TV-Movie Road inaccuracies that drive you crazy!

[roadman]

Thanks 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.

[Chris19001]

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)

[index]

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.

[Rothman]

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.

[roadman]

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

[PHLBOS]

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.

Here's the write-up on the above from Wiki:

Existing 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.

[roadman]

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.

Here's the write-up on the above from Wiki:

Existing 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.

[PHLBOS]

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.

Correct; but if one still has an older DVD player, that flexibility does not exist.

[Bobby5280]

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.

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.

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.

[roadman]

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.

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.

[Finrod]

Every time I see the US 6 - US 322 sign in what's supposed to be downtown DC in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

[interstate73]

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 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 

[cwf1701]

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

[Max Rockatansky]

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. 

[apeman33]

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.

[Verlanka]

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

[Bobby5280]

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

[MCRoads]

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??

[ErmineNotyours]

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.

[bing101]

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.

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.

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.

[ipeters61]

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.

[D-Dey65]

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

[D-Dey65]

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

[bing101]

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.

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.

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.

[machias]

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.