Airports as Movie Locations

glbltrvlr · Mon Feb 20, 2017 8:37 pm

Happened to be watching a classic Tony Curtis comedy the other day (Szx and the Single Girl) as was struck by the great view of LAX as it existed in the 60s. Over 50 years ago - ouch. The last 20 minutes of the movie has lots of pre-double deck, pre-parking structure scenes showing where the Tom Bradley terminal would eventually go, the multicolored tile walkways to/from the concourses, and the old American Airlines gates. Really cool to see how the airport has evolved and how long the Encounter structure has been there.

It occurred to me that this would be a great thread starter. What other airports have major roles in movies? A few I can think of:

Arthur Hailey's Airport - Set in Chicago, but filmed at MSP as I recall.
Stephen King's Langoliers - Filmed at a closed airport in Maine?
Hitchcock's North by Northwest - Great shots of Midway before the Southwest invasion and the buildings across Cicero Ave. Back when you could park 20 steps to the ticket counter.

Others?

canyonblue17 · Mon Feb 20, 2017 8:51 pm

LAS in Ocean's Eleven the remake
ISP in Law and Order episode

jimatkins · Mon Feb 20, 2017 8:53 pm

High Anxiety at LAX- "What a dramatic airport!"

canyonblue17 · Mon Feb 20, 2017 8:53 pm

PHX in several adult films - popular parking garage.

lavalampluva · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:04 pm

Airport '75 (IAD & SLC)
Catch Me if You Can (ONT & old TWA Terminal at JFK)

IrishAyes · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:05 pm

"Liar, Liar" starring Jim Carey and Maura Tierney had a pretty epic ending scene at LAX --- I remember seeing this in 1997 when I was a young'in and had an obsession with LAX at the time. They were flying on a Tower Air 747-200

Wednesdayite · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:07 pm

Die Hard 2 was filmed at Denver-Stapleton (standing in for Dulles).

canyonblue17 · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:08 pm

Were parts of Speed filmed at LAX?

tomaheath · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:10 pm

Captain Phillips is at Worcester airport.

BartSimpson · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:11 pm

The Terminal - JFK

cosyr · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:12 pm

Can't forget "Airport" at MSP, or the rest of the franchise at IAD!

tomaheath · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:13 pm

tomaheath wrote:
Captain Phillips is at ORH-Worcester Massachusetts airport.

globalflyer · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:13 pm

Planes Trains and Automobiles with John Candy - STL
Dumb and Dumber - SLC (when Jim Carey runs down the jetway and no plane is attached)
Warm Bodies with Nic Hoult - I believe it was at YMX

jumpship · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:15 pm

It seems like Dumb and Dumber had some scenes at SLC.

TVNWZ · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:22 pm

SFO. I think one of the best is "Bullitt". The action around the airport runways and screaming engines is often forgotten because of the car chase scene. But the airport Chase is almost as exciting.

glbltrvlr · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:22 pm

And of course, Airplane, if only for the LAX PA announcements "Don't you tell me which zone is for loading, and which zone is for unloading!" Not a lot of the terminal beyond the sidewalk as I recall.

AVLAirlineFreq · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:23 pm

JAN in "A Time To Kill."

The old Denver Stapleton as a stand-in for IAD in "Die Hard 2."

LAX has been in too many to list.

FlyUSAir · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:24 pm

Meet the Parents - Westchester County Airport (as a fill in for ORD LOL!)
Everybody's Fine - Bradley International Airport (as a fill in for LAS)
Goodfellas - JFK
The Sopranos - Featured EWR a lot

Goldenshield · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:28 pm

ONT, in too many films, movies, and commercials to count.

intotheair · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:30 pm

BartSimpson wrote:
The Terminal - JFK

The story took place at JFK, yes, but they actually used Montreal's Mirabel for filming. I'm not sure about many of the others listed in this thread, but I think this is pretty common in production.

***

I know it's not a movie, but the season 6 finale of Weeds was set at DTW, but it was actually filmed at ONT.

TripleA · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:33 pm

Chicago O'Hare in both Home Alone movies. Also Dallas/Fort Worth was mentioned in the first one and I believe the Paris Orly scenes were also filmed at ORD.

