Ten Most Popular "Colorado" Movies & TV Shows on IMDB and Their Ties to the State

Search the indispensable Internet Movie Data Base for the word "Colorado" and you'll get a list of top titles from movies or TV series.

Sometimes the connections to Colorado are obvious, as is the case with South Park, which made the cut — but isn't number one.

On other occasions, however, the ties are mighty loose.

Look below to count down the ten most popular "Colorado" movies and TV shows on IMDB at this writing, featuring posters and other graphics, as well as an explanation for what's "Colorado" about them.

Number 10: Cop Car (2015)

IMDB synopsis: "A small town sheriff sets out to find the two kids who have taken his car on a joy ride."

Colorado connections: This low-budget indie, featuring Kevin Bacon, was filmed in Colorado Springs and Fountain in 2014. In fact, we published a gallery of on-location Bacon pics, with the actor rocking an awesome porn 'stache, courtesy of Tammy Caruthers/140.5 Photography that June.

Here's an example.


Number 9: Escape Plan (2013)

IMDB synopsis: "When a structural-security authority finds himself set up and incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, he has to use his skills to escape with help from the inside."

Colorado connections: This Sylvester Stallone-Arnold Schwarzenegger flick (which also features 50 Cent) underperformed at the box office in a big way, so it's something of a surprise that anyone is searching for it. Nonetheless, it sports a significant Colorado element. While it was filmed in Los Angeles, Louisiana, Texas and Morocco, scenes are supposed to be set at Bendwater, a maximum-security prison in our fair state.

Number 8: Citizen Kane (1941)

IMDB synopsis: "Following the death of a publishing tycoon, news reporters scramble to discover the meaning of his final utterance."

Colorado connections: Among the most critically venerated movies of all time, Citizen Kane has deep Colorado roots. Protagonist Charles Foster Kane grew up poor in the state, according to the story, but gold subsequently discovered on the family's property fueled his rise to fame, fortune and deep unhappiness. His last word — "Rosebud" — is a reference to a beloved sled he played with as a boy while living here. Fun fact: Author Gore Vidal said "Rosebud" is also the nickname that William Randolph Hearst, Kane's real-life model, gave to the clitoris of his mistress, Marion Davies — which would certainly be one reason Hearst so famously loathed the movie.

Number 7: The A-Team (2010)

IMDB synopsis: "A group of Iraq War veterans looks to clear their name with the U.S. military, who suspect the four men of committing a crime for which they were framed."

Colorado connections: This one had us baffled, in part because we never saw the movie. (Not many others did, either; it was a big-budget disaster.) For a while, we thought the only Colorado link was co-star Jessica Biel, who grew up in Boulder. But we finally stumbled upon a post on About Entertainment that features this snippet: "Production designer Charles Wood and his team had to design and construct more than 120 different sets, with Vancouver doubling for the Middle East, Europe, Los Angeles, Washington, Lake Tahoe and Boulder, Colorado." Guess that makes it two Boulders for the price of one.

Number 6: A League of Their Own (1992)

IMDB synopsis: "Two sisters join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amidst their own growing rivalry."

Colorado connections: An excerpt from a more detailed synopsis on the site tells the tale. It reads: "The next morning the sisters get a late start and must sprint after the moving train and jump aboard, meeting up with Ernie. En route to Chicago, the trio stops in Fort Collins, Colorado, to watch another girl, Marla Hooch (Megan Cavanagh), who is coached by her father, Dave (Eddie Jones). The tryout is in a gymnasium, where she hits several hard fastballs, breaking several windows, and also shows patience at the plate. She's even a switch hitter. Her father mentions that if she were a boy, he'd be talking to the Yankees. When she's done, and Ernie finally gets a look at her, he rejects her, because she is rather homely. The rejection angers both Dottie and Kit. Marla's father manages to convince Ernie to take her, claiming it's his fault she isn't "pretty" since her mother died when she was young, and he raised her alone as a tomboy."

Continue to keep counting down the ten most popular "Colorado" movies or TV shows on IMDB.

Number 5: National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)

IMDB synopsis: "The Griswold family's cross-country drive to the Walley World theme park proves to be much more arduous than they ever anticipated."

Colorado connections: This comedic favorite is a road-trip comedy that was actually filmed on the road — including plenty of places in Colorado. Among the towns documented in IMDB's location-shoot section are Durango, Alamosa, Pagosa Springs, Pueblo and Hesperus. That's going off the beaten path....

Number 4: The Shining (1980)

IMDB synopsis: "A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future."

Colorado connections: So, so many. The fictional Overlook Hotel, located in the also fictional Sidewinder, Colorado, is based on the very real Stanley Hotel in the also very real burg of Estes Park. Author Stephen King wrote the book on which the movie was based after he and his wife stayed at the Stanley during the period when he was living in Boulder.

Number 3: South Park (1997-Present)

IMDB synopsis: "Follows the misadventures of four irreverent grade-schoolers in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado."

Colorado connections: The synopsis above pretty much tells the tale — unless you care to add references to John Elway, Casa Bonita and lots and lots of other Colorado people, places and things.

Number 2: The Prestige (2006)

IMDB synopsis: "Two stage magicians engage in competitive one-upmanship in an attempt to create the ultimate stage illusion."

Colorado connections: A key character in The Prestige is Nikola Tesla, the engineer, physicist and futurist, who actually did some of his most innovative work while living in Colorado Springs — and locations include Redstone Castle. Adding to the hip factor: Tesla is played in the movie by the late David Bowie.


Number 1: Community (2009-2015)

IMDB synopsis: "A suspended lawyer is forced to enroll in a community college with an eclectic staff and student body."

Colorado connections: The cult favorite is set at Greendale Community College in the fictional town of Greendale, Colorado. As Abed Nadir (played by Danny Pudi) might say: "Cool, cool, cool, cool."