Finally someone went and filmed the old town Hill Valley location.Plenty of video of people filming all the other locations of BTTFIII but never the town location...awesome
@@jbenziggy This was the best video I’ve seen in a long time. I loved Back To The Future 3. I used to explore the railroad tracks in Linden and Stockton. Stockton T&E Railroad. The tracks are gone now from Front Street in Linden. They went to the Diamond Walnut Plant at the intersection of Front Street, HWY 26(Linden Rd.), and Flood Rd. The Diamond Walnut Plant was visible in a scene from Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry. The 1974 movie was filmed in the Linden area and starred Peter Fonda, Susan George, and, Vic Morrow. A great car chase movie that ended with a fiery Dodge Charger collision with a Stockton T&E railroad train. Might be a good subject for a History Hunters video?
They opened the set for tourists, for a VERY short time, after the filming was over. I took my shoulder held VCR Camera and took TONS of video. Even got to sit at the bar in the saloon! Good times. No clue where the old VHS tapes are, but I'm sure they've degraded since then :( Thanks for going back for us. I've taken my drone there several times, so maybe I can send you some footage of what I took. I live right above here, in Sonora!
What! PLEASE Look for those old tapes of yours and upload them to RU-vid. That's cinema history and I know BTTF fans would love to see that. Me being one.
My brother worked for Back To The Future III. He supplied all the lumber & stacks of firewood they showed in the movie. They were going to buy full cords of wood for the stacks of firewood but Jack saved them money by using wooden box's to fill up the inside & stacking the wood around the box's to make them look like full cords of wood.
I met Clint Eastwood on the set for Flags of our Fathers, in Washington DC. He was very nice to me, and thanked me for my service in the Marine Corps. (I was an extra in the scene where they dedicate the Iwo Jima memorial, next to Arlington National Cemetary.)
"Run for fun, what the hell kin'a fun is that?" Dude, I laughed my butt off as hard as I did when I saw the movie when you said that. One of my favorite scenes. You sounded just like him. Great (Scott) video! Hate to admit it but those Clint Eastwood nails would be now my nails, and the horse shoe would be hanging over my front door today! And isn't it funny, they filmed this in an area where the real Clint Eastwood did his filming? Wonder if it was intentional? "Woah this is get'n heavy.." 🚬👓...
A longtime friend and co-worker in the 1980s who has since passed away and his wife were extras in BTTF3, as town dancers. RIP Bill Herschcraft - he himself was a character.
That model train looked totally real, CGI does not..... today this whole movie would be shot in a giant room painted green. Edit- Everything will be CGI cartoons, drawn on a computer now - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hTYeUU-FSVs.htmlsi=ZiB9ly0K6tYHxvHP 🙁
Yep, 1989 was the tail end of the great Hollywood movie era, today's movies look fake no matter how well the CGI looks compared to the models used back then. It's mostly due to the fact that the models are filmed in the same scene so they don't appear color mismatched like CGI does. Although CGI backgrounds and such look much better in some instances.
It would be nice if they would go back to the film elements for some effects shots, scan them, and re-composite everything. Just to make it look more real, like when the Delorean goes through time the first time and the flames go through their feet, that's a problem effect, or when Doc and Clara fly off on the hoverboard. But, all in all, they're classics and it's just nitpicking.
@@sgtpepper1138 please no George Lucas practices... Steven Spielberg did this once and regretted it. The movie is fine as is. Please don't take the nostalgia away. 😉
Wow! Super comprehensive video with some things I didn't even notice on my frequent visits. I live about 15 minutes away in Sonora. A small unknown fact about the letter on the side of Table Mountain is that it does NOT stand for Sonora or a location. It actually stands for Summerville High School or Sonora High School, depending on whichever senior class is able to paint it in the respective orange and black or green and gold colors. It's been an impending high school rivalry over the years, and my friends and I were lucky enough to make the trek out to the location on October 21st 2015, being the day that Marty and Doc arrive in the future. Surprisingly, we were the only ones out there but it was a moment that only happened once ever!
3:50 That must've been a very good model, as when I watched the movie some years ago (and found why so many people love the trilogy, particularly part 2), I thought a real train was destroyed!
