Ask Adam Savage: How Annoying Are Films That Change a City's Geography?



What are some props from sequels where Adam is a fan of one version but not another? What are some of Adam’s favorite films set in San Francisco? How does Adam feel about films that change the geography of a city? Adam answers these questions from Tested members james saunders, DFriendly and John Zizolfo, whom we thank for their support! Join this channel to support Tested and get access to perks like asking Adam questions:
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42 thoughts on “Ask Adam Savage: How Annoying Are Films That Change a City's Geography?”

  1. I've never been to America, so I'm not at all familiar with your geography. And it's probably best that way. Because if I knew that the geography had been altered, I can't tell you how much I'd hate it!

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  2. I was an extra in a movie whose plot took place in Washington, DC. They only had permits to film the first month in Wash, DC, the second month, they filmed in Baltimore, but the plot was still in Wash, DC. They removed the Baltimore street signs and installed Wash, DC signs to maintain "continuity". The problem arose when the notes told the extras to assemble at a particular address, but the map had the Balt. street names and because the Balt. signs were gone, they were getting lost. Because I was familiar w the area, I was always first to the spot. Word got out to "follow Dave to the spot".

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  3. You talk about compressed geography in films, in The Stunt Man one scene has the director being lifted up by a crane at the La Jolla Cove Children's Pool and being lowered down at the Hotel Del Coronado, about 19 miles away. Also in another movie, a car turned a corner in downtown and finished the turn in National City. And don't get started on Top Gun and all the strange geography on the ground in that movie.

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  4. John Wayne movie 'McQ'.
    Filmed with Seattle as a backdrop, 'The Big Chase' scene starts in downtown, takes a hard right and ends on a Pacific beach.
    Real drive-time to that beach is close to 5 hours, if you don't take the Ferry, 3 hours if you do.
    I always smirk, thinking of this life-or-death chase, with the opponents impatiently glaring at each while waiting for the boat to dock.
    "I see you over there, in lane 3! Once we're off this boat and well clear of the docking facility and all attendant speed-limits and safety protocols, I'm gonna be on your tail!!"
    "Oh yeah? Well, I'm gonna cover 80 miles of two-lane highway during peak Tourist Season in three minutes, so buckle up!"
    I love movies.

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  5. From my Italian point of view the most evident geography inaccuracy is in the movie 6 Underground. I loved the movie, but in the middle of the initial chase scene in Firenze they briefly cut to the main plaza of Siena, a totally different city. I remember to have tought: "I wonder how many times they do it for other cities I know nothing about". I think I've my answer now 😀

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  6. Growing up in the North East of England, Get Carter (1971) annoys the hell out of me during one of the chase scenes. Not only are they bouncing all over North Tyneside, at one point they seem to cross the Tyne without getting damp.

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  7. The most annoying thing I've seen (can't remember the movie rn but) the shots from the inside of the car was from an 2 door camaro but the outside was a 4 door pontiac. Even a non car guy/gal who don't see the different in brands still can tell a 4 door from a 2 door…

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  8. On the topic of city geography mash-up :
    The only car chase that respect the geography of NYC, with a few exceptions here and there, is the one in the movie "The seven-up". I highly recommend you take a look at it.
    More modern movies take a lot a liberty on cities geography.
    Living in Paris i can tell you neither "Ronin" or the "MI: Fallout", two very good movies, both featuring a car chase in my city, both of which i had the chance to witness being filmed, make sense in terms of geography.
    During the chase at the begining of MI:Fallout when the Truck enters the street going under a building for the switch over to the bikes, there is no way for the bikes to leave as that street is almost a dead-end with just a narrow passageway to an adjacent street before the end. Actually they had to turn the truck 180° and filmed TM leaving the way he came.
    Then to get to the "garage" which is under the metro station "Passy" at the north end of Bir Hakeim bridge (the one with the metro on top seen in EVERY movie set in Paris) where they switch to the BMW all you have to do is follow the Seine river left bank and make a right turn at said bridge.
    Side notes : This is part of my daily comute to and from that same archway street. On a 18-20mph e-scooter or e-bike it is a 15-20min scenic ride to the bridge passing Le Louvre, Le grand palais, The Eiffel tower but NOT the Arc de triomphe or the Opera!
    MI production rented an apartement to set up the dressing rooms in that archway building. TM was literraly my father "next door neighbor". They even put a desk with the biggest sented candle i had ever seen in the tiny vestibule separating the two appartements to cover the smell of my father cigares. 🤣🤣

