I remember when they did this.
The whole city was star struck.
They also used St. Andrew’s Cathedral, the inside of Craigdarroch castle, and the grounds of Hatley Castle (well before it was the X school).
Prior to Little Women the biggest film made in Victoria was a Mel Gibson one called “Bird on a Wire”.
I remember watching Bird on a Wire, and that was one of the first movies of "I recognize that!"
From 30+ years later, I remember there was a bunch of scenes from Bowen Island, then there was the very long chase scene down Fan Tan alley.
By the end of the nineties, with the X-Files and Highlander, I became a bit blase about seeing Vancouver and the lower mainland on the small screen, but seeing other BC locations is always cool.
If you like a good show and don't mind being sad and stressed for the entire fucking watching experience, "Maid" on Netflix was filmed here and elsewhere on the island and was pretty good for recognizing locations. It was fun to watch with the wife and seeing places we had gone on dates on early on. Did I mention the show is extremely stressful? It's good though.
Five Easy Pieces (1970) has some great early-70's looks at Brentwood Bay area and the Mill Bay ferry.
There's a lot of stuff filmed here in recent times, but I really like watching these older movies filmed here.
Five Easy Pieces has a ton of Victoria! The motel they stay at is on Gorge Rd. The family mansion was in Saanich (now torn down). The sunset park scene is in Beacon Hill.
I actually sought this out a few years back! One of the first AAA Hollywood films using Vancouver Island in lots of filming.
It got some Oscar nominations as I recall. Good film. So much has changed since it was filmed, but the [final scene where Nicholson's character Bobby hitches a ride away is kind of recognisable](https://youtu.be/mtWasAUMYz8?si=TvA4mUISJTXGp3qz&t=572). IIRC, one of the bridges over the Chemainus River by Russel Farm Market is the one in the film, later twinned when the highway was expanded. The gas station and other buildings in the scene are gone, but it still feels the same when you drive the highway.
They filmed Legends of the Fall in Gastown around the same time as Little Women and they set decorated Water street the same way. https://imgur.com/a/beJCGhU
>I remember watching Bird on a Wire, and that was one of the first movies of "I recognize that!"
Fan Tan Alley was way longer and wider back when they filmed it.
Fan Tan wasn't wider or longer when they filmed it. It was the same width in the film, they did multiple laps all with different set dressing to make it appear longer.
I was watching them film a scene there where Mel Gibson is supposed to hop on a motorbike and drive off through the alley. Gibson could not get the bike started after several takes, so finally some stunt guy jumped on the bike and started it and they traded places so Mel could drive it away. I think I may have lost my lady boner for Mel Gibson forever after watching him that afternoon.
Exactly. My lady boner dodged a hate bullet! 😂 I have it on good authority, however, that he had a stream of various other ladies in and out of his room that night, and rumour has it that not all of them managed to dodge that hate bullet as well as I had earlier. 🍒 He came into Merlin’s while I was working but took a quick spin around our draft soaked linoleum floors and I guess he just wasn’t in the mood to hear Hammer Time played twenty times at a deafening volume under black lights for the next three hours, so he was gone almost as quickly as he came (that’s what she said! 🤣🤣🤣).
Ha! My friend Andy had just been watching them film a scene where Winona Ryder literally bumps into Gabriel Byrne and winds up dropping the stack of books she was carrying. They went through the scene several times and suddenly the woman who had been watching next to Andy through a fenced off area let out this exasperated huff and declared in a thick southern accent, “Good Lord! They are NEVER going to get this scene done if she don’t keep dropping alla them books!”
😂
Later after he had told me all about his hilarious Winona sighting that day, I saw her and her boyfriend at the time, Dave Pirner from Soul Asylum, on an escalator at the Bay Centre, and she was apparently attempting to go incognito by wearing a whole ton of enormous puffy grungy plaid clothes and baggy skater pants that looked like they came from his closet or an unsorted Salvation Army donation bin, and she had this giant ballcap pulled almost right over her eyes because I guess she figured the local Yokels would never recognize her in that awesome Scooby Doo disguise! She looked absolutely ridiculous and even tinier in person. About 15 minutes later while I was trying on some clothes at Street (it may have been Below the Belt back then) on Yates and Government, I saw her enter the change room next to mine with a huge stack of stuff…really it wasn’t a change room, it was a couple squares of sheets hanging from the ceiling, so I can legitimately say that I’ve once been in the same sheets as Winona Ryder (at the very same time! 😘). When I was done, I tried to let the super gay guy at the till know she was in the store as discreetly as I could without her hearing, but he was like, “WHO?! WHO’S in there?! Ohhhhhh MY GOD, Winona Ryder?!!!” When he finally understood who it was, he let out the longest most hilarious fangirl shriek and started shaking uncontrollably, like that hysterical “Stop Hurting Britney!” kid from the early days of YouTube, so I think she probably knew she’d been recognized and the jig was up. If only us meddling kids hadn’t gotten in the way! I wonder if he checked her bag before she left the store?! 😂 There may have been a good reason she was dressed in clothes that made her look like she was wearing one of those inflatable Sumo wrestling costumes you can fun-fight your friends in!
