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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[sopas ej]

"Vertigo" really showcases San Francisco in the late 1950s. It's cool to see what's changed and what hasn't. "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" also shows some shots I like from San Francisco, circa 1967; in the opening sequence they show what San Francisco International Airport looked like back then. There's also a scene outside one of the old Mel's Diners that no longer exists. Then of course there's "Bullitt," "The Rock" and "Mrs. Doubtfire."

I really like old movies that show LA, because LA is constantly changing and it's fun to see what's still there and what isn't anymore. I like watching all the films noir set in LA; "Double Indemnity" shows lots of LA circa 1944. Then there are the 1960s sex farces that show LA; "Move Over Darling" has excellent shots of Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and LA circa 1963; I was glad to learn that the car wash used in that movie still exists at the corner of Pico and Beverly Glen. In "Sex and the Single Girl" they show freeways under construction, and the big climactic scene of the film ends at LAX, which is cool to see what it looked like back then. From what a friend told me, I have yet to watch the film, but "Bachelor in Paradise" shows what the San Fernando Valley looked like circa 1961. Then of course there's "Rebel Without a Cause," the "Terminator" films...

"Pulp Fiction" of course is very LA, and I like that Quentin Tarantino purposely left out shots that would make it obvious that they're in LA, like palm trees or the Hollywood sign, but being that I'm from LA, I can totally tell it's filmed there, although I think there is a brief shot of Hollywood Blvd. and you can see the walk of fame on the sidewalk or something. His "Jackie Brown" also showcases the suburban South Bay area of LA, too, which I thought was kind of novel.

[brickell]

Originally Posted by dave8721

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

The Perez Family... maybe.

[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.

[kool maudit]

remember new jack city?

[TarHeelJ]

Driving Miss Daisy showed off some classic areas of Atlanta...mainly the beautiful Druid Hills neighborhood.

[kilbride102]

Fallen did a nice job showing off Philly. Also M. Knight Shamalyan (sp) uses Philly in all of his movies especially The Sixth Sense. It helps to have a director use your city exclusively likes he does and Woody Allen does for NYC.

Also there is a new movie coming out with Denzel Washington that I can't remember the name of that has some excellent skyline shots. Also the prison in the film is three blocks from my house. They filmed it there because Holmesburg Prison looks like a prison should.

[Austinlee]

Robocop - Futuristic Detroit!

[rockyi]

Most of the movies shot in the Quad Cities are made by an Italian movie company (Avati Brothers) and weren't released in the US, so I've only seen one of them.
Others were some low-budget made-for-TV flicks not worth a mention.

The indy movie, below, doesn't show off my city very much but it does showcase our minor league ballpark quite nicely.




http://www.croxton.net/ballparks/mwp/

[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.

[Okstate]

Goonies captures the north coast feel of Oregon for sure. Mainly Astoria.