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  9. The Keanu Reeves movie Chain Reaction was filmed in Chicago. At one point in the film his character is chased from the Filed Museum (at 12th Street) into the Museum of Science and Industry (at 57th Street) in moments.
    I didn't know the Wachowskis were from Chicgo when I first saw The Matrix, but recognized Chicgo street names in the movie, and when they mentioned intersections, they got it right.

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  10. Fast 9's Edinburgh location shots, must have used a steel pipe for a slip line to be able to go down the Grassmarket from the Royal Mile then end up back on itself at the East End of Prince's Street, plus portals for the cars to go the same route and end up on Charlotte square/George Street……still love it though 😁 (incedentaly End Games part 1 Edinburgh shoot, bang on accurate 👍)

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  11. "Howard the Duck" used the old California Academy of Sciences as a stand-in for an unnamed natural history museum in Chicago. Which was fine until they showed the iconic two whales fountain there, which jarringly made my kid brain instantly travel 2,100+ miles west.

    Also, in "Sudden Impact", Dirty Harry shoots the bad guy off the Santa Cruz Boardwalk's Giant Dipper and he lands on the carrousel, which is about a football field away. Harry's gun truly is the most powerful handgun in the world.

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  12. All of western WA and OR looks strangely like Vancouver BC. And things do show places like Seattle often don't show views that actually exist (Frasier being best known example).

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  13. The film Elizabethtown comes to mind. The film is set in a medium-size town about 30 miles south of Louisville. While there were a few location shoots in E-town (as the locals call it) most of the film was shot in Crestwood, KY just east of the Louisville border.

    RE: Jessica Jones shooting in NYC, didn't all of the Marvel Netflix shows shoot there?…

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  14. In one of the first scenes in Down With Love, Renée Zellweger walks out of Grand Central, looks around, then immediatley gets into a cab in front of the United Nations building. It's a silly comedy so you can't take it too seriously, but that just leaves me shaking my head.

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  15. The Thor film that climaxes in London, when Thor gets on the underground at Embankment and asks how many stops to Greenwich and was told it's 2 stops No No and No it's not even on the same line.

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  16. Having lived in Annapolis, MD when Patriot Games came out out I was apoplectic at how they took liberties with the city. I got shushing from my girlfriend for exclaiming "You can't park on Maryland Ave!" "East Street is one way!" "Why wouldn't a professor park on campus in the facukty lot?". She married me anyway.

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  17. As a welder who built a good portion of mobile regional airport as well as MSY airport near new Orleans. I was a bit put off in a movie (RED I think) when they land in Mobile but the shots are all from MSY. I bet Im the only one who noticed.

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  18. This just has me thinking: why do Hollywood films always take place in the same cities?
    I get New York showing up a lot because it's the biggest US city, and many stories don't work anywhere else. I get LA showing up a lot when they are actually filming there so its convenient. But from there on out… Why do so many stories take place in the same cities? There are so many amazing places across this nation with rich cultures and histories, but it's like Hollywood only cares about three of them.

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  19. I seem to remember a scene from a Van Damme movie, I guess The Order, where he was being chased on a motorcycle through Tel Aviv, took a hard corner and was in the Old City of Jerusalem!

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  20. The episode of The Last of Us that was set in Kansas City features a semi getting trapped under a bridge. Now that might seem random but that same bridge (the Independence Ave Bridge) has a rather infamous history of semi's getting stuck under it to this very day.

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