MovieChat Forums > 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) Discussion > Does Shanghai Really Look Like That!!??

Does Shanghai Really Look Like That!!??

posted 16 years ago by junktom-1
11 replies | jump to latest

With all the production expenses put into making a perfect looking Silver Surfer and other special effects, you would have thought they would send one person to fly to Shanghai to take a look at what Shanghai really looks like today (or within the past decade).

Is Hollywood still think Shanghai (or any other major cities in China) still fill streets with bicycles? that people still dress in dull color fashion as during the revolution?

With world wide internet access today, shouldn't Hollywood Art Directors receiving up-to-date images and datas of the world apart as production references? or have they gone too deep into their own stereotyping believes in the last 30 years they forgot how the outside world looks like beyond Hollywood boundary?

[–] Killersnakes 16 years ago

Completely agree with you. I thought the same thing when I first watched it. I guess Hollywood needed to make it "recognisible".

[–] martian-5 16 years ago

The movie was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, so right there you have a major set back. Another problem is that Hollywood really doesn't care if they get it right as long as it looks good up on the screen.

I'm sorry, my karma just ran over your dogma.

[–] Mylobage 16 years ago

You should look up the stats for bikes in China it's mind blowing.

"From hence fourth we are to be known as team SuperAwesomeCoolDynomiteWolfSquadron"

[–] jiamenguk 15 years ago

You should look up the stats for ANYTHING in China it's mind blowing

[–] hooper-xxx 15 years ago

Especially it's stats on jailing intellectuals and the consumption of dog meat.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dkconklin 15 years ago

I completely agree. Shanghai is the largest city in China, and has more massive skyscrapers than every city in the US combined (including the second largest one in the world). It looks ultra-modern in many areas, yet is hardly ever shown as anything but a quaint little city. Mission Impossible 3 is the only movie that got this right.

[–] drbuttocks 15 years ago

If it was in xin tian di (the French Concession) it would look much more quaint. In fact, there are many areas of Shanghai that look like that, it's just that they're often tucked away amongst the rest of the metropolis, and I recognised many of the places that they went past.
In terms of the bicycles - they're all over the goddamned place in Shanghai, and especially so in some of the narrower streets.
FYI: Those scenes were actually shot in both Shanghai and Hong Kong IIRC

[–] fraserstewart 15 years ago

That's the not the name of the French concession, what you wrote means new field. The French concession is fazujie. Yes there are a lot of bikes here, especially electric bikes and scooters, that pay no attention to the rules, cars or people and would quite happily run you over.

[–] psdhart 15 years ago

I agree. MI3 was accurate
Also I am sure they used shots of Hong-kong for some of the scenes

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]