# Greatest Chicago-based movies of all time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685 "2008-02-07T16:35:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/21 "2008-02-07T19:40:33Z")
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off The Sting The Fugitive ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/22 "2008-02-07T19:45:19Z")
While not set entirely in Chicago, a significant portion of **North by Northwest** takes place there. [Derailed](http://imdb.com/title/tt0398017/) takes place in Chicago, but I think someone told me it wasn’t filmed there. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/23 "2008-02-07T19:53:00Z")
How about the Billy Crystal - Gregory Hines Chicago cop buddy film **Running Scared**? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/24 "2008-02-07T20:07:02Z")
[QUOTE=WOOKINPANUB] How about the John Hughes trifecta of **Sixteen Candles** , \*\*The Breakfast Club \*\* and **Pretty in Pink**? Oh wait, they were filmed in Chicago burbs but I guess the city itself didn’t really figure prominently. [/QUOTE] \*The Breakfast Club \* was shot in Des Plaines, but I don’t think it was really set as anywhere but Suburbia, USA. \ John Hughes’ movies are normally set in a fictional town called Shermer. Shermerville was the original name for Northbrook, which is where John Hughes grew up. As for my picks, it’s almost a coin toss between _The Blues Brothers_ and _The Fugitive._ ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/25 "2008-02-07T20:18:02Z")
[QUOTE=TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW] **Looking for Mr. Goodbar** [/QUOTE] Huh? I thought that was a New York movie. Are you sure? I love Chicago movies. I haven’t seen some of the ones mentioned here, such as Call Northside 777 and Medium Cool. This is a great thread because I can make a list of Chicago movies I need to see. My list would be: **The Sting** **The Untouchables** **Bad Boys** (maybe not a great movie, but a very good one, and it was my first exposure to the talents of Sean Penn) ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/26 "2008-02-07T20:24:07Z")
There was some movie with Jean Reno as a knight time-traveling modern-day Chicago. Not too bad a movie, but it very lovingly showed Chicago landmarks. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/27 "2008-02-07T20:24:48Z")
**The Beginning of the End** Peter Graves fights giant grasshoppers in Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/28 "2008-02-07T20:44:16Z")
1. Chicago 2. The Sting (I didn’t remember that this took place in Chicago, but so many posters have mentioned it, I guess it must have.) 3. I’m waiting for a third one. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/29 "2008-02-07T20:53:12Z")
Blues Brothers The Fugitive The Untouchables Risky Business (Rebecca DeMorney on the El Train) Ferris Bueller ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/30 "2008-02-07T23:10:15Z")
[QUOTE=HubZilla] There was some movie with Jean Reno as a knight time-traveling modern-day Chicago. Not too bad a movie, but it very lovingly showed Chicago landmarks. [/QUOTE] [The Visitors](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108500/), part of which was shot in the parking lot next to my office. I walked out and was wondering what someone was doing riding a horse between the rows of parked cars, so I asked one of the crew. I had never heard of Jean Reno before that. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/31 "2008-02-07T23:36:24Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] How about the Billy Crystal - Gregory Hines Chicago cop buddy film **Running Scared**? [/QUOTE] The OP question was for the **best** movies shot in Chicago, not the **worst**. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/32 "2008-02-08T00:50:47Z")
1. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (no question) 2. The Untouchables 3. Stranger than Fiction ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/33 "2008-02-08T00:53:46Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] Huh? I thought that was a New York movie. Are you sure? [/QUOTE] Sorry, you’re right. Most of the interiors were filmed in Chicago bars, though. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/34 "2008-02-08T01:22:43Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] The OP question was for the **best** movies shot in Chicago, not the **worst**. 😛 [/QUOTE] That would be **The Fury**. God, I hated that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/35 "2008-02-08T01:56:39Z")
1. The Blues Brothers 2. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 3. The Hunter ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/36 "2008-02-08T02:07:23Z")
Best _obscure_ film set in Chicago: [The Monitors.](http://imdb.com/title/tt0064684/) no-special effects sci-fi about aliens who come to earth and run the place better than we could; and for our benefit, not their own (much to the annoyance of the earthlings) Special feature: cameo by Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/37 "2008-02-08T03:17:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Best obscure film set in Chicago: The Monitors. no-special effects sci-fi about aliens who come to earth and run the place better than we could; and for our benefit, not their own (much to the annoyance of the earthlings) Special feature: cameo by Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen! It was made by Second City comedy troupe _wayyyyyy_ before John Candy, Harold Ramis, and that bunch, when it was “Second City” because Chicago was “Second City”, and had guys like Avery Schreiber in it (who played one of the Monitors). Very weird flick that I haven’t seen in ages (and didn’t realize was set in Chicago) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/38 "2008-02-08T03:22:51Z")
Adventures in Babysitting Thief About Last Night ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/39 "2008-02-08T03:28:06Z")
[QUOTE=j666] That would be **The Fury**. God, I hated that movie. [/QUOTE] Actually, that would be **Wicker Park**. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685/40 "2008-02-08T03:43:21Z")
Blues Brothers The Sting Ferris Beuller’s Day Off [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-chicago-based-movies-of-all-time/436685.md?page=3)