Movies that do a terrific job showing off a city

[Yankee]

I thought this would be a good topic of discussion. What movie would you say does a particularly awesome job showing off your (favorite) city?

I'll start by pointing out that no movie shows off Chicago better than the Dark Knight IMO Not only does it physically capture its skyscrapers, architecture and cityscape on film, but it also does an extraordinary job capturing its atmosphere and feel IMO. It's no coincidence Nolan chose Chicago, the city can be very Gotham-y and gloomy in an awe-inspiring way.

Your turn.

[Steely Dan]

my favorite "chicago" movies:

1. the blues brothers
2. cooley high
3. ferris bueller's day off
4. the untouchables
5. my bodyguard

the above movies are all about chicago as a city. the dark knight is good, but it's not really a chicago movie, it was just a movie which had a lot of its scenes filmed in chicago, but it says nothing at all about the city as a living, breathing place, chicago merely serves as a backdrop for the film. TDK didn't capture the soul of chicago because it wasn't set in chicago, rather the events of the film took place in the fictional gotham city.

looking at my list, all of my favorite chicago films are from the 70s & 80s. it's about damn time that someone makes another definitive "chicago" film, but i can't think of any chicago films from the past 20 years or so that can stand up to those classics.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

my favorite "chicago" movies:

1. the blues brothers
2. cooley high
3. ferris bueller's day off
4. the untouchables
5. my bodyguard

the above movies are all about chicago as a city. the dark knight is good, but it's not really a chicago movie, it was just a movie which had a lot of its scenes filmed in chicago, but it says nothing at all about the city as a living, breathing place, chicago merely serves as a backdrop for the film. TDK didn't capture the soul of chicago because it wasn't set in chicago, rather the events of the film took place in the fictional gotham city.

looking at my list, all of my favorite chicago films are from the 70s & 80s. it's about damn time that someone makes another definitive "chicago" film, but i can't think of any chicago films from the past 20 years or so that can stand up to those classics.

^ I'd put The Fugitive on that list. It may not capture Chicago's soul the way Blues Brothers does (one can argue Ferris Bueller's doesn't either), but it nevertheless the city very much plays a starring role throughout the film.

[jodelli]

Parts of 8 Mile captured the downtown club/nighttime atmosphere around downtown Detroit from a few years back.
I used to frequent a roughly arc shaped area from around Cass and Bagley through Grand Circus park and down Broadway and Brush to around East Congress, including locations represented in the movie.

Ferris Bueller was a chamber of commerce ad for the Loop and North Side in the 80's, but I enjoyed it nonetheless having been there shortly before and after the movie's release.

Edit: 8 Mile - Even the JLB scene at the Penobscot was authentic as Electrifying Mojo used to call out from that building and people would show up at the entrance on Griswold.

[novawolverine]

Originally Posted by jodelli

Parts of 8 Mile captured the downtown club/nighttime atmosphere around downtown Detroit from a few years back.
I used to frequent a roughly arc shaped area from around Cass and Bagley through Grand Circus park and down Broadway and Brush to around East Congress, including locations represented in the movie.

Ferris Bueller was a chamber of commerce ad for the Loop and North Side in the 80's, but I enjoyed it nonetheless having been there shortly before and after the movie's release.

Edit: 8 Mile - Even the JLB scene at the Penobscot was authentic as Electrifying Mojo used to call out from that building and people would show up at the entrance on Griswold.

How about Four Brothers?

For DC, I'd say State of Play does a better job than most, which is fairly new.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by novawolverine

How about Four Brothers?

For DC, I'd say State of Play does a better job than most, which is fairly new.

Four Brothers was way off, IMO. The setting of the story wasn't even accurate, as the movie referred to Highland Park as a neighborhood, when in reality it's a separate, enclave city (that is completely surrounded by Detroit).

My vote for representing Detroit would be Dreamgirls. Beverly Hills Cop would be second.

As for New York, my city of residence, I think Spike Lee does a great job in portraying Brooklyn in both Crooklyn and Do the Right Thing.

[jodelli]

Originally Posted by novawolverine

How about Four Brothers?

Much of that was filmed in Ontario,

Originally Posted by PA Pride

Robocop - Futuristic Detroit!

That was a good movie of downtown Dallas.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

above movies are all about chicago as a city. the dark knight is good, but it's not really a chicago movie, it was just a movie which had a lot of its scenes filmed in chicago, but it says nothing at all about the city as a living, breathing place, chicago merely serves as a backdrop for the film. TDK didn't capture the soul of chicago because it wasn't set in chicago, rather the events of the film took place in the fictional gotham city.

How about two Sandra Bullock films, While You Were Sleeping and The Lake House.

Or you could go with My Big Fat Greek Wedding even though it was mostly filmed in Canada:

I'm going to the Jewel. Listen, I'll get you some pantyhose.

If we can include documentaries, then Hoop Dreams for sure.

