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Posts tagged John Travolta
Wild Hogs Filming Locations
4July 20, 2014
Wild Hogs is a 2007 comedy starring John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy as middle-aged friends living in Cincinnati, Ohio who own Harleys and like to go for urban / suburban rides and hang out at the “biker” bar in the city, called “Byker’s Island”.
Woody, played by John Travolta, is a (formerly) rich lawyer whose swimsuit model wife recently left him, causing him to have a breakdown, losing his job and his house too. One afternoon after a ride, he questions his friends about what they are doing with their lives and suggests a real ride – a road trip to the Pacific. The other Wild Hogs are Doug, a dentist played by Tim Allen, has a loving wife but can’t connect with his young son and needs to watch his stress and cholesterol levels; Bobby, played by Martin Lawrence, is a henpecked plumber with an overbearing wife and out of control daughters; and Dudley, played by William H. Macy, is a shy, nerdy computer programmer who is afraid to speak to women. All agree to take the road trip and to find some real fun and adventure and reclaim the wild guys they used to be in college.
Opening Scene – Laguna Blvd SW, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Here is a video of the opening scene where the characters get together for a suburban ride.
Here is a video that Pat took from the back window of our SUV as I drove up and down Laguna Boulevard SW.
L to R: Bobby (Martin Lawrence) joins Doug (Tim Allen), and Woody (John Travolta)
Martin Lawrence as Bobby
Rail Yards – Albuquerque, New Mexico
This scene during their ride takes them through the old Rail Yards in Albuquerque.
They are not accessible, so we took a photo from the street.
Central Avenue (Route 66) & 2nd Avenue NW,
Albuquerque, New Mexico
During their ride, the Wild Hogs take a quick break so Dudley can check on his bike after an earlier fall.
This scene was filmed at a parking lot at the corner of Central Avenue & 2nd Avenue NW.
Unfortunately, Dudley loses control of his bike in the parking lot.
After falling off, the bike hits the curb and flips into the air, striking a light pole.
But Dudley’s OK!
The Library Bar & Grille, Central Avenue (Route 66),
Albuquerque, New Mexico
This location served as the Wild Hogs’ hangout “Byker’s Island” where they go to relax and have a beer after their ride. Woody, having lost everything in his life (but doesn’t reveal that to this friends at this time), questions their upscale middle-aged, suburban biker personas – stating that instead of Wild Hogs, they’re more like wild lambs. They lament that they have lost their wild side that they had in college, and wanting to reclaim their sense of adventure, decide to take a road trip to the Pacific with their Harleys.
Tijeras Avenue NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico
The Wild Hogs are getting ready to start their journey to the Pacific from US 50 in Cincinnati.
The scene was shot at Tijeras Avenue NE in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The landscaping in the background of the movie was added for the movie. The actual area features xeriscaping.
The Wild Hogs are getting ready to start their journey to the Pacific from Cincinnati. Dudley shows off his “tat” he got at the Meadow Hills Galleria for the trip – now he’s a biker! The others laugh at his Apple logo tattoo.
The location along Tijeras actually does not have alot of grass or plants. The fountain (minus water) is visible in the back, as well as the building to the left.
Doug is excited that Dudley got him set up with a GPS in his phone for the trip, to which Woody replies they don’t need a GPS to discover America and throws Doug’s cell phone into a nearby sewer.
And the sewer was nearby too!
Another view of their meeting spot, which has the added effect of being in Cincinnati by the addition of highway signs showing US 50 West.
In reality, US 50 is in Colorado, much farther to the north of this location in Albuquerque!
After Doug, Woody, and Bobby dispose of their cell phones, Dudley throws his into the windshield of an oncoming truck, causing them to quickly jump on their bikes and take off.
This is the same location as above on Tijeras Avenue NE, only the opposite side of the underpass.
Madrid, New Mexico
As the Wild Hogs travel west, the road scenes, whether they were supposed to be in Illinois or Missouri the first night, were all filmed in New Mexico (and it shows!!).
The Wild Hogs are excited to stop at a “real” biker bar in New Mexico, which is home to the biker gang, the Del Fuegos, led by Jack Blade, played by Ray Liotta. The Del Fuegos are infuriated by the intrusion of suburban biker “posers” at their bar, telling them they aren’t real bikers.
