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National Boards => General Highway Talk => Topic started by: Captain Jack on August 10, 2018, 02:48:47 PM

Title: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Captain Jack on August 10, 2018, 02:48:47 PM
What movies or TV shows have you been unable to fully enjoy because of road inaccuracies?

Recently, I was watching "Founder". It is a documentary on Ray Kroc and the McDonald brothers, focusing on the beginnings of McDonalds. Decent flick starring Michael Keaton as Kroc.

Early on in the film, Kroc was a struggling milk-shake mixer salesman in 1954. Kroc was bouncing around the St. Louis area getting doors slammed when his office notified him that a restaurant in San Bernadino had just ordered (8) of these mixers. Curious as to why they would need so many, Kroc decides to drive out there. As he is driving in Missouri in the film, the shields, using the proper cut-out ones for the period, show "US 44". Once in Arizona and California they properly use "US 66".

While I thought it was a decent documentary, it was hard to fully enjoy it when my mind kept wondering how they could have screwed up with the US 44 thing in Missouri, yet have it right for Arizona and California. Obsessions of a road geek.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Captain Jack on August 10, 2018, 03:18:15 PM
Tried to delete this as I just saw the other thread. Apologies for the duplication on topics.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 10, 2018, 04:11:07 PM
The beginning of When Harry Met Sally, when Harry and Sally are shown driving from UChicago to New York by driving south on Lake Shore Drive from somewhere south of North Avenue.

As I mentioned before, at the beginning of National Lampoon's Vacation, they're shown driving from what's likely the north suburbs of Chicago to LA by traveling on the ramp from the northbound Stevenson to southbound Lake Shore Drive.

The shot towards the end of Planes Trains and Automobiles, of the dairy truck approaching Chicago, I swear that's a matte shot.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Rothman on August 11, 2018, 12:03:19 AM
Totally noticed the bad signage in The Founder, too.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: txstateends on August 11, 2018, 01:30:44 AM
* Cannonball Run 2 had mountains on the TX/LA border.  Not little hills, but mountains.

* The only part of the movie Cedar Rapids that shows the correct city is when the insurance salesman is flying in for his convention, and the skyline appears below.  All the other exteriors are places in Michigan, where the movie was filmed >aargh<.

* A scene in an early season of "Dallas" shows a supposed FM road in TX (likely filmed in CA) with a definitely-painted FM shield in the scene.  Not quite authentic.

* In one of the "Dallas" reunion movies, a chase scene was supposed to be taking place on I-40 east of Amarillo.  The producers actually used a street in Irving for it, complete with not-so authentic "I-40" signs/poles.  In a different scene, there is a tour of a tank farm that is also supposed to be in Amarillo, but that was actually of a tank farm off of TX 183 in Irving.  Anyone familiar with either city could definitely tell the difference.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: GaryV on August 11, 2018, 07:13:09 AM
There was an old GPS commercial that showed a moose as they were passing an I-10 sign.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 11, 2018, 08:38:36 AM
Quote from: txstateends on August 11, 2018, 01:30:44 AM
* Cannonball Run 2 had mountains on the TX/LA border.  Not little hills, but mountains.
I remember a TV show from the early 2000s or so, starring Craig T. Nelson and set in DC, where you could see some very Southern Californian mountains in the background of a scene set in DC.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Revive 755 on August 11, 2018, 10:19:38 AM
The early scenes in the 2009 Star Trek Movie where southern California is substituted for rural Iowa.  The lack of hills and amount of sand along the shoulders are too much (Streetview of a road similar to that in the movie) (https://goo.gl/maps/WiHCZ1hscFK2).  Should have been something similar to this (IA 22 east of Riverside), (https://goo.gl/maps/HntLVFstDPy) this (random rural road near Riverside) (https://goo.gl/maps/ULYqxfwtjxN2), or this (old US 218 near Riverside). (https://goo.gl/maps/CoxCuDCgsH62)
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: TheHighwayMan3561 on August 11, 2018, 12:30:16 PM
Quote from: Revive 755 on August 11, 2018, 10:19:38 AM
The early scenes in the 2009 Star Trek Movie where southern California is substituted for rural Iowa.  The lack of hills and amount of sand along the shoulders are too much (Streetview of a road similar to that in the movie) (https://goo.gl/maps/WiHCZ1hscFK2).  Should have been something similar to this (IA 22 east of Riverside), (https://goo.gl/maps/HntLVFstDPy) this (random rural road near Riverside) (https://goo.gl/maps/ULYqxfwtjxN2), or this (old US 218 near Riverside). (https://goo.gl/maps/CoxCuDCgsH62)

Also when child Kirk joyrides his stepdad's car off a massive cliff into a deep canyon-like chasm - where the F is anything remotely like that in Iowa?
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 11, 2018, 12:36:34 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on August 11, 2018, 12:30:16 PM
Quote from: Revive 755 on August 11, 2018, 10:19:38 AM
The early scenes in the 2009 Star Trek Movie where southern California is substituted for rural Iowa.  The lack of hills and amount of sand along the shoulders are too much (Streetview of a road similar to that in the movie) (https://goo.gl/maps/WiHCZ1hscFK2).  Should have been something similar to this (IA 22 east of Riverside), (https://goo.gl/maps/HntLVFstDPy) this (random rural road near Riverside) (https://goo.gl/maps/ULYqxfwtjxN2), or this (old US 218 near Riverside). (https://goo.gl/maps/CoxCuDCgsH62)

Also when child Kirk joyrides his stepdad's car off a massive cliff into a deep canyon-like chasm - where the F is anything remotely like that in Iowa?
An old quarry?
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Max Rockatansky on August 11, 2018, 01:07:54 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 11, 2018, 12:36:34 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on August 11, 2018, 12:30:16 PM
Quote from: Revive 755 on August 11, 2018, 10:19:38 AM
The early scenes in the 2009 Star Trek Movie where southern California is substituted for rural Iowa.  The lack of hills and amount of sand along the shoulders are too much (Streetview of a road similar to that in the movie) (https://goo.gl/maps/WiHCZ1hscFK2).  Should have been something similar to this (IA 22 east of Riverside), (https://goo.gl/maps/HntLVFstDPy) this (random rural road near Riverside) (https://goo.gl/maps/ULYqxfwtjxN2), or this (old US 218 near Riverside). (https://goo.gl/maps/CoxCuDCgsH62)

Also when child Kirk joyrides his stepdad's car off a massive cliff into a deep canyon-like chasm - where the F is anything remotely like that in Iowa?
An old quarry?

When I saw it I thought that scene was clearly a futuristic abandoned quarry or mine.  Shame about the C2 Corvette though.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: jp the roadgeek on August 11, 2018, 02:30:10 PM
There's an episode of Family Guy where the Griffins are going to NYC, and when they're traveling through CT, it looks like they're driving on a 2 lane road through a forest.  From Quahoag (near Providence) to NYC, one would take I-95, and none of I-95 in CT looks like it goes through a forest or is 2 lanes.


In another episode where they're going to visit Cleveland down in VA, they get on the Turnpike at the beginning of the trip.  RI does not have any limited access turnpikes. 

Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: jon daly on August 11, 2018, 06:39:25 PM
Maybe Peter was trying to clinch RI-14 and CT-14.

I'll praise the show for one accuracy. There's an establishing shot of the Providence skyline, that matches a vista I see not for from my office.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman65 on August 11, 2018, 07:03:37 PM
How about Maude?  Do you really need to take the George Washington Bridge to go from NYC to Tuckahoe, NY in Westchester County?  The GWB leaves the state as well as both places being on the same side of the bridge.

Then there is Smokey and the Bandit II.  It shows  during the truck verses cops showdown scene being in the western Texas desert!  Being the Bandit was driving from Miami to Dallas, there is no desert topography on the route you would be taking in the Lone Star State to accomplish it.

In Bosom Buddies (late 80's sitcom on ABC) you see Larry Appleton driving from Madison, WI to Chicago in the first season passing beneath the Welcome to Chicago sign leaving ORD along I-190 E Bound.  Even though I-90 goes by O' Hare, it does not at all place you under that sign en route as you would have to go inside the airport to come out to experience the view of that assembly.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Gulol on August 11, 2018, 07:45:36 PM
Planes, Trains and Automobiles.  The train breaks down and they have to take a bus from Jefferson City, MO to St. Louis.  Why would the bus be crossing the Mississippi River from Illinois into St. Louis as shown?
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Big John on August 11, 2018, 07:54:44 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on August 11, 2018, 07:03:37 PM

In Bosom Buddies (late 80's sitcom on ABC) you see Larry Appleton driving from Madison, WI to Chicago in the first season passing beneath the Welcome to Chicago sign leaving ORD along I-190 E Bound.  Even though I-90 goes by O' Hare, it does not at all place you under that sign en route as you would have to go inside the airport to come out to experience the view of that assembly.
Perfect Strangers.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 11, 2018, 08:43:22 PM
Quote from: Gulol on August 11, 2018, 07:45:36 PM
Planes, Trains and Automobiles.  The train breaks down and they have to take a bus from Jefferson City, MO to St. Louis.  Why would the bus be crossing the Mississippi River from Illinois into St. Louis as shown?
It gets worse - they're driving from St. Louis to Chicago and they get pulled over by the Wisconsin State Police.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 11, 2018, 08:44:28 PM
Quote from: Big John on August 11, 2018, 07:54:44 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on August 11, 2018, 07:03:37 PM

In Bosom Buddies (late 80's sitcom on ABC) you see Larry Appleton driving from Madison, WI to Chicago in the first season passing beneath the Welcome to Chicago sign leaving ORD along I-190 E Bound.  Even though I-90 goes by O' Hare, it does not at all place you under that sign en route as you would have to go inside the airport to come out to experience the view of that assembly.
Perfect Strangers.
I've been watching Perfect Strangers on Hulu and this one I don't mind so much since I get to see that awesome vintage sign.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: SteveG1988 on August 11, 2018, 10:22:03 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 11, 2018, 08:43:22 PM
Quote from: Gulol on August 11, 2018, 07:45:36 PM
Planes, Trains and Automobiles.  The train breaks down and they have to take a bus from Jefferson City, MO to St. Louis.  Why would the bus be crossing the Mississippi River from Illinois into St. Louis as shown?
It gets worse - they're driving from St. Louis to Chicago and they get pulled over by the Wisconsin State Police.

With that movie...the company driver was just inept and went around on the I-255 bridge (what it is called today) in 1987. "it's an easier way to get downtown" Every company in that movie is inept in some way. Rental car company has a missing car....train breaks down...etc.

Them going to wisconsin... Del has a crappy sense of direction, and also wanted to hang out with Neil longer, so he took a roundabout route to get into Chicago, go up to what is today i-43 and come back down. I could see a deleted scene "Del...WHy THE HELL ARE WE IN WISCONSIN!?!?!"


Now realworld.... the 1st is that it is a good establishing shot of St Louis for people who have never been there, so i can use my suspension of disbelief to get around that one. And the 2nd..they probably had a Wisconsin state police costume in some closet they pulled out for the scene because they couldn't find the right one. It's like how in Animal house they use a Tennessee flag because they could not find a big enough Pennslyvania state flag, and the TN flag was the most generic one they could find in the right size.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: vdeane on August 11, 2018, 11:01:00 PM
The Steven Universe episode Mr. Greg has Steven, Greg, and Pearl take a trip to Empire City (equivalent of NYC).  When they leave and head back into Jersey, they're on a rural two-lane road like one would find leaving the Hudson Valley, even though real-world travel from NYC to New Jersey would be over a bridge and the area would be very urban.  Of course, the geography of Steven Universe is very different (http://steven-universe.wikia.com/wiki/Earth?file=It_Could%27ve_Been_Great_163.png), so it's possible the Hudson doesn't exist there and/or the state line/development patterns might be different.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: bing101 on August 12, 2018, 12:09:37 AM
There was a movie mentioned on a different thread where there was a scene where a road was on I-95 in Florida but the road was really near I-110 or I-710 in Los Angeles.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Roadrunner75 on August 12, 2018, 10:49:12 AM
They're not depicting real roads or a real town, but in the original Halloween it seems like they are driving a good distance to go a couple blocks.  If I recall correctly, the Jamie Lee Curtis character gets picked up by her friend to go to their babysitting jobs across the street from each other.  In the beginning of the movie, Curtis walks a short distance from her house to the "Michael Myers" house.  Later in the movie, the Donald Pleasance character is at the Michael Myers house and looks down the street to see the car Michael stole parked near the house where the babysitters are.  So JLC's house and the babysitting jobs are within a couple of blocks of each other at most, yet they drove all over town to get there.  Only something a roadnut would notice.