[urbanactivist]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

my favorite "chicago" movies:

1. the blues brothers
2. cooley high
3. ferris bueller's day off
4. the untouchables
5. my bodyguard

the above movies are all about chicago as a city. the dark knight is good, but it's not really a chicago movie, it was just a movie which had a lot of its scenes filmed in chicago, but it says nothing at all about the city as a living, breathing place, chicago merely serves as a backdrop for the film. TDK didn't capture the soul of chicago because it wasn't set in chicago, rather the events of the film took place in the fictional gotham city.

looking at my list, all of my favorite chicago films are from the 70s & 80s. it's about damn time that someone makes another definitive "chicago" film, but i can't think of any chicago films from the past 20 years or so that can stand up to those classics.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding had some choice scenes of the Chicago landscape as well. It's not necessarily "about the city", but definitely does a good job of showing it off.

[Lear]

Berlin

The Bourne Trilogy

Although the Trilogy has an international plot
most of the locations are shot in Berlin....



http://german.about.com/library/blbourne_berlin.htm

[JDRCRASH]

Volcano is definitely an "LA" movie. Much of koreatown and the westside is shown in the movie.

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

my favorite "chicago" movies:

1. the blues brothers
2. cooley high
3. ferris bueller's day off
4. the untouchables
5. my bodyguard

Another Chicago movie is "The Fugitive". Shows the Sears Tower, I think.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

looking at my list, all of my favorite chicago films are from the 70s & 80s. it's about damn time that someone makes another definitive "chicago" film, but i can't think of any chicago films from the past 20 years or so that can stand up to those classics.

It's weird, because while there are perhaps more movies being filmed in Chicago than ever before (or at least, since the 1920s) but none of them resonate with Chicagoans, primarily because nearly ALL of them are set in a generic city and Chicago is the stand-in.

I absolutely love Stranger Than Fiction, for example, which shows off Chicago beautifully, but is set in a generic city, and used the Downtown Manhattan skyline on the DVD box and poster, for some unexplainable reason.

A similar situation exists in:
Wanted
Eagle Eye
Batman Begins/Dark Knight
The Informant

With TV shows, there is the opposite problem: plenty of them are supposedly set in Chicago, but few of them actually do filming that shows off the city. That's obviously a budget limitation, but shows like Seinfeld and Beverly Hills 90210 managed to definitely convey a sense of New York and a sense of LA, respectively, through the characters' behavior and through the unique locales that each show used.

The short-lived A&E series "The Beast" showed off Chicago very well, and it was actually set in Chicago for a change. However, it wasn't written very well, IMO, and failed to draw public attention. ER also did a great job showing the city.

[Bailey]

Originally Posted by ardecila

It's weird, because while there are perhaps more movies being filmed in Chicago than ever before (or at least, since the 1920s) but none of them resonate with Chicagoans, primarily because nearly ALL of them are set in a generic city and Chicago is the stand-in.

I absolutely love Stranger Than Fiction, for example, which shows off Chicago beautifully, but is set in a generic city, and used the Downtown Manhattan skyline on the DVD box and poster, for some unexplainable reason.

A similar situation exists in:
Wanted
Eagle Eye
Batman Begins/Dark Knight
The Informant

With TV shows, there is the opposite problem: plenty of them are supposedly set in Chicago, but few of them actually do filming that shows off the city. That's obviously a budget limitation, but shows like Seinfeld and Beverly Hills 90210 managed to definitely convey a sense of New York and a sense of LA, respectively, through the characters' behavior and through the unique locales that each show used.

The short-lived A&E series "The Beast" showed off Chicago very well, and it was actually set in Chicago for a change. However, it wasn't written very well, IMO, and failed to draw public attention. ER also did a great job showing the city.

Wicker Park was a good one filmed and set in Chicago

[initiald]

Obvious one here, but Lost in Translation offers great Tokyo eye candy

[M.K.]

i dont like to see a movie that shows our reality, so i prefer seeing cities in sci-fi ones, which has star-wars, startrek, a.i., i-robot etc...

[Double L]

It's not a great movie for skyline views, but Fighting does a good job of showing off lifestyle in NYC.

[dave8721]

I can't think of to many movies that have done Miami accurately. None really. Miami Vice, Transporter 2, the Bad Boys films...etc all do nice skyline shots and nice pretty shots. Fast and the Furious 2 at least got out of South Beach for some nice gritty urban scenes. I never saw Marley & Me but it had several scenes shot around where I live so it might have done a good job.

The TV show Burn Notice does the best job at the ground level, better than any movie that I can think of has.

There's always Scarface for late 70's early 80's Miami.

[brickell]

Originally Posted by dave8721

I can't think of to many movies that have done Miami accurately.

The Perez Family... maybe.

[ColDayMan]

In Too Deep was actually a good portrayal of the "real" Cincinnati. Traffic was for suburban Cincinnati's contrast with the urban city.

[Double L]

I think Houston's best portrayal is and will be Jason's Lyric for a long time. Unless you wanna go with Robocop 2