imagine a land populated by post-apocalyptic, mulleted zombies
A new movie themed on the end of the world arrives in theaters this fall, titled ‘The Road,’ based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same title, and in seeking the perfect locale for principal photography, director John Hillcoat found it in western Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh, to be specific.
“In winter [there],” Hillcoat told USA Today this week, it can be very bleak.” Bleak especially this winter, what with seemingly every Penguin free agent having bolted out of Dodge for more pleasant pastures.
In Pittsburgh Hillcoat found a setting so unsettling that he didn’t need to use CGI to foster his film’s atmospherics. Most of the film was shot in and around Pittsburgh, USA Today noted.
“Hillcoat found abandoned coal fields, a deserted amusement park and an 8-mile stretch of closed freeway as locations.”
‘The Road’s’ plot summary from IMDB goes like this:
“A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food–and each other.”
Bleak, no? And therefore perfectly situated.
There is thick precedent for selecting Pittsburgh as the locale for a notable disaster flick. Monroeville Mall was the gorefest gathering for 1978′s ‘Dawn of the Dead.’ That year also delivered the uplifting Vietnam treatment ‘The Deer Hunter,’ also shot in Sidney’s city.
The 1995 Jean-Claude Van Damme epic ‘Sudden Death’ centered around a Canadian-born firefighter, Darren McCord, who’s in charge of fire security at Mullet Mellon Arena. While attending Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals with his children, the Van Damme character uncovers a plot to blow up the arena.
Ten years later the city of Kansas City came close to pulling that off.
14 Comments
It shouldn’t be lost on folks that the son in “The Road” is being played by a young man named, “McPhee.”
FWIW, in Marvel Comics (failed) New Universe (1986-1989), the city of Pittsburgh was obliterated. Can’t remember why, but it didn’t bother me none.
: )
Much of Pennsylvania would work for that movie. Ever drive up I-81 northeast of Harrisburg? It was what the Soviet bloc must have looked like.
I wonder who they got to play the roles of canabalistic gangs roaming the countryside? I hear the producers were recruiting extras during the Conference Finals.
Two things:
1) CM is amazing
2) The movie adaptations are weak
3) Puck Fittsburgh
Enjoy your time here during fhe filming. Then be sure to stop back for the Playoffs to watch the Pens hoist the cup next year!
Let’s not forget other Pittsburgh classics:
Striking Distance (with Bruce Willis as a river cop)
Creepshow (huge roaches still roam the halls of the third basement of one of the academic buildings at CMU)
The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh (about basketball with Dr J and Meadowlark and Abdul-Jabbar)
pennsylvania = pittsburgh…and philadelphia….and alabama in between
You forgot the blockbuster classic (not) “Gung Ho” starring Michael Keaton and George Wendt shot in Beaver, Pa just outside Pittsburgh. Another story of bleak surroundings and unemployed Penguins fans.
The Deer Hunter won 5 Academy Awards – great moive There was also another “something of the Dead” filmed in Pittsburgh a few years ago. Dennis Hopper was in it – not a great movie.
But hey, if delighting in the decline of American manufacturing makes you feel better about your hockey team, I guess that makes sense.
@DCPensFan: The Romero documentary to which you refer is “Land of the Dead” and the majority filming took place in Canada, as did filming for “Diary of the Dead.” But the filming for the first three Romero documentaries took place in PA.
And no strawman arguments, please.
Missed Diary of the Dead.
I don’t see the straw man argument. Parts of Pittsburgh have suffered due to a decline in manufacturing. You’re using this situation to mock the fanbase of a rival team.
Mullets, acid-washed jeans, odd slang: these are all fair game (and hilarious). But why use the “Pittsburgh is Superfund site” joke? It’s been done, it’s not entirely true anymore, and Philly is right up I-95.
I think we’re all just desperate for next season to start.
I think we’re all just desperate for next season to start.
fair enough.
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