Movie Tours
Movies filmed around Astoria include: Kindergarten Cop, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Short Circuit, Come See The Paradise and Free Willy. But the movie that has the largest following among our visitors is The Goonies.
Get a guide to movie locations at the Astoria Chamber or Warrenton Visitor Center for $2.
LIGHTS! CAMERA! ASTORIA!
Astoria, Oregon has been discovered by Hollywood for its architecture, history and scenery. Some of the movies filmed in Astoria are: The Goonies, Kindergarten Cop, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Short Circuit, Come See the Paradise, and Free Willy I and II. A driving tour of Astoria gives visitors a chance to see many of the locations.
Astor School was the main location for Kindergarten Cop. Other scenes were shot at the West Mooring Basin where one of the riverfront restaurants was used for a romantic dining scene with Arnold Schwarzenegger and his co-star. Arrangements were made with all the boat owners who had moorage outside the restaurant to leave their boats tied up with the lights on, to give the view a more romantic appearance.
The most dramatic scenes in Free Willy were shot in Astoria and the exciting climax was filmed at the Hammond Mooring Basin. A hot tub was installed at the Mooring Basin’s office to allow the actors to warm up between takes to prevent hypothermia.
Stephen Spielberg’s The Goonies has achieved cult status and draws many visitors to Astoria just to see its locations, especially the Goonies’ house. You won’t find One Eyed Willy’s cave though…or the Fratelli’s restaurant. Those were movie sets, not the real thing. We hosted an event in June 2005 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of this film and had a great turnout (and a lot of fun!). We are planning to do this again in 2010 for the 25th anniversary. Stay tuned to our website for announcements on dates and details of the activities. We started carrying some merchandise linking Goonies with Astoria at that time, stop by the Chamber to pick yours up or keep an eye on this website for mail orders.
Hollywood visited Astoria once again in late spring 2004 to film The Ring II. It is the sequel to the popular scary movie The Ring. Naomi Watts and David Dorfman will reprise their roles as Rachael and Aidan Keller. Hideo Nakata, who directed the original Japanese versions of The Ring (Ringu), is directing the movie. The story continues 6 months later after Rachael and Aidan have moved to Astoria, Oregon for a fresh start. The trauma of the past is beginning to fade and the future is looking brighter until.
Most recently, Astoria and Warrenton have been seen on the cable TV series PDXposed and the films Into the Wild (in production) and The Guardian.