Side note:  I noticed this and explained the above to a nice young woman I just met at a Halloween party while some of us sat down to watch the movie later that night.  Despite this, my other blabbing on about road issues here and there and detours to check out new road construction, we've been married over 14 years and have a little 9 year old future roadnut.  So go ahead and take them on a detour over the new 95/PA Turnpike ramps - but maybe wait until the second date at least.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Revive 755 on August 12, 2018, 01:32:39 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 11, 2018, 01:07:54 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 11, 2018, 12:36:34 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on August 11, 2018, 12:30:16 PM
Quote from: Revive 755 on August 11, 2018, 10:19:38 AM
The early scenes in the 2009 Star Trek Movie where southern California is substituted for rural Iowa.  The lack of hills and amount of sand along the shoulders are too much (Streetview of a road similar to that in the movie) (https://goo.gl/maps/WiHCZ1hscFK2).  Should have been something similar to this (IA 22 east of Riverside), (https://goo.gl/maps/HntLVFstDPy) this (random rural road near Riverside) (https://goo.gl/maps/ULYqxfwtjxN2), or this (old US 218 near Riverside). (https://goo.gl/maps/CoxCuDCgsH62)

Also when child Kirk joyrides his stepdad's car off a massive cliff into a deep canyon-like chasm - where the F is anything remotely like that in Iowa?
An old quarry?

When I saw it I thought that scene was clearly a futuristic abandoned quarry or mine.  Shame about the C2 Corvette though.

Could be a major expansion of the quarry near the I-80/I-380 interchange.  Google Aerial (https://goo.gl/maps/pEmvwzXijA72).  Or a future expansion of the quarry near Keota. (https://goo.gl/maps/BHAMzGk9kNq)
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 12, 2018, 01:52:04 PM
Quote from: Revive 755 on August 12, 2018, 01:32:39 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 11, 2018, 01:07:54 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 11, 2018, 12:36:34 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on August 11, 2018, 12:30:16 PM
Quote from: Revive 755 on August 11, 2018, 10:19:38 AM
The early scenes in the 2009 Star Trek Movie where southern California is substituted for rural Iowa.  The lack of hills and amount of sand along the shoulders are too much (Streetview of a road similar to that in the movie) (https://goo.gl/maps/WiHCZ1hscFK2).  Should have been something similar to this (IA 22 east of Riverside), (https://goo.gl/maps/HntLVFstDPy) this (random rural road near Riverside) (https://goo.gl/maps/ULYqxfwtjxN2), or this (old US 218 near Riverside). (https://goo.gl/maps/CoxCuDCgsH62)

Also when child Kirk joyrides his stepdad's car off a massive cliff into a deep canyon-like chasm - where the F is anything remotely like that in Iowa?
An old quarry?

When I saw it I thought that scene was clearly a futuristic abandoned quarry or mine.  Shame about the C2 Corvette though.

Could be a major expansion of the quarry near the I-80/I-380 interchange.  Google Aerial (https://goo.gl/maps/pEmvwzXijA72).  Or a future expansion of the quarry near Keota.[url]
(https://goo.gl/maps/BHAMzGk9kNq)
Anything is possible in futuristic sci-fi. Between now and the events of Minority Report, they repealed the ban on buildings taller than 13 stories in DC.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: cwf1701 on August 12, 2018, 06:50:45 PM
How about a 2-lane I-25 in Doctor Who? The real life version of the road is 4 lanes at the sign for Truth or Consequences NM.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: ErmineNotyours on August 12, 2018, 08:09:21 PM
Or for that matter, the end of the British Queer As Folk has the characters traveling through Arizona, which was probably shot in Spain with a very off-model Interstate shield.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman65 on August 13, 2018, 10:47:36 AM
Quote from: Big John on August 11, 2018, 07:54:44 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on August 11, 2018, 07:03:37 PM

In Bosom Buddies (late 80's sitcom on ABC) you see Larry Appleton driving from Madison, WI to Chicago in the first season passing beneath the Welcome to Chicago sign leaving ORD along I-190 E Bound.  Even though I-90 goes by O' Hare, it does not at all place you under that sign en route as you would have to go inside the airport to come out to experience the view of that assembly.
Perfect Strangers.
God, I am getting old lol!  I used to watch em both all the time they were on. 

Yes, Bosum Buddies is where Tom Hanks got his start in drag with Peter Scolari.  Unfortunately, Peter only got to be a supporting actor after this show's cancellation working long side Bob Newhart, while Hanks went on to big films like Forest Gump and such as the lead man.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: SP Cook on August 13, 2018, 11:13:44 AM
Route number issues do not bother me that much, although there are lots of movies and such where you see incorrect route makers (there are lots of Georgia SRs in Smokey and the Bandit when they were in other states) is just laziness on the part of the editors. 

Geographic wrongs are a bit more.  Especially when it is unnecessary to further the plot.

My biggest gripe is the idea that inter-regional travel is conducted on inadequate non-freeway roads where stops bring the traveler into contact with inadequate services staffed by hostile or incompetent hill jacks.  In fact, you can go most anywhere on freeways or near-freeways, and recieve, for better or worse, standardized chain business services. 
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 13, 2018, 11:31:41 AM
Quote from: SteveG1988 on August 11, 2018, 10:22:03 PMAnd the 2nd..they probably had a Wisconsin state police costume in some closet they pulled out for the scene because they couldn't find the right one.
In this case, it would have had to have been a Wisconsin State Police uniform AND a patrol car, but point taken.
Quote from: SteveG1988 on August 11, 2018, 10:22:03 PMIt's like how in Animal house they use a Tennessee flag because they could not find a big enough Pennslyvania state flag, and the TN flag was the most generic one they could find in the right size.
At least in that case, they never said which state Faber College was in, save for a throwaway line about Flounder being from "Harrisburg" (though they never specified Harrisburg, PA, and it was entirely possible that he didn't go to college in his home state).
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: sparker on August 13, 2018, 01:32:27 PM
Even with poetic/cinematic license, the continuity in the film Bullitt, particularly the chase sequence in and around S.F., was, to say the least, problematic.  The chase started on Army Street (now Cesar Chavez), segued immediately to the north slope of Nob Hill, popped around the northeast quadrant of S.F. (generally north of California and east of Van Ness), and finally turned directly from the south gate of the Presidio onto San Bruno Mountain Road -- clear across town, about 8 miles away -- where the chase ended in the tank farm just outside Brisbane.  If you've never spent much time in S.F., the chase worked -- and worked well enough to become a benchmark classic of its kind!  Back about '84, a buddy and I -- in his '67 Mustang, no less -- took a camcorder (yeah, that certainly sets the time of that adventure) loaded with a VHS copy of Bullitt and attempted to trace the filming sequence of the famous chase.  Took all day, and we were still missing some of the streets.  But we did ascertain one thing:  the filming on San Bruno Mountain Road was done a couple of weeks prior to its opening to the public; the filmmakers had secured it as a "safe" location at which to conclude the chase in a violent fashion. 

But later in the film they did get something right:  coming back from an investigation at a San Mateo motel,  Bullitt (Steve McQueen) stops at the side of the US 101 freeway on the Candlestick Causeway when his GF, played by the wonderful Jacqueline Bisset, freaks out in the car and has to get out to compose herself (after inadvertently seeing a dead body at the motel).  Although today rising bay waters have inundated most of the freeway's shoulder, 51 years ago during filming there was ample room for a NB car to pull completely off the freeway and park at water's edge.   
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 13, 2018, 01:47:55 PM
Quote from: sparker on August 13, 2018, 01:32:27 PM
Even with poetic/cinematic license, the continuity in the film Bullitt, particularly the chase sequence in and around S.F., was, to say the least, problematic.  The chase started on Army Street (now Cesar Chavez), segued immediately to the north slope of Nob Hill, popped around the northeast quadrant of S.F. (generally north of California and east of Van Ness), and finally turned directly from the south gate of the Presidio onto San Bruno Mountain Road -- clear across town, about 8 miles away -- where the chase ended in the tank farm just outside Brisbane.  If you've never spent much time in S.F., the chase worked -- and worked well enough to become a benchmark classic of its kind!  Back about '84, a buddy and I -- in his '67 Mustang, no less -- took a camcorder (yeah, that certainly sets the time of that adventure) loaded with a VHS copy of Bullitt and attempted to trace the filming sequence of the famous chase.  Took all day, and we were still missing some of the streets.  But we did ascertain one thing:  the filming on San Bruno Mountain Road was done a couple of weeks prior to its opening to the public; the filmmakers had secured it as a "safe" location at which to conclude the chase in a violent fashion. 

But later in the film they did get something right:  coming back from an investigation at a San Mateo motel,  Bullitt (Steve McQueen) stops at the side of the US 101 freeway on the Candlestick Causeway when his GF, played by the wonderful Jacqueline Bisset, freaks out in the car and has to get out to compose herself (after inadvertently seeing a dead body at the motel).  Although today rising bay waters have inundated most of the freeway's shoulder, 51 years ago during filming there was ample room for a NB car to pull completely off the freeway and park at water's edge.
And, of course, there's The Graduate, with Benjamin driving from Southern California (?) to Berkeley by driving west on the Bay Bridge, though that's probably just because the only way to drive on the upper deck of the bridge is to drive westbound.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: sparker on August 14, 2018, 04:31:06 AM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 13, 2018, 01:47:55 PM
And, of course, there's The Graduate, with Benjamin driving from Southern California (?) to Berkeley by driving west on the Bay Bridge, though that's probably just because the only way to drive on the upper deck of the bridge is to drive westbound.

Not the only "reverse" shot in that film; he also went through the Gaviota tunnel on US 101 -- which is NB only -- on his way from the Bay Area down to L.A.  Dramatic license, of course; the other way wouldn't have been as striking.  I can see their point on the old Bay Bridge; EB was always akin to driving through the middle of a kid's Erector Set project (and once again dating myself!) -- now alleviated on at least the east span with the new cable-stay segment. 

That summer of '84 "Bullitt" spotting trip ended on another cinematic note:  they were filming the Bond flick A View To A Kill in S.F. at that time; that same day was the principal filming of the fire-engine chase on Upper Market St.; we were on the side of the old Chevron station at Market & Duboce that gets its logo sign clipped off in the movie watching the process.  Of course, no major actors anywhere in sight; just stunt and special-effects folks.  A week or so later was the filming of the external City Hall fire sequence -- where the crew almost actually burned the building down when their "stunt" fire proved difficult to extinguish!  Unfortunately, I had to work that day or I would have been in that crowd as well.   :-(   
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: skluth on August 14, 2018, 12:06:16 PM
Quote from: SteveG1988 on August 11, 2018, 10:22:03 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 11, 2018, 08:43:22 PM
Quote from: Gulol on August 11, 2018, 07:45:36 PM
Planes, Trains and Automobiles.  The train breaks down and they have to take a bus from Jefferson City, MO to St. Louis.  Why would the bus be crossing the Mississippi River from Illinois into St. Louis as shown?
It gets worse - they're driving from St. Louis to Chicago and they get pulled over by the Wisconsin State Police.

With that movie...the company driver was just inept and went around on the I-255 bridge (what it is called today) in 1987.

The I-255 bridge across the Mississippi is called the Jefferson Barracks Bridge. That's the official name, what you hear in traffic reports, and what the locals call it. It's sometimes called the 255 bridge but mostly in casual conversation. I lived three miles from the west approach until two months ago. I doubt things have changed since then.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Bobby5280 on August 14, 2018, 02:00:24 PM
Movies and TV shows rarely ever make any attempts to treat geography or depictions of road signs with any accuracy at all. Sometimes it's worthy of big laughs though.

Patriot Games is a good 1990's action movie. But one car chase scene is pretty baffling. It starts out in Annapolis, near the US Naval Academy. The filmmakers actually got onto one freeway in that actual area (US-50) and you can spot an I-97 sign in one of the background shots. But then the rest of the chase magically teleports to I-105 in Los Angeles (which was still under construction at the time). The scenery around LA's I-105 looks nothing like the wooded scenery around the Baltimore-DC area.

Robocop is set in "New Detroit," so they used the Dallas skyline. The next sequel used Houston.

"Hey there's Lower Grand Ave" is a sort of game I'll play when watching movies. That street (both upper & lower levels of it) shows up in lots of movies, including many not set in Los Angeles. Hell, there's even a shot of Robocop driving down it. Live Free Die Hard had a smorgasbord of laughable BS geography, including a fake toll tunnel that's supposed to be in DC, but it's really Lower Grand Ave. One really big laugh is the movie Black Rain where Andy Garcia is fighting with murderous Japanese bikers while Michael Douglas passage to help Andy is blocked by a security fence. Douglas is screaming at his partner from a Japanese location, but Garcia is fighting on Lower Grand Ave. Yeah.

Logan has a good shot of a fairly accurate looking I-40 Oklahoma City limits sign. The problem is the twinkling night time skyline behind it is Albuquerque.

The Bourne Supremacy (or was it "Ultimatum") had a car chase on the FDR Drive freeway in Manhattan. But from one shot to the next the "filmmakers" (videographers) can't figure out which direction they're taking the chase. North or south.

This stuff goes on and on. I guess none of the producers or directors figure we have access to Google Street View and can look up shooting locations pretty fast.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Rothman on August 14, 2018, 02:22:44 PM
Anyone mention Salt, which was filmed in Albany, NY as some ridiculous attempt to pass it off as DC? :D
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 14, 2018, 03:20:45 PM
Quote from: Bobby5280 on August 14, 2018, 02:00:24 PMPatriot Games is a good 1990's action movie. But one car chase scene is pretty baffling. It starts out in Annapolis, near the US Naval Academy. The filmmakers actually got onto one freeway in that actual area (US-50) and you can spot an I-97 sign in one of the background shots. But then the rest of the chase magically teleports to I-105 in Los Angeles (which was still under construction at the time). The scenery around LA's I-105 looks nothing like the wooded scenery around the Baltimore-DC area.
The big chase scene towards the beginning of True Lies, where Ahnuld misses his birthday dinner, also switches freely between DC and LA.  You can tell because the street signs in DC and LA are dramatically different.  At least the scene where Ahnuld and Bill Paxton test-drive the convertible was filmed in its entirety in DC, though they drive past the Wendy's at New York and Florida numerous times.