PatrickZ80 · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:36 pm

Kidnep, a Dutch youth movie, has a scene that is supposed to be at Amsterdam but was actually filmed at Lelystad.

wn676 · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:37 pm

She's Out of My League featured scenes at PIT.

TedToToe · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:38 pm

ELP and BUR both feature in Paris, Texas.

BobPatterson · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:41 pm

I'm surprised that no one has yet mentioned military airports. My eldest brother got to play a bit part in a film about the Berlin Airlift. I don't recall for sure if the film was called "Airlift" but I think it was. Some of the filming was at Frankfurt Rhine-Main. My brother was an Army Air Force and then Air Force enlisted man, but was dressed as a sailor for one scene and as a civilian in another.

Also surprised that no one has mentioned "Sully" and LGA.

DaufuskieGuy · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:43 pm

Love Actually - LHR and Marseille Airport
Zodiac - LAX (but perhaps filmed elsewhere)

rj1385 · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:45 pm

Meet the Parents used Westchester (HPN) as ORD and LGA
Thomas Crown Affair used HPN as JFK

Tedd · Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:59 pm

Dirty Harry at SFO?

OzarkD9S · Mon Feb 20, 2017 10:17 pm

Friendly Fire, a TV movie: SGF
The Out-Of-Towners: ISP for NYC

masgniw · Mon Feb 20, 2017 10:31 pm

glbltrvlr wrote:
H
Stephen King's Langoliers - Filmed at a closed airport in Maine?

Such an underrated movie! It was filmed at Bangor Int'l, which is still in operation.

aklrno · Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:12 am

intotheair wrote:
BartSimpson wrote:
The Terminal - JFK

The story took place at JFK, yes, but they actually used Montreal's Mirabel for filming. I'm not sure about many of the others listed in this thread, but I think this is pretty common in production.

***

I know it's not a movie, but the season 6 finale of Weeds was set at DTW, but it was actually filmed at ONT.

The interiors were on a set constructed for the movie. It was at an airport, in Palmdale, CA, in a hangar where the B-1 was assembled.

aklrno · Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:13 am

intotheair wrote:
BartSimpson wrote:
The Terminal - JFK

The story took place at JFK, yes, but they actually used Montreal's Mirabel for filming. I'm not sure about many of the others listed in this thread, but I think this is pretty common in production.

***

I know it's not a movie, but the season 6 finale of Weeds was set at DTW, but it was actually filmed at ONT.

The interiors were on a set constructed for the movie. It was at an airport, in Palmdale, CA, in a hangar where the B-1 was assembled.

Wednesdayite · Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:18 am

RAF Finningley (now Robin Hood Sheffield-Doncaster) was destroyed in a nuclear attack in the 1984 movie Threads.

As Robin Hood Airport, it also featured in 4 Lions.

YYZSpotter1991 · Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:42 am

"The F Word" (which was filmed and took place in Toronto) had a scene at YYZ just outside T1 at that terminal's departure drop-off.

intotheair · Tue Feb 21, 2017 4:46 am

aklrno wrote:
intotheair wrote:
BartSimpson wrote:
The Terminal - JFK

The story took place at JFK, yes, but they actually used Montreal's Mirabel for filming. I'm not sure about many of the others listed in this thread, but I think this is pretty common in production.

***

I know it's not a movie, but the season 6 finale of Weeds was set at DTW, but it was actually filmed at ONT.

The interiors were on a set constructed for the movie. It was at an airport, in Palmdale, CA, in a hangar where the B-1 was assembled.

Oh interesting! I thought I read somewhere a while ago that it was filmed at Mirabel, but I must be mistaken.

global2 · Tue Feb 21, 2017 5:53 am

"Come Fly With Me" (1963) has wonderful opening credits which is basically a tour around Terminal City at Idlewild (soon to be renamed J.F.K.), leading up to to the entrance to Pan American's Worldport (in the movie it was home to the fictional airline "Polar Atlantic"). The Worldport also made cameo appearance in a James Bond film with Roger Moore--I think it's "Live and Let Die".

AVLAirlineFreq · Tue Feb 21, 2017 1:41 pm

"Live And Let Die" also features both MSY and NEW (New Orleans Lakefront Airport).

I believe JFK and ONT (as a stand-in for MIA) both make appearances in "Catch Me If You Can."

ORD in "Running Scared" with Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal.

AVLAirlineFreq · Tue Feb 21, 2017 1:51 pm

Also, the old BNA terminal is seen in "Nashville" (of course).

