1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet

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Scenery Cheat Sheet
At the boundary between each zone, stories blend together. Somewhere in the New Mexico desert, the Roadrunner is pursued by a tireless Anton Chigurh.
Title text: At the boundary between each zone, stories blend together. Somewhere in the New Mexico desert, the Roadrunner is pursued by a tireless Anton Chigurh.

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Explanation required.
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.
GeoGuessr is a game using StreetView images that drops the player in a random location and challenges them to work out where they are. It is also referenced in 1214: Geoguessr.

Crash-landed astronauts probably refer to the movie Gravity where Sandra Bullock do crash land. It is not clear in the movie if it is in the United States, but if she new this Cheat Sheet, she would quickly be able to determine that...

Some entries (for instance, Groundhog Day) reflect the locations where the stories are set, and others (like Dances with Wolves) reflect where they were filmed. Several regions on the map have labels which are not actually movies. The map is the most detailed in the northeast, which is where Randall lives.

The title text references Anton Chigurh (portrayed by Javier Bardem), who is the main antagonist of the film No Country For Old Men. In this case he would have taken over the role of Wile E. Coyote, and would thus hunt down The Road Runner at the boundary between the sections for these two movies, which would be somewhere in the New Mexico desert.

Table

In this table all the movies from the map are mentioned, in the order from top left, left to right, top to bottom:

Movie Title Setting for Movie Actual Filming Location(s) Section on map Notes
The Goonies Cannon Beach, and Astoria, OR
Twilight Forks, WA Portland, OR Washington, Oregon and most northern part of California except for the part taken up by The Goonies. Same sections as 50 Shades of Grey
50 Shades of Grey Seattle, WA Vancouver, BC Washington, Oregon and most northern part of California except for the part taken up by The Goonies. Same sections as Twilight which is clear from this fact:. The Fifty series was originally a fan fiction version of Twilight, but then developed into three full novels. It became the first film based on a fan fiction book.
Dances with Wolves Fort Sedgwick, CO South Dakota and Wyoming
Starship Troopers Planet Klendathu Hell's Half Acre, WY
Fargo Fargo ND, Brainerd MN, Minneapolis MN Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN area, Hallock MN, Bathgate, ND
Wild Wild West The southwest area Tuscon, Arizona; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Pierce, Idaho
The Sandlot Suburban Los Angeles Salt Lake City, Utah
Napoleon Dynamite Preston, Idaho Preston, Idaho
Brokeback Mountain Wyoming Southern Alberta
Oregon Trail Platte, Snake, and Columbia river valleys Video Game, not a film Could also refer to the film "The Oregon Trail (1936 film)".
Interstellar (Earth parts) BosWash (converted to farmland), probably near former NYC Alberta "Earth Parts"
Star Trek (2009) (Earth parts) Iowa Iowa "Earth Parts"
Field of Dreams Dyersville, IA
The Music Man River City, IA Warner Bros Studio, Burbank, CA
Blues Brothers Chicago Chicago and Milwaukee
A Christmas Story Indiana Cleveland, OH
That song about Jack and Diane Lake Monroe, IN "In the Heartland"
8 Mile Wayne County, Michigan
Groundhog Day Punxsutawney, PA, Pittsburgh Woodstock, IL
My Side of the Mountain (book) Adirondack Mountains, NY Catskill mountains, near Delhi, NY The area shown on the map includes the Adirondacks, as well as the Tug Hill Plateau and the Finger Lakes. The Catskills appear to be excluded.
Super Troopers Vermont, NY ("Somewhere near the border")
Pet Semetary Ludlow, Maine Hancock, Maine
What about Bob Lake Winnipesaukee, NH Smith Mountain Lake, VA
The Departed Boston, MA Boston & New York
Signs Doylestown, PA
The Village Covington, PA Chadds Ford, PA
War of the Worlds (2005) Massachusetts California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia Also referenced in 556: Alternative Energy Revolution
Jaws Amity Island (stand-in for Martha's Vineyard)
The Rock Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island
Zodiac San Fransisco Bay Area
That movie about wine & talking Santa Ynez Valley Santa Ynez Valley He clearly means Sideways. Mapped area does not include the Santa Ynez Valley wine country, but instead shows the California Central Valley.
Top Gun NAS Miramar, San Diego, CA Nevada, NAS Miramar, San Diego, CA
Part of Independence Day Grand Canyon & Area 51 Utah / Nevada
Roadrunner cartoons Southern Arizona Animated, not filmed
The Wizard of Oz Kansas, Oz The Judy Garland version, presumably. The earth parts.
Twister Oklahoma
Anything by Mark Twain Hannibal, MO The mapped area doesn't quite include Twain's home town of Hannibal, MO.
Walk the Line Tennessee
October Sky Coalwood, WV East Tennessee
Dirty Dancing Catskill Mountains
[Generic City] Washington DC, Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia N/A
Deep Impact
The Hunt for Red October Atlantic Ocean
Gone with the Wind Tara, near Jonesboro, GA
Forrest Gump Alabama
Every movie with a big budget... Hollywood, CA
The Truman Show
but with desert in the background
If it were filmed in Las Vegas ...
Tombstone Tombstone, AZ Arizona
The Mask of Zorro California Mexico
No Country for Old Men (West) Texas Texas, New Mexico
True Grit Arkansas New Mexico Obviously the 2010 version
Office Space Austin, TX
Dazed and Confused Austin, TX
Kill Bill El Paso, TX
Duck Dynasty West Monroe, LA
Princess and the Frog New Orleans Animated, not filmed
All Dogs go to Heaven New Orleans Animated, not filmed
Big Fish Wetumpka and Montgomery, AL
O Brother Where Art Thou Parchman Farm, MS Canton, MS; Florence, SC
Beasts of the Southern Wild Louisiana Montegut, LA
The Truman Show Los Angeles area Seaside, FL
Adaptation Everglades, FL and surrounding areas Very loosely based on the book "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean, which chronicles the lifestyle of orchid thief and dealer John Laroche. The movie is about a screenwriter who struggles to adapt the book into a movie, turning himself into a main character in his own story.
Miami Vice Miami Or the film