Quote from: Bobby5280 on August 14, 2018, 02:00:24 PMRobocop is set in "New Detroit," so they used the Dallas skyline. The next sequel used Houston.
III was filmed in Atlanta - the bombed-out buildings used for filming were slated to be torn down and replaced with developments related to the Olympics.  There's one scene where you can clearly see a MARTA train roll past in the background.

Quote from: Bobby5280 on August 14, 2018, 02:00:24 PM"Hey there's Lower Grand Ave" is a sort of game I'll play when watching movies. That street (both upper & lower levels of it) shows up in lots of movies, including many not set in Los Angeles. Hell, there's even a shot of Robocop driving down it. Live Free Die Hard had a smorgasbord of laughable BS geography, including a fake toll tunnel that's supposed to be in DC, but it's really Lower Grand Ave. One really big laugh is the movie Black Rain where Andy Garcia is fighting with murderous Japanese bikers while Michael Douglas passage to help Andy is blocked by a security fence. Douglas is screaming at his partner from a Japanese location, but Garcia is fighting on Lower Grand Ave. Yeah.
To bring things full circle, Lower Grand stood in for an unnamed Japanese location in Austin Powers in Goldmember.  It was also replicated in Grand Theft Auto V.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman on August 14, 2018, 03:30:39 PM
As a radio hobbyist, here's one of my pet peeves.  Not a road issue directly, but a common gaffe in many road/pursuit movies of the 1970s/1980s was where they'd show people directly listening in on the police through their CB radios.  While this is now feasible with certain mobile ham radios that have extended receive capability, this has never been possible with CB radios.  Most movie/TV producers have since figured this out, and will now show a scanner in the vehicle instead, but the gaffe still shows up on occasion.

I also share great disdain for the "two lane road branded as an Interstate highway" gaffe others have noted.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: SectorZ on August 14, 2018, 04:14:05 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_(2007_TV_series)#Filming_locations

This was intentionally done this way, but to me made the show unwatchable seeing everything look like southern California over a swath of the southeast US.

A different type of inaccuracy... 'Fringe' was my absolutely favorite TV show, and it chiefly took place 'in Boston', despite being filmed in NYC (season 1) and Vancouver (seasons 2-5). Frequently they would be in suburbs of Boston (including Fitchburg, which I lived in at the time) that didn't even remotely resemble the filming location. The best being a chase scene on a six-lane boulevard in a very urban setting that was supposed to be Westford.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: vdeane on August 14, 2018, 08:49:09 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on August 14, 2018, 04:14:05 PM
A different type of inaccuracy... 'Fringe' was my absolutely favorite TV show, and it chiefly took place 'in Boston', despite being filmed in NYC (season 1) and Vancouver (seasons 2-5). Frequently they would be in suburbs of Boston (including Fitchburg, which I lived in at the time) that didn't even remotely resemble the filming location. The best being a chase scene on a six-lane boulevard in a very urban setting that was supposed to be Westford.
Not to mention all the times they'd be in "Pennsylvania" despite the scenery clearly being Canada (it's particularly prevalent in an episode of season 5), not to mention the Canadian railroad crossings as far back as season 1.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: skluth on August 14, 2018, 09:06:54 PM
The one that drove me crazy first time I saw it was in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (which could have its own thread for geographic booboos). Richard Dreyfus blows through the toll gate chasing a UFO on the Ohio border. While he would be correctly going from Indiana to Ohio, he started around Muncie which is nowhere near the Indiana Toll Road.

There's also one where I don't care because it's funny. All the Blues Brothers is filmed around Chicago except the scene where the Illinois Nazis drive off the stub end of a freeway. That was in Milwaukee. (The stub was eventually was completed as the Harbor Bridge.) Not much beats watching Nazis fly off the end of a bridge to nowhere.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: jeffandnicole on August 14, 2018, 09:54:41 PM
Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle: Their goal is to get to Cherry Hill, NJ. The White Castle is on a barren 5 lane roadway downwind from a cliff.  There is nothing remotely close to resembling any of that in the real Cherry Hill, to the point of wondering how they even picked Cherry Hill to be the home of the White Castle.

They did a pretty good job with the NJSP car and logo though.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman65 on August 14, 2018, 10:35:08 PM
According to Sidney Sheldon, Cocoa Beach, Florida has hills and a major city downtown street in I Dream Of Jeannie.

In The A Team, they used the streets of LA to shoot them driving in NYC.   However, NYC does not use back plates and dark signal heads.  Plus at the time LA did not use NYC's type of mast arm.

Kojak also used the streets of LA to shoot New York City in some episodes as well.  Remember, Theo Kojak was a liuetenant in NYC's Manhattan South Precinct during its run.  Also how can the cars when all the characters drove them on Manhattan Streets, drive a few whole minutes without stopping for a light.  Yes, it works on the FDR and parts of NY 9A, but these were supposed to be on surface streets.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: inkyatari on August 15, 2018, 08:58:03 AM
In, I think, My Best Friend's  Wedding, they're driving up Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, and you can seethe McCormick place expansion out the driver's side window.  Later in the same scene, you see an aerial shot of the car, now with the lake on the driver's side of the car.  Apparently there's a wormhole around Balbo that teleports you all the way north to Irving Park Rd.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 15, 2018, 09:30:32 AM
Quote from: skluth on August 14, 2018, 09:06:54 PMThere's also one where I don't care because it's funny. All the Blues Brothers is filmed around Chicago except the scene where the Illinois Nazis drive off the stub end of a freeway. That was in Milwaukee. (The stub was eventually was completed as the Harbor Bridge.) Not much beats watching Nazis fly off the end of a bridge to nowhere.
That whole sequence is so well-done, it's barely noticeable. I had to point it out to my wife.

In general I think the movie plays it fast and loose with geography (the L doesn't go to Calumet City, FFS). Anyone know the location of the Holiday Inn where Murph and the Magic Tones play?
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Mr_Northside on August 15, 2018, 03:58:48 PM
QuoteIn general I think the movie plays it fast and loose with geography (the L doesn't go to Calumet City, FFS). Anyone know the location of the Holiday Inn where Murph and the Magic Tones play?

And time......  Seems a stretch to think they go straight from their concert (finishing probably no later than 11-11:30) straight to downtown to pay their tax bill - which doesn't seem like it would be earlier than 8am

So whever they were at took about 9 hours - at highway chase speeds from downtown Chicago.

Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: inkyatari on August 15, 2018, 04:25:56 PM
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, my all time favorite movie has geography inaccuracies that annoy me.

The first part of the movie takes place in and around Muncie, Indiana. There's a sequence where Roy Neary is chasing a UFO, and he goes through a pretty substantial tunnel.  In Indiana.  Northeast Indiana. (Most of the movie was filmed in Mobile, AL, but it still annoys me) THen, minutes later, he's seen crossing into Ohio on the Indiana Toll Road, as the UFO's, and  Indiana HIghway Patrol, precede Roy through a toll booth on the Ohio Turnpike.  Approximately 135 miles, 2 1/2 hours.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 15, 2018, 06:33:30 PM
Quote from: Mr_Northside on August 15, 2018, 03:58:48 PM
QuoteIn general I think the movie plays it fast and loose with geography (the L doesn't go to Calumet City, FFS). Anyone know the location of the Holiday Inn where Murph and the Magic Tones play?

And time......  Seems a stretch to think they go straight from their concert (finishing probably no later than 11-11:30) straight to downtown to pay their tax bill - which doesn't seem like it would be earlier than 8am

So whever they were at took about 9 hours - at highway chase speeds from downtown Chicago.
It's worse - the clerk at the tax assessor's office (played by Steven Spielberg!) is eating lunch when they arrive.

Of course, in the aforementioned Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, it takes about 24 hours to get from St. Louis to Chicago.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman65 on August 15, 2018, 07:07:08 PM
Smokey and The Bandit shows that the Texas side of Texarkana is rural (hence the seen where Bandit picks up runaway bride Frog) when the urban is built up along the State Line.  Even the booze part the producers did not fact check either.  The Texas side of the city is part of Dry Baker County hence all the liquor stores on State Line Avenue on the AR side of the street.

Also the best route from Atlanta to Texarkana even in 1977 when it was filmed would have had the drive mostly along I-20. Most scenes were filmed along GA two lane roads making you think that a race for time would want to use substandard non freeway scenes.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 15, 2018, 08:26:56 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on August 15, 2018, 07:07:08 PM
Smokey and The Bandit shows that the Texas side of Texarkana is rural (hence the seen where Bandit picks up runaway bride Frog) when the urban is built up along the State Line.  Even the booze part the producers did not fact check either.  The Texas side of the city is part of Dry Baker County hence all the liquor stores on State Line Avenue on the AR side of the street.

Also the best route from Atlanta to Texarkana even in 1977 when it was filmed would have had the drive mostly along I-20. Most scenes were filmed along GA two lane roads making you think that a race for time would want to use substandard non freeway scenes.
The entire movie was filmed in GA. The scene where they get on I-85 north at Pleasant Hill Road is quite a thing to see if you know what that area looks like now.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: jon daly on August 15, 2018, 09:24:03 PM
All this Blues Brothers talk reminds me that Aretha Franklin is ill. (and Matt "Guitar" Murphy passed away recently.) It's one of the triumvirate of comedies featuring early SNL castmembers that made our gang's canon. The other two are Animal House and Caddyshack.

I actually had the novelization in my personal library at one point.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Beltway on August 15, 2018, 09:49:49 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 14, 2018, 03:30:39 PM
As a radio hobbyist, here's one of my pet peeves.  Not a road issue directly, but a common gaffe in many road/pursuit movies of the 1970s/1980s was where they'd show people directly listening in on the police through their CB radios.  While this is now feasible with certain mobile ham radios that have extended receive capability, this has never been possible with CB radios.  Most movie/TV producers have since figured this out, and will now show a scanner in the vehicle instead, but the gaffe still shows up on occasion.

How about the ubiquitous "come in please?" in movies and TV at the end of each radio transmission?  A phrase that radio amateurs and professionals do not use.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: jp the roadgeek on August 15, 2018, 10:32:55 PM
The 1990's Denis Leary movie The Ref, takes place in a town called Old Baybrook, CT.  Obviously, any geography buff knows the town it's really modeled after.  You even see a shot at night of what is supposed to be Saybrook Jetty.  However, come to find out, the movie was shot in Ontario, Canada.


The movie Beetlejuice is supposed to take place in Litchfield County, CT.  Even more authentic, I remember seeing a truck with a 203-489 number on the outside, which would have been at the time a phone number in Torrington (860 didn't exist yet).  However, the dirt road and the covered bridge (where they die) don't resemble the area in West Cornwall.  Come to find out, the shots outside the house were filmed in Corinth, VT and as it turns out, the bridge and the approach roads were custom built for the set.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 16, 2018, 07:52:28 AM
Toronto doubles for Chicago pretty frequently. The entirety of My Big Fat Greek Wedding was filmed there, with the exception of some B roll at the beginning.

IIRC, there was some inaccurate geography in Wayne's World, but it's been so long since I've seen it, I don't recall the specifics.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: vdeane on August 16, 2018, 01:37:23 PM
Quote from: Beltway on August 15, 2018, 09:49:49 PM
How about the ubiquitous "come in please?" in movies and TV at the end of each radio transmission?  A phrase that radio amateurs and professionals do not use.
So what do they actually use in those situations?
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: jon daly on August 16, 2018, 03:24:30 PM
Returning to the original question, suspension of disbelief usually prevents me from getting worked up about this stuff, but the intersection of US-8 & US-395 in the Back to the Future movies irks me.

There's also some Connecticut reference in the show Elementary that make me wonder if the writers ever left NYC. One episode has a planned ski resort in some flat portion of the Naugatuck River valley. This is less than an hour away from New York!  I can see writers getting flyover country geography wrong, but these folks must live in a smaller cave than I previously suspected.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 16, 2018, 03:54:06 PM
One of the reasons my dad loves the Dick Wolf Chicago shows is because they never say they're going to the corner of two streets that run parallel to each other (say, the corner of State and Wabash).
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: crispy93 on August 16, 2018, 04:09:13 PM
In The Seven Ups, the driver trying to evade police is being tailgated by a bus on the Palisades Parkway in northern NJ, then the road switches to the Taconic where the chase ends when he rear-ends a truck pulled over at the NY100/133 exit (now Exit 8). Parkways are, of course, closed to commercial traffic. As an aside, in that chase, trucks can be seen on the lower level of the GWB, which is a neat throwback to pre-9/11 restrictions.

There was an episode of Monk where a toll operator was killed in the Bay Bridge toll plaza, which is shown as a quiet two-man operation.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: SectorZ on August 16, 2018, 08:25:14 PM
Quote from: jon daly on August 16, 2018, 03:24:30 PM
Returning to the original question, suspension of disbelief usually prevents me from getting worked up about this stuff, but the intersection of US-8 & US-395 in the Back to the Future movies irks me.

That one always got me, especially since it stands out.

Don't forget what *might* be I-99 in the sky in BTTF II, http://backtothefuture.wikia.com/wiki/Skyway?file=Bf2freeway.jpg
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 16, 2018, 09:58:26 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on August 16, 2018, 08:25:14 PM
Quote from: jon daly on August 16, 2018, 03:24:30 PM
Returning to the original question, suspension of disbelief usually prevents me from getting worked up about this stuff, but the intersection of US-8 & US-395 in the Back to the Future movies irks me.

That one always got me, especially since it stands out.

Don't forget what *might* be I-99 in the sky in BTTF II, http://backtothefuture.wikia.com/wiki/Skyway?file=Bf2freeway.jpg
I don't know what I-99 refers to since that particular Skyway has a route number of C25. Maybe it's Interchange 99?
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: SteveG1988 on August 17, 2018, 04:31:54 PM
Quote from: skluth on August 14, 2018, 12:06:16 PM
Quote from: SteveG1988 on August 11, 2018, 10:22:03 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 11, 2018, 08:43:22 PM
Quote from: Gulol on August 11, 2018, 07:45:36 PM
Planes, Trains and Automobiles.  The train breaks down and they have to take a bus from Jefferson City, MO to St. Louis.  Why would the bus be crossing the Mississippi River from Illinois into St. Louis as shown?
It gets worse - they're driving from St. Louis to Chicago and they get pulled over by the Wisconsin State Police.

With that movie...the company driver was just inept and went around on the I-255 bridge (what it is called today) in 1987.

The I-255 bridge across the Mississippi is called the Jefferson Barracks Bridge. That's the official name, what you hear in traffic reports, and what the locals call it. It's sometimes called the 255 bridge but mostly in casual conversation. I lived three miles from the west approach until two months ago. I doubt things have changed since then.

I meant the route number it was back then.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: TEG24601 on August 18, 2018, 07:20:06 PM
Quote from: cwf1701 on August 12, 2018, 06:50:45 PM
How about a 2-lane I-25 in Doctor Who? The real life version of the road is 4 lanes at the sign for Truth or Consequences NM.


Well, that's like the 2-lane Interstate 66 in Lexx... in the desert. Not quite accurate.


The one that bothers me, frequently, is the CW Superhero Shows, that nominally take place in fictional US cities, have a lot of Canadian signs, and Canadian traffic signals.


In CW's The Flash, Central City is obviously based on Portland, OR.  However, STAR Labs, keeps jumping sides of the Willamette River.  In one shot it is nestled between I-5 and the river, just south of the Marquam Bridge (where the lower waterfront development is now), in the next, it is on the east side of the river, where next to the Grand/MLK Viaducts merge, on OR 99E.  May not be directly road related, but annoying to me.


I would mention all the errors regarding ferries in movies that take place in the Puget Sound (Double Jeopardy, Grey's Anatomy, etc), but that would just take too long.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman65 on August 18, 2018, 07:38:25 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 15, 2018, 08:26:56 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on August 15, 2018, 07:07:08 PM
Smokey and The Bandit shows that the Texas side of Texarkana is rural (hence the seen where Bandit picks up runaway bride Frog) when the urban is built up along the State Line.  Even the booze part the producers did not fact check either.  The Texas side of the city is part of Dry Baker County hence all the liquor stores on State Line Avenue on the AR side of the street.

Also the best route from Atlanta to Texarkana even in 1977 when it was filmed would have had the drive mostly along I-20. Most scenes were filmed along GA two lane roads making you think that a race for time would want to use substandard non freeway scenes.
The entire movie was filmed in GA. The scene where they get on I-85 north at Pleasant Hill Road is quite a thing to see if you know what that area looks like now.
The roller coaster in the first movie was the very same one imploded (though made to look like Jackie Gleason's Sheriff Buford T. Justice knocked it down with careless driving under it) in the second move.  It was done at a small speedway outside Atlanta.

In the first one you can see the typical 1970's era freeway overpasses in the truck convoy scene and where the Bandit drove on the grass through a diamond interchange.  Also when they were in Mississippi that scene was no doubt filmed in Atlanta on one of the  urban freeways.

In the second one they did use scenes from Florida and West Texas (the famous desert showdown) in addition to GA places.  The Sunshine Skyway twin bridges from before the Summit Laurel disaster and the original I-4 and I-275 interchange both were used, though the producers got the sequence backwards while playing Roy Rogers Concrete Cowboy song.  They featured them heading to Miami from Dallas first crossing the Sunshine Skyway before passing through Tampa, where in reality it would be in the other order considering  that even then using US 41 from Tampa down (as I-75 was only starting to get built then) would be the fastest route.

Also the Golden Girls opening shows the wrong part of Miami- Dade County to depict Miami as it shows the barrier island being narrow where Miami Beach it is not only wider, but the Biscayne Bay is much wider as well.  The first season showed the actual skyline of Downtown Miami where I think the later seasons used either Sunny Isles or even some place in Broward or Palm Beach Counties to depict Miami where the show is to be taken place.  Also the house used on the show was inside WDW near Orlando and on the back lot tour and was a focal point during the early 90's if you visited the former MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios.  The neighbors house used in Empty Nest ( a spin off of the show) used a real live house someplace else (not in Disney) as during empty nest you sometimes saw traffic pass by that house.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: bing101 on August 21, 2018, 12:16:50 AM
How about Lethal Weapon 4 where the chase scene was on the  I-215 in Las Vegas. But the movie script said its was on the 210 Freeway in Los Angeles.

https://nevadafilm.com/scene-in-nevada-lethal-weapon-4/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg5AypnkqSg
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman65 on August 22, 2018, 05:47:31 PM
I was watching Walker Texas Ranger and they got the county name wrong for Dallas.  The Tarrant County Courthouse would not be used for prosecuting criminals arrested in Dallas.  Tarrant County, though near Dallas, is for Fort Worth.

However, the chase scenes are in Dallas as the long viaduct on Jefferson Blvd (Old US 77) is used when walker has his shoot outs with bad guys while in his pick up truck.  Even one scene involved with a helicopter was filmed there.  I am guessing its easy to close that roadway during peak travel times to do a film shoot so it appears almost in every episode.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: MCRoads on August 23, 2018, 02:08:44 PM
May not be what you mean in the total, but they always fill the crash attenuators with water. They are filled with sand, otherwise it would freeze during winter. GRRRRRR
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: RoadWarrior56 on August 23, 2018, 03:50:09 PM
My all-time favorite roadway inaccuracy from TV:  Approximately 10 years ago there was a short run TV series that aired on FOX called "Drive".  It involved a road race/road rally from Key West, FL to somewhere on the west coast based on some now-forgotten weird plot line.  What I do remember most distinctly is that all of the highway chase/race scenes all took place on the same section of a then unopened freeway in the Los Angeles area, with mountains and hills in the background.  In the very first episode the cars were supposively racing up the Keys along US 1, and they were filmed on this section of future I-210, a freeway with hills and mountains.  I was laughing out loud at the scene.  There are no hills and there are no freeways on the Florida Keys.  I think that series only lasted about 4-5 episodes before it was canceled.  I need to see if those episodes have been posted on YouTube.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: swhuck on August 23, 2018, 06:24:24 PM
Smokey and the Bandit: As someone else pointed out, the best route even then was via the road that would eventually be the I-22 corridor. This is about a 650 mile drive one way -- very doable in the amount of time they had -- rather than the 900 miles they claimed it was in the movie.

Logan: There is one scene -- probably the drugstore scene about two-thirds of the way through the movie -- where if you look hard you can see a Louisiana state highway sign. I believe they were supposed to be somewhere between Oklahoma and North Dakota at the time.

Logan again: At the end of the movie, the mountains at the US-Canada border in North Dakota. WTF?

Charmed: How many times did they show establishing shots of San Francisco with the Embarcadero freeway -- which was demolished after the 1989 quake? This series was filmed starting in 1998.



Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 23, 2018, 07:58:51 PM
Quote from: swhuck on August 23, 2018, 06:24:24 PM
Smokey and the Bandit: As someone else pointed out, the best route even then was via the road that would eventually be the I-22 corridor. This is about a 650 mile drive one way -- very doable in the amount of time they had -- rather than the 900 miles they claimed it was in the movie.
On the other hand, Atlanta to New England and back in 24 hours (the challenge they're given at the end) would have been impossible.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: inkyatari on August 24, 2018, 11:59:34 AM
In the original Halloween, there's a scene where a car from Smith's Grove Sanitarium is found alongside a road, but there appear to be mountains in the background.  Remember this is set in Illinois.  I am willing to take away a sin for this scene, as there are a few places in southern illinois that have the Shawnee hills rising in the background, resembling mountains, however I give the sin back because those are desert mountains.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Roadwarriors79 on August 25, 2018, 09:20:43 AM
Quote from: SP Cook on August 13, 2018, 11:13:44 AM
Route number issues do not bother me that much, although there are lots of movies and such where you see incorrect route makers (there are lots of Georgia SRs in Smokey and the Bandit when they were in other states) is just laziness on the part of the editors. 

Geographic wrongs are a bit more.  Especially when it is unnecessary to further the plot.

My biggest gripe is the idea that inter-regional travel is conducted on inadequate non-freeway roads where stops bring the traveler into contact with inadequate services staffed by hostile or incompetent hill jacks.  In fact, you can go most anywhere on freeways or near-freeways, and recieve, for better or worse, standardized chain business services.

Hollywood would give someone the impression that the only way to drive cross country is on two lane roads through "flyover country"  like the 50s and 60s.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 25, 2018, 11:58:57 AM
Quote from: Roadwarriors79 on August 25, 2018, 09:20:43 AM
Quote from: SP Cook on August 13, 2018, 11:13:44 AM
Route number issues do not bother me that much, although there are lots of movies and such where you see incorrect route makers (there are lots of Georgia SRs in Smokey and the Bandit when they were in other states) is just laziness on the part of the editors. 

Geographic wrongs are a bit more.  Especially when it is unnecessary to further the plot.

My biggest gripe is the idea that inter-regional travel is conducted on inadequate non-freeway roads where stops bring the traveler into contact with inadequate services staffed by hostile or incompetent hill jacks.  In fact, you can go most anywhere on freeways or near-freeways, and recieve, for better or worse, standardized chain business services.

Hollywood would give someone the impression that the only way to drive cross country is on two lane roads through "flyover country"  like the 50s and 60s.
Road trips on two-lane roads just *look* better on film. At least in Rain Man they explained it away with Raymond being afraid to travel on expressways.

One notable exception to this is The Hangover - they drive between Southern California and Las Vegas on expressways.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 25, 2018, 12:00:42 PM
Quote from: inkyatari on August 24, 2018, 11:59:34 AM
In the original Halloween, there's a scene where a car from Smith's Grove Sanitarium is found alongside a road, but there appear to be mountains in the background.  Remember this is set in Illinois.  I am willing to take away a sin for this scene, as there are a few places in southern illinois that have the Shawnee hills rising in the background, resembling mountains, however I give the sin back because those are desert mountains.
There's a scene at the end of Debbie Does Iowa that takes place at a football game in, well, Iowa where there are some desert mountains visible in the background.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: jas on August 26, 2018, 12:59:57 PM
Not a movie, but in the song "Intentional Heartache" by Dwight Yoakam, the lines are "she drove south I-95 straight through Carolina", later to be followed by "she pulled off on a state route just north of Charlotte".  Not possible.

Also, "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show, they sing about being picked up by a trucker outta Philly who's headed west from the Cumberland Gap to Johnson City, Tennessee, which is the opposite direction.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 26, 2018, 03:06:12 PM
I once saw a few minutes of a movie set in the South that had scenes filmed on MARTA that tried to make it out to be some sort of long-distance rail system - and had some back-asswards geography, too (something along the lines of traveling from Atlanta to Macon by way of Savannah). Had Terence Stamp doing the world's worst fake Southern accent. That's all I remember about it.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: apeman33 on August 26, 2018, 03:23:19 PM
Quote from: TEG24601 on August 18, 2018, 07:20:06 PM
Quote from: cwf1701 on August 12, 2018, 06:50:45 PM
How about a 2-lane I-25 in Doctor Who? The real life version of the road is 4 lanes at the sign for Truth or Consequences NM.


Well, that's like the 2-lane Interstate 66 in Lexx... in the desert. Not quite accurate.


The one that bothers me, frequently, is the CW Superhero Shows, that nominally take place in fictional US cities, have a lot of Canadian signs, and Canadian traffic signals.


In CW's The Flash, Central City is obviously based on Portland, OR.  However, STAR Labs, keeps jumping sides of the Willamette River.  In one shot it is nestled between I-5 and the river, just south of the Marquam Bridge (where the lower waterfront development is now), in the next, it is on the east side of the river, where next to the Grand/MLK Viaducts merge, on OR 99E.  May not be directly road related, but annoying to me.


