0:02:30: We see 'Neil McCauley' (Robert De Niro) walk into a hospital (with a statue
of Michelangelo's 'The Pieta' outside); he walks through its halls, and out the back door,
where he steals an ambulance (which is later used in the big armored car robbery.)

This is a real hospital, St. Mary Medical Center, located at
1050 Linden Ave., in Long Beach, CA.

(You'll see it again later in the film when Pacino visits it for an entirely different reason.)

The real hospital's 'Holy Family' statues, usually located above its fluorescent sign,
were replaced by the full-size copy of Michelangelo's "The Pieta" for the movie.
This hospital has been used in many films, including "Blade" & "The X-Files" movie.

00:03:29: We see 'Chris Shiherlis' (Val Kilmer) walk past rows of bulldozers and into the
building of a dusty construction depot, where he buys (what we later discover to be)
explosives at the counter. This is supposed to be in Arizona. It isn't.

This was actually shot at a heavy equipment rental place called
Quinn / Shepherd Machinery, located at 10006 Rose Hills Road, in the
City of Industry, CA., just off the 605 Freeway, about 16 miles east of downtown L.A.


(Rose Hills is also a nearby 'memorial park', well known for its lush rose gardens.)

00:07:05: We see 'Waingro' (Kevin Gage) ask for a refill at this Mexican food stand
(covered with colorful murals), then he hitches a ride aboard a truck driven by
'Michael Cheritto' (Tom Sizemore), on their way to the armored car robbery.

This was filmed at an actual food stand (in a bad neighborhood) at 1233 S Western Ave.,
at the northwest corner of Pico & Western, near Koreatown. I'm not sure what the current
name of the stand is, but it's located next to (south of) the Western-Pico Discount World.
At the time the movie was shot, it may have been called El Centauro Del Norte,
and the roof still bears the remnants of a sign that later read "Pico Pollo".

 *

00:09:29: The big armored car robbery begins. The armored car approaches the
trap, as the stolen ambulance blocks its path, and the truck lies in wait...

The robbery takes place at the junction of the Harbor (110) Freeway
& the Santa Monica (10) Freeway, just south of downtown L.A.

In the photo above, we are looking west down Venice Blvd., just west of the corner
of Venice Blvd & Figueroa St. The armored car is heading east on Venice Blvd,
after passing under the Harbor (110) Freeway.

In the photo above, the green truck driven by Tom Sizemore comes roaring out of its hiding
place, which is to the north of Venice Blvd, in a road area under the sweeping
freeway onramps (which feed traffic from the 10 Freeway to the northbound 110.)

(In the background, just to the northeast, you can see the curved
blue-green walls of the Los Angeles Convention Center.)

In the photo below, the truck smashes into the armored car, knocking it over.

The truck is moving across Venice Blvd, from north to south.

* Locations marked with an asterisk may be located in high-crime areas. Exercise reasonable caution.

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