With how stunning our landscape is, you would think film directors would be all over Idaho like white on rice. What better setting for a romantic sunset scene than Idaho’s glorious rural farmland, or an intense natural disaster scene than our towering forests? But really, that’s okay. We don’t need all of Hollywood’s camera crews traipsing through our pristine landscape anyways.
While yet relatively unseen on film, Idaho still has a few big screen appearances to its credit aside from its venerable claim to fame in Napoleon Dynamite (2004), as well as a number of humble mentions throughout cinematic history. Here are a few overlooked movies filmed within the Gem State.
A dramatization of the real-life Johnson County War in 1890 Wyoming, this Western was actually shot in Wallace, and hosts a formidable cast including Kris Kristofferson and Christopher Walken.
This drama, which features appearances by John Goodman, was filmed partially in the Boise National Forest. The pivotal plane crash scene was shot at Deadwood Reservoir.
A heartwarming family film that provides glimpses into a modern Native American family, Smoke Signals was shot primarily on the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation in Northern Idaho.
