2003)

^ Seriously?

Most movies depict Los Angeles in at least a neutral way. There are a few here and there that depict the "Compton-South Central-crime-ghetto" view of Los Angeles, but most don't show the city in a negative light.


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## diz (Nov 1, 2005)

LA was depicted well in Transformers lol


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

Taylorhoge said:


> If this topic hasnt been used before then how did they show your city?
> 
> New York for the most part is somewhat depicted well howerve some shows and movies make it out to seem like its a war zone outside of Manhattan


A few movies like *Coming To America* depicts a positive view of NY's outer boroughs with the exception of the foiled robbery scene at a Mc Dowells fast food joint.

As for HK, alot of movies especially Hollywood and Kung Fu flicks depict the region as crime-ridden filled with triad thugs. HK is one of the safest cities in the world


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## Taylorhoge (Feb 5, 2006)

My favorite movie of New York is watching a highspeed chase happen down 5th Ave in Spiderman hahahaha


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## RawLee (Jul 9, 2007)

PeterGabriel said:


> ^^I only know that Hungary is popular in porn films. lol I don't like EE models, but Hungarian seem good looking. :drool: And Hungary is more like central Europe, than EE, because EE are rather new and unknown countries, not Hungary, it has loads of history.
> 
> I don't have a positive view of Slovakia, partly because of Hostel - an excellent horror film. But I know things there are not so bad. :lol:


Actually,Budapest is popular in them because we make them


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## Jaeger (May 11, 2006)

Lots of Zombies in London of late.


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## Pallo_3 (Aug 6, 2007)

RawLee said:


> In Underworld,the metro scene is in Budapest,and the street scenes also.When they kill the vampire queen(who is Zita Görög,a model here),that was shot at either at Nyugati,or Keleti terminals. In Van Helsing,I think the vampire party is in Budapest.


The movie 8MM 2 is also set in Budapest


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## Canadian Chocho (May 18, 2006)

NEVER. Hell, the last movie I can think of (Shoot 'Em Up) depicted Toronto as a random American city that was dirty and crime ridden.


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## MDguy (Dec 16, 2006)

The Wire doesn't exactly portray baltimore as a great city :|


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## RawLee (Jul 9, 2007)

Pallo_3 said:


> The movie 8MM 2 is also set in Budapest


Really?I didnt know they make a sequel. There are rumours that Andy Vajna wants to shoot Terminator 4 in the new Korda Studios(which the makers of Hellboy 2 praised) and in Hungary.


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## WesternburbsTony23 (Oct 26, 2006)

Chicago is represented acutally pretty well through the decades. When one thinks of Chicago, they usually think of two Chicago's, the burbs and the city. John Hughes was king of the burbs in the 1980s and early 90s. He did potray the burbs and midwestern values pretty well with all his flicks. As for as Chicago the city, it was usually potrayed as gritty, crime ridden, etc. in the 1980s. The only one that really showcased the city, was probably the biggest Chicago movie ever made, Ferris Buehler. 
A lot of movies in 2000 show how Chicago has moved from a blue collar city to a white collar city. Anyways, here are my Top 5 Chicago movies

1. Ferris
2. Fugitive
3. Blues Brothers
4. Untouchables
5. Kissing a Fool


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## gladisimo (Dec 11, 2006)

^^ Don't forget ER - my favorite TV show of the 90s!



TenRot said:


> When it comes to my state in the US, no. We're perceived to be a prep's utopia.


Better prep's utopia than a pot smoking, constantly high, and so smug we smell own farts gay capital of the world...

As for my actual city, I doubt many people in the world know it, even some people in the Bay Area don't know where it is.


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## Delirium (Oct 8, 2005)

Jaeger said:


> Lots of Zombies in London of late.


what else is new? :tongue3:


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## Irwell (May 22, 2006)

The last film I can think of that had Manchester in it at all was 28 days later. The whole city was on fire. Nice. We've been used as a New York set a few times too, but no actual movies set here I don't think.

The Manchester set for the movie Alfie:


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## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

On Portuguese TV Figueira is a beach, a beach and a beach. Where do 46 000 people live, sand houses?


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## Delirium (Oct 8, 2005)

Irwell said:


> The last film I can think of that had *Manchester *in it at all was 28 days later. *The whole city was on fire*. Nice. We've been used as a New York set a few times too, but no actual movies set here I don't think.
> 
> The Manchester set for the movie Alfie:


I guess its popular with _you know who_ then.


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## SuburbanWalker (Jun 23, 2007)

I recall there was some commotion about how the Petronas Twin Towers were depicted in Entrapment. They were shown in vicinity and in contrast to slums, whereas in reality there are no slums nearby and the slums of Malacca where edited into the shot. Apparently the movie industry believes that every third world city should be shown with slums (even though Malaysia isn't all that poor anymore), European cities shouldn't be shown with modern architecture, American cities should always be shown with tall skylines and East Asian cities should be shown to be futuristic.