They steal Dudley’s Sportster, leaving him with a sidecar attached to Woody’s motorcycle. Woody, ashamed at the incident goes back to the bar to get Dudley’s bike. He cuts the fuel lines to the Del Fuegos’ motorcycles, causing the bar to explode when Jack’s cigarette falls into the gas on the ground. With the Del Fuegos’ bikes damaged, the Wild Hogs are able to get away…for now. However, Woody doesn’t tell the other Wild Hogs what actually happened, instead telling his friends he threatened to sue the Del Fuegos if they didn’t return Dudley’s motorcycle.
In the scene below, the Wild Hogs have run out of gas due to Woody’s panic about having blown up the Del Fuegos’ bar, and insist they get gas at the next stop. To bad, they don’t see the gas station sign that the next station is 200 miles away.
Tired, hot and thirsty, they arrive in Madrid, New Mexico.
Here is the same location in a later scene, when two of the Del Fuegos arrive in Madrid.
The majority of the remaining scenes were filmed in Madrid, New Mexico, which is located along NM 14 (The Turquoise Trail), a scenic ride from Santa Fe south to I-40/US 66. A small portion of NM 14 in Santa Fe (north of Madrid) is also a part of the Santa Fe loop, a pre-1937 alignment of Route 66.
Maggie’s Diner – Madrid, New Mexico
The Wild Hogs arrive at the fictional Maggie’s Diner in Madrid, New Mexico. They’re extremely thirsty and their uncharacteristically raucous behavior in begging for water or something else to drink, causes the townspeople to mistake them for the Del Fuegos, who periodically arrive in Madrid and demand food and drinks at no charge and frighten the locals.
Maggie’s Diner was a set built on location in Madrid, and was left to the town by the film company. It was brought up to building codes, and now is used as a gift/souvenir shop selling – what else – biker and Wild Hogs merchandise! I picked up a couple of shirts – Del Fuegos and Wild Hogs.
Old Boarding House Mercantile – Madrid, New Mexico
The next photos show what is depicted as the hotel the Wild Hogs stay in Madrid, as the gas station is closed until the next day. Upon hearing that the Del Fuegos periodically come to Madrid, Woody is extremely panicky to leave town, fearing that the Del Fuegos will soon arrive, find them, and take revenge for blowing up their bar.
The Old Boarding House Mercantile is a very nice general store in an old house – it’s pretty unique as it uses the original house rooms for different categories of merchandise. They have a variety of items for sale, general merchandise, groceries, snacks, drinks, coffee, etc.
Shy and afraid of women, Dudley finds romance with Maggie, played by Marisa Tomei. Maggie owns the local Diner which bears her name. After an enjoyable night together at the town’s Chile Fest, the next morning Dudley and Maggie would like to have breakfast with the others, but Woody is anxious to leave before the Del Fuegos arrive.
Madrid, New Mexico
But it’s too late – here come the Del Fuegos!
Maggie’s Diner – Madrid, New Mexico
The Del Fuegos have arrived in Madrid and are ready for retaliation – or compensation – for the loss of their bar. The other Wild Hogs are confused about this, since Woody told him they gave him back the bike after the threatened to sue them. With no other choice, Woody confesses to his friends about cutting the fuel lines to the motorcycles, resulting in their bar being blown up. The Wild Hogs now realize the Del Fuegos want to kill them, so they hide out at Maggie’s house, hoping they’ll give up and leave…but instead the Del Fuegos invade the diner, threatening to burn it down.
Here, Dudley confronts the Del Fuegos which they remark is brave but stupid – they string him up over the main road and will beat him up if the Wild Hogs don’t pay them for their bar.
Here is the exterior of Maggie’s Diner building in Madrid.
Finally, the Wild Hogs confront the Del Fuegos. Led by Woody (who has lost everything in his life and has nothing to lose), their attempt to rescue Dudley fails and they fight the Del Fuegos.
Despite repeatedly being beaten to the ground, the Wild Hogs stand up each time to the Del Fuegos. Finally, the townspeople of Madrid realize that if four guys can stand up to 50 bikers, 500 of them can too.
As the townpeople and Wild Hogs surround the Del Fuegos, who still won’t back down, their former leader and owner of the bar, Damien Blade, played by Peter Fonda, arrives in town and tells Jack and the other Del Fuegos to stop and let it go. He tells them they have lost touch with what being a biker is all about – riding and the highway…and that they – not the Wild Hogs – are the posers. He thanks the Wild Hogs for burning down the bar, explaining that he insured it for twice its value and he did them a favor.
