3 Famous Movies and Films Set in South Dakota

Cristian Newman / Unsplash

South Dakota's claims to fame are sometimes few and far between. But the beauty of our state draws tourists and movie producers alike to take in the glorious landscape. As a result, South Dakota has been used in a surprising number of movies. 

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Here are a few of the movies and films which were set in South Dakota:

Nomadland (2020)

Nomadland features Fern, a former substitute teacher, who finds herself forced out of her home in Empire, Nevada, when the local U.S. Gypsum plant closed the mine and the town in 2011. Fern is facing a dire economic future, so she crams her scanty possessions into a beat-up, second-hand van and hits the road in search of work, traveling from town to town, state to state. While dignified Fern adopts a nomadic, hand-to-mouth lifestyle, she meets other kindred spirits, silver-haired, fellow modern-day nomads, whose entire generation suffered a crippling blow after the 2008 financial collapse. Is home just a word when you've lost everything and you're left with only your memories?

Filming locations:

• Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA
• Custer State Park, South Dakota, USA
• Nevada, USA
• Scenic, South Dakota, USA

Dust of War (2013)

Dust of War is the story of a lone soldier fending off a brutal warmonger in order to rescue a girl who will be the salvation of humanity in a post-apocalyptic America. A cynical veteran and a slimy thief work together to bring our hero to safety, while they encounter traveling showmen and mysterious invaders. As a South Dakota flavored Mad Max, Dust of War offers the earthy textures of Dances with Wolves and the stark beauty of Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal. A classic action-adventure film will be set against the backdrop of South Dakota's savage beauty.

Filming locations:

• Badlands, South Dakota, USA
• Pierre, South Dakota, USA

Into the Wild (2007)

Into the Wild talks about Christopher McCandless, who earns his undergraduate degree from Emory in the spring of 1990. His parents, Walt McCandless and Billie McCandless, and his sister, Carine McCandless, watched him get his degree. After attending the conference, Chris refuses his parents' gift of a new car, which he states works perfectly well, telling them that he plans to enter Harvard Law. He has received excellent grades in classes focused on global affairs. Walt, Billie, and Carine will learn by the end of the summer that Chris had no intention of attending Harvard since he has since moved from his apartment in Atlanta without telling them. To give himself a head start in his escape from his family, he had arranged with the post office to have his mail held for some time before it was returned to sender. In the Arizona desert, Chris' abandoned Datsun is eventually discovered abandoned, with the authorities believing that it was intentionally abandoned and not that he was abducted. Walt and Billie intend to keep searching for Chris in order to find out what happened to him. After experiencing a similar upbringing, Carine believes she understands the reasons behind Chris's escape. His move is in rebellion to much of western society, and more specifically against the type of life that his parents represent; they are hypocrites who present what society expects of them, being generally unhappy with themselves and each other.

Filming locations:

• Winner, South Dakota, USA
• Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary - 12163 Highland Road, Hot Springs, South Dakota, USA

Bonus: Here are more movies and films in South Dakota:

• Incident at Oglala (1992)
• The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968)
• Why Sturgis? (2005)
• Little Big Man (1970)
• North by Northwest (1959)

Please share more movies set in South Dakota, if you know any! Let us know in the comment section below!

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadland_(film)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9770150/locations?ref_=tt_dt_dt

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2051872/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2051872/locations?ref_=tt_dt_dt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Wild_(film)

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls004469327/

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