The Terminator Became A Sci-Fi Icon At This Beloved Los Angeles Tourist Spot

Visiting or, depending on how jaded you become, living in Los Angeles can be an incredibly surreal experience. Given the number of memorable films and TV shows shot within the city limits, there's something eerily familiar about walking down the streets. Even as new storefronts, billboards, buildings, and display lights adorn each corner, it's like existing in a constant state of déjà vu. And ome of these landmarks, like the Hollywood Sign, the TCL Chinese Theater, or the Getty, double as portals to other worlds.

Take, for instance, The Griffith Observatory, the most-visited public observatory in the world. A popular tourist attraction that provides the best view of the city and views through the historic 12" Zeiss Refracting Telescope, the location has been immortalized in countless films. There's a bust of James Dean on site in honor of the location's use in "Rebel Without a Cause," but contemporary audiences likely recognize it fastest as the site of the "Planetarium" scene in the Oscar-winning "La La Land."

For many movie lovers, the Griffith Observatory is the home base connecting our world with a dystopian future where machines have risen and turned on us all. It's the landing spot when the first T-800 Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) arrived on May 12, 1984, to find and kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). I am admittedly terrified of Terminators (read all about it here), and that's why any time I visit the Griffith Observatory, I impulsively feel myself on edge. I so closely associate the beautiful view of Los Angeles below with the site of the T-800 looking down on the city in preparation for his mission and then immediately beating the brakes off of a blue-haired punk played by Bill Paxton.

Given the importance of the Griffith Observatory in the first "Terminator" film, it's popped up in additional stories across the franchise, including the video game "Terminator 3: The Redemption," where it's the site of a battle. It's the hiding place of Kyle Reese and Star in "Terminator Salvation," the arrival point for an alternate timeline T-800 in "Terminatory Genisys," and a handful of the comic books.

Looking beyond the "Terminator" franchise, the Griffith Observatory has appeared in over 170 films, its unique architectural design and isolated location a true gift to filmmakers everywhere. One of my personal favorite incorporations of the building was in the 1999 "House on Haunted Hill" remake, where the observatory exteriors were built upon with CGI to stand in for the titular haunted house on the hill. Even the drive up to the Observatory has been utilized as a location, with the tunnel entrance to the spot on Mount Hollywood Drive doubling as the entrance to Toontown in the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" 

If you're ever in Los Angeles, The Griffith Observatory is a must-visit for movie fans, and to make the deal even sweeter, admission and telescope viewing are completely free (weather permitting, of course). There is a fee for planetarium shows, but if you want to walk to the edge and scan the city like the T-800, just make sure you've already gotten your punk clothes in order.