I lived in Copperopolis when they were filming. Seen cast at the lake a few times on their down time. It was a big deal there when they filmed this. Cool stuff 😎
I don't know how I missed watching this one until now. I am soooo impressed with the amount of research and time and energy you put into this video. Also, awesome pics with the actors! Looking at the number of comments, I guess I'm not the only who was impressed by this one :-)
Thanks Steve! I really appreciate it! I just followed up with your Little House episode this morning! Good job. Sorry to see that Big Sky was shut down to you. I always wanted to go there myself. I guess you have to be connected to the owner or something.
Love your wife’s honesty! JEFF: “Does this make you want to see Back To The Future 3?” SARAH: “No!” Sarah, Yes you are lucky! My wife is the same. She doesn’t share the thrill and enthusiasm as I do for the GREATEST trilogy of all time! (In my opinion)
I lived in Sonora when it was being filmed and my brother in law helped build the western set, he's no longer with us, but I was married in 89 I think it was filmed in 88/89. Yes little house filmed around the area quite a bit when I was growing up.. you can ask most of the middle aged locals that lived there their entire lives. Enjoy the beauty and don't forget to visit Columbia Clint Eastwood and others were on set there.. Too bad she didn't enjoy herself next time take me 😊
Even if those structures hadn't burned down there probably wouldn't be much left of it anyway because by now people would have picked it apart taking this & that for "memorabilia".
Or sell them on ebay. If these buildings were still there a lot of it would indeed be gone now, as people would have taken little trinkets to own a piece of movie history. This looks to be in a remote area and as such, they would have to employ security 24/7 to prevent things from disappearing but that obviously wouldn't be feasible.
Just the elements alone would have probably brought most of them down by now anyway. Most of the buildings were mainly set pieces and not built for very long term use anyway. That's how almost all movie sets are made, very cheap and can look the part.
How sad that this location has been lost, the Back to the Future saga, is one of my favorites, especially part III. Excellent video, greetings from Mendoza - Argentina
Just up the tracks a mile (east) or so is a home with a private dirt airstrip on it. Several shots of Back to the Future III were filmed on the strip. Also lots of support equipment was stored there. The owners home was used for the stars to change wardrobes and relax too. The owners of the property has several photo albums of the movie being filmed and the stars relaxing.
Here's a fun fact, what many don't realize is when they were mining woodcreek during the gold rush (that runs through that area), that's where Grizzly Adams was. he was such a lousy minor that he made his money supplying the camp with meat hunted from the local Stanislaus national/Sierra national Forest just East up the hill in tuolumne county. He Used grizzly bears as pack animals and it was one of his bears that was used for the Ca state flag.
I live about 20-30 mins from this place and had known they filmed it somewhere in the vicinity of Jamestown, but didn't know exactly where. Thanks to your video I was able to find the same train tracks used for some of those sequences and even included the section of tracks used in the robbery scene in one of my own short films! Thanks for the history and guidance to this location, it was the exact look I was visualizing!
Thanks Jeff & Sarah for the Story/History on the BTTF III Set. I'm a writer/director developing a project working on re-purposing a Western Set in Berkley Springs, WV currently. It takes so much work, to create the illusion of a period from the past. But when there's a compelling story behind it, the Set is the forgotten Character, revealing itself in every scene !
Glad you liked it! Yeah it would have been a tragedy to ruin a good historic train engine for that shot but it looked so real I thought, "What did they do?!!!"
I find it amazing that you can make an abandoned R/R track a bunch of dried up weeds and piles of rocks such an interesting subject. You two are unreal, I wish had 1/2 Sarah's energy and climbing ability. She's always way ahead of you climbing on stuff that she shouldn't. Keep'em coming and I'll keep watch'in.
Track is far from abandoned, it still in use by the Sierra Railway and the locomotive used in BTTF 3, Sierra Railway #3, still runs past the movie site on passenger excursions
I am massively into the filmmaking process and I love the Back to the Future movies. Your film was very informative and really interesting. Thank you for making this... the power of RU-vid :) Best - Scott UK 🎥
Yes. The BTTF set burned up at Universal. Sad to see. A lot of our artwork was lost. The inside of the Cafe 80’s was stripped clean by the movie executives and taken as memorabilia. I worked at MovieArt, Inc. and we made all the props and signage for BTTF 2&3. Good times.