The Del Fuegos leave and Jack says goodbye to Damien, calling him Pop; Damien shakes his head, saying Jack’s just like his mother.
Damien tells the Wild Hogs to ride hard or go home, and gives them one last piece of advice….lose the watches!
Hope you enjoyed the ride!
Pat & Jennifer
Saturday Night Fever Filming Locations
32December 8, 2008
by Jennifer
in Filming Locations
I had fun while in New York back in May 2008 tracing the footsteps of Tony Manero, footsteps that walked the streets of Brooklyn to the pulsating rhythm of “Stayin’ Alive.” Of course, Tony Manero, played by John Travolta, is the main character of the film, king of the (paint) store by day and the disco floor by night.
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge – Brooklyn, New York
The opening of the film starts with an aerial shot of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to Staten Island. From the point of view of the camera, Manhattan is visible in the background. There’s alot of significance to the scene. You can’t see Manhattan from down on the streets of Bay Ridge (well, not right here, you can’t). Manhattan is a “far away,” unattainable place to live. Beyond the bridge, and beyond reach of the Brooklyn kids who feel they’ll never get ahead. They can see Manhattan, as they will later climb the bridge and taunt Manhattan as they teeter along the edges of the bridge.
Here’s a photo I took of the bridge…from down on the ground, of course (as well as from the opposite direction).
Here’s an aerial shot of the bridge, taken by my daughter Amber during our flight to New York.
This is a sweet scene where the normally cool, cocky and wisecracking Tony comforts Stephanie by telling her all about the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. It was filmed at a park below the bridge.
May 2008.
The next scene is pretty dark – it was filmed below the Verrazano-Narrows, after one of Tony’s friends, Bobby C, falls from the bridge into the Narrows. After his death, Tony and his friends leave the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Here’s a photo of the same location.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Here’s the next part of the movie’s opening. It’s not the greatest split-second shot there is, but scene was filmed on 86th Street near Bay 23rd Street in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn (the movie is set in Bay Ridge). This is where Tony Manero, played by John Travolta, walked with the iconic paint can. Tony is just leaving Lenny’s Pizza, after purchasing two pizza slices and eating them “double-decker” style.
May 2008.
Pearson’s Bay Ridge Home Center – Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Tony’s walk with the paint can was to get a specific color of paint that the hardware store for which he worked didn’t have in stock. After getting the paint and pizza, he arrives back at Brothers Hardware, where he works.
Tony would have worn out a little more shoe leather to get from Bensonhurst to Bay Ridge, where the store is actually located (the film makes the two locations seem closer than they actually are). The store is now Pearson’s Bay Ridge Home Center, and got a makeover.
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
After Tony meets his match in Stephanie Mangano, they go out for coffee. In this scene, they are walking north on 5th Avenue in Bay Ridge, toward a coffee shop at 94th Street. The area to the right is now a small park and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is visible in the background.
Not quite the same angle, but here I am in the park that was in the barren area above.
As Tony and Stephanie continue their walk north on 5th, they are crossing 94th Street, about to go to the coffee shop.
This photo was not quite at the same angle (I didn’t have the screenshots at the time), but this is from 5th Avenue, looking across the street. The delicatessen is now a bagel shop and the pizzeria is still operating.
I could have definitely used screen captures to get the right angles here, but oh well..here’s what I have.
This scene was shot was through the coffee shop window at 94th Street, looking northeast toward 5th Avenue at a Grand Union grocery store. Our photos are not at the same angles, but the next two photos in the set show the Mazda dealership (which this coffee shop became) and a Staples, which used to be the Grand Union in this photo.
This is the Mazda dealership which now occupies the coffee shop. The glass windows are where the scene above was filmed through. The white building in the background was the Grand Union above and is now a Staples. Compare the above photo of the Grand Union to the 2nd photo below.
Though again, we did not have any screen captures, we randomly took photos in this area, where the coffee shop scene was filmed. The Staples to the right is the Grand Union in our screen capture above, and the corner of the coffee shop (Mazda dealer) is visible to the left.
After leaving the coffee shop, Tony & Stephanie walk past Kelly’s Tavern, immediately to the north.
Kelly’s in May 2008.
The 2001 disco has been demolished, as was the White Castle they hung out in. The Manero house is in Bay Ridge, but has been remodeled and doesn’t look like it did in the film.
Hope you enjoyed your visit to Brooklyn! Now let’s head over to Junior’s and have some cheesecake! 