Transcript

Ambox notice.png This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.
[Above the frame is the following text.]
A cheat sheet for
figuring out where in the US you are
by recognizing the background from movies
(for use by GeoGuessr players and crash-landed astronauts)
[In the frame is a map of the mainland USA with the 48 mainland states lined out in thin gray lines. All areas on the map have been enclosed in sections divided by curved black lines. These sections sizes goes from encompassing several states down to just a small section of a single state. The sections cover the entire USA without any holes. There is also one section in the Atlantic Ocean. All sections are labeled. If the section is large enough the text stands inside, if it is too small, the text is outside and an arrow will point to the relevant section
[Here below all the text on the map will be transcribed From top left, left to right, top to bottom:]
The Goonies
Twilight
50 Shades of Grey
Dances with Wolves
Starship Troopers
Fargo
Wild Wild West
The Sandlot
Napoleon Dynamite
Brokeback Mountain
Oregon Trail
Interstellar (Earth parts)
Star Trek (2009) (Earth parts)
Field of Dreams
The Music Man
Blues Brothers
A Christmas Story
That song about Jack and Diane
8 Mile
Groundhog Day
My Side of the Mountain (book)
Super Troopers
Pet Semetary
What about Bob
The Departed
Signs
The Village
War of the Worlds (2005)
Jaws
The Rock
Zodiac
That movie about wine & talking
Top Gun
Part of Independence Day
Roadrunner cartoons
The Wizard of Oz
Twister
Anything by Mark Twain
Walk the Line
October Sky
Dirty Dancing
[Generic City]
Deep Impact
The Hunt for Red October
Gone with the Wind
Forrest Gump
Every movie with a big budget...
The Truman Show
but with desert in the background
Tombstone
The Mask of Zorro
No Country for Old Men
True Grit
Office Space
Dazed and Confused
Kill Bill
Duck Dynasty
Princess and the Frog
All Dogs go to Heaven
Big Fish
O Brother Where Art Thou
Beasts of the Southern Wild
The Truman Show
Adaptation
Miami Vice

Trivia

Not everything Mark Twain wrote was really set on the Mississippi River. For instance, he first gained attention as a fiction writer with "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," which is about Northern California.

