MovieChat Forums > One in the Chamber (2012) Discussion > Why Prague when Filmed in Bucharest?

Why Prague when Filmed in Bucharest?

posted 12 years ago by patkoscsaba
13 replies | jump to latest

OK, this may not be obvious for non-Europeans but the movie was so obviously filmed in Romania that I can not imagine why they even said they are in Prague. It would have been much simpler to just say they are in Bucharest and get rid of all the stupid elements like registration plates suggesting Czech Republic. In almost any outdoor scene there is a Romanian flag or several street advertisements and other inscriptions in Romanian. In fact I could not spot anything Czech in this movie.

And one more thing, to all American directors, I understand that all of the people in the movie speaks _only_ English, but street signs in English? A bank called only "BANK"? Yellow Apple? Really?

So, with all these goofs on the table. Why Prague?

[–] disconnexions 12 years ago

This almost always ticks me off. Can't stand it when a tv show or movie that conceivably CAN take place in the city it was filmed in just doesn't change the script to accommodate it. Would it have made any difference to the movie on a whole. nope.

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[–] bigBang8 12 years ago

I didn't really care where it all took place... Dolph Lundgren and Cuba Gooding Jr. was in it, I like the story, how they agreed to steal money out of mobsters instead of being manipulated by them to earn it. I mean, if youre that badass 10 to 1 and still come out alive, why not lol.
Movies i enjoy i always rate 10 movies that are somewhat enjoyable i rate accordingly, movies that ticked me off rate as 1.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] deltonacity 12 years ago

It wasn't only filmed in Bucharest. Large parts were filmed in Brasov, a major town in Transylvania. The main square in Brasov is shown various times. It's very recognisable and there is nowhere in Prague that looks anything like it. Even funnier is that sun brollies which say "Brasov: Probably the Best City in the World" (a parody of the Carlsberg slogan) can clearly be seen.

Brasov is a very attractive place and anyone who has been there will instantly recognise it.

[–] jox-3 12 years ago

The shame is it doesn't even make a difference to the story...

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[–] Terrapin2212 12 years ago

I couldn't really tell the difference. They did show a lot of the main landmarks in Prague I think. See there are a lot of straight to DVD movies made in Romania like most of Steven Seagal and Wesley Snipes recent films and that was very obvious with the scenery looking VERY run down and dilapidated. IN this movie the city actually looks very nice. Was this entirely made in Romania with at least parts of it filmed in Prague?

With the license plates the weird thing in the end though is they are supposed to be in the U.S but the car has a very European license plate shown up close. It used to be that Prague was a cheap stand in for other European cities for example it stood in for Paris in GI Joe and for Zurich and Paris in Bourne Identity and for Amsterdam and London in Eurotrip. Now they are finding cheap place to stand in for Prague......

[–] deltonacity 12 years ago

None of it was filmed in Prague. The nicer parts you're referring to are probably the central square in Brasov which I mentioned in my previous post.

[–] nose_smasher 12 years ago

Sorry, may I disagree?. There are many scenes with major landmarks of Prague, although none of them contains action. The first scene after the opening credits shows a panorama of Prague taken from the Hradcany Castle (and later in the movie the castle itself in the dark), the Tyn Church and the Astronomical Clock Tower, both in the Old Town Square, the "Dancing House" and so on. It looks that these images were only to remind us where the main action take place. Not a very clever solution, because Prague looks very different than Bucharest and Brasov. It's the same effect when a movie whose action is supposed to take place in Alaska is filmed in southern Florida. I can understand this is a low(er) budget movie, but this approach is ridiculous. If it's filmed in Bucharest, change the damn story and pretend it's happening in Bucharest, no problem.

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[–] deltonacity 12 years ago

Uh, aren't all those stock footage?

[–] dyatsyuk 11 years ago

Very obviously, Prague because Prague is sexy and Bucharest is not, why filming in Romania: because is cheaper, Czech Republic is more expensive, movie is madden for dumb people they don’t care about differences, just enough to receive back invested money.

[–] gundam_bravo4 11 years ago

The location doesnt really matter to the film. No one bothered speaking outside of English and for a moment I was confused if they were actually in Eastern Europe or America. Though to Americans, we really dont care of it's actually geographically location if it's for a country we dont care about or could point out on a map.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] iroquoisjoe 9 years ago

Just to play devil's advocate:

...maybe the authorities that control/allow cheap film-making in Romania...I mean, the government basically...made the specific request that the plot location NOT be indicated to be Romania since the movie largely revolves around organized crime making a violent mess of the city. Maybe they preferred not to have that kind of terror/activity being associated with their country/cities. It would not do to have ignorant potential tourists go, "Oh...I've only heard of Bucharest in that film with Cuba Gooding Jr. Don't terroristic crime families seem to run that town? No need to go there."

On November 6, 2012 god blessed America...again. 