I would mention all the errors regarding ferries in movies that take place in the Puget Sound (Double Jeopardy, Grey's Anatomy, etc), but that would just take too long.

That's because the CW's budget for shows makes shooting in Los Angeles too expensive, so they shoot in Vancouver. This is also why Calista Flockhart's character became part-time on Supergirl when it switched from CBS to the CW; she didn't want to move when production moved to Canada.

Season One of the Flash made me speculate that Central City is in Canada, regardless. This is because they used B.C. Place for a scene in which Flash and Reverse Flash fought each other and I noticed the field was set up for Canadian football (goal posts on the goal line and a 55-yard line). So if Arrow's Star City is 600 miles away, as was once claimed when Flash ran there for an episode, and is also on a coast, then Star City is between Medford, OR and Eureka, CA .

Also, to the poster that started the thread, I found the U.S. 44 shield in Missouri in "Founder" interesting as well and also noticed in a later scene that there was also a U.S. 17 shield in a scene set in Arizona. That makes me think that whoever set up those shots thinks that interstate highways were once U.S routes that got promoted.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: bing101 on August 27, 2018, 12:53:40 AM
https://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/movies-tv/a47369/13-reasons-why-filming-locations/

Yes 13 reasons why was actually filmed in the North Bay in the San Francisco area note the fictional city of Crestmont is really done in Downtown Vallejo and Mare Island, Sebastapol, Benicia and Crockett

Note the Al Zampa/carquinez bridge has an appearance on this show.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman on August 27, 2018, 01:43:06 PM
Quote from: jas on August 26, 2018, 12:59:57 PM
Not a movie, but in the song "Intentional Heartache" by Dwight Yoakam, the lines are "she drove south I-95 straight through Carolina", later to be followed by "she pulled off on a state route just north of Charlotte".  Not possible.

Also, "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show, they sing about being picked up by a trucker outta Philly who's headed west from the Cumberland Gap to Johnson City, Tennessee, which is the opposite direction.

If the person in Wagon Wheel is destined for Raleigh, then why are they heading due south out of Roanoke?
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: hotdogPi on August 27, 2018, 02:20:21 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 27, 2018, 01:43:06 PM
Quote from: jas on August 26, 2018, 12:59:57 PM
Not a movie, but in the song "Intentional Heartache" by Dwight Yoakam, the lines are "she drove south I-95 straight through Carolina", later to be followed by "she pulled off on a state route just north of Charlotte".  Not possible.

Also, "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show, they sing about being picked up by a trucker outta Philly who's headed west from the Cumberland Gap to Johnson City, Tennessee, which is the opposite direction.

If the person in Wagon Wheel is destined for Raleigh, then why are they heading due south out of Roanoke?

Google Maps and Apple Maps both say to start on US 220, which is due south.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: bcroadguy on August 28, 2018, 05:31:52 AM
"San Francisco" in the new Antman movie was filled with traffic lights that had yellow backs which were mounted on truss arms. I could instantly tell that it was filmed in Downtown Atlanta.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on August 28, 2018, 08:16:47 AM
Quote from: bcroadguy on August 28, 2018, 05:31:52 AM
"San Francisco" in the new Antman movie was filled with traffic lights that had yellow backs which were mounted on truss arms. I could instantly tell that it was filmed in Downtown Atlanta.
The MCU in general is terrible about that. Spider-Man: Homecoming had a scene set in Queens where you could clearly see a MARTA bus in the background, and Black Panther had a scene supposedly set at an art museum in London that was clearly the High.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: jon daly on August 28, 2018, 10:08:03 AM
Someone mentioned Vancouver upthread. A lot of shows are filmed up there; including the underrated and sorely missed USA Network funny cop show Psych.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: bing101 on November 18, 2018, 07:36:46 PM


In the Mickey Mouse Segment on San Francisco. Mickey and Minnie's cable car lands on a 3 tower Golden Gate Bridge.  The Mickey mouse division of Disney decided to do a hybrid of the Western half of the Bay Bridge and Golden gate Bridge for the segment and some of the cable car scenes has to be a parody of Bullitt though.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: sparker on November 18, 2018, 07:59:35 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 27, 2018, 01:43:06 PM
Quote from: jas on August 26, 2018, 12:59:57 PM
Not a movie, but in the song "Intentional Heartache" by Dwight Yoakam, the lines are "she drove south I-95 straight through Carolina", later to be followed by "she pulled off on a state route just north of Charlotte".  Not possible.

Also, "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show, they sing about being picked up by a trucker outta Philly who's headed west from the Cumberland Gap to Johnson City, Tennessee, which is the opposite direction.

If the person in Wagon Wheel is destined for Raleigh, then why are they heading due south out of Roanoke?

Someone jumped the gun and told them I-73 was finished! :sombrero:
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: tdindy88 on November 18, 2018, 08:48:21 PM
Quote from: bing101 on November 18, 2018, 07:36:46 PM
In the Mickey Mouse Segment on San Francisco. Mickey and Minnie's cable car lands on a 3 tower Golden Gate Bridge.  The Mickey mouse division of Disney decided to do a hybrid of the Western half of the Bay Bridge and Golden gate Bridge for the segment and some of the cable car scenes has to be a parody of Bullitt though.

Of course that's inaccurate. To my knowledge you can't even ride a cable car today (Nov. 18.) Not to mention the air's way too clear. Where's the smoke and haze Disney?
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: bing101 on November 19, 2018, 07:41:25 AM
Quote from: tdindy88 on November 18, 2018, 08:48:21 PM
Quote from: bing101 on November 18, 2018, 07:36:46 PM
In the Mickey Mouse Segment on San Francisco. Mickey and Minnie's cable car lands on a 3 tower Golden Gate Bridge.  The Mickey mouse division of Disney decided to do a hybrid of the Western half of the Bay Bridge and Golden gate Bridge for the segment and some of the cable car scenes has to be a parody of Bullitt though.

Of course that's inaccurate. To my knowledge you can't even ride a cable car today (Nov. 18.) Not to mention the air's way too clear. Where's the smoke and haze Disney?


:-D  If you look at the description of the video the scene was made in 2014.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: bing101 on November 19, 2018, 07:48:39 AM
http://www.tu.edu/news/vn_themaster.html


http://www.visitvallejo.com/film-office/solano-county-feature-film-history


If your wondering where some of the "San Francisco" "Oakland" and "Napa Valley" Scenes in some of your movies and TV Shows are shot. According to this link its on Mare Island.





Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: DJ Particle on November 20, 2018, 03:26:39 AM
Quote from: cwf1701 on August 12, 2018, 06:50:45 PM
How about a 2-lane I-25 in Doctor Who? The real life version of the road is 4 lanes at the sign for Truth or Consequences NM.

I know the episode in question...it's one of the two animated episodes featuring the Tenth Doctor - "Dreamland"

It's not the 2 lane road that stands out in and of itself, as they did mean to show the early days of the Interstate system (which did often have 2-lane roads signed as Interstates).

What stands out is that particular scene supposedly takes place in *1947*!!  It shows the fabled "Roswell crash" happening.

Um...there were NO Interstate highways in 1947...

Not only that, but Truth or Consequences, NM wasn't named such until the mid-1950s.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: DJ Particle on November 20, 2018, 03:30:49 AM
Now for my own fave inaccuracy...

Not a TV Movie, but... themovie "One Crazy Summer" somehow had Hoops and his friend driving from Long Island to Woods Hole, MA...  by going WEST ON US-6 OVER BASS RIVER at the Dennis/Yarmouth line?!?   :hmmm:
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: The Nature Boy on December 04, 2018, 11:31:13 AM
Quote from: sparker on November 18, 2018, 07:59:35 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 27, 2018, 01:43:06 PM
Quote from: jas on August 26, 2018, 12:59:57 PM
Not a movie, but in the song "Intentional Heartache" by Dwight Yoakam, the lines are "she drove south I-95 straight through Carolina", later to be followed by "she pulled off on a state route just north of Charlotte".  Not possible.

Also, "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show, they sing about being picked up by a trucker outta Philly who's headed west from the Cumberland Gap to Johnson City, Tennessee, which is the opposite direction.

If the person in Wagon Wheel is destined for Raleigh, then why are they heading due south out of Roanoke?

Someone jumped the gun and told them I-73 was finished! :sombrero:

Better question: How does someone who is Raleigh bound from New England end up that far west? According to Wikipedia, the writer of the song (aside from the parts ripped from Bob Dylan) wrote it while a student in Exeter, NH so let's assume that that is the starting point. It can't be that difficult to hitchhike down I-95, the busiest corridor on the east coast, and not end up hundreds of miles off course.

I can understand that hitchhiking can take you some weird places.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: SP Cook on December 04, 2018, 01:30:00 PM
Quote from: jas on August 26, 2018, 12:59:57 PM
Not a movie, but in the song "Intentional Heartache" by Dwight Yoakam, the lines are "she drove south I-95 straight through Carolina", later to be followed by "she pulled off on a state route just north of Charlotte".  Not possible.

All time worst geography in a song is, of course, Country Roads.  The song was originally written as "Almost Heaven, Massachusetts" as an attempt at a state song.  When John Denver decided to make the song country, he picked "West Virginia", where he had never been, to keep the number of syllables the same, picking it over Alabama.  He then changed the geographic items mentioned in the song, the Berkshire mountains and Naragansett Bay, with the Blue Ridge mountains and Shenandoah river, both of which are only in a tiny part of one county in WV, 99.9% in Virginia.  Other original lyrics included "fisherman's lady" "beautiful blue water" and "frosty taste of Falstaff's".  He kept the "radio reminds me of my home far away"  which worked for a song about someone driving east towards Boston, but not for someone driving (through Maryland) west towards the Shenandoah river, as the radio would be coming from behind you, from Washington and Baltimore, not from WV.

                                                                                   
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: ErmineNotyours on December 04, 2018, 10:33:45 PM
Another strange geographical reference in a song, Kim Wilde's "Kids of America": "New York to East California, there's a new wave comin' I warn ya."
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Finrod on December 15, 2018, 08:32:50 PM
Another MCU road inaccuracy: In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, during the scene where Nick Fury is being chased by the fake police in what's supposed to be downtown Washington DC, you can clearly see a US 6 - US 322 sign that they pass.  Neither of those roads go anywhere near DC, and they only overlap in downtown Cleveland.  They could have at least digitally edited the sign to be US 1 and US 50.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: ipeters61 on December 15, 2018, 08:50:16 PM
Not a road inaccuracy but I was thinking of this throughout the thread.  One day I was watching the Six Million Dollar Man on TV and they said that they were "25 miles [some direction] from Philadelphia."  In the desert.  There are no deserts around here.

I do want to give The Office props for using PA-307, with an actual PA shield, in the clip where Michael drives his car into the lake somewhere in the Scranton area (link in my signature).
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: MCRoads on December 17, 2018, 10:46:34 AM
Quote from: ipeters61 on December 15, 2018, 08:50:16 PM
Not a road inaccuracy but I was thinking of this throughout the thread.  One day I was watching the Six Million Dollar Man on TV and they said that they were "25 miles [some direction] from Philadelphia."  In the desert.  There are no deserts around here.

I do want to give The Office props for using PA-307, with an actual PA shield, in the clip where Michael drives his car into the lake somewhere in the Scranton area (link in my signature).

I believe that is user error, as the GPS clearly wanted them to go over the bridge. Where they were turning wasn't even a road!
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: ipeters61 on December 17, 2018, 10:52:01 AM
Quote from: MCRoads on December 17, 2018, 10:46:34 AM
Quote from: ipeters61 on December 15, 2018, 08:50:16 PM
Not a road inaccuracy but I was thinking of this throughout the thread.  One day I was watching the Six Million Dollar Man on TV and they said that they were "25 miles [some direction] from Philadelphia."  In the desert.  There are no deserts around here.

I do want to give The Office props for using PA-307, with an actual PA shield, in the clip where Michael drives his car into the lake somewhere in the Scranton area (link in my signature).

I believe that is user error, as the GPS clearly wanted them to go over the bridge. Where they were turning wasn't even a road!
Maybe it's a shortcut, Dwight.  :spin:
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman on December 17, 2018, 11:10:27 AM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 23, 2018, 07:58:51 PM
Quote from: swhuck on August 23, 2018, 06:24:24 PM
Smokey and the Bandit: As someone else pointed out, the best route even then was via the road that would eventually be the I-22 corridor. This is about a 650 mile drive one way -- very doable in the amount of time they had -- rather than the 900 miles they claimed it was in the movie.
On the other hand, Atlanta to New England and back in 24 hours (the challenge they’re given at the end) would have been impossible.
The challenge was 18 hours, not 24.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: NWI_Irish96 on December 17, 2018, 11:42:47 AM
In the movie The American President, during a White House Christmas party, Sydney recounts an incident on Dupont Circle, prompting AJ to ask "What were you doing up on the Hill". But Dupont Circle is northwest of the White House and Capitol Hill is to the southeast.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Rothman on December 17, 2018, 03:01:18 PM
Quote from: cabiness42 on December 17, 2018, 11:42:47 AM
In the movie The American President, during a White House Christmas party, Sydney recounts an incident on Dupont Circle, prompting AJ to ask "What were you doing up on the Hill". But Dupont Circle is northwest of the White House and Capitol Hill is to the southeast.
I don't see the problem here.  Up does not always equal north.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: NWI_Irish96 on December 17, 2018, 03:07:32 PM
Quote from: Rothman on December 17, 2018, 03:01:18 PM
Quote from: cabiness42 on December 17, 2018, 11:42:47 AM
In the movie The American President, during a White House Christmas party, Sydney recounts an incident on Dupont Circle, prompting AJ to ask "What were you doing up on the Hill". But Dupont Circle is northwest of the White House and Capitol Hill is to the southeast.
I don't see the problem here.  Up does not always equal north.

