Best Movies Filmed In DFW
Mike Judd, known for Beavis and Butthead, is the genius behind Office Space. Filmed largely in Las Colinas, this intelligent comedy tells the story of a trio of fed-up office workers and their plan to get rich quick using a computer virus to stick it to their employer before being laid off. Starring Jennifer Anniston, Ron Livingston and David Herman, Office Space embodies the mid-professional crises experienced by most of us and the paths we choose to follow toward having enough flair, venting our frustrations with office equipment, and ultimate contentment in our adulthood.
It wouldn't be a decent movie about John F. Kennedy and his story without footage shot on location in Dallas. Oliver Stone's JFK includes shots from Dealey Plaza, Studio One at Las Colinas and other landmarks in both Dallas and Fort Worth as it recreates the setting and climate of November 22nd, 1963, when the President was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in downtown Dallas. In this film, a New Orleans DA doesn't buy the theory that Oswald acted alone in his actions against President Kennedy or that Jack Ruby acted alone in his killing of Oswald soon after. Featuring Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman and Jack Lemmon, JFK has held our attention and to date proven to be the most applauded movie on the subject for two decades.
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Dystopian future classic, RoboCop, also featured scenes filmed all over Dallas including footage at the Plaza of the Americas, Reunion Tower, Fountain Place, Dallas Public Library, City Hall, Dallas Municipal Building, and Building One of the Studio at Las Colinas. Although not an Oscar-winning film, this original version of RoboCop, with performances by Robert Weller and Nancy Allen, has become a cult classic in the action and adventure genre. The recent remake of the film in 2014 shows that this movie is anything but forgettable.
Less than an hour north of Dallas, lies the town of Greenville, TX, where the majority of Boys Don't Cry was filmed, boosting Hillary Swank into stardom. Also starring Chloe Sevigny and Peter Skarsgaard, this Kimberly Pierce drama, depicts the life events of Brandon Teena, born Teena Brandon, who lived as a man in rural Nebraska and was brutally abused and murdered upon the discovery of his secret. Boys Don't Cry is tragically based on a true story. This story and movie have been credited with bringing necessary dialogue and discussion to the treatment and mistreatment of the transgender community.
This Oliver Stone sports drama, starring Al Pacino and Cameron Diaz, was largely filmed in Miami. However, the scenes that depicted the fictional team, the Dallas Knights, were filmed at the Texas Stadium in Irving. The old stadium on Airport Freeway was the setting for the climactic end game in the movie, bringing its star-studded cast with it as football gladiators battled it out for fame, glory, money and status that would boost them to the status of legends. It also highlights the story of those who battle behind the white chalky lines to make those sports miracles happen.
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Kena Sosa is a freelance writer in Dallas. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.
