WarGames (1983)
It’s high-tech tension set in Seattle but filmed mostly in California or in Puget Sound locales such as Anderson Island (the movie’s Goose Island). “Shall we play a game?” a computer asks teen hacker Matthew Broderick. The delighted Broderick replies, “Love to. How about Global Thermonuclear War?” Big mistake on his part, but fun for the rest of us.
House of Games (1987)
Playwright David Mamet made his directorial debut with this ice-cold thriller filled with terse dialogue and tense plot twists. His then-wife Lindsay Crouse plays a psychiatrist who gets schooled by seductive con man Joe Mantegna. The film was shot here but doesn’t feel of here; Mamet would probably prefer you think everything’s going down in Chicago. There is, however, a terrific climax at Sea-Tac where Crouse shows Mantegna what a good teacher he’s been.
Dogfight (1991)
Seattle luminously stands in for San Francisco, where River Phoenix brings Lili Taylor to downtown’s Nite Lite Lounge as part of the titular competition—a cruel game between him and his Marine buddies to see who can show up with the homeliest girl—before he ships out to Vietnam. How she finds out and they fall in love anyway makes for one of the great unsung movie romances. Many locals appear as extras or in small roles, including Brendan Fraser, then a recent Cornish grad, who makes his film debut as a sailor. Look for cameos, too, by the Paramount Theatre and the Byrnie Utz Hats shop (note the Borsalino sign).
h3(#life). Life or Something Like It (2002)
Yeah—or something like it: Poufy-haired, platinum blonde Angelina Jolie plays a local TV reporter. Pure bunk, sure, but Jolie looks like a delicious cupcake topped with too much frosting. Real Seattle weatherman Steve Pool and several of his KOMO-TV colleagues portrayed her news team in their own station’s studios. This was, remember, the Jolie notorious for wearing Billy Bob Thornton’s blood in a necklace. “We had heard that maybe she was going to be kind of freaky,” Pool recalls. “But, I gotta tell you, she was very friendly. In fact, when I would talk to her she would say, ‘Just call me Angie.’ ” How many men have longed to hear those words?
The Heart of the Game (2005)
Race issues, teamwork, and the empowerment of young women all factor into this exhilarating documentary. Filmmaker Ward Serrill met Roosevelt High School girls basketball coach Bill Resler through a mutual friend, then went to a game and witnessed a Roughriders huddle. “When they all came around Resler,” Serrill said later, “I saw more pure passion and enthusiasm coming out of the girls than I had seen in any gymnasium in any sport anywhere.” Serrill intended to document just one season until defiant young Darnellia Russell, an African American among Roosevelt’s chiefly white students, walked into the gym the following year. You don’t have to like basketball to be enthralled by his decision to keep filming.
Published: December 2009
I’ll add Fear and Mad Love.
Some nice Seattle scenes in those.
Nice article, I have worked in the movie industry in the northwest since 1983 and long for the good old days of 1-2 Hollywood produced movie a year coming to Seattle. Unfortunately those days are long gone, most of the “Seattle” movies are made in Vancouver and at best come “down” here for only a few days just to rip off enough shots to make the movie seem like it is Seattle. After falling way behind other states with tax breaks for productions in Washington the tide may be turning, however when combined with a declining crew base, and lack of infrastructure, not to mention the traffic gridlock it may never come back. It is a shame most of my work has been out of state where quite frankly movie making is embraced as the job creating, clean industry that it is. But thank you for not mentioning those Seattle rip off movies so many others do.
Ten Things I Hate About You?
Although not a big screen movie, The Night Strangler (1973) not only used Seattle really well, it actually got me to spend the money to go on the Underground Seattle tour.
Cool! You know, the independent Cap Hill video store On 15th Video has a whole Seattle section…bet if you browsed that you’d come up with even more…
I really do think that we can take Seattle to a new level in film making. I would personally like to be involved in promoting such. Jobert1234@aol.com. We recently made a movie “Poppies, Odyssey of an Opium Eater” based on a true story (and book of the same name) of Eric Detzer’s life as a opium addict. Eric lives in Seattle and wrote the book about his addiction to wild opium poppies, which truly do grow wild in the Pacific Northwest. Eric was a well respected (master’s degree) social worker who fought child abuse, while scouring the country-side for the poppies. It is a story of his “spiral down hill” !!! If you are interested, we have a web site with a trailer….. www.poppiesthemovie.com ….. We would love some feedback about how to promote and distribute the movie in the Northwest. Happy New Year to you all. Josephine
Thanks for the article. I would like to add Assassins and Disclosure since I was an extra in both movies. I was next to Sly in one of my scenes. Fond memories!