On the heels of the Oscars, I am reminded of one of my favorite "realistic" highway scenes that did not take place on a real highway:
The infamous tollbooth scene from the Oscar-Winning movie, "The Godfather". As realistic (and creepy) the old toll barrier looked (though it could have needed a few more road signs -- curve, ramp speed limit,...), the entire toll plaza was shot at the end of an abandoned airport in Long Island, NY (Mitchell Field).
http://placesnomore.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/deathscene/
That's one thing I liked about many of the older TV shows and movies: When shooting "on the streets", you could see that they left the grit and grime as is -- it didn't look as if the whole block was washed down before shooting the scene. And in the case of "The Godfather" scene, they made the toll plaza look "well-used" and really made it look like it was a real facility.
Have you watched Cronenberg's Crash ??
(not for everyone, but for his fans, it is a 'road' movie like no other)
It's been a long time but I remember being intrigued by the scenes of rural parts of Queens in the 1970-something The Great Gatsby with Robert Redford. Kind of drove home what a big deal the Queensboro was with regard to opening the borough up to development.
QuoteRe: Best Movie "Road Scene" That Never Was...
What happened with that post title?
Crapatalk happened.
The entire Duel movie is quite something in matter of roads.
The freeway scene in The Matrix: Reloaded is my favorite. I keep trying to make out the signs that were featured on that highway. I keep thinking that I see an 'Interstate 101' sign before they get on the freeway.