femidus janysa clarita
Maybell Hughs
Many movies filmed in Moab have been largely forgotten, such as the 1983 film Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone and the 1988 Western-horror-redneck comedy Sundown: the Vampire in Retreat. Some Moab movies and media backgrounds however, have become classics. Remember, we're not only talking about movies, but commercials, print advertisements (ie. Marlboro man) and music videos like Bon Jovi's "Blaze of Glory" video, complete with flames atop the red rock cliffs.
We've put together a YouTube playlist video montage (below) but first wanted to open with the Bon Jovi music video, which pays tribute to the old drive-in movie, whose burning screen plays the feature film Young Guns! It's an appropriate opener!
In the opening scene of this film, a young Indiana Jones, played by River Pheonix, makes a daring attempt to recover a valuable archeological artifact. After running out the cave where the artifact was supposedly recovered, the area around Double Arch in Arches National Park is clearly visible. Other parts of the film, supposedly in the Middle East, were filmed around the Moab area as well.
Several scenes in this Ridley Scott cult classic were filmed at various locations around the Moab area, including Arches and Canyonlands national parks, Cisco, and the La Sals. Of course, the most famous scene of the movie is their epic plunge off what was supposedly the Grand Canyon, acted here by Fossil Point, off the Schafer Trail below Dead Horse Point.
Curly's gold is the driver in this sequel. It's a great excuse for the city trio - led by the marvelous Billy Crystal - to venture again into places and adventures in "The West" that are ill-advised - at least without a guide! Moab scenery and wild west mystique plays a solid role in this movie. Turns out that Curly's not dead, but is he pleased that they are in search of the gold that belongs to him?
When it comes to entirely implausible action movies, Con Air is right up there with the best of them. With a star-studded cast including a scruffy Nicholas Cage, John Malkovich, Ving Rhames, John Cusack and a creepier-than-usual Steve Buscemi, this film offers all of the explosions, questionable physics, and guns with unlimited magazines of ammunition that you could possible want from an action movie. Of course, the desert landscape around Moab also features prominently throughout the entire film.
For the more self-deprecating trekkie, the film Galaxy Quest was a hilarious exaggeration of some of the more implausible moments of the Star Trek series. Again taking advantage of the otherworldly landscape, filmmakers chose Goblin Valley to represent the alien planet on which the bumbling protagonists encounter a rock monster, an ill-fated pig lizard, and some cute, but vicious aliens.
In self-parody layered on self-parody, Tom Cruise again stars in the opening scenes of the third Austin Powers movie, in which he plays the bespectacled, super-hip secret agent. Dead Horse Point features prominently again in this scene, which has our groovy protagonist parachuting into a speeding car, playing chicken with an assault helicopter, and destroying said helicopter with dual machine guns while flying through the air.
Some characters simply belong to the land that surrounds them, like ancient stones or trees in the landscape, they help define the mystique of the place. The Lone Ranger is one of these -literally plucked from the earth and formed into character by the native of all natives - Tonto (played by Johnny Depp). The movie has suffered in the reviews, but made for some fun moments for the silver screen in 2013.
What to take, where to eat, where to stay, what to do, and a few little secrets on the side. Not unlike your own personal Jiminy Cricket, (minus the worries of the little guy getting smooshed) the Moab Insiders Guide will provide you with all the essentials for a perfect Moab experience.
"It's the backroad adventures of a bunch of misfit truck drivers who are a little crazy and have no fear and are totally driven by money," said Dave Schwandt, one of the stars of the show and the hardest working salvager and hotshotter in White Lake, which is 28 kilometres north of Salmon Arm.
Big Donny Kleinfelder, the hotshotter from Barrier, 68 kilometres north of Kamloops, and Dave are rivals, yet Dave strikes an unlikely partnership with Big Donny's lead driver and ex-con Craig Gruden to hotshot a pair of heavy-duty snow cats.
In episode 2, a flood and storm sees Big Donny's son, Donny Jr., and his wife trapped far from home, Daymon and Spanky dispatched to pick up Junior's slack, Dave coming to Dale's rescue and Angela at her wits' end on a delivery in the Rockies.
The 40-second teaser for season 2 is action-packed with high-octane driving and mishaps and quips from the cast such as: 'We do it the redneck way,' 'Never let common sense slow you down,' 'Hell ya boys,' 'Holy f*#k,' 'Bit of hijinks' and 'My wife left me, my truck's broken, but I still got my dog.'
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