Does that street look familiar but you just can't place where you saw it before? Perhaps you saw it in a movie - like the scene shown above from Back to the Future (1985) where Marty hitched a ride on his skateboard by holding on to the back of a blue pickup truck pulling out of a driveway of a Burger King in Hill Valley. Today, nearly 40 years later, that Burger King is still in there in Burbank, California, where that scene was filmed.
Location shooting is where a film or TV show is filmed in a real-world setting, as opposed to a sound stage or a studio backlot. In some filming locations, the actual place and the place the movie is supposedly set are the same - for example, La La Land (2016) was actually filmed in Los Angeles. In other movies, the filming locations are different: Amadeus (1984) was set in Vienna, Austria, but was shot in Prague and Kromeriz in the Czech Republic.
Of course, after the movie is filmed, shown to adoring fans, and consigned to re-runs on Netflix or are forgotten, the filming locations - the houses, buildings, parks and streets - are often still there. And years or decades later, that location would have changed with the times while some elements would remain similar to what we'd see in the film.
The entertaining and fun Then & Now Movie Locations website and Instagram page by Paul S. features movie stills from famous movies showing the filming locations and what those locations look like at present day. The site showcases a few locations that were featured in Hollywood blockbusters like Top Gun (1986), Robocop (1987) and Forrest Gump (1994) to classic horror flicks like Friday the 13th (1980) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).
Images via Then & Now Movie Locations
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Here are some of our favorites Film Locations Then & Now:
Robocop Film Locations
Then (1987) and now (2019): The Omni Consumer Product (OCP) building in the movie was actually the Dallas City Hall building with additional matte painting by visual effects artist Rocco Gioffre.
Protagonist Alex Murphy's home is a private residence in Dallas, Texas.
More: Robocop movie locations
Nightmare on Elm Street Film Locations
The Boiler Room scene from Nightmare on Elm Street then (1984) and now (2016). This scene was filmed at the Lincoln Heights Jail in Los Angeles, California, which was condemned in 2014.
It's noteworthy that the real life location is actually far creepier than in the horror movie!
The Ring Movie Locations
Cabin #12 and the well is located in Stanwood, Washington. The well was a movie prop, there was no such well in that location.
The Morgan Horse Farm is actually not located on the Moskoe Island as in the movie. In real life, it's the Emerald Green Farm in Monroe, Washington.
Image: Dylan Stipek
The loft was built for the movie, but it's still in the barn.
And of course, the farm has a The Ring-worthy trespass notice!
More: The Ring movie locations
Beetlejuice Film Locations Then & Now
Adam and Barbara's house from Beetlejuice (1988) was a set erected in East Corinth, Vermont. It was taken down after the filming was completed.
The Maitland Hardware, the scene of Adam and Barbara's car crash, and Miss Shannon's School for Girls were all also filmed in East Corinth, Vermont.
More: Beetlejuice Movie Locations