Star Trek: Into Darkness - Filming Locations (part 1)

Since most Star Trek scenes are set in space, aboard the Enterprise or on distant planets,
I usually don't tend to think about their filming locations, because I assume that most of
the scenes were filmed inside studio sound stages. And that's often true.

But in the case of 2013's "Star Trek: Into Darkness", a surprising number of well-known
Los Angeles locations were used in the filming (albeit, enhanced with CGI).

But before we get to those real-life locations, let me first get this out of the way:

The movie opens with a scene on a red planet, as Kirk & McCoy flee through
a scarlet jungle, with a tribe of angry alien aborigines hot on their trail.

That scene, as well as the scene with Spock in an erupting volcano (on the same red planet)...

were shot on sets built on empty land in Playa del Rey, California (near
Marina del Rey), next to the old Howard Hughes "Spruce Goose" hangers
that have been turned into giant sound stages by Raleigh Studios.

The climactic scene of Spock battling Khan in hand-to-hand combat, on a
floating platform, was also shot on this same Playa del Rey property.

( The producers put up a temporary wall around the perimeter, during filming,
in an attempt to keep out prying eyes , but it didn't work - a photo of
Spock applying the neck-pinch maneuver to Khan leaked early...)

(The bridge of the Enterprise was built on a sound stage at
the historic MGM/Sony studio in Culver City.)

This empty land is located just west of The Promenade at Howard Hughes Center,
an upscale shopping center that houses one of L.A.'s early IMAX theatres,
just west of the 405 Freeway, and just south of the Marina del Rey freeway.

The adjacent sound stages are located at the corner of Campus Center & Bluff Creek Drives.

0:11:04: We see what is supposed to be "Royal Children's Hospital", perched upon a hill. This is
where a distraught couple (the Harewoods) visit their dying daughter, Lucille, and where Khan tells
the desperate father that he can save the girl (with a blood transfusion) - in return for a deadly favor.

Although this is supposed to be somewhere near London, it's actually right here in sunny Southern
California. And it's not a hospital in real life - it's a home (or at least, it used to be).

This is none other than Greystone Mansion, at 905 Loma Vista Drive, in Beverly Hills.

The massive home was originally built in 1928 by oil tycoon Edward Getty, but a following
a family tragedy at the house, the estate was willed to the City of Beverly Hills.

Now part of Greystone Park, its grounds are open to the public, so feel free to drop by.

That same view is blocked by large trees today,
as you can see in this Google StreetView of the Greystone's gates.

0:13:06: We then see Kirk and Spock walking across the campus of Star Fleet headquarters,
which is supposed to be in San Francisco. But, of course, it isn't. It's L.A. again.

Once you get past the fake upper-stories (added to the buildings via CGI),
this location should be familiar to many Los Angeles residents.

This is none other than the Getty Center, an art museum located on a hilltop
west of the 405 freeway. The address is 1200 Getty Center Drive
(it's the second 405 freeway offramp north of Sunset Blvd.)

The scene above was shot in the Museum Courtyard, looking
north/northwest towards the Museum Entrance Hall.

I shot the photo below: a wider view of the same Courtyard view at the Getty:

(Here is a matching Google StreetView panorama of the Getty Courtyard.)

The interior scene below (when Kirk gets called to a meeting with Pike)
is the interior of that same Museum Entrance Hall (looking southeast)
which visitors pass through at the start of a visit to the Getty.

I shot the photo below of the same interior space at the Getty:
(Here is a matching Google StreetView panorama of the Entrance Hall.)

The scene below (where McCoy tells Kirk & Spock about Khan's escape) was also
shot at the Getty Center. They are standing on the upper level patio of the Getty's
Garden Terrace Cafe, with the camera looking south.

There are normally dining tables & chairs here, but they removed them for the scene.

( Ignore the fake ocean background - that's just more CGI.
In reality, that terrace offers a view of the Getty's unique round garden. )

I shot the photo below (from the garden), looking up at the same terrace:

(Here is a matching Google StreetView panorama of the Garden Terrace.)

0:18:03: After Khan saves the life of Lucille Harewood, the child's grateful father repays the favor.

Below, we see him approaching the "Kelvin Memorial Archives".
He goes inside and sets off a bomb - killing himself and destroying the Archives.

A British flag is shown flying from the building -- it's supposed to be in London.

But it's not. This scene was actually shot in two different places - both in downtown L.A.

The exterior, above, is the old Bank of America building (now called SB Lofts),
located at 650 S. Spring Street, in downtown Los Angeles.

(Here is a matching Google StreetView panorama of the bank's exterior.)

But the interior, below, with that ornate ceiling, was shot in the
Pacific Center Building, at 523 W. 6th Street, also in downtown L.A.

That building is about three blocks northwest of the Bank of America building.

(Here is a Google StreetView panorama of the outside of that building.)

More "Star Trek: Into Darkness" locations!

The screencaps on this page are stills from "Star Trek: Into Darkness"
(which you can buy by clicking here) and are copyright Paramount.