Before my wife and I visited Rome I thought “Angels and Demons” was just an ok movie. After our visit I couldn’t wait to watch it again, and I have probably watched it 3-5 times since just to reacquaint myself with some of the places we visited and note sites we should make time to see on our next visit.
Movies can make you want to visit a place, and they can also make you want to re-visit a place. Terry kathryn starts an entertaining conversation on the Rick Steve’s Europe forums by asking fellow travelers to name “movies that make you want to return to Europe? (tv shows too)“ .
In this conversation I was particularly intrigued by a back-and-forth between Roy and Barry:
Roy:
In keeping with the mood of the movie, the Italian hill town in “The American” was so gritty and rundown that, if I had not already been to Italy, I would have scratched the country from my bucket list. I have taken Nebraska off the list for similar reasons after seeing the movie by the same name. : > ) No wonder I prefer travel in Europe to travel in the U.S. A lot of producers seek out the most depressing towns they can find and then proceed to make them worse to make “serious” movies. That’s why comedies draw me to a place and dramas push me away.
Barry:
In a light hearted comedy such as Midnight in Paris they’re going to make the city look beautiful. Whereas movies such as The American, Nebraska and one that I will add, Trainspotting, which made Edinburgh and Scotland in general look less than ideal, they are setting a mood for the film, not everyday and everywhere is a walk along the Seine. I guess I’m defending The American, I liked it a lot too, one of Clooneys best IMHO. If people based their travel plans on things they see in movies they’re going to be sorely disappointed sooner or later.
That’s just a snippet of the full conversation, but it made me curious as to if I had ever marked a potential destination off of the list of places to visit based on a movie. Who wants to visit Mumbai anyway? Perhaps I have misjudged Chicago. And I imagine Georgia is real pretty, ain’t it.
What about you? Have you ever decided you didn’t want to visit a place based on how that place was depicted in a movie?
And bonus points if you can guess the movies that have caused me to consider avoiding the locales I listed above.
I don’t think I’ve marked anything off my list due to a movie shot there. Hawaii maybe, as it just seems overcrowded in most TV and movies.
I have visited a few places where movies have been shot including many in St. Louis where I currently live (Up in the Air, The great St.Louis Bank Robbery).
Chicago and San Francisco have some great movie locations. I like Chicago Union station where the Untouchables was shot. The great hall and the stairways are crowded with people that don’t seem to care but it is super cool to me).
On my bucket list is the area along the Bavarian and Austrian border where they shot the movie Where Eagles Dare. Some day, some day….