Good exercise walking on or alongside those tracks and it would be fun and quite adventurous to use a handcart on the tracks. Lots of good movies done there for sure.
Thank you for bringing me with you for these history classes. I love this. You bring me where I can't go, because I'm disabled and can't walk very far. I love history especially back in the 1800's.
Wow what a nice compliment. You’re welcome. Sorry you can’t get around anymore. We will try to make you feel like you’re there visiting places with us! Thank you very much!
I remember hauling gravel in to build a road up the side of the mountain to move the trucks to film the overhead shot of the town. Also the water tower was used in Petiecoat Juchtion.
"Hey McFly!......"🤠 Wow great video, I always assumed this was filmed on the Universal back lot. My favorite movies of all time, so many little details that all connect later. I love in the scene when the Doc asks the engineer how fast the locomotive can go you can see the clock for the courthouse being unloaded from the train in the background. "What will happen to the train Doc?"....."It will be a spectacular wreck to bad no one will be arround to see it" LOL.
Thank you! Yes, it was filmed right there in Tuolumne County. I understand Michael J. Fox and others hung out a lot in Sonora. He even rented out the entire movie theater so they could watch a movie without gawkers!
A really excellent video and extremely well done. The way it's all put together with scenes from the actual movie is very well done and you can see the locations today. This is one I will save in my bookmarks to watch again and again... Thanks so much for your time, effort, and expert narrating...
Back when my friend was starting out in Hollywood, she was one of Steven Spielberg's assistants, she gave me a private studio tour on a Sunday afternoon. It was cool! She took me to see the Amblin studio offices and the original Back to the Future clock tower set. It was like walking on a historical site. Just amazing.!
@@shelleyUSATX I like all three movies but #1 and #3 are my favorite. The old west is my interest so this movie had the greatest appeal. I thought it was well done. The end is a bit outlandish though.
@@jbenziggy It is, but it gives a young mind something to ponder over. I know the first time I saw BTTF in 1985, I watched it over and over so I could see everything one more time.lol I think we all love the idea of time travel, which made it the hit that it was, don't you agree?
@@shelleyUSATX definitely. You have to think about if we can time travel we can then alter history, like Doc Brown warned against. But of course time travel is an impossibility but the films are just plain fun!
Found your channel after watching a video covering BttF III on Minty Comedic Arts channel and he mentioned the old west set was left intact after filming was completed. Didn't know it burned nor the areas connection to other westerns until your video. Thank you.
My grandma got to meet Christopher Lloyd when they were filming Part 3 there. She even got an autograph from him, which very sadly got lost in an unrelated building fire.
Sarah is a good woman you've got there. Don't let her go. Watching the two of you explore, I dearly miss my departed exploring buddy, who was my wife. We visited the Railtown 1897 Historic Park a couple times, and explored the roundhouse and the water tower and depot areas, where so many of the Little House on the Prairie episodes we loved were filmed, but sadly we never got around to riding the train together. My favorite interaction between the two of you in the video... You: "Look! It's brown!" Sarah: "Look, it's brown ..." (sarcasm)
Your connections and history to the filming of these movies was so interesting, and your knowledge is amazing. It's like you have IMDb in your head! Not sure your other half shares the same film enthusiasm, I can empathize! So well done, loved it 👍
Great video, it is too bad that everything burned down. It would be cool too see after all these years and makes you wonder how many more movies could of been made there in the past 30 years. I'd enjoy a day out there with a metal detector and see what I could find, besides a bunch of nails.
My dad worked in Yosemite at Badger Pass Ski Resort. He was a Maintenance supervisor. After 21 years, MCA corporation, who owned Curry company, told my dad that they were going to open another theme park in Florida and wanted my dad to come out and help build and run Universal Studios, Florida. One of the rides there was Back to the Future. It was the number one virtual reality ride in the world at the time.
