By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com San Diego Blogger
People know Los Angeles as a real-life movie set, with the Hollywood Walk of Fame, TMZ celebrity tours and even the famous (or, to locals, infamous) Maps of the Stars Homes sold on Hollywood Blvd.
But just to the south, San Diego has had its share of Hollywood moments, too. The original Top Gun was filmed all over the city, Anchorman was based in San Diego and Fast Times At Ridgemont High was based on Claremont High School in San Diego.
Here is a rundown of the movie locations for these iconic, famous movies filmed in San Diego.
Top Gun Filming Locations
This movie was not only filmed in San Diego it was based on the Top Gun school at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, which is just to the northeast of La Jolla. In fact, you can see the runway from Mt. Soledad Veteran’s Memorial and each year there is an air show at the base.
The Top Gun school is now in Arizona but that doesn’t matter to Top Gun fans. Here are other movie locations, many of which are available on other websites but this post includes locations you can only find here.
• The Top Gun Bar. This is Kansas City Barbeque on Harbor Drive across from Seaport Village. Go in there and you’ll recognize it immediately, for it has the juke box and piano. The above video features a bartender who was on duty during the filming. He said Tom Cruise is short and that Goose couldn’t remember the words to “Great Balls Of Fire,” so he wrote down the words on a yellow legal pad. When you watch the movie, you can see that yellow piece of paper on the piano’s music desk.
• Opening Bar Scene. The Lafayette Hotel’s side bar was used for this scene in which Maverick tries to woo Charlie with “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.” The bar still exists tho now it’s a diner adjacent to the hotel lobby bar, which is an art deco round bar and a very popular San Diego drinking spot.
• Waterfront Motorcycle Ride & Kissing Scene. The scenes of Charlie on the back of Maverick’s motorcycle was filmed on a sidewalk/bike path along San Diego Bay parallel to Harbor Drive. Go there and you will see the sailboat masts and downtown buildings. I ride this all the time on my bicycle. The big kissing scene at the end is in front of the tuna boats just south of the Midway. On a side note, San Diego was once the Tuna Capitol of the World and the “Chicken of the Sea” was developed here as a native Croatian created a way to put the tuna in a pressure cooker that made it taste like chicken.
• Car Chase Scene. After Maverick and Charlie get into an argument on the base, they get into a chase scene with her swerving through traffic trying to catch up to him on his motorcycle. They stop on a steep hill. That is on Laurel Street and State Street at the edge of Little Italy and the 5 freeway.
• Charlie’s House. It’s in Oceanside just north of the pier. If you don’t receognize it, you will motorcycle in front of it. The house is now a pie shop.
Top Gun Maverick Filming Locations
This largely predictable sequal was filmed primarily on the naval base on Coronado. The bar and beach scene are on what is called North Island, which is off limits to non-military personnel. The bar does exist and the part about someone on their cell phone having to buy the entire bar a round is true. Tho the bar is small, only holding a couple dozen people.
Tom Cruise did land on the USS Midway, a former aircraft carrier that is now a San Diego floating museum. But that was not in the movie, but for it, as it was a promotional stunt to preview the film.
Anchorman Filming Locations
This awful movie – sorry, anything with Will Ferrell in it is terrible – was filmed along the San Diego waterfront and in Balboa Park. The establishing shot of a helicopter flying over the Coronado Bridge is real but some other locations, such as the tossing of the burrito off a bridge, was actually up in San Pedro, which is part of Los Angeles.
Here’s interesting face about the Coronado Bridge: the first person to cross it was supposed to be then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan. However, the night before the ceremonial crossing a lady on Coronado had a heart attack so the first person to cross it was an ambulance driver.
Fast Times At Ridgemont High Filming Locations
The school is at 3065 Clairemont Dr. The movie’s author, Cameron Crowe, went undercover to do his research and based his characters on actual students. Yes, there was a Jeff Spicoli, tho much of the movie was filmed at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Los Angeles. That mall was also used in the forgettable Valley Girl with Nicholas Cage.
A Force Of One Chuck Norris Filming Locations
This movie wass filmed in downtown San Diego. He also filmed a Kung Fu fight on a small wooden bridge at the palm tree garden in Balboa Park, tho not being a Chuck Norris movie fan, I don’t know the name of that film.
Kevin Wilkerson is a San Diego-based blogger who fills in his free time as a San Diego tour guide. This article was written by a human with no assistance from AI.
Leave a Reply