There is a little bit more to the conversation than the snippet I posted, but the implication is that Dupont Circle is very near Capitol Hill which it is not.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on December 17, 2018, 03:34:25 PM
Quote from: cabiness42 on December 17, 2018, 11:42:47 AM
In the movie The American President, during a White House Christmas party, Sydney recounts an incident on Dupont Circle, prompting AJ to ask "What were you doing up on the Hill". But Dupont Circle is northwest of the White House and Capitol Hill is to the southeast.
I believe she got stuck in rush hour traffic on Dupont Circle.  That's a rookie mistake right there.

Sorkin's grasp of DC geography isn't great.  I never watched The West Wing, but I understood it was impossible for characters on that show to travel between two points in DC without traveling via Dupont Circle.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on December 17, 2018, 03:36:25 PM
I used to work in the office building that housed the flower shop that the President called to order flowers and, later, where he showed up in person.  It was in the office building behind the Willard Hotel, and it is very close to the White House.  Visiting foreign dignitaries would frequently stay at the Willard.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: FrCorySticha on December 18, 2018, 05:09:28 PM
Quote from: DJ Particle on November 20, 2018, 03:26:39 AM
Quote from: cwf1701 on August 12, 2018, 06:50:45 PM
How about a 2-lane I-25 in Doctor Who? The real life version of the road is 4 lanes at the sign for Truth or Consequences NM.

I know the episode in question...it's one of the two animated episodes featuring the Tenth Doctor - "Dreamland"

It's not the 2 lane road that stands out in and of itself, as they did mean to show the early days of the Interstate system (which did often have 2-lane roads signed as Interstates).

What stands out is that particular scene supposedly takes place in *1947*!!  It shows the fabled "Roswell crash" happening.

Um...there were NO Interstate highways in 1947...

Not only that, but Truth or Consequences, NM wasn't named such until the mid-1950s.

The 2-lane I-25 also shows up in the Twelfth Doctor 2-part The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion. In that case, it's supposed to be modern day, which is obviously wrong to portray it as a narrow, windy 2-lane.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: DJ Particle on December 19, 2018, 02:53:58 AM
Quote from: FrCorySticha on December 18, 2018, 05:09:28 PM
The 2-lane I-25 also shows up in the Twelfth Doctor 2-part The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion. In that case, it's supposed to be modern day, which is obviously wrong to portray it as a narrow, windy 2-lane.

How did I miss that?   :confused:
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: RobbieL2415 on December 19, 2018, 08:17:39 PM
On the X-Files when they establish the location as San Francisco but the stoplights would all have yellow reflectors behind them meaning its actually BC, Canada.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: abefroman329 on December 20, 2018, 11:10:08 PM
It wasn't a road inaccuracy, but a recent episode of Roseanne had a character say they were going to a concert "in Ravinia."  "At Ravinia"  would've been the correct terminology, since it's a concert venue and not the name of a city or town.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: ErmineNotyours on December 24, 2018, 11:28:52 AM
When I myself was a kid, I read the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary, set in Portland, Oregon.  In one book, she told her dad that she wanted to stand on the middle of the Interstate Bridge with her arms stretched out, one in Oregon and one in Washington.  That's a very kid thing to do; I myself was and am interested in state and international borders.  However, her dad dissuaded her of that notion, saying the bridge is on an Interstate highway, and is closed to pedestrians.  When I finally went over the bridge, I saw that it has a sidewalk, and later I was able to walk over it myself.  It's an old bridge, so it's likely it was open back when the book was being written.  Either this is a lapse in research, or a "character error".  Perhaps the dad really didn't know the bridge was open to pedestrians, or he didn't want to bother to drive out there and then walk several long minutes with traffic roaring right by you.  I walked out there to take a picture of an unusual sign that I'm posting over on the Good, Bad and Ugly thread over in Traffic Control.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: bing101 on February 09, 2019, 03:10:17 PM
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/09/07/bumblebee-film-to-transforms-vallejo-into-movie-set/

The movie Bumblebee uses San Francisco as its location but parts of the movie was filmed in Vallejo,CA.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: thspfc on February 06, 2020, 10:24:48 PM
Had to bump this thread for a goof from the super bowl. A squarespace commercial is supposedly set in Winona, MN, and it shows a sign for Winona in the middle of a flat cornfield. The land around Winona is actually very steep and forested due to it being in the Mississippi valley.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Max Rockatansky on February 06, 2020, 11:09:42 PM
Quote from: thspfc on February 06, 2020, 10:24:48 PM
Had to bump this thread for a goof from the super bowl. A squarespace commercial is supposedly set in Winona, MN, and it shows a sign for Winona in the middle of a flat cornfield. The land around Winona is actually very steep and forested due to it being in the Mississippi valley.

It looked more Winona, Arizona which kind of is flat (but has a mountain backdrop with the San Francisco Peaks).
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman on February 07, 2020, 10:37:44 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on February 06, 2020, 11:09:42 PM
Quote from: thspfc on February 06, 2020, 10:24:48 PM
Had to bump this thread for a goof from the super bowl. A squarespace commercial is supposedly set in Winona, MN, and it shows a sign for Winona in the middle of a flat cornfield. The land around Winona is actually very steep and forested due to it being in the Mississippi valley.

It looked more Winona, Arizona which kind of is flat (but has a mountain backdrop with the San Francisco Peaks).

But why waste money on someone to check continuity when you're spending upwards of $10 million just to air the advertisement.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Max Rockatansky on February 07, 2020, 11:09:46 AM
Quote from: roadman on February 07, 2020, 10:37:44 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on February 06, 2020, 11:09:42 PM
Quote from: thspfc on February 06, 2020, 10:24:48 PM
Had to bump this thread for a goof from the super bowl. A squarespace commercial is supposedly set in Winona, MN, and it shows a sign for Winona in the middle of a flat cornfield. The land around Winona is actually very steep and forested due to it being in the Mississippi valley.

It looked more Winona, Arizona which kind of is flat (but has a mountain backdrop with the San Francisco Peaks).

But why waste money on someone to check continuity when you're spending upwards of $10 million just to air the advertisement.

I'd say it was more of a wasted opportunity not to tie into Get Your Kicks on Route 66 and emphasize the lyrics about Winona.  It would have made sense since that whole scene in the commercial takes place on the side of a road. 
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: 1995hoo on February 07, 2020, 11:58:10 AM
I thought the Winona commercial was at least in part a send-up of the movie Fargo.

I saw a commercial the other night and now I can't remember what it was for, but someone in the ad said where they were supposed to be and said to my wife, "Then why is there a Big Green Sign in the background with a New York state route shield on it?" Anyone else seen this? I don't generally pay a lot of attention to the commercials, and it's also not unusual for me to be falling asleep on the couch in the evenings, so I have no idea what the ad was to begin trying to find it on YouTube, but I'm pretty sure I saw it sometime this week during something other than the Super Bowl.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: hotdogPi on February 07, 2020, 12:00:10 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 07, 2020, 11:58:10 AM
I saw a commercial the other night and now I can't remember what it was for, but someone in the ad said where they were supposed to be and said to my wife, "Then why is there a Big Green Sign in the background with a New York state route shield on it?" Anyone else seen this? I don't generally pay a lot of attention to the commercials, and it's also not unusual for me to be falling asleep on the couch in the evenings, so I have no idea what the ad was to begin trying to find it on YouTube, but I'm pretty sure I saw it sometime this week during something other than the Super Bowl.

That one was mentioned elsewhere on this forum. Someone asked for directions to I-70 with that sign in the background. Still no idea what it was advertising.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: 1995hoo on February 07, 2020, 12:11:26 PM
Quote from: 1 on February 07, 2020, 12:00:10 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 07, 2020, 11:58:10 AM
I saw a commercial the other night and now I can't remember what it was for, but someone in the ad said where they were supposed to be and said to my wife, "Then why is there a Big Green Sign in the background with a New York state route shield on it?" Anyone else seen this? I don't generally pay a lot of attention to the commercials, and it's also not unusual for me to be falling asleep on the couch in the evenings, so I have no idea what the ad was to begin trying to find it on YouTube, but I'm pretty sure I saw it sometime this week during something other than the Super Bowl.

That one was mentioned elsewhere on this forum. Someone asked for directions to I-70 with that sign in the background. Still no idea what it was advertising.

I-70, yes, that was what made me say "this is ridiculous." Thank you. The fact that neither of us recalls what was being advertised underscores how sometimes you remember the mistakes more than anything else.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman on February 07, 2020, 01:35:14 PM
Quote from: 1 on February 07, 2020, 12:00:10 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 07, 2020, 11:58:10 AM
I saw a commercial the other night and now I can't remember what it was for, but someone in the ad said where they were supposed to be and said to my wife, "Then why is there a Big Green Sign in the background with a New York state route shield on it?" Anyone else seen this? I don't generally pay a lot of attention to the commercials, and it's also not unusual for me to be falling asleep on the couch in the evenings, so I have no idea what the ad was to begin trying to find it on YouTube, but I'm pretty sure I saw it sometime this week during something other than the Super Bowl.

That one was mentioned elsewhere on this forum. Someone asked for directions to I-70 with that sign in the background. Still no idea what it was advertising.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=26236.0
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: TheGrassGuy on February 07, 2020, 05:10:31 PM
Quote from: ErmineNotyours on December 24, 2018, 11:28:52 AM
When I myself was a kid, I read the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary, set in Portland, Oregon.  In one book, she told her dad that she wanted to stand on the middle of the Interstate Bridge with her arms stretched out, one in Oregon and one in Washington.  That's a very kid thing to do; I myself was and am interested in state and international borders.  However, her dad dissuaded her of that notion, saying the bridge is on an Interstate highway, and is closed to pedestrians.  When I finally went over the bridge, I saw that it has a sidewalk, and later I was able to walk over it myself.  It's an old bridge, so it's likely it was open back when the book was being written.  Either this is a lapse in research, or a "character error".  Perhaps the dad really didn't know the bridge was open to pedestrians, or he didn't want to bother to drive out there and then walk several long minutes with traffic roaring right by you.  I walked out there to take a picture of an unusual sign that I'm posting over on the Good, Bad and Ugly thread over in Traffic Control.
Maybe the sidewalks were added after, or even in response to, the book's release?
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: ErmineNotyours on February 07, 2020, 11:32:26 PM
In the opposite of the Superbowl commercial is the movie Paper Towns.  I read that book and then watched the movie (available at Dollar Tree) based on discussion on this forum.  Friends of a missing adult young woman tracked her down to a paper town in New York State.  When one of them finally meets her, we see diamond shaped state route markers instead of New York shields.  This turned out to be in Mooresville, North Carolina.  Approximately here: Street View. (https://goo.gl/maps/fTPgbepGmSfQUj8H8)  Considering the interest in the topic from map and geography fans, you would think people would notice this error.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: CNGL-Leudimin on February 08, 2020, 06:28:03 PM
This :sombrero::
(https://i.imgur.com/6Sik2Xz.jpg)

I swear this is much closer to me than it appears. And indeed, it is (https://www.google.es/maps/@37.8193551,-1.1174367,3a,75y,45.56h,92.94t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1svEkuzVlUTgngyol4PFpEUg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) (n.b.: it's on the other side of the freeway, which Mr. Google hasn't photo'ed yet). This freeway sees so little traffic, it is often used for movie shootings, hence its inclusion on this thread.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Tonytone on February 09, 2020, 11:39:56 PM
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on February 08, 2020, 06:28:03 PM
This :sombrero::
(https://i.imgur.com/6Sik2Xz.jpg)

I swear this is much closer to me than it appears. And indeed, it is (https://www.google.es/maps/@37.8193551,-1.1174367,3a,75y,45.56h,92.94t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1svEkuzVlUTgngyol4PFpEUg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) (n.b.: it's on the other side of the freeway, which Mr. Google hasn't photo'ed yet). This freeway sees so little traffic, it is often used for movie shootings, hence its inclusion on this thread.
Shit whats more intriguing is the lightpost & the lights they used. Ive never seen a design as interesting as that.


iPhone
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: MNHighwayMan on February 10, 2020, 03:55:45 AM
Quote from: thspfc on February 06, 2020, 10:24:48 PM
Had to bump this thread for a goof from the super bowl. A squarespace commercial is supposedly set in Winona, MN, and it shows a sign for Winona in the middle of a flat cornfield. The land around Winona is actually very steep and forested due to it being in the Mississippi valley.

