A Few Good Men: Filming Locations and Guantanamo Stand-ins

The story begins here: Private William Santiago dies after being tied up and beaten in the middle of the night, and two Marines face court-martial for murder. The film was not shot at the base. Its Guantanamo scenes were filmed in Southern California. The tale was inspired by a real 1986 "code red" case at the base, in which PFC William Alvarado was bound and gagged in a hazing and began choking.

Location precision: The real base is the setting, but nothing was filmed there; the pin marks the base as a whole.

Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, Los Angeles, doubled for the barracks at Guantanamo. This is the Marine world Kaffee and Galloway walk into: they question Colonel Jessep and others on the base and are met with contempt.

Crystal Cove State Park is the second named Southern California stand-in for Guantanamo Bay. In the real 1986 case behind the story, the Marine who complained of conditions at the base had written about Marines firing shots across the fence line into Cuba.

Location precision: The sources name the park as a Guantanamo stand-in but not which cove or scene; the pin marks the park.

Naval Air Station Point Mugu is the third Guantanamo stand-in named for the shoot. The Department of Defense refused permission to film at Camp Pendleton, but about 200 off-duty Marines were allowed to serve as extras. In the story, Jessep claims Santiago was to be put on a flight to the US, a lie Kaffee later breaks in court.

Location precision: The sources name the air station but not where on it the crew filmed; the pin marks the base, which is closed to the public.

Filming began here on 21 October 1991. It stands for Washington, where Navy lawyers Kaffee and Galloway are based. Memorial Bridge is commonly seen in films, television shows and books set in the Washington, D.C. area.

The courtroom scenes were filmed at Culver Studios in Culver City. Here Kaffee puts Colonel Jessep on the stand and, frustrated by the exposure of his lies, Jessep exclaims "You can't handle the truth!". Kaffee then asks if he ordered the code red, and Jessep heatedly admits it.