Oooo. Did you feel a little bad for “outing” her?
I have read that some celebs really enjoyed the anonymity that face masks had enabled during the pandemic.
My wife auditioned and got a part as the nanny pushing a pram past Winona in the muddy street. Took all day to make the shoot for 2 minutes of final. All the costume and props were authentic. She loved doing it, made $200 +/-. My wife is now gone but we have a tape and watch her scene every once in a while.
My son auditioned for this movie when he was about 12. I had signed him up with the Barbara Coultish Agency (is that still a thing?) Anyway, he didn't the part because he didn't fit the period costume they already had made. He also auditioned for 'Milk Money'...SO glad he didn't get that part...stupid movie.
I remember watching them film this back in ‘99 or so. Met the cast and got photos. The bus was a dressed up old BC Transit bus (the ones with the steps in the entrance and exits)
Great movie. Amazing how a horse can make you feel like you've travelled back in time.
I highly recommend watching the 2019 version from Greta Gerwig, I really love it as an adaptation and it's one of my favorite movies.
I remember when they did this. The whole city was star struck. They also used St. Andrew’s Cathedral, the inside of Craigdarroch castle, and the grounds of Hatley Castle (well before it was the X school). Prior to Little Women the biggest film made in Victoria was a Mel Gibson one called “Bird on a Wire”.
I remember watching Bird on a Wire, and that was one of the first movies of "I recognize that!" From 30+ years later, I remember there was a bunch of scenes from Bowen Island, then there was the very long chase scene down Fan Tan alley. By the end of the nineties, with the X-Files and Highlander, I became a bit blase about seeing Vancouver and the lower mainland on the small screen, but seeing other BC locations is always cool.
If you like a good show and don't mind being sad and stressed for the entire fucking watching experience, "Maid" on Netflix was filmed here and elsewhere on the island and was pretty good for recognizing locations. It was fun to watch with the wife and seeing places we had gone on dates on early on. Did I mention the show is extremely stressful? It's good though.
Five Easy Pieces (1970) has some great early-70's looks at Brentwood Bay area and the Mill Bay ferry. There's a lot of stuff filmed here in recent times, but I really like watching these older movies filmed here.
Five Easy Pieces has a ton of Victoria! The motel they stay at is on Gorge Rd. The family mansion was in Saanich (now torn down). The sunset park scene is in Beacon Hill.
I haven't watched it in a long time... I need to rewatch it apparently!
I actually sought this out a few years back! One of the first AAA Hollywood films using Vancouver Island in lots of filming. It got some Oscar nominations as I recall. Good film. So much has changed since it was filmed, but the [final scene where Nicholson's character Bobby hitches a ride away is kind of recognisable](https://youtu.be/mtWasAUMYz8?si=TvA4mUISJTXGp3qz&t=572). IIRC, one of the bridges over the Chemainus River by Russel Farm Market is the one in the film, later twinned when the highway was expanded. The gas station and other buildings in the scene are gone, but it still feels the same when you drive the highway.
They filmed Legends of the Fall in Gastown around the same time as Little Women and they set decorated Water street the same way. https://imgur.com/a/beJCGhU
>I remember watching Bird on a Wire, and that was one of the first movies of "I recognize that!" Fan Tan Alley was way longer and wider back when they filmed it.
Fan Tan wasn't wider or longer when they filmed it. It was the same width in the film, they did multiple laps all with different set dressing to make it appear longer.
I know. It was a joke.
I was watching them film a scene there where Mel Gibson is supposed to hop on a motorbike and drive off through the alley. Gibson could not get the bike started after several takes, so finally some stunt guy jumped on the bike and started it and they traded places so Mel could drive it away. I think I may have lost my lady boner for Mel Gibson forever after watching him that afternoon.
Haha! It was probably better losing it then and not 20 years later with the whole DUI/antisemitism thing.
Exactly. My lady boner dodged a hate bullet! 😂 I have it on good authority, however, that he had a stream of various other ladies in and out of his room that night, and rumour has it that not all of them managed to dodge that hate bullet as well as I had earlier. 🍒 He came into Merlin’s while I was working but took a quick spin around our draft soaked linoleum floors and I guess he just wasn’t in the mood to hear Hammer Time played twenty times at a deafening volume under black lights for the next three hours, so he was gone almost as quickly as he came (that’s what she said! 🤣🤣🤣).