I thought the exact same thing when I saw that commercial! There's no way that was either Winona proper, nor a real sign.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: PHLBOS on February 10, 2020, 08:53:01 AM
While recently watching the extended version of the 1963 movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World; one of the extra scenes shows all 4 vehicles turning south per Capt. Culpepper's (Spencer Tracy) prediction.  However, the scene shows all the vehicles turning left which contradicts the black-marker wall map at the police station showing that turning south would mean making a right turn since all the vehicles were initially heading east (left-to-right).

Maybe such was one reason why the above-driving scene was cut from the shorter version of the film.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman on February 10, 2020, 09:15:59 AM
Quote from: PHLBOS on February 10, 2020, 08:53:01 AM
While recently watching the extended version of the 1963 movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World; one of the extra scenes shows all 4 vehicles turning south per Capt. Culpepper's (Spencer Tracy) prediction.  However, the scene shows all the vehicles turning left which contradicts the black-marker wall map at the police station showing that turning south would mean making a right turn since all the vehicles were initially heading east (left-to-right).

Maybe such was one reason why the above-driving scene was cut from the shorter version of the film.

Actually, the "extended" version of the movie, like the previous DVD releases, still cuts out a key scene - when they all turn right going through downtown Valley Center, which establishes their southbound direction per Culpepper's prediction.  Apart from the original airings on TV, the only time this scene was not cut from the movie was in the original VHS release.

The "left turn" scene in the movie you reference, which takes place at a non descript desert junction that's supposed to be beyond Valley Center, has never been cut from any version of the movie (broadcast, VHS, or DVD) that I've ever seen.  And, like you, the inference that this scene is the southbound turn, due to the omission of the Valley Center right turn scene, has always bothered me.

Another cut movie scene that has always bothered me is in Duel, where Dennis Weaver, while in one of his trance moods, realizes that he's approaching the pass and starts thinking it through.  In the DVD version, Weaver's "in his head" dialogue about the pass and how the truck won't be able to keep up on the grade is shortened to a single "You can't beat me on the grade".
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: PHLBOS on February 10, 2020, 09:59:43 AM
Quote from: roadman on February 10, 2020, 09:15:59 AM
Quote from: PHLBOS on February 10, 2020, 08:53:01 AM
While recently watching the extended version of the 1963 movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World; one of the extra scenes shows all 4 vehicles turning south per Capt. Culpepper's (Spencer Tracy) prediction.  However, the scene shows all the vehicles turning left which contradicts the black-marker wall map at the police station showing that turning south would mean making a right turn since all the vehicles were initially heading east (left-to-right).

Maybe such was one reason why the above-driving scene was cut from the shorter version of the film.

Actually, the "extended" version of the movie, like the previous DVD releases, still cuts out a key scene - when they all turn right going through downtown Valley Center, which establishes their southbound direction per Culpepper's prediction.  Apart from the original airings on TV, the only time this scene was not cut from the movie was in the original VHS release.

The "left turn" scene in the movie you reference, which takes place at a non descript desert junction that's supposed to be beyond Valley Center, has never been cut from any version of the movie (broadcast, VHS, or DVD) that I've ever seen.  And, like you, the inference that this scene is the southbound turn, due to the omission of the Valley Center right turn scene, has always bothered me.
The extended version scene I'm referring to is in the DVD/Blue Ray package.  Right after said-left-turn scene; there's a deleted scene back at the station where Culpepper reaches overhead and takes Aloysius' (William Demarest) money from the fore-mentioned bet regarding everyone turning south (the earlier bet-statement scene is shown in all versions).  Note: the cut/extended scenes are shown in a lower quality in terms of color-restoration.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman on February 10, 2020, 10:24:37 AM
Quote from: PHLBOS on February 10, 2020, 09:59:43 AM
Quote from: roadman on February 10, 2020, 09:15:59 AM
Quote from: PHLBOS on February 10, 2020, 08:53:01 AM
While recently watching the extended version of the 1963 movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World; one of the extra scenes shows all 4 vehicles turning south per Capt. Culpepper's (Spencer Tracy) prediction.  However, the scene shows all the vehicles turning left which contradicts the black-marker wall map at the police station showing that turning south would mean making a right turn since all the vehicles were initially heading east (left-to-right).

Maybe such was one reason why the above-driving scene was cut from the shorter version of the film.

Actually, the "extended" version of the movie, like the previous DVD releases, still cuts out a key scene - when they all turn right going through downtown Valley Center, which establishes their southbound direction per Culpepper's prediction.  Apart from the original airings on TV, the only time this scene was not cut from the movie was in the original VHS release.

The "left turn" scene in the movie you reference, which takes place at a non descript desert junction that's supposed to be beyond Valley Center, has never been cut from any version of the movie (broadcast, VHS, or DVD) that I've ever seen.  And, like you, the inference that this scene is the southbound turn, due to the omission of the Valley Center right turn scene, has always bothered me.
The extended version scene I'm referring to is in the DVD/Blue Ray package.  Right after said-left-turn scene; there's a deleted scene back at the station where Culpepper reaches overhead and takes Aloysius' (William Demarest) money from the fore-mentioned bet regarding everyone turning south (the earlier bet-statement scene is shown in all versions).  Note: the cut/extended scenes are shown in a lower quality in terms of color-restoration.

Thanks for the clarification.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: PHLBOS on February 10, 2020, 10:44:11 AM
Quote from: roadman on February 10, 2020, 10:24:37 AMThanks for the clarification.
No problem.  I should've also mentioned that such scenes are shown in the Road-Show edition, where practical.  The DVD/Blue Ray combo package, that came out about 5 years ago, offers both the standard version without the deleted scenes and the Road-Show version with the extra scenes and/or stills in some instances.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman on February 10, 2020, 11:10:04 AM
Quote from: PHLBOS on February 10, 2020, 10:44:11 AM
Quote from: roadman on February 10, 2020, 10:24:37 AMThanks for the clarification.
No problem.  I should've also mentioned that such scenes are shown in the Road-Show edition, where practical.  The DVD/Blue Ray combo package, that came out about 5 years ago, offers both the standard version without the deleted scenes and the Road-Show version with the extra scenes and/or stills in some instances.

Didn't realize there was a Road-Show edition.  Then again, until recently, I never had a Blue Ray compatible DVD player, so I never paid much attention to Blue Ray offerings.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Chris19001 on February 10, 2020, 12:46:41 PM
The recent flick "The Irishman" on Netflix had an inaccuracy which caught my ear as soon as it was mentioned.
DeNiro's character described the route he was taking to Detroit from Philly, and mentioned that he was taking 476 up from the Philly area.  That portion of the movie was set in the mid to late 70's and PA-9 wasn't designated I-476 until 1996.  Also he'd have a few other routes in getting there from South Philly and the Blue Route wasn't complete and the NE Extension was only accessible via the turnpike itself (nitpicking his directions)
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: index on February 10, 2020, 02:12:32 PM
I can't help but notice most shows or movies set somewhere else are actually filmed in California, especially in scenes when they're driving with the signals, masts, roads, etc. You see it all the time in The Office with the landscape and roads. Definitely looks like California, not northeastern Pennsylvania. Parks and Recreation has the same thing, looks like California with the roads, not south-central Indiana.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Rothman on February 10, 2020, 02:17:40 PM
Heh, I believe in the episode of the Office where Michael's going to jump off the roof, you can even see a palm tree briefly.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman on February 10, 2020, 02:23:07 PM
Quote from: index on February 10, 2020, 02:12:32 PM
I can't help but notice most shows or movies set somewhere else are actually filmed in California, especially in scenes when they're driving with the signals, masts, roads, etc. You see it all the time in The Office with the landscape and roads. Definitely looks like California, not northeastern Pennsylvania. Parks and Recreation has the same thing, looks like California with the roads, not south-central Indiana.

I'm sure glad that England looks nothing like southern California - Austin Powers
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: PHLBOS on February 10, 2020, 02:57:44 PM
Quote from: roadman on February 10, 2020, 11:10:04 AMDidn't realize there was a Road-Show edition.  Then again, until recently, I never had a Blue Ray compatible DVD player, so I never paid much attention to Blue Ray offerings.
Here's the write-up on the above from Wiki: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Mad,_Mad,_Mad,_Mad_World)
Quote from: Wiki AccountExisting footage is in the form of original 70 mm elements of the general release version (recent restored versions shown in revival screenings are derived from these elements). A 1991 VHS and LaserDisc from MGM/UA was an extended 183-minute version of the film, with most of the reinserted footage derived from elements stored in a Los Angeles warehouse about to be demolished. According to a 2002 interview with master preservationist Robert A. Harris, this extended version is not a true representation of the original roadshow cut and included footage that was not meant to be shown in any existing version.

A restoration effort was made by Harris in an attempt to bring the film back as close as possible to the original roadshow release. The project to go ahead with the massive restoration project would gain approval from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (parent company of UA), although it did require a necessary budget for it to proceed.

Released on January 21, 2014 as a two Blu-ray and three DVD set, the Criterion Collection release contains two versions of the film, a restored 4K digital film transfer of the 159-minute general release version and a new 197-minute high-definition digital transfer, reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris using visual and audio material from the longer original "road-show" version not seen in over 50 years. Some scenes have been returned to the film for the first time, and the Blu-ray features a 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack.

Unfortunately, I have started to notice that many new movies and/or special-feature offerings in for older movies are now Blue Ray format only (aside from on-line versions).  With such in mind, I had no choice but to buy a separate Blue Ray player.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman on February 10, 2020, 03:30:00 PM
Quote from: PHLBOS on February 10, 2020, 02:57:44 PM
Quote from: roadman on February 10, 2020, 11:10:04 AMDidn't realize there was a Road-Show edition.  Then again, until recently, I never had a Blue Ray compatible DVD player, so I never paid much attention to Blue Ray offerings.
Here's the write-up on the above from Wiki: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Mad,_Mad,_Mad,_Mad_World)
Quote from: Wiki AccountExisting footage is in the form of original 70 mm elements of the general release version (recent restored versions shown in revival screenings are derived from these elements). A 1991 VHS and LaserDisc from MGM/UA was an extended 183-minute version of the film, with most of the reinserted footage derived from elements stored in a Los Angeles warehouse about to be demolished. According to a 2002 interview with master preservationist Robert A. Harris, this extended version is not a true representation of the original roadshow cut and included footage that was not meant to be shown in any existing version.

A restoration effort was made by Harris in an attempt to bring the film back as close as possible to the original roadshow release. The project to go ahead with the massive restoration project would gain approval from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (parent company of UA), although it did require a necessary budget for it to proceed.

Released on January 21, 2014 as a two Blu-ray and three DVD set, the Criterion Collection release contains two versions of the film, a restored 4K digital film transfer of the 159-minute general release version and a new 197-minute high-definition digital transfer, reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris using visual and audio material from the longer original "road-show" version not seen in over 50 years. Some scenes have been returned to the film for the first time, and the Blu-ray features a 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack.

Unfortunately, I have started to notice that many new movies and/or special-feature offerings in for older movies are now Blue Ray format only (aside from on-line versions).  With such in mind, I had no choice but to buy a separate Blue Ray player.


My understanding is that all newer players, in addition to being "multi-region", can play both regular DVDs and Blue Ray discs - so you don't need separate players for each format.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: PHLBOS on February 10, 2020, 04:12:13 PM
Quote from: roadman on February 10, 2020, 03:30:00 PMMy understanding is that all newer players, in addition to being "multi-region", can play both regular DVDs and Blue Ray discs - so you don't need separate players for each format.
Correct; but if one still has an older DVD player, that flexibility does not exist.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Bobby5280 on February 10, 2020, 04:14:49 PM
Considering how physical media sales have been plummeting I'm pretty nervous electronics companies will stop making optical disc players. Samsung is already getting out of the market.

Quote from: indexI can't help but notice most shows or movies set somewhere else are actually filmed in California, especially in scenes when they're driving with the signals, masts, roads, etc. You see it all the time in The Office with the landscape and roads. Definitely looks like California, not northeastern Pennsylvania. Parks and Recreation has the same thing, looks like California with the roads, not south-central Indiana.

Actually more and more movie and TV productions are shot outside California.

Georgia has a very large number of productions based there. The same goes for New Mexico. Those two states have very generous tax incentive programs. Texas has long been an alternative site for film and TV productions. Ontario and British Columbia (and the cities of Toronto and Vancouver) host many "American" productions. Even New Zealand and Australia snag a few of those productions too.

Here in Oklahoma the state government is setting up a more competitive environment to attract movie and TV productions. Martin Scorsese's next movie, Killers of the Flower Moon will be shot in the Oklahoma town of Pawhuska. A upcoming movie later this fall starring Matt Damon called Stillwater was shot in Stillwater, El Reno, Chickasha, Arcadia and Guthrie.

California is doing a good job of pricing itself out of movie and TV production business. Living costs there are completely insane. The regulatory environment (permits, etc) is suffocating and costly. Then there's the matter of how much the Teamsters, IATSE, etc add to production cost. Production budgets go a lot farther in other states. Very few people shoot on film anymore. It's all glorified video cameras. That's another thing making productions more "mobile." Panavision, Arri and others have offices in plenty of other places besides Hollywood and NYC.

