# When was the last big-budget Hollywood movie to include stock footage? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419 "2017-06-08T03:48:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/21 "2017-06-09T17:21:31Z")
How are we defining stock footage? I thought stock footage was filmed specifically for the purpose of being sold as, well, stock footage. For example, last year John Oliver tracked down the sources of the stock footage that was used in an anti-Obamacare ad, licensed the footage, and put together a spoof commercial. Maybe old newsreel-type clips fall under the definition. I would exclude re-used or unused footage from earlier movies - these aren’t available on the open market. Usually when I think of stock footage I think of airplane taking off/in flight/landing - like in _The Godfather_ when Tom Hagen flies out to L.A. and back. I can’t really come up with anything more recent than maybe _L.A. Confidential_ - the opening travelogue looks like is could have been assembled with stock footage. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/22 "2017-06-09T17:43:21Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Transformers 2 used stock footage from the Island, another recent Michael Bay movie. And they tried to slip it by, too. It was the third Transformers, actually. Good comparison video here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwNA5HbxZx8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwNA5HbxZx8) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/23 "2017-06-09T18:58:54Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Forrest Gump anyone? IIRC all the stock footage used in Forrest Gump was meant to be TV footage of the events in the movie, not the movie itself. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/24 "2017-06-09T19:10:17Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Usually when I think of stock footage I think of airplane taking off/in flight/landing - like in _The Godfather_ when Tom Hagen flies out to L.A. and back. I can’t really come up with anything more recent than maybe _L.A. Confidential_ - the opening travelogue looks like is could have been assembled with stock footage. Yes, that is exactly what I mean. I would not could Michael Bay’s “Auto plagiarism” as stock footage. The LA Confidential opening sequence (again IIRC) is definitely meant to a be a faux olde-timey news report, not actually part of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/25 "2017-06-09T19:12:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Not the most recent, I’m sure, but I know _Apollo 13_ (1995) used stock footage. There’s a featurette where they talk about editing together stock footage with new footage they made for the movie. I’d say that might be the winner. Can’t think of anything later than that. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/26 "2017-06-09T19:13:58Z")
_ **Raiders of the Lost Ark** _ reused footage from _ **The Hindenburg** _ for a shot of Washington DC. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/27 "2017-06-09T20:32:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Not the most recent, I’m sure, but I know _Apollo 13_ (1995) used stock footage. There’s a featurette where they talk about editing together stock footage with new footage they made for the movie. > [@griffin1977](#): > > I’d say that might be the winner. Can’t think of anything later than that. I definitely got the feeling that **Space Cowboys** (2000) used NASA stock footage when the rocket was launching. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/28 "2017-06-09T21:09:23Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Years ago I was watching a friend editing a film. The bits he was putting together featured a plane taking off and being destroyed by a bomb. Although I was watching closely for a long time, he had to point out to me that the two planes had different livery and were from two other movies. I think _The Giant Claw_ took this to the extreme. There are stock shots, set shots and FX shots (for certain very loose values of ‘FX’) of planes that hardly even match in having two wings each. (There’s a hilarious FX of a plane crash where the wires on the model snag for a second, just before the model hits the ground.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/29 "2017-06-09T21:24:00Z")
Here’s an unusual reverse of this. In _Hope and Glory_ (1987) there’s a scene where the characters are watching a newsreel of the RAF fighting the Luftwaffe. You’d figure John Boorman would have just used an old newsreel for the scene. But no; he took footage from _The Battle Of Britain_ (1969) and altered it so it would look like an old newsreel. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/30 "2017-06-10T00:19:58Z")
Does any movie or TV show showing the main booster separation from an Apollo launch count? It wasn’t sold as stock footage per se, but offered by NASA (presumably). I’ve seen that scene in so many things, it’s almost a cliche. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/31 "2017-06-10T07:48:57Z")
