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Seeing Stars: Where the Movies Were Shot (on Location)


1994 (part 2)


- In the 1994 high-action film "SPEED,"
Sandra Bullock drives a bus rigged
with a bomb set to explode if the bus slows down below 50 mph on the crowded
L.A. freeways. Those bus scenes were supposed to take place on the busy
Santa Monica (10) Freeway. But in fact, most of those scenes were shot
seven miles to the south, on the brand new Century
(105) Freeway. The Century Freeway didn't open to regular traffic
until 1994, so the producers had the empty freeway all to themselves when
the film was shot in 1993. (The 105 was also used for the wrong-way chase
scene in "Lethal Weapon 3").
[Buy the Movie.]
- At the beginning of "SPEED,"
Keanu Reeves works against time and
battles a maniac-bomber (Dennis Hopper)
to free a group of civilians trapped in an elevator car inside a skyscraper
- which Hopper has rigged to explode. That 55-story skyscraper is actually
the Southern California Gas Center,
located at the northeast corner of 5th Street and Grand Avenue in downtown
L.A. (555 Grand Avenue).
 
- Near the beginning of "SPEED,"
a Santa Monica bus explodes, killing the driver. That explosion scene took
place at the corner of Main Street
& Rose Avenue on the Santa Monica/Venice
border. A bizarre local landmark at that same corner, the "Ballerina
Clown," is also seen in the movie; it's above the North Beach Bar
& Grill (at 255 Main Street).

- In that same movie, "SPEED,"
the ransom money was dropped off in a trash can at the northeast corner
of Pershing Square, a park located
at 532 S. Olive Street (at 5th St.) in downtown L.A., across
from the Biltmore Hotel.
[Buy the Movie.]

 
- In 1994's "THE LITTLE
RASCALS," Alfalfa serenades Darla in a rowboat, crooning
"You are so beautiful." Those rowboat scenes were filmed in the
canals of Venice, CA. Chase
scenes from 1995's "THE NET"
(starring Sandra Bullock) were also
shot alongside those same Venice canals.
[Buy the Movie.]


- If you've seen 1994's "BEVERLY
HILLS COP III," you'll recognize the Beverly
Hills Civic Center, the gorgeous
mission-style complex which includes one of the best-looking police stations
and city halls anywhere, located at 450 N. Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills.
(Remember
the scene where Eddie Murphy drops
by to visit Judge Reinhold?)
The civic center was also featured in the 1993 movie version of "THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES"
(in the scene where the Clampetts were arrested), and in 1994's "COLOR OF NIGHT"
starring Bruce Willis.
[Buy the Movie.]

- The concluding scenes of the 1994 slapstick comedy
"NAKED GUN 33 1/3: THE FINAL INSULT,"
have Leslie Nielsen foiling an assassination
attempt during an Academy Awards ceremony.
That
Arabian-style building, used for the exterior shots of the stars arriving
at the ceremony, was actually the Shrine Auditorium
(665 Jefferson Blvd) in Los Angeles, where many actual Oscar
ceremonies have been held over the years. 
But for another fictional assassination attempt at the Oscars, the Shrine
lost out to its rival in real life for that award show, the Pantages
Theatre, at 6233 Hollywood Blvd.
That was where they shot the final scenes of 1993's "THE BODYGUARD,"
where Whitney Houston was saved
by Kevin Costner from assassination
at the Oscar show. [Buy the Movie.]
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- The 1994 Steven Seagal
action adventure "ON DEADLY GROUND"
was set in the wilds of Alaska. But in the film's fiery climax, when Seagal's
character infiltrated the Aegis Oil refinery and blew it up, those refinery
scenes were actually shot close to home, at the vacant Fletcher Oil Refinery
in Carson, CA., located at 24721 Main Street (between Sepulveda & Lomita
Boulevards).
- Scenes from the 1998 Bruce Willis sci-fi/action
pic, "ARMAGEDDON" were also
shot at the same refinery, as was the upcoming "METAL GODS."
[Buy the Movie.]


- In the 1994 family comedy "MONKEY
TROUBLE," a little girl adopts a playful capuchin monkey
which she finds in a public park - only to discover later that the monkey
is a trained pickpocket. The park used for filming many of the scenes from
"Monkey Trouble" was Roxbury Memorial
Park, 471 S. Roxbury Drive (at the corner of Olympic
Boulevard), in Beverly Hills. (This may be the only local park with two
large, manicured greens reserved strictly for lawn bowling and croquet.)
[Buy the Movie.]

1920's
- 1930's - 1940's
- 1950's - 1960's
- 1970's - 1980's
- 1990 - 1991
- 1992 - 1993
- 1994
1995 - 1996
- 1997 - 1998
- 1999 - 2000
- 2001 - 2002
- 2003 - 2004
- 2005 - 2006
- 2007
2008 - 2009 -
2010 -
2011 -
2012 -
2013
* Locations marked by an asterisk (*)
may be located in areas with high crime rates.
Exercise reasonable caution.
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