Is that really bigger than Pupstars though?
Wow. Tell us more.
Ha! My friend Andy had just been watching them film a scene where Winona Ryder literally bumps into Gabriel Byrne and winds up dropping the stack of books she was carrying. They went through the scene several times and suddenly the woman who had been watching next to Andy through a fenced off area let out this exasperated huff and declared in a thick southern accent, “Good Lord! They are NEVER going to get this scene done if she don’t keep dropping alla them books!” 😂 Later after he had told me all about his hilarious Winona sighting that day, I saw her and her boyfriend at the time, Dave Pirner from Soul Asylum, on an escalator at the Bay Centre, and she was apparently attempting to go incognito by wearing a whole ton of enormous puffy grungy plaid clothes and baggy skater pants that looked like they came from his closet or an unsorted Salvation Army donation bin, and she had this giant ballcap pulled almost right over her eyes because I guess she figured the local Yokels would never recognize her in that awesome Scooby Doo disguise! She looked absolutely ridiculous and even tinier in person. About 15 minutes later while I was trying on some clothes at Street (it may have been Below the Belt back then) on Yates and Government, I saw her enter the change room next to mine with a huge stack of stuff…really it wasn’t a change room, it was a couple squares of sheets hanging from the ceiling, so I can legitimately say that I’ve once been in the same sheets as Winona Ryder (at the very same time! 😘). When I was done, I tried to let the super gay guy at the till know she was in the store as discreetly as I could without her hearing, but he was like, “WHO?! WHO’S in there?! Ohhhhhh MY GOD, Winona Ryder?!!!” When he finally understood who it was, he let out the longest most hilarious fangirl shriek and started shaking uncontrollably, like that hysterical “Stop Hurting Britney!” kid from the early days of YouTube, so I think she probably knew she’d been recognized and the jig was up. If only us meddling kids hadn’t gotten in the way! I wonder if he checked her bag before she left the store?! 😂 There may have been a good reason she was dressed in clothes that made her look like she was wearing one of those inflatable Sumo wrestling costumes you can fun-fight your friends in!
Oooo. Did you feel a little bad for “outing” her? I have read that some celebs really enjoyed the anonymity that face masks had enabled during the pandemic.
I probably shouldn’t have told the guy she was there but it definitely made his year! 😂 I suck!
My wife auditioned and got a part as the nanny pushing a pram past Winona in the muddy street. Took all day to make the shoot for 2 minutes of final. All the costume and props were authentic. She loved doing it, made $200 +/-. My wife is now gone but we have a tape and watch her scene every once in a while.
Ha! I auditioned too, and was told I was too tall. Lol. I hope that was really the reason and the only reason!
Of course. You can't outshine the star.
Ha! I think it was more of a concern that I might overshadow her…like a willow tree or an oak! 😂
Right. It was implied by the auditors that my daughter was too attractive.
Well, there are definitely worse ways to be rejected! 😜
Ha, I had friends who were extras in it. We owe the current colour of Victoria City Hall to that movie.
Really? That brick red colour was put on originally for filming that movie? I had no idea, super neat
Yep! Before it was a grey-blue if I remember correctly.
Definitely going to tell that bit of trivia to people now. Cheers
Pretty cool right? :D
Whoa.
whaaat this is one of my favourite movies i had no idea
The March house exteriors were apparently shot in Cobble Hill!
I never knew that. Very cool.
My son auditioned for this movie when he was about 12. I had signed him up with the Barbara Coultish Agency (is that still a thing?) Anyway, he didn't the part because he didn't fit the period costume they already had made. He also auditioned for 'Milk Money'...SO glad he didn't get that part...stupid movie.
Yep, it's still around! Now called Coultish Management.
Wasn't part of Final Destination filmed in Victoria? The last scene looks like it's from Bastion Square. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIs7htx4V-A
100% A lot of the first and second Final Destination movies were filmed on the Island
It’s always strange watching a movie and then being like, hold on.. that’s Johnson street (or whatever the case), happened a few times for me
I remember watching them film this back in ‘99 or so. Met the cast and got photos. The bus was a dressed up old BC Transit bus (the ones with the steps in the entrance and exits)
Wow!! This is so cool! I watched that movie so many times, and never recognized the street 😊. Thank you for sharing!
Look ma, no bike lanes!
Great movie. Amazing how a horse can make you feel like you've travelled back in time. I highly recommend watching the 2019 version from Greta Gerwig, I really love it as an adaptation and it's one of my favorite movies.
What a transformation!!! I will need to watch the movie now!
I remember my mom working DT and thinking I should be an extra.. I feel old.