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## nygirl (Jul 14, 2003)

Taylorhoge said:


> My favorite movie of New York is watching a highspeed chase happen down 5th Ave in Spiderman hahahaha


The French Connection had the best car chase. Down Macdonald Avenue in Brooklyn, under the El, and going full speed with no tricks. ( This was before digitial effects. True story too.


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## spongeg (May 1, 2006)

i don't think Vancouver is ever playing itself in film ever

however watching movies that are shot here is fun sometimes cause they will show say car chases that just couldn't happen in reality

ie they will start out in an alley downtown and come out in a suburb some 20 km away - haha and than end up in some other part of the city entirely


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

In London they have the few token Black people among everyone else being Anglo Saxons not just background crowds but characters too, whereas the reality is that 60 percent in the centre are non English and 40 percent non White. If you take London et al overall it's still 35 percent foreign born and 35 percent ethnic, which just doesnt show on screen- everyone's Cockney or posh with names like Dave, Reggie, Matilda, Bill (rather than Dave, Reggie, Mathilde, Bei Ling). Even in historical dramas they fail to show the historic diversity - medieval times were one third foreign born and as cosmopolitan as today, the following centuries (16th,17th,18th) had thousands of Asians and Africans (whom numbered 20,000 by the 1500s) living there too.


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## vancouverite/to'er (Apr 22, 2007)

Toronto- not depicted very well.hno: All they show is the financial district (snore) (i.e Resident Evil)
For Vancouver they try to make it as obvious as possible it's not Vancouverhno: (i/e countless commercials)


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## PanaManiac (Mar 26, 2005)

krudmonk said:


> My city is not depicted.


*Sorry.*


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## PanaManiac (Mar 26, 2005)

*They do and they have. That is, the city is depicted as it is. Whether that's "well" or not, is subject to individual perception. Currently on TV, Fox's Prison Break is set in Panama City, Panama, although mostly shot in Dallas, TX. Ever so often, however, the cast and crew head to Panama in order to shoot certain scenes on location. In addition, the aerial and ground level shots that appear between scenes are that of Panama City.

In movies, The Tailor of Panama, with Pierce Brosnan, based on the John LeCarré's book of the same name, was filmed entirely on location in Panama City. And Basic (John Travolta) was partially shot in Casco Viejo, the colonial quarter of Panama City.*


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## techniques1200s (Mar 11, 2005)

The best for SF would be Bullitt. Really got the feel of the city down well, in my opinion. Most of SF hasn't even changed much since the 60's when the film was made.

For the most part however, movies get it horribly wrong. They tend to portray everything as being victorian houses on hills, and two blocks away you have either downtown or the golden gate bridge, not to mention the fact that there are CABLE CARS EVERYWHERE. Also the waterfront and boats and things like that are portrayed as a much larger part of life than they actually are to your average SF resident.

When filming, Vancouver is often used as a stand in for SF, which might make slight sense in terms of geographic features, but otherwise the cities are not very alike.

Also, the movie RENT, which was set in Manhattan, was filmed in San Francisco.

The Pursuit of Happyness did a pretty good job at depicting the city though, certainly better than any other hollywood movie I've seen.
There have been some other independent movies that have done an ok job at capturing the city though, including:

Chan is Missing (a mystery set in Chinatown in the 80's)
Quality of Life (about graffiti artists in the Mission District)


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## Taylorhoge (Feb 5, 2006)

Quality of Life made me want to go to SF so bad now


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## MARACUCHisimo (May 13, 2006)

Real Life Philadelphia made me believe that Philadelphia is so GAY and I hope so!!!


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## svs (Dec 5, 2005)

Darryl said:


> Absolutely not. My city, Baltimore, is always portrayed by Hollywood as a stereotype of the ultimate crime-ridden, hopeless city of urban decline/decay. Drug dealing and murder take center stage. Yet, they film in Baltimore's MANY nice areas all the time and pass them off as other cities! It's maddening. Baltimore has (in the movie called "Washington Square") even portrayed 19th century Paris!! It also portrays Washington DC and New York frequently.


I don't think this is true. Films like Diner and Liberty Hill make Baltimore seem like a very nice city. You have to deal with John Waters yourself. He's a native. BTW, the most recent remake of Hairspray which takes place in Baltimore and even starts with the song "Good Morning Baltimore" was shot in Toronto!


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## svs (Dec 5, 2005)

diz said:


> LA was depicted well in Transformers lol


I believe that was shot in Detroit.


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## svs (Dec 5, 2005)

Taylorhoge said:


> My favorite movie of New York is watching a highspeed chase happen down 5th Ave in Spiderman hahahaha


My favorite scene in that movie is the chase on the elevated train which was clearly shot on Chicago's CTA.


