Screen | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: In Alex Garland’s Civil War, a grim movie about journalists traveling through a war-torn U.S., the group drives under a highway overpass spray-painted with graffiti that says “GO STEELERS.” The location isn’t recognizable as Pittsburgh (and I’m omitting a gruesome reveal), but the suggestion of it was enough for the Pittsburgh audience at an advanced screening to clap and cheer. I know because I was among them, hooting and hollering, grateful that Pittsburgh pride remains undefeated.
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I love seeing movies that were filmed in a location that is familiar to me. It brings a sort of connection that feels personal and allows me to relate to the film more immediately. This is a good list of niche movies that were filmed in Pittsburgh. I just recently watched The Perks of being a Wallflower for the first time last semester, and I recognized that it was set in Pittsburgh and I was quite excited about that. I think Pittsburgh is a really nice city and we should have more things filmed here. I also started watching the tv show "The Pitt", mainly because of a specific actor I've met being in it. But then I found out it was shot here and directed by John Wells, and I thought that was pretty cool. There are so many CMU connections, and I discover more everyday.
I did not even know that The Dark Knight Rises was filmed in Pittsburgh. Having movies filmed at many smaller locations like Pittsburgh instead of a few main ones like LA, Paris, or New York City brings diversity into the landscapes and settings to provide a lot of interesting and different stories to the front of the social consciousness. Not only does it provide opportunities for the audiences to enjoy a multitude of settings, but different local artists and workers can get their chance to be involved in productions that are usually a smaller group of people. Even in Pittsburgh the variety in the four hundred bridges that span the three main rivers that the city surrounds is visually impressive not even to mention the mountains that flow through the city which contains the steepest road in the United States. The financial benefit from hiring workers that in habit all parts of this country and the world extends past the workers and their immediate family. The benefits affect the shops that they go to, the transportation systems, the local government from taxes and others. The benefit of where this money goes is more beneficial when it is spread out too as it decreases the chance for all the benefits to end up in the hands of individuals through loopholes and flat out fraudulent activities. I am excited to explore these many smaller films that have spread out (at least somewhat away from the hotspots of film locations) into Pittsburgh and its mountains.
I opened this article as a test of my self acclaimed film buff title and I was not disappointed. I always find it interesting to find out where movies were filmed, because it is always in a place I would not expect. When I was a kid I was on the military base where the hanger scene in Hidden Figures was filmed, having nothing to do with the production I did not get to see much but you could see a little through the barriers. I have seen about half of the movies on the list and some of them are among my favorite bad or slow movies. Desperate Measures and The Clearing are not really my favorite but I am still surprised they were filmed in Pitt, perhaps it mentioned it in the movie and I did not pay any attention. The Next Three Days I watched a long time ago and while it was rather slow I enjoyed it. I at the time however had no connection to Pittsburgh and did not notice that the Maps or even Liam Neason’s line “Pittsburgh’s tough” but upon reading that it was filmed in Pittsburgh I was not at all surprised because I remember the details about the rivers and the zoo etc.
I love watching movies and spotting little locations. As someone with an eidetic memory, this becomes a little bit like a game for me. I loved this list of movies and even went on the internet to search up some clips from them on You Tube and watch them, looking for any locations that I recognized. This is so fun and interesting to me! Honestly, one of my favorite movie scenes of all time is the “We Are Infinite” scene at the end of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It has just always felt so magical and literally that is one of the best feelings in the world to me, driving in the city at night with just loud music, windows down, and all that air. While I never quite got the full experience that Charlie had in my little sedan with its tiny sunroof in Boston, that is a moment in film that always stuck with me and translated to real life. Now, with this article, I’m finally connecting the dots too that that’s Pittsburgh and I live there now! And honestly, it had me thinking. Pittsburgh has such a beautiful skyline and location, it's a shame it isn’t featured more often or as prominently, because I really do think it is a beautiful city. I wish people thought of that Pittsburgh when I tell folks back home where Carnegie Mellon is rather than the alleyways they envision in their minds!
It's so cool watching a movie and seeing places you recognize!!! I used to always be on the lookout to see if I could recognize anywhere from Houston (my hometown), but now I need to be on the lookout for places from Pittsburgh as well! I have seen a couple of the bigger movies on the list, (Dark Knight, Wallflower, Silence of the lambs), but when I watched them I had no idea I would eventually be living where they were filmed. I want to rewatch them now and see what places I can clock. (The Mellon institute in Dark Knight especially.) I'm also going to have to take some time to watch the "lesser-known" ones as well! I've heard of some of them, but not seen them. I'm very curious to see how the architecture and atmosphere of Pittsburgh transfers to the big screen, especially the bridges.
I can’t believe that I didn't know that The Dark Knight Returns was filmed in Pittsburgh, that's so cool! But all of these movies sound really interesting. I think part of what makes pittsburg such a good movie location is all the bridges. I might be biased, but I think there are very few settings as good for tense scenes than bridges. It creates a very confined space for people to have interactions on, and the only way to get off is to cross the bridge or end up taking a swim in the river, both of which are great options for an action sequence. I also think the layout of the streets is very cinematic in nature, there isn't a whole lot of a grid system going on here, which creates a much more interesting backdrop complete with winding roads and a ton of beautiful greenery. And now I have a bunch of new movies on my watchlist.
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