Stephanie Yao Long/staff

25 Best Movies Filmed in Oregon

Ever since movies began, Oregon has been a popular location for dramas, comedies, Westerns, science fiction epics and thrillers. Here are our picks for 25 of the best movies that filmed on locations in Oregon. Pictured: Reese Witherspoon (right) and Laura Dern at the 2014 Portland premiere of the movie, "Wild." -- Kristi Turnquist

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25. Twilight

The "Twilight" sequels got increasingly ridiculous, but the first one had a swoony romanticism, plus Oregon locations including Portland, Oxbow Park, St. Helens and Carver.

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24. Breaking In

Burt Reynolds had a rare good role as a burglar yearning to retire in this filmed-in-Portland comedy directed by Bill Forsyth ("Local Hero") and written by John Sayles.

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23. Short Circuit

Steve Guttenberg and Ally Sheedy starred in this sci-fi comedy about a chatty robot and government shenanigans. Locations included Portland, Astoria and the Columbia Gorge.

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22. The BoxTrolls

Phil Knight's Hillsboro-based Laika produced this Oscar-nominated stop-motion animation feature about a human boy and his troll friends.

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21. WIthout Limits

Billy Crudup starred as famed track star Steve Prefontaine and Donald Sutherland played his legendary coach, Bill Bowerman, in this bio pic that did some filming in Eugene.

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20. Kansas City Bomber

Raquel Welch played a member of a Portland roller games (think roller derby) team in this suprisingly gritty '70s drama, filmed in Portland.

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19. Maverick

Mel Gibson (hey, remember the days when people actually wanted to see his movies?), Jodie Foster and James Garner starred in a big, splashy movie inspired by the classic TV series. It was self-indulgent but genial, and included scenes filmed in the Columbia Gorge.

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18. Night Moves

Kelly Reichardt directed, and co-wrote, with Portland-based novelist Jon Raymond, this drama about environment activists who want to take the radical action of blowing up a dam. Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard starred. Locations included Roseburg, Medford and Ashland.

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17. Personal Best

Robert Towne (who also made "Without Limits," about Steve Prefontaine) wrote and directed this drama about female track and field athletes, and the romantic relationship that develops between two of them. Mariel Hemingway and Patrice Donnelly starred. Filming included segments shot at Hayward Field, in Eugene.

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16. ParaNorman

This Laika stop-motion animated feature also earned an Oscar nomination with its story of a boy who has the ability to talk to dead people.

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15. Mr. Holland's Opus

Richard Dreyfuss earned an Oscar nomination for his role as a high school music teacher who yearns to compose a great work, but keeps finding that life gets in the way. Portland locations include Grant High School.

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14. The Ring

Naomi Watts played a Seattle reporter trying to unravel the mystery of a deadly videotape in this American version of a Japanese horror movie. Oregon locations included Newport and the Columbia Gorge.

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13. Bend of the RIver

James Stewart played a cowboy leading a group of settlers into Oregon in this classic western, directed by Anthony Mann. The cast includes a young Rock Hudson, and locations include Mount Hood and along the Sandy River.

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12. Free Willy

Fine, touching family film about an unhappy boy who befriends a whale being held at an Astoria amusement park, and how the boy and friends hatch a plan to free Willy, the orca, so he can rejoin his family in the Pacific. A real orca, named Keiko, appeared in the movie. The film's popularity helped lead to Keiko being freed from an amusement park in Mexico City, and relocated to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. The movie's locations include Portland and Astoria.

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11. Wendy and Lucy

Michelle Williams starred in this wrenching story, another collaborative effort from director Kelly Reichardt and writer Jon Raymond, about a young woman traveling with her dog, whose plan to get a job in Alaska goes off the rails when her car breaks down, and she hasn't the money to get it fixed.

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10. Drugstore Cowboy

Portland's own Gus Van Sant made several movies in Oregon, but his best may still be the 1989 Portland-filmed drama starring Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch, about a drug addict who, after robbing drugstores to feed his habit, tries to clean up. Other Van Sant films shot in Oregon include "My Own Private Idaho," "Elephant" and "Paranoid Park."

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9. Coraline

This stop-motion animated feature adapted from Neil Gaiman's novel established Laika as a world-class production house, and was nominated for an Oscar as best animated feature.

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8. Into the Wild

Sean Penn turned director for this beautifully made drama based on the real story of Christopher McCandless and his travels, which ended tragically. Emile Hirsch stars, and a young Kristen Stewart makes a strong, pre-"Twilight" impression. Oregon locations included Astoria and the Cascades.

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7. The Shining

OK, "The Shining" didn't do a ton of filming in Oregon. In fact, the exterior shots of Timberline Lodge were supposed to depict the creepy Overlook Hotel (which was inspired by a Colorado hotel.) But Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's novel is so memorable that, according to the Timberline Lodge web site, guests still ask to stay in Room #217 (what King wrote in the book), even though Kubrick substituted the nonexistent Room #237 in the movie.

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6. The Goonies

There's a reason tourists still go to Astoria, looking for locations featured in "The Goonies," because the movie's combination of action and comedy is loved by generations of fans. The story takes place in Astoria, and sections of the movie were filmed there, with a cast including the young Josh Brolin, Sean Astin and Martha Plimpton.

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5. Wild

Portland-based writer Cheryl Strayed's bestselling memoir about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail was adapted into an affecting movie, starring Reese Witherspoon. regon location include Bend, Ashland, Cascade Locks and Portland.

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4. Stand By Me

Another Stephen King novel was the source for this sometimes-funny, sometimes-scary, sometimes-melancholy tale about four boys who learn about themselves, and each other, as they set out on a journey in the Willamette Valley, searching for missing teen. Rob Reiner directed, and the cast included Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell. The movie filmed in locations including Brownsville, Eugene, Cottage Grove and Veneta.

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3. Animal House

"Animal House" managed to be smart and dumb at the same time, which is quite a trick for a frat-house college comedy. No wonder it was a huge hit, spawning toga party and food fight imitations, and boosting the movie career of the late John Belushi. Anyone who lived in and around Eugene when the movie filmed there in 1978 will never forget it, either, as the cast and crew made quite an impression on the University of Oregon campus and surroundings.

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2. The General

Unless you're a fan of classic movies or a Turner Classic Movies buff, you may not have seen the 1926 silent classic, "The General." But it's one of the best American comedies ever made, and stars Buster Keaton, one of the greatest performers in movie history. Keaton, who co-directed, plays a Civil War-era engineer who will do anything to protect his beloved locomotive, called the General. The film, which was shot in Cottage Grove, goes on an Oregon tour this summer to mark its 90th anniversary. Mark Orton composed a new live score.

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1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One of Oregon's most distinctive writers, Ken Kesey, wrote the novel that's the source for this terrific Oscar-winner, which stars Jack Nicholson in probably his best role ever. The movie has its dated elements (Nicholson's antihero McMurphy was imprisoned for statutory rape, which hardly makes him sympathetic.) But director Milos Forman and a gifted cast bring the struggle between nonconformity and rigid authority, which plays out in a mental hospital, to vivid life. Locations included the Oregon State Hospital in Salem, and the central Oregon Coast.