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## svs (Dec 5, 2005)

phattonez said:


> Sure, some are neutral, some are negative, but none are positive.


Well, you can't forget Steve MArtin's LA Story which was a love song to the city. Though generally I agree with you. Most LA movies are dystopian like "Falling Down" or "Blaede Runner".


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## svs (Dec 5, 2005)

WesternburbsTony23 said:


> Chicago is represented acutally pretty well through the decades. When one thinks of Chicago, they usually think of two Chicago's, the burbs and the city. John Hughes was king of the burbs in the 1980s and early 90s. He did potray the burbs and midwestern values pretty well with all his flicks. As for as Chicago the city, it was usually potrayed as gritty, crime ridden, etc. in the 1980s. The only one that really showcased the city, was probably the biggest Chicago movie ever made, Ferris Buehler.
> A lot of movies in 2000 show how Chicago has moved from a blue collar city to a white collar city. Anyways, here are my Top 5 Chicago movies
> 
> 1. Ferris
> ...


Don't forget "Adventures in Babysitting". Its interesting. When Chicago is shown in a movie, it is almost always a valentine to the city. I think part of the reason is that Chicago is just so damn photogenic.


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## svs (Dec 5, 2005)

techniques1200s said:


> The best for SF would be Bullitt. Really got the feel of the city down well, in my opinion. Most of SF hasn't even changed much since the 60's when the film was made.
> 
> For the most part however, movies get it horribly wrong. They tend to portray everything as being victorian houses on hills, and two blocks away you have either downtown or the golden gate bridge, not to mention the fact that there are CABLE CARS EVERYWHERE. Also the waterfront and boats and things like that are portrayed as a much larger part of life than they actually are to your average SF resident.
> 
> ...


San Francisco is another city that almost always looks good in movies. Its photogenic just like Chicago, but with hills!


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## Martin S (Sep 12, 2002)

Darryl said:


> Absolutely not. My city, Baltimore, is always portrayed by Hollywood as a stereotype of the ultimate crime-ridden, hopeless city of urban decline/decay. Drug dealing and murder take center stage. Yet, they film in Baltimore's MANY nice areas all the time and pass them off as other cities! It's maddening. Baltimore has (in the movie called "Washington Square") even portrayed 19th century Paris!! It also portrays Washington DC and New York frequently.


I wonder what that says? We have the same problem in Liverpool. Most films or television dramas set in the city pass it off as an impoverished crime-ridden hell hole. However, the city has been used as a location for scenes set in New York, Chicago, St Petersburg, Venice and Dickensian London.


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## Taylorhoge (Feb 5, 2006)

svs said:


> My favorite scene in that movie is the chase on the elevated train which was clearly shot on Chicago's CTA.


Except the CG made it look like the train was at least thirty floors up:lol:


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## pdxtex (Jan 3, 2007)

Portland has had alot of movies filmed here. Gus Van Sant has filmed a ton of movies here as well. Im sure Portland is a stand in for other cities though.


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## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

I like how in almost every movie or show about Chicago (especially ER), they throw in the L and the skyline EVERYWHERE. ER makes it seem like L's run down almost every street, and by almost every building.

I didn't even know Samanta Who was suppose to be in Chicago...


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## -Corey- (Jul 8, 2005)

Almost everytime i watch a movie about NY the city is attacked, destroyed, etc.. NY has been destroyed by hurricanes, earthquakes, asteroids, viruses, aliens, terrorist attacks, etc. hno:.. Poor NY, hehe


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## outbackbox (Oct 12, 2007)

most films filmed in chicago are actually about chicago or how the city relates to characters and its always about their skyline (have u noticed chicago films always depict the chicago skyline), as opposed to NY and LA where our city is just another city where the story is being told. Ofcourse some are about the city too like sex and the city but most films only New Yorkers are able to tell that it was shot in NY and same for LA.


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## Cherguevara (Apr 13, 2005)

In terms of London it falls into two equally unrealistic camps. British films tend to show it as either this gritty, grimy, cosmopolitan and violent place or a charming upper-middle class paradise full of people like Hugh Grant walking round ornamental ponds proposing to each other. Of course it's both those things, and usually on the same streets, but I think film makers find this too challenging to convey, so plump for one or the other.

The funniest portrayal I ever saw of London, was in this American kids film, "What a Girl Wants". It showed the protagonist catch a routemaster bus in Greenwich, get off a few stops later in Trafalgar Square and then walk round the corner to her fathers country mansion.

Manchester doesn't really feature in film. Probably because all the money is American, and Americans aren't really interested in drizzly recovering industrial cities. A lot of British TV is made there though. Most of it dramas about psychologists/policewomen/doctors/undertakers foiling the wicked plans of serial killers. This has lead some people to believe Manchester is some kind of evil murder capital, and that everyone carries guns. Which is slightly absurd.


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