As for the California scenery shots that do turn up, that can come from a variety of sources. It's funny how much stock video and film footage shows up in movies and TV shows. Also a tiny "second unit" crew can travel all over the place getting exterior shots from anywhere. But then the actual on set production happens in some place like Atlanta or Albuquerque.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: roadman on February 10, 2020, 04:23:21 PM
Quote from: PHLBOS on February 10, 2020, 04:12:13 PM
Quote from: roadman on February 10, 2020, 03:30:00 PMMy understanding is that all newer players, in addition to being "multi-region", can play both regular DVDs and Blue Ray discs - so you don't need separate players for each format.
Correct; but if one still has an older DVD player, that flexibility does not exist.

Understood.  I was referring mainly to my earlier comment about not having BlueRay capability until recently, when my player cr^**ed out and I had to buy a new one.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Finrod on February 20, 2020, 03:16:06 PM
Every time I see the US 6 - US 322 sign in what's supposed to be downtown DC in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: interstate73 on February 20, 2020, 05:22:26 PM
In last year's movie "Born to Run" about a Pakistani-British Bruce Springsteen fan, he is shown flying into New Jersey at Newark Airport and then travelling down to Monmouth County/the Shore, but during the travel montage it shows this sign (https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7768256,-74.0430923,3a,19.1y,295.25h,95.08t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPznbj-lMI0YzL84Lh3OI2Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192) that is on the outbound Lincoln Tunnel approach where it splits for the Turnpike or 3, which is north of Newark Airport, so you would not pass by there going from the airport down to the Shore  :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: cwf1701 on February 20, 2020, 08:11:08 PM
Red Dawn (2012) is set in Washington State, but you can see evidence of its production in Michigan (Michigan style traffic lights, and a scene that was at the interchange of I-375 and I-75) https://reggiestake.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/red-dawn-4.jpg
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Max Rockatansky on February 20, 2020, 08:37:08 PM
Quote from: cwf1701 on February 20, 2020, 08:11:08 PM
Red Dawn (2012) is set in Washington State, but you can see evidence of its production in Michigan (Michigan style traffic lights, and a scene that was at the interchange of I-375 and I-75) https://reggiestake.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/red-dawn-4.jpg

The fact that Red Dawn was remade is maddening enough. 
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: apeman33 on March 16, 2020, 06:04:55 PM
Quote from: Finrod on February 20, 2020, 03:16:06 PM
Every time I see the US 6 - US 322 sign in what's supposed to be downtown DC in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

He's

Whenever I notice BC-99 shields in a movie or TV show that's supposed to take place in an American city.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Verlanka on March 17, 2020, 06:08:38 AM
Quote from: apeman33 on March 16, 2020, 06:04:55 PM
Quote from: Finrod on February 20, 2020, 03:16:06 PM
Every time I see the US 6 - US 322 sign in what's supposed to be downtown DC in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

He's
:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Bobby5280 on March 17, 2020, 03:35:19 PM
The big urban action sequence early in the The Winter Soldier definitely has a US-6/US-322 sign clearly visible. That's because they shot a bunch of the sequence in downtown Cleveland. Not DC. A bunch of the movie was shot in Ohio:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1843866/locations?ref_=tt_dt_dt
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: MCRoads on March 19, 2020, 03:16:45 PM
Every single scene in a movie/TV show that is filmed on the Terminal Island Freeway, that identifies it as something else. Even in Get Smart, where the scene IS in LA, they identify it as I-87 (or a similar number). What??
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: ErmineNotyours on March 20, 2020, 07:52:42 PM
Quote from: MCRoads on March 19, 2020, 03:16:45 PM
Every single scene in a movie/TV show that is filmed on the Terminal Island Freeway, that identifies it as something else. Even in Get Smart, where the scene IS in LA, they identify it as I-87 (or a similar number). What??

Hollywood uses several stub freeways for filming.  They used the Glenwood Freeway for Bowfinger, and the I-710 stub south of Pasadena for The People vs. O.J. Simpson.  That freeway was supposed to be I-405, but you could clearly see the I-705 trailblazer BGS as they went past the same section of freeway over and over again.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: bing101 on March 24, 2020, 10:48:44 PM
Quote from: Bobby5280 on February 10, 2020, 04:14:49 PM
Considering how physical media sales have been plummeting I'm pretty nervous electronics companies will stop making optical disc players. Samsung is already getting out of the market.

Quote from: indexI can't help but notice most shows or movies set somewhere else are actually filmed in California, especially in scenes when they're driving with the signals, masts, roads, etc. You see it all the time in The Office with the landscape and roads. Definitely looks like California, not northeastern Pennsylvania. Parks and Recreation has the same thing, looks like California with the roads, not south-central Indiana.


Actually more and more movie and TV productions are shot outside California.

Georgia has a very large number of productions based there. The same goes for New Mexico. Those two states have very generous tax incentive programs. Texas has long been an alternative site for film and TV productions. Ontario and British Columbia (and the cities of Toronto and Vancouver) host many "American" productions. Even New Zealand and Australia snag a few of those productions too.

Here in Oklahoma the state government is setting up a more competitive environment to attract movie and TV productions. Martin Scorsese's next movie, Killers of the Flower Moon will be shot in the Oklahoma town of Pawhuska. A upcoming movie later this fall starring Matt Damon called Stillwater was shot in Stillwater, El Reno, Chickasha, Arcadia and Guthrie.

California is doing a good job of pricing itself out of movie and TV production business. Living costs there are completely insane. The regulatory environment (permits, etc) is suffocating and costly. Then there's the matter of how much the Teamsters, IATSE, etc add to production cost. Production budgets go a lot farther in other states. Very few people shoot on film anymore. It's all glorified video cameras. That's another thing making productions more "mobile." Panavision, Arri and others have offices in plenty of other places besides Hollywood and NYC.

As for the California scenery shots that do turn up, that can come from a variety of sources. It's funny how much stock video and film footage shows up in movies and TV shows. Also a tiny "second unit" crew can travel all over the place getting exterior shots from anywhere. But then the actual on set production happens in some place like Atlanta or Albuquerque.


http://www.visitvallejo.com/film-office/solano-county-feature-film-history


http://www.visitvallejo.com/film-office/13-reasons-why-film-locations-in-vallejo-ca


https://www.thereporter.com/2015/09/18/local-filmmakers-in-vacaville-to-shoot-scenes-for-action-film/


https://www.dailyrepublic.com/all-dr-news/solano-news/local-features/local-lifestyle-columns/all-the-kings-men-the-king-of-movies-filmed-locally/




https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/06/07/controversial-hollywood-movie-to-begin-filming-in-vallejo/
http://www.filminamerica.com/PacificNorthwest/NCA/SacramentoCounty/Sacramento/

If you are wondering where some of the "Wine Country", "San Francisco Bay Area", "Central Valley" and "Southern California" scenes are filmed in movies, Music videos and TV  they are located in Solano and Sacramento Counties. Yes Solano County and Sacramento gets used as a location for the Northern California scenes and its used to avoid high costs of doing movies in San Francisco and Los Angeles County while staying within the state.


http://filmmareisland.com/


Mare Island has to be one of the busiest film studios on the U.S. West coast that's not located in San Francisco or Los Angeles.




Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: ipeters61 on April 18, 2020, 06:43:06 PM
I was watching Malcolm in the Middle and there was an episode where they showed a mugshot that was supposed to be in Alaska that said "County."  But Alaska doesn't have counties, it has boroughs.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: D-Dey65 on April 29, 2020, 07:55:36 AM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 16, 2018, 03:54:06 PM
One of the reasons my dad loves the Dick Wolf Chicago shows is because they never say they're going to the corner of two streets that run parallel to each other (say, the corner of State and Wabash).
Oh, speaking of Dick Wolf, there are a couple of seasons of Law & Order SVU where they not only get the geography and roads of Nassau and Suffolk Counties wrong (Jericho in Suffolk County, Route 1 in Wyandanch which is a dirt road), but they get the police cars wrong.

In his universe, a Suffolk County Police car is a white Chevy Impala with purple and mustard yellow stripes and lettering, although sometimes the mustard lettering is orange.

Real Suffolk and Nassau county police cars below:
http://pics.imcdb.org/0is714/suffolkpolicecar2.6273.jpg

http://pics.imcdb.org/0is4/nassaupolicecar4.193.jpg


Dick Wolf Universe Suffolk County police cars:
http://pics.imcdb.org/0is232/laworderspecialvictimsu.7466.jpg

http://pics.imcdb.org/0is20/laworderspecialvictimsuz.9716.jpg



Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: D-Dey65 on April 29, 2020, 08:01:34 AM
Quote from: roadman on February 10, 2020, 03:30:00 PM
My understanding is that all newer players, in addition to being "multi-region", can play both regular DVDs and Blue Ray discs - so you don't need separate players for each format.
So does that mean I'll be able to watch Region 2 versions of David Leland's "Tales Out of School" mini-series and not have to wait for a Region 1 version?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GWDOHSY/?coliid=I3K3L3PUIGV5R6&colid=C7Z26JNSH6PU&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: bing101 on July 01, 2020, 09:41:05 AM
Quote from: Bobby5280 on February 10, 2020, 04:14:49 PM
Considering how physical media sales have been plummeting I'm pretty nervous electronics companies will stop making optical disc players. Samsung is already getting out of the market.

Quote from: indexI can't help but notice most shows or movies set somewhere else are actually filmed in California, especially in scenes when they're driving with the signals, masts, roads, etc. You see it all the time in The Office with the landscape and roads. Definitely looks like California, not northeastern Pennsylvania. Parks and Recreation has the same thing, looks like California with the roads, not south-central Indiana.


Actually more and more movie and TV productions are shot outside California.

Georgia has a very large number of productions based there. The same goes for New Mexico. Those two states have very generous tax incentive programs. Texas has long been an alternative site for film and TV productions. Ontario and British Columbia (and the cities of Toronto and Vancouver) host many "American" productions. Even New Zealand and Australia snag a few of those productions too.

Here in Oklahoma the state government is setting up a more competitive environment to attract movie and TV productions. Martin Scorsese's next movie, Killers of the Flower Moon will be shot in the Oklahoma town of Pawhuska. A upcoming movie later this fall starring Matt Damon called Stillwater was shot in Stillwater, El Reno, Chickasha, Arcadia and Guthrie.

California is doing a good job of pricing itself out of movie and TV production business. Living costs there are completely insane. The regulatory environment (permits, etc) is suffocating and costly. Then there's the matter of how much the Teamsters, IATSE, etc add to production cost. Production budgets go a lot farther in other states. Very few people shoot on film anymore. It's all glorified video cameras. That's another thing making productions more "mobile." Panavision, Arri and others have offices in plenty of other places besides Hollywood and NYC.

As for the California scenery shots that do turn up, that can come from a variety of sources. It's funny how much stock video and film footage shows up in movies and TV shows. Also a tiny "second unit" crew can travel all over the place getting exterior shots from anywhere. But then the actual on set production happens in some place like Atlanta or Albuquerque.


https://www.georgiatrend.com/2018/03/01/ga-ga-land/

In this 2018 press release the state of Georgia overtook California for film production. Article cited an economic study from 2016 and 2017 for filming.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: machias on July 05, 2020, 08:41:47 PM
The ABC comedy "Happy Endings" once featured a newscast shot somewhere in the 30 hundred block of "E. Clybourne" in Chicago. Clybourn was spelled wrong, is marked North-South and 30 hundred east anything in Chicago is usually going to put it way out in Lake Michigan.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Roadgeekteen on July 06, 2020, 12:25:51 AM
In Back to the Future, Hill Valley is seen to be on the route of US 8. US 8 never got anywhere near California.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: STLmapboy on July 14, 2020, 10:14:02 AM
In the awful Kevin Smith horror-comedy Tusk, the protagonist is supposedly in Manitoba driving from Winnipeg to Bifrost to meet the villain (Bifrost is a real city, btw). A shot of him driving along shows a GPS; he's traveling up US 29 and a NC state-route shield is shown as well. The movie was filmed in NC, proving that Kevin Smith really doesn't give a shit about minor details like this.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: NWI_Irish96 on July 14, 2020, 10:38:54 AM
Not so much road inaccuracies but geography inaccuracies all over The West Wing 2 part episode in Indiana.

There is a time zone mixup as they cross from Unionville into Dearborn County. Nowhere near each other.
Dearborn County is also not near Crane NWS, where the President goes next (Crane is near Unionville).
They catch a train at Connersville, not near any of the other places, also no commuter train service of any kind in that part of the state.
At the Indianapolis airport, they meet a guy from St. Louis who has taken his daughter to visit Notre Dame and is waiting on his return flight. Taking a very short flight to Indy and then driving 2½ hours to Notre Dame doesn't make any sense at all.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: zzcarp on July 16, 2020, 10:39:38 PM
Tommy Boy was set in Sandusky, Ohio, yet it was obvious the streets looked nothing like Sandusky. And certainly no shots of Lake Erie or Cedar Point Amusement Park. I could never get into that movie due to the geographical errors.
Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: D-Dey65 on December 30, 2023, 07:35:08 PM
Here's a scene from one of the Percy Jackson movies supposedly from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, but does anyone else here think one of those signs near the entrance looks a little too... Canadian?

https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_1854700.html



Title: Re: TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!
Post by: Big John on December 30, 2023, 07:43:34 PM
^^ and the traffic signal