How about the large amounts of stock footage used in Interstellar? ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/32 "2017-06-10T08:32:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Here’s an unusual reverse of this. In _Hope and Glory_ (1987) there’s a scene where the characters are watching a newsreel of the RAF fighting the Luftwaffe. You’d figure John Boorman would have just used an old newsreel for the scene. But no; he took footage from _The Battle Of Britain_ (1969) and altered it so it would look like an old newsreel. In [\*Dark Blue World \*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244479/)they used a lot of footage from\* The Battle of Britain\*, but cleaned up and with aircraft added ore removed digitally to fit the story. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/33 "2017-06-10T08:51:20Z")
Another entry from the “newsreel/montage” angle: 2004’s _Dawn of the Dead_ contains a number of clips of riots, disasters, civil disturbances, etc. mixed with sundry other stock and a bit of new footage to represent the beginning of a zombie plague outbreak. [Beautifully](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTYNwwPQH4k). ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/34 "2017-06-15T04:14:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Not the most recent, I’m sure, but I know _Apollo 13_ (1995) used stock footage. There’s a featurette where they talk about editing together stock footage with new footage they made for the movie. > [@griffin1977](#): > > I’d say that might be the winner. Can’t think of anything later than that. Oliver Stone’s _Nixon_ included a fair amount of stock footage (Vietnam war scenes, student riots, etc.). Coincidentally, that was released in 1995—the same year as _Apollo 13_. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/35 "2017-06-15T17:44:40Z")
This one bugs me: in 1995’s **Cutthroat Island** , as the characters are about to go to Port Royal, the movie shows an establishing shot of the island. The footage is notably grainier than and colored differently from the rest of the movie. It looks like they yanked it from a 1960s tourism film. I find it jarring. And yes, I like **Cutthroat Island** , that’s not the issue here. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/36 "2017-06-15T20:59:54Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > This one bugs me: in 1995’s **Cutthroat Island** , as the characters are about to go to Port Royal, the movie shows an establishing shot of the island. The footage is notably grainier than and colored differently from the rest of the movie. It looks like they yanked it from a 1960s tourism film. I find it jarring. That brings up an interesting point—in the old days, it was easy to spot stock footage because it _looked_ so different. In _The Man from UNCLE_, there’d always be a grainy stock shot of some foreign locale before cutting to Solo and Kuryakin walking through a weirdly underpopulated airport set or backlot street. Perhaps we don’t notice stock footage so much in current films because the overall quality of stock has gotten better with the advent of high-definition digital cameras. Whenever there’s a shot of a passenger airplane landing, I would assume it’s stock—would even a big-budget production spend the money to send a second-unit crew to the airport? ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/37 "2017-06-16T23:49:07Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’m sure they’re not the most recent uses, but **Star Trek II** made re-use of many effects scenes from **Star Trek: The Motion Picture** , presumably to keep costs down. They didn’t even try to hide it The opening to The Search for Spock used a lot of the closing scenes from Wrath of Khan, simply changing them to black and white. > [@YamatoTwinkie](#): > > More recently, Star Trek: Generations reused the same footage of the exploding Klingon bird-of-prey as Star Trek VI. I didn’t even think it was that special looking in The Undiscovered Country, just some fake looking explosions superimposed over the Bird of Prey and then a plastic model being blasted by too big a pyrotechnic device. ---
**Author:** ![Gretchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Gretchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gretchion)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/38 "2017-06-18T04:47:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’m sure they’re not the most recent uses, but **Star Trek II** made re-use of many effects scenes from **Star Trek: The Motion Picture** , presumably to keep costs down. They didn’t even try to hide it. I seem to remember every ST movie from II to Generations using stock footage from previous ST movies. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/39 "2017-06-18T06:24:13Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Another entry from the “newsreel/montage” angle: 2004’s _Dawn of the Dead_ contains a number of clips of riots, disasters, civil disturbances, etc. mixed with sundry other stock and a bit of new footage to represent the beginning of a zombie plague outbreak. [Beautifully](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTYNwwPQH4k). Got a closer one, Edge of Tomorrow (AKA Live, Die, Repeat) from 2014 used stock footage of that famous 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor over Russia in order to simulate an alien attack at the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419/40 "2017-06-18T06:46:35Z")
I think the recent Eddie the Eagle movie used some stock footage of the Calgary Olympics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-big-budget-hollywood-movie-to-include-stock-footage/788419.md?page=3)