See also

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Discussion

Wish he added Big Hero 6 for San Francisco. They did a super good job at getting the map accurate to San Francisco. 199.27.133.129 19:19, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

But that was set in San Fransokyo 173.245.54.193 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

One objection: although What About Bob? was set at Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, it was actually filmed at Smith Mountain Lake, VA. -- ‎Jstech (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

The Napoleon Dynamite Idaho square doesn't cover Preston, where it was filmed.199.27.133.121 06:00, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

The Twilight/50 Shades area really shouldn't cover eastern Washington and Oregon either. East of the Cascade Mountains is much more like Boise than Seattle. Tribble314 (talk) 07:12, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Tribble314 is completely correct

It gets Forest Gump wrong, that is set in Alabama, including the Alabama gulf coast and not easter Georgia, The Tombstone section is on the wrong side of Arizona and Zorro is set, and filmed, in California. Anything By Mark Twain is too far south, and since Road Runner cartoons all have Saguaro and organ pipe cactus, it is amazing how the map outlines the exact part of Arizona where they don't exist 173.245.50.122 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

It's not about where it's set. It's where it's filmed. And I object to the 'Anything by Mark Twain' on the grounds that it's basically just Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn without say Innocents Abroad or for that matter most of what was written by a guy who did a good bit of traveling in his lifetime.--Dude108.162.237.183 09:28, 8 April 2015 (UTC)
No, the map is about where it's set (generally). Star Trek wasn't actually filmed in Iowa, part of the movie was set there. In any event, the explanation provides a column for each. - Equinox 199.27.128.120 15:14, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Let's not forget A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court! I'm pretty sure that doesn't fit in 'Anything By Mark Twain'-space. --PsyMar (talk) 12:46, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

I never even knew I lived so close to so many awesome movies. The Goyim speaks (talk) 12:39, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia tells me that there are 3 2005 War of the Worlds movies. So... The Goyim speaks (talk) 12:43, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

A lot I'd like to argue with, but without proof (no time to look), I'll skip most except for this: The Twin Cities of Minnesota (Minneapolis & St. Paul) are clearly shown (Mpls. skyline at least) in Fargo, yet the Twin Cities area is barely within Fargo's border. (Nitpick from the movie: the characters are coming FROM the north but the Mpls view is obviously from the south, I-35W Northbound.) Also, North Country, whose story is based around taconite mining in Minnesota's Iron Range (north/northwest of Duluth), should have been included, and also shows a Mpls. skyline as an establishing shot for either lawyer's offices and/or a courthouse. (And one more thing: Thanks to whoever pointed out that Woodstock, IL is the true filming location for Groundhog Day. I would show it on the map with a dot or star there, rather than the Pennsylvania area is supposedly represents.) --BigMal27 // 173.245.50.177 13:03, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

I think the Oregon Trail section of the map is specifically referring to the video game, because the subtitle below the main text in that map location says "The only part I ever got to." 199.27.128.190 17:00, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

That was my assumption too. It's challenging to get to the end of the game, whereas I don't know any reason to not be able to finish the movie. Smperron (talk) 16:41, 9 April 2015 (UTC)
I agree: I think it refers to the game. However, I will add that there was also a (hilarious) musical that had come out by this time. L-Space Traveler (talk) 13:44, 6 May 2023 (UTC)

Are we going to have a column for the area the square covers on the map? or a place to record whether or not the area covers the filming location or where it was set? 199.27.133.121 17:57, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

I think the statement "this is where the movies are set, not where they are filmed" completely misses the point. This is a map of where the movies look like they are set. So, some areas are where they are set (if the movie background seems to be where it's supposed to be) and some areas are where they were filmed (if there's an obvious contradiction between location and setting). Hence, The Sandlot, for example... 173.245.48.188 18:03, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Orange is the New Black is a much more convincing setting for Upstate New York, even though it isn't a movie. 173.245.56.206 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

For the record, northeast america is a pretty good guess for any Steven King movie. Lots of his stuff is set up there. I know because I am an avid reader. The Goyim speaks (talk) 04:18, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

I took out the line about 50 Shades being the first fan fiction book to be made into a movie. (The movie Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was a Harry Potter fan fiction.) {{108.162.237.144 15:19, 9 April 2015 (UTC)}}


Much (if not most) of True Grit takes place in Oklahoma, so this should at least be Oklahoma/Arkansas 173.245.56.173 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I did not watch "dazed and confused" but according to that one line in wikipedia,the cast are from austin,tx.maybe this should give a note -kai 103.22.200.220 07:43, 12 April 2015 (UTC)

  • Duck Dynasty* is a TV show not a movie 173.245.52.110 13:46, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

Vermonters know that Supertroopers wasn't filmed in Vermont. Vermont doesn't have billboards. 173.245.52.130 14:49, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

As noted, Field of Dreams was filmed near Dyersville, IA, which is not in NW IA, but far eastern (Dyersville is near Dubuque, which is roughly at the "bridge" of Iowa's "nose").172.70.131.28 22:25, 3 August 2021 (UTC)