My wife worked at an "Antique" store in Jamestown and they were in buying incidentals to fill up the buildings almost every day. Every night after filming a limo would drop Christopher Lloyd off at The Rawhide Saloon in Jamestown and pick him up about closing. By the way, about a mile further up the track is or was the water tank used for the opening scene of Petticoat Junction. And somewhere near there is the location of the bus crash from Another 48 Hours.
This was the first video of yours that I've watch, since I'm a huge fan of Back to the future series, and was interested on the filming location, thanks to youtube. The bee scare the heck out of me that I almost toss my tablet thinking it was right in front of me!LOL! Thankyou so much for making this awesome video.😀
I just recently seen all the **BACK TO THE FUTURE** movies.. Luv them. I thought they were all filmed in old ghost towns that actually existed.. I didn't know they were sets.. Thanks for showing these locations. It would be awesome to purchase the land and rebuild the old movie sets..
Being into Genealogy, having the ability to go back in time like this would be the opportunity of a lifetime! Imagine meeting and chatting w/your 2nd or 3rd gr- Grandfather and his family!
@@jbenziggy Thank you for the great research of the BTTF 3 Movie. Could it be that the Train Track is next to the CA-108/120 Highway in the Red Hills Area? I havent been able to visit the USA yet so i tried to find it on Google Maps. kind regards from Germany
Even if it hadn't burned down there wouldn't be much left of it anyway because by now people would have picked it apart taking this & that for "memorabilia".
@@ComputerLearning0 Sadly, you are 'spot on' correct -- the depths of humanity would have it unrecognizable by a couple years' time. It would take the state of CA to fund 24/7 security to ensure its preservation -- like the state does with Bodie, a real ghost town with tons of history.
Stumbled across your channel, and I'm totally hooked on it. I like how you fill it with interesting facts about the movies filmed in the area, very informative, well done.
I absolutely loved these movies as a kid growing up. They were so amazing magic.. I always thought this was a real train going over a cliff I had no idea it was a model.. it fed me. Thanks for making the video…
When the video first came on I thought to myself, this guy is a celebrity I just can't figure out who. Watching the video i realized he wasn't whoever I thought he was but reading your comment made me realize, yes that's who I thought he was at first. For sure looks like Patrick Duffy and Robert Patrick mix.
Check the video at 1:46 and look at the cloud in the top-right corner of the screen, just above the trees. That cloud resembles the hat Doc Brown wore in BTTF3! Apparently the Doc is still there in spirit. 😁
I love this movie, I watched it so many times when I was a kid lol. I've watched a lot of location films of the urban sites, but I was looking for one that showed this location. Thanks for finding it and making this!!
It's sad to see the damage fire does. We did a lot of filming in Santa Clarita and the fires a year or so took most of the western towns that have been around for years and used in countless productions.
I drove by there many times at night over the summer that BTTF 3 was filming....the whole area was lit up.....,there were a lot of night time scenes. It broke my heart in '96 when the set burned down. Good episode! (Sarah cracks me up!)
Great episode! this trilogy is what I grew up on! They filmed this movie when i was born so it is quite special for me you ever look for some of the locations that they filmed the old Combat! tv series around SoCal? would be real cool to see then and now
Thanks Jeff for taking us places we can't seem to find,those wonderful out of the way places you find for us. There were train rides but only a mile out on those same tracks during the very last Western Film Fest in James town.That last film fest was a doozy. Actors from Little House", Dukes of Hazzard", "Norhern Exposure" were there.. The funniest actor there by far was James(Jimmy)Best who played the part of the sheriff in Dukes of Hazzard. He spoke in the same vocal jargon as he did in the Dukes and a crowd of 20 or more followed him around most of the day, laughing. Thanks for those memories. Jim&Angie
Great episode! I really enjoy the movie locations you and Sarah visit. Did you get a new camera? The video seemed really crisp/high def. Thanks for sharing
KC Gunkerstein It could be that you weren’t watching our prior videos at the highest setting for performance. A lot of people probably don’t know that they can change the quality rate at which they watch it. But having said that since August I’ve been using the GoPro 7 which has better image stabilization. Thank you for your compliments. We appreciate you as a viewer!
