movie theatreIn our previous post "Denver Home to Stars," we discovered some of the famous actors from Colorado; now, let’s explore the films made in the Denver area. Of course, that complete list is long enough to fill volumes, so we’ll keep it to the more famous movies.

An Academy Award winning performance by the "Duke"

One of the most famous Westerns of all time is True Grit, starring none other than John Wayne, himself. This 1969 movie was shot, among other sites, in the Denver suburb of Castle Rock. Granted, with the urbanization, you can’t really see much of the Wild West by looking out of the Castle Rock coffee shops, but in 1969 it made for a wonderful backdrop for John Wayne to again win the hearts of the film goers, as well as his only Academy Award.

Futuristic Comedies

You couldn’t make a film further away from True Grit than The Sleeper (1973), even if you tried. Woody Allen and Diane Keaton pair up in this wacky futuristic comedy set in and around Denver. In fact, the hospital scenes were shot in the Table Mesa Lab at NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) in Boulder. The Denver Botanic Gardens were also (unpaid) extras. If you drive only 20 minutes from downtown, you’ll find the Mile Hi church in Lakewood that was transformed into a futuristic McDonald’s.

Mile High with Dennis Quaid

Mile High stadium played a feature role in the 1988 smash hit, Everybody’s All American. Gavin Grey, played by Dennis Quaid, struggles with life post-college sports. Other states had to deal with not having a good enough stadium to make it pass the audition. Either way, cinematic history was made.

Great Place to be Alive or Dead

Not necessarily an award-winner, but profiled because Denver not only made it into the movie, but into the tile of this 1995 Andy Garcia film, is Things to do in Denver if You’re Dead. Denver’s beautiful Union Station showcases prominently during this criminal drama about five crooks facing the consequences of botching their assigned crime, and badly at that.

Blades of Glory

Quite a bit more recently and completely different from the others listed, Blades of Glory, the 2007 hilariously funny comedy about two male figure skaters was filmed in Denver’s own Pepsi Center. Will Ferrell and Jon Heder play professional skaters who’ve been banned from the male competitive skating world, and in turn, decide to be the first-ever male-male figure skating duo. All the while, the Pepsi Center makes for a great place to film and as Will's character yells at the end of this laugh out loud clip, "We love you Denver!"

Hollywood Knows How Great Denver is, and You Do Too!

This list is by no means exhaustive, but representative. Denver is a great place to live and work, even if that work is filmmaking. With the varied landscape, the up-to-date urban infrastructure, and the numerous tourist attractions, everyone can find something to love about Denver... and then film it.

Contact UsSearch Denver Condos

See our facebook pageLike Us here on Facebook: