Open your favorite streaming platform as here is a list with some of the best movies filmed in Missouri that you must see!
Missouri embodies a unique but dynamic balance between the urban and the rural and between the liberal and the conservative. The state ranks high in the United States in terms of urbanization and industrial activity, but it also maintains a vigorous and diversified agriculture.
Located near the center of the conterminous United States, Missouri is the meeting place of the eastern timberlands and western prairies and of the southern cotton fields and the northern cornfields. So it is only logical that Missouri’s natural beauty has lured filmmakers since the birth of cinema, and in recent years, the pace of production in these parts has picked up even more.
But what are truly the best movies to have been at least partly filmed in the state? Here are the movies that made the final cut:
Up in the Air (2009)
Up in the Air is a 2009 American comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman. It was written by Reitman and Sheldon Turner, based on the 2001 novel Up in the Air by Walter Kirn.
The story is centered on corporate "downsizer" Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) and his travels. Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, and Danny McBride also star. Up in the Air was primarily filmed in St. Louis, Missouri, with additional scenes shot in Detroit, Omaha, Las Vegas, and Miami.
The film received several accolades, including six nominations each at the Oscars and the Golden Globes, winning Best Screenplay at the latter. A number of critics and publications included Up in the Air on their lists of the best films of 2009.
- Cheshire Inn, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Affton High School, Affton, Missouri, USA
- Lambert International Airport - 10701 Lambert International Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Ride with the Devil (1999)
Ride with the Devil is a 1999 American revisionist Western film directed by Ang Lee, and starring Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich, Jeffrey Wright, and Jewel in her feature film debut.
Based on the novel Woe to Live On, by Daniel Woodrell, the film, set during the American Civil War, follows a group of men who join the First Missouri Irregulars, also known as the Bushwhackers—guerrilla units loyal to pro-Confederacy units of the state—and their attempt to disrupt and marginalize the political activities of Northern Jayhawkers allied with Union soldiers.
Ride with the Devil premiered in only six theaters nationwide in the United States on November 26, 1999 and for only three days, grossing a total of $635,096. Taking into account its $38 million budget costs, the film was considered a major box office bomb.
- Lexington, Missouri, USA
- Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Escape from New York (1981)
Escape from New York is a 1981 American science fiction action film co-written, co-scored, and directed by John Carpenter.
The film's storyline, set in the near-future world of 1997, concerns a crime-ridden United States, which has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into the country's maximum-security prison.
Carpenter wrote the film in the mid-1970s in reaction to the Watergate scandal. After the success of Halloween (1978), he had enough influence to begin production and filmed it mainly in St. Louis, Missouri, on an estimated budget of $6 million.
Released in the United States on July 10, 1981, the film received positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success, grossing more than $25 million at the box office.
- Fox Theater - 527 N. Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Chain of Rocks Bridge, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Corner of 21st and Locust, Downtown, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Union Station - 1 St Louis Union Station, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Civil Courts Building - Twelfth Street, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Downtown, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Grand Hall, Union Station - 1 St Louis Union Station, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- St. Joseph, Missouri, USA
What other great movies filmed in Missouri do you know? Comment below!
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/place/Missouri-state
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_Me_in_St._Louis
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1193138/locations?ref_=tt_dt_loc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_with_the_Devil_(film)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134154/locations?ref_=tt_dt_loc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_New_York
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082340/locations?ref_=tt_dt_loc