Top Five: Movies filmed in Utah
Christian Leikam
Issue date: 11/4/09 Section: Opinion
Utah is East Hollywood. While almost everyone knows that the High School Musical franchise was filmed in Salt Lake, you may not know that some actual quality movies have been filmed here too.
While there is an expansive list of movies shot in Utah, there's only room for five items on this list. Here is a list of the top five movies filmed in Utah, in no particular order.
Number Five: Wild Wild West. It doesn't come as a surprise that a movie called Wild Wild West would at least pass through Utah. This cheesy/awesome Will Smith movie takes it a step further. The climax of the film actually takes place in Utah, even if not where they say (they say Promontory Point in Northern Utah, they show Monument Valley in Southern Utah).
If you've seen this movie but don't remember the scene, here's a refresher: It's the one with the gigantic robotic spider that shoots fire and missiles, being operated by a racist double amputee. While that concept might be weird, Dr. Arliss Loveless only wanted to kidnap President Ulysses S. Grant. So that totally makes sense.
Number Four: Dumb & Dumber. In this movie, Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne don't make it as far west as Utah on their cross-country trip. A fair amount of this movie was actually filmed in Utah though, mostly in Park City (for the parts where they're in Aspen, Colorado). According to filminamerica.com, some more Utah shooting locations included Lake Point, Orem, Provo, and Salt Lake International Airport.
Number Three: Better Off Dead. In this classic 1980's dark comedy, Lane Meyer (John Cusack) deals with his surreal high school life, and skis in his free time. Skiing is a big element in this movie, mostly because Meyer has to beat the jock that his girlfriend left him for in a ski competition.
The ski scenes were shot at Alta ski resort, particularly the scene where Meyer gets in a sword fight (using ski poles) with his neighbor, Ricky Smith. Locations in the Salt Lake Valley were also used, like the Dan's Grocery Store on 3900 South in Holladay.
Number Two: Jeremiah Johnson. Starring Robert Redford (President and Founder of the Sundance Film Festival), this movie follows Jeremiah Johnson, a mountain man who wishes live an idyllic life in the wilderness. When a misunderstanding leads to a vendetta against him by the Crow Tribe, the life he wanted slips away.
Number One: The Sandlot. Except for a scene at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, this movie was filmed entirely in Utah. The Sandlot is about Scotty Smalls, who moves to a new neighborhood and spends his entire summer playing baseball with neighborhood kids. Filming locations for The Sandlot include Rose Park, Ogden, Midvale, and Salt Lake City.
While there is an expansive list of movies shot in Utah, there's only room for five items on this list. Here is a list of the top five movies filmed in Utah, in no particular order.
Number Five: Wild Wild West. It doesn't come as a surprise that a movie called Wild Wild West would at least pass through Utah. This cheesy/awesome Will Smith movie takes it a step further. The climax of the film actually takes place in Utah, even if not where they say (they say Promontory Point in Northern Utah, they show Monument Valley in Southern Utah).
If you've seen this movie but don't remember the scene, here's a refresher: It's the one with the gigantic robotic spider that shoots fire and missiles, being operated by a racist double amputee. While that concept might be weird, Dr. Arliss Loveless only wanted to kidnap President Ulysses S. Grant. So that totally makes sense.
Number Four: Dumb & Dumber. In this movie, Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne don't make it as far west as Utah on their cross-country trip. A fair amount of this movie was actually filmed in Utah though, mostly in Park City (for the parts where they're in Aspen, Colorado). According to filminamerica.com, some more Utah shooting locations included Lake Point, Orem, Provo, and Salt Lake International Airport.
Number Three: Better Off Dead. In this classic 1980's dark comedy, Lane Meyer (John Cusack) deals with his surreal high school life, and skis in his free time. Skiing is a big element in this movie, mostly because Meyer has to beat the jock that his girlfriend left him for in a ski competition.
The ski scenes were shot at Alta ski resort, particularly the scene where Meyer gets in a sword fight (using ski poles) with his neighbor, Ricky Smith. Locations in the Salt Lake Valley were also used, like the Dan's Grocery Store on 3900 South in Holladay.
Number Two: Jeremiah Johnson. Starring Robert Redford (President and Founder of the Sundance Film Festival), this movie follows Jeremiah Johnson, a mountain man who wishes live an idyllic life in the wilderness. When a misunderstanding leads to a vendetta against him by the Crow Tribe, the life he wanted slips away.
Number One: The Sandlot. Except for a scene at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, this movie was filmed entirely in Utah. The Sandlot is about Scotty Smalls, who moves to a new neighborhood and spends his entire summer playing baseball with neighborhood kids. Filming locations for The Sandlot include Rose Park, Ogden, Midvale, and Salt Lake City.
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