American action comedy Bird on a Wire, which debuted in 1990 and starred Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn, was directed by John Badham. The majority of it was filmed in British Columbia, Canada.
The song “Bird on the Wire” by Leonard Cohen is referenced in the title. Fan Tan Alley in Victoria’s Chinatown is where the alley motorcycle chase scene was shot.
Former hippie Marianne “Muffie” Graves is a successful lawyer closing a deal in Detroit, Michigan. She meets a man at a petrol station who sounds and looks exactly like her hippie ex-fiance Rick Jarmin, who vanished in a plane crash fifteen years ago and is thought to be dead.
Marianne apologizes to the man, who is posing as a Vietnam War veteran, and states that Rick would not have participated in the conflict before heading out.
Then, the scared man calls to report that he has been identified and has to be relocated. Rick is in witness protection because he testified against Eugene Sorenson, a deadly drug-smuggling DEA agent, fifteen years ago.
As this is going on, Sorenson has been granted parole. His partner, Albert “Diggs” Diggins, comes to pick him up, and together they decide to exact revenge on Rick in order to facilitate their newfound dealings with the Colombian drug cartels.
As this is going on, Sorenson has been granted parole. His partner, Albert “Diggs” Diggins, comes to pick him up, and together they decide to exact revenge on Rick in order to facilitate their newfound dealings with the Colombian drug cartels.
Rick spends a night in a hotel room telling Marianne everything that occurred fifteen years prior. They engage in passionate sex while sharing their emotions.
When they get to his former handler’s house, they learn that he has Alzheimer’s and is unable to recall Rick. When Sorenson, Diggs, and Weyburn arrive, Rick and Marianne flee to a zoo close by where Rick used to work.
He lets the animals out of their cages to help protect them, and as a result, Diggs gets killed by a lion, and Weyburn gets devoured by piranhas.
In the end, Sorenson is electrocuted. Rick gets hurt and ends up hanging over a caged tiger, so Marianne has to come to his rescue.
He gives her the added incentive of marriage and kids when she is still unable to reach him, and that works. Then, in the Caribbean, they are spotted boating into the dusk.
Filming Locations
American action comedy Bird on a Wire, which debuted in 1990 and starred Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn, was directed by John Badham. The majority of it was filmed in British Columbia, Canada. The song “Bird on the Wire” by Leonard Cohen is referenced in the title.
His Bird on a Wire locations included Chinatown, Bastion Square, Market Square, and the Carnegie Building. One of the show’s standout scenes was a motorcycle chase scene through Fan Tan Alley.
It was very different, he said, than filming Saturday Night Fever in pre-gentrified Brooklyn in the mid-1970s, to recreate a small town in the American Midwest.
Fan Tan Alley in Victoria’s Chinatown is where the alley motorcycle chase scene was shot. British Columbia, Canada’s Victoria and Vancouver served as the actual filming locations for Mel Gibson and Holdie Hawn’s action comedy.
Regarding Marvin’s Motown Motors, the place where Rick worked, it’s currently unidentified and might have been constructed especially for the movie because it burns down.
The filming locations for the movie include – Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver, Howe Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada (Hotel), 17-19 Chesterfield Ave, North Vancouver, BC, Canada (Railway Tunnel), Market Square, Johnson Street, Victoria, BC, Canada and Fan Tan Alley, Victoria, BC, Canada.
Ashcroft, Langley, 3rd Street, New Westminster, Seymour Street and W. Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is the place where the shopping mall exterior scenes have been filmed. John Thomas Special Effects Stage, The Bridge Studios – 2400 Boundary Road, Burnaby.
Sutton Place Hotel, North Vancouver is the place that you see as railway tunnel in the movie. The motorcycle chase scene has been filmed at Fan Tan Alley, and Raun of Racine Hair Styling scene has been filmed at 18a Bastion Square, Victoria, Canada.
The flashback scene in the movie has been filmed at Playland Amusement Park, Pacific National Exhibition Grounds, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, The market scene has been filmed at Market Square, the hotel location has been shot at Metropolitan Hotel, Vancouver.