War of the Worlds (2005): New Jersey to Boston

Ray Ferrier is a crane operator in Brooklyn when a thunderstorm strikes a nearby intersection again and again. An electromagnetic pulse kills every electronic device, the ground shakes, and a massive tripod war machine climbs out of the earth. Spielberg did not shoot this in Brooklyn: the first-tripod scene was filmed at the intersection of Ferry Street, Merchant Street and Wilson Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. Principal photography had begun on 8 November 2004.

Location precision: The film places the scene in Brooklyn; the pin marks the Newark street corner used for filming, near Merchant Street.

Ray drives his children to Mary Ann's empty suburban New Jersey home to take refuge, and a Boeing 747 crashes into the neighborhood. The house itself is fiction: Ferrier's house was filmed in Bayonne, New Jersey, with a soundstage doubling the interior. For the wreck, the production bought a retired 747 and built houses around its dismantled pieces.

Location precision: The exterior was shot in Bayonne but no address is given; the pin marks the town.

Ray tries to get his children to Boston, but a desperate mob swarms their car and they have to abandon it. At the Hudson River, Ray meets his friend Sheryl and her daughter Nora as they try to board a ferry, but tripods rise out of the water and capsize it, and the friends are separated. The ferry scene was filmed in the New York town of Athens, on the Hudson.

Location precision: The source names Athens but not the landing; the pin marks the town.

After the ferry, to Ray and Rachel's dismay, Robbie joins a US military counter-offensive against the tripods, which is obliterated. This valley war sequence was filmed in Lexington, Virginia, with more of it shot at Mystery Mesa in California. Virginia was one of five states where the production shot on location, along with California, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York; Spielberg filmed several scenes there later in the shoot.

Location precision: The source names Lexington but not the exact valley; the pin marks the town.

Near the end, Ray notices birds landing on a tripod and realizes its force shields are down. He alerts the soldiers escorting the crowds, who shoot it down with Javelin missiles. The scene of the tripod crashing through a factory was filmed in Naugatuck, Connecticut, at an abandoned chemical plant.

Location precision: The plant is not named in the source; the pin marks the town of Naugatuck.

Ray and Rachel finally arrive at Mary Ann's parents' house, reuniting with Mary Ann and Robbie, who survived. The Boston scene is a stand-in: the house was located in Brooklyn, New York, but was featured in the film as Boston, bringing the journey back to the borough where it began.

Location precision: The source places the house in Brooklyn without a street; the pin marks the borough.