In a somewhat recent video made by Jago Hazard on Wes Anderson’s new film, Asteroid City, he discussed the train depicted in the movie. It reminded me of times where SkyTrain had appeared in movies itself, so let’s talk about where it started and the ones that I can recall.

And yes. I am aware that the above photo was taken in a West Coast Express vehicle, which I guess at some point I should write a piece on.

Filming in Metro Vancouver for global audiences has been a thing for over a century, but it was never formal until 1977 when the provincial government established an office to attract production work to the region. Since SkyTrain grew alongside the development of the film industry in the region, it was only natural that TransLink would support production crews on their services.

The underground stations appear to be popular to film as evident by MovieMaps, but I was not able to find much showing the use of anything above-ground. This would add up as it is easier to dress up an underground station as belonging to some other city than it is to obscure anything above ground. There is an excellent video called Vancouver Never Plays Itself, which goes into depth about the relationship of Vancouver, its identity, and how filming obscures it all.

One of the earliest films to feature SkyTrain I could find was 1989’s Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. Jason is shown as chasing through a Mark I train albeit in a curious fashion: he and his candidate victims were going between cars, something that isn’t doable unless you’re transit staff.

The train cars used were 061 and I believe 062, which is interesting for another movie later on.

It also portrays Granville as what seems to be Eighth Street-New York University station in Manhattan. However, it’s kind of funny of them to do that considering that the actual station isn’t very deep and isn’t anywhere near as modern as the movie depicts.

In the 2003 movie, Paycheck, Ben Affleck’s character is shown being chased down in a train tunnel with very distinct Mark II train chasing him down ever so slowly. The train car is marked as 162, but not only does that car number not exist for that model of train, the whole thing is in fact a set.

Interestingly, the European cover of the DVD release for the movie shows this train but it’s omitted from other regions.

Also there is a scene involving TransLink buses but that is perhaps for another time.

The 2012 movie, The Company You Keep directed and starring Robert Redford, has Granville standing in as “50th Street” station in New York city. A Mark I is shown arriving in the station and the main character is shown boarding the train. What stands out most here are the very Vancouver-specific ads left on the walls of the station.

In this movie, train 062 is used in this scene and I was made to not see this as a mere coincidence. I asked TransLink about why 061 and 062 is the most common vehicle seen in filming, but I never got an answer.

Pacific Central Station is also shown in this movie. This building alone deserves its own article, but unlike Waterfront, it is not a SkyTrain station.

Hard work is done by the writing crew, cast, and stage production staff to turn these stations and trains into pivotal or supporting scenes. I had put off this little entry for a few months due to the SAG-ACTRA and SWG strikes, but with their now conclusion, I felt it appropriate to finally post it.