SNA as a stand-in for a Colombian airport (can't remember if it was BOG or another) in "Clear And Present Danger."

LCK as a stand-in for Ramstein AFB in "Air Force One."

SJCMSP · Tue Feb 21, 2017 2:20 pm

masgniw wrote:
glbltrvlr wrote:
H
Stephen King's Langoliers - Filmed at a closed airport in Maine?

Such an underrated movie! It was filmed at Bangor Int'l, which is still in operation.

This was filmed while the airport was in full operation. My family was on vacation there in summer 1994 and we stayed at the Marriott which is connected to the terminal. In the evening I walked around the terminal and the crew was packing up for the day and even witnessed a scene being filmed. I have a picture I took of the L1011 somewhere but can't seem to find it.

conaly · Tue Feb 21, 2017 2:56 pm

Captain America: Civil War - the movie scenes resembling LEJ where in fact filmed at Leipzig Airport.

LupineChemist · Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:36 pm

Up in the Air (yeah obvious) I remember annoying me because it clearly used the McNamara Terminal at DTW for a loyal AA flyer. (I can't remember what city he was supposed to be in)

Needless to say there were plenty of airports in that movie.

SJCMSP · Tue Feb 21, 2017 5:33 pm

TripleA wrote:
Chicago O'Hare in both Home Alone movies. Also Dallas/Fort Worth was mentioned in the first one and I believe the Paris Orly scenes were also filmed at ORD.

I think it was also AVP and LGA in Home Alone 2. I believe ORD was also used in Rookie of the Year.

jeffh747 · Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:25 pm

LupineChemist wrote:
Up in the Air (yeah obvious) I remember annoying me because it clearly used the McNamara Terminal at DTW for a loyal AA flyer. (I can't remember what city he was supposed to be in)

Needless to say there were plenty of airports in that movie.

I'm pretty sure at least a couple of those scenes at DTW, he was literally supposed to be in DTW. Also, I read somewhere that most of the terminal scenes were fillmernin the currently not-in-use former TWA concourse of STL.

ER757 · Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:00 pm

LIH was prominently featured in the climatic scene in a Harrison Ford/Anne Heche movie that the exact tile of escapes me - it was something like "Six Nights, Seven Days"

TVNWZ · Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:21 pm

LupineChemist wrote:
Up in the Air (yeah obvious) I remember annoying me because it clearly used the McNamara Terminal at DTW for a loyal AA flyer. (I can't remember what city he was supposed to be in)

Needless to say there were plenty of airports in that movie.

I think only three, DTW being one. STL was used most extensively and a couple of shots in OMA. The ending with Clooney looking up at the big board is STL.

UltimateDelta · Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:54 pm

There were some scenes from "About Schmidt" shot at OMA (not too surprising, since much of the movie was set in Omaha), and some of the desert scenes in "Con Air" were shot at Wendover Airport in Utah. One of the C-123s used is still parked out there, and is sort of unofficially open to walk through- it's a creepy-but-cool sight!

dfwjim1 · Wed Feb 22, 2017 6:32 pm

I don't recall the title (might be "Dirty Harry") where Clint boards a hijacked 707 dressed as an airline captain and attempts to taxi the plane out for take off. After a few minutes the co-pilot asks Clint if he knew how to fly the plane and he replies that he never took flying lessons. Clint then turns around and shoots and kills the hijackers with his 44 magnum which the hijackers forgot to check for before he boarded the plane.

Filmed at OAK.

marktci · Wed Feb 22, 2017 6:33 pm

Tommy Boy at YYZ.

BartSimpson · Wed Feb 22, 2017 7:54 pm

A bit off topic:

I just tumbled upon "The Internet Movie Plane Database".

You find tons of aircraft that were used for movies.

ER757 · Wed Feb 22, 2017 8:43 pm

dfwjim1 wrote:
I don't recall the title (might be "Dirty Harry") where Clint boards a hijacked 707 dressed as an airline captain and attempts to taxi the plane out for take off. After a few minutes the co-pilot asks Clint if he knew how to fly the plane and he replies that he never took flying lessons. Clint then turns around and shoots and kills the hijackers with his 44 magnum which the hijackers forgot to check for before he boarded the plane.

Filmed at OAK.

That was the first sequel - Magnum Force

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