Astoria: The picturesque Oregon town that became a Hollywood hotspot
When it comes to iconic film locations, no Hollywood backlots have the authenticity of a real area.
An underrated and now underappreciated trade in the industry is scouting locations that can resemble whatever parameters a director or studio has in mind. Even if it’s become more common to repurpose studio lots or use technology like ‘The Volume’ to create an entirely digital environment, ardent cinephiles can detect when something doesn’t look real, and more often than not, the best movie locations are those found naturally.
Hollywood’s relationship with different filming locations has always been complex, particularly in recent years, where productions have moved away from Los Angeles, with new controversies seemingly popping up every day. Although there are some states like Texas that offer tax incentives to filmmakers, shooting in the state has become complicated due to other recent events.
Shooting in famous, well-populated cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago may come with benefits for films that are set there directly, but it does present planning and scheduling hazards due to the natural traffic that will occur in these areas. It’s often that Hollywood turns to smaller cities, such as Oregon’s Astoria, which have appeared in more classic films than anyone realised.
With its historical communities, moderate population, mild temperature, and proximity to bodies of water, Astoria has become the perfect place to emulate what ‘small town America’ looks like, as it’s the type of city that would remind many audience members of the place where they grew up, but the familiarity of the location may also be the result of its role in films that have specific value to people’s childhoods.
For anyone who saw The Goonies in 1985, Richard Donner’s action-adventure classic is an essential piece of nostalgia, wherein Astoria served the perfectly secluded, friendly town in which Mikey (Sean Astin), Mouth (Corey Feldman), Andy (Keri Green) and the rest of their friends hung out during their long summer, but it still felt adventurous enough that there could be a secret pirate ship left undiscovered.
The Goonies wasn’t the only ‘80s family classic that Astoria appeared in, however, as it was also used for the unusual science fiction adventure Short Circuit and the brilliant horse-riding drama The Black Stallion.
The adaptability of Asotira ensured that it could be used for films within many different genres. While the town’s water features made it the ideal spot to shoot the Free Willy films, which required extensive footage of the ocean, it was also inverted darkly to create the creepy atmosphere of Gore Verbinski’s 2002 remake of The Ring, as well as its sequel, The Ring Two.
Even if the productions were made with the approval of the locals, residents of Astoria can’t be blamed for some of the terrible films made near their home. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III might just be one of the worst sequels in Hollywood history, but the location scouting is the least of the film’s worries, given that it involves a ridiculous storyline of the characters going back in time to feudal Japan. However, Astorians might be able to have more pride about the shooting of a film like Into the Wild, an Oscar-nominated masterpiece that was praised for having an authentic, thoughtful depiction of the natural world and the beauty of the environment.
