Sumith Prasad
Directed by Jeymes Samuel, Netflix’s ‘The Harder They Fall’ is a hard-hitting Western film that centers around the outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), who assembles a determined gang to track down and seek revenge against Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), the murderer of his parents. What ensues is a power-packed narrative where gangs of Love and Buck go to extremes for their victory over the other.
The gripping revenge tale of the film finds its mark with the setting of the gritty Western landscape. Inspired by the raw appeal of the filming sites and mesmerized by the way it enhances the narrative of the film, we have covered the locations of ‘The Harder They Fall.’ Let’s take a look!
The Harder They Fall Filming Locations
The filming of ‘The Harder They Fall’ took place in the US, especially in New Mexico. The filming was scheduled to begin in March 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The filming commenced in September 2020 and was stalled temporarily in October 2020 due to a positive case in the set. Adhering to strict pandemic protocols, the filming was finally concluded on December 18, 2020.
Santa Fe, New Mexico
The filming of ‘The Harder They Fall’ mainly took place in Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico. Recognized as one of the great art cities in the world, Santa Fe is one of the prominent locations of Western film productions. The majority of the ‘Jeymes Samuel’ directorial was filmed in Cerro Pelon Ranch, a 20,662-acre ranch located 24 miles south and east of Santa Fe in Santa Fe County.
The filming sets on the ranch were originally constructed for the production of the 1985 film ‘Silverado,’ and were maintained for filming purposes. The ranch is a quintessential filming site for any western film, as the property offers captivating views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Sandia Mountains, Jemez Mountains, and the Ortiz Mountains. The wide shots used in the film cover the magnitude and grandeur of the ranch in spellbinding detail.
The scene in which Trudy Smith and fellow gang members line up to stop the train to rescue Rufus Buck depicts the splendor of the ranch by the mountains. The main center and the church, where many of the film’s pivotal scenes are set, are actually part of the set inside the ranch. The shootouts and the horse rides with majestic mountains as the backdrop not only enrich the visual appeal of the film but also bring back the signature grit of celebrated Westerns of the last century.
Along with ‘Silverado,’ the other films shot on the ranch include ‘Wild Wild West,’ ‘The Missing,’ ‘Into the West,’ ‘3:10 to Yuma,’ etc. During the ownership of fashion designer and filmmaker Tom Ford, the ranch was expanded under the supervision of renowned Japanese architecture Tadao Ando.
Chama, New Mexico
The train sequences in the film were filmed in Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad in Chama, New Mexico. A village in Rio Arriba County, Chama homes the headquarters of the railroad and is a significant location for Western films. The village also served as the filming site for productions like ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ and ‘All the Pretty Horses,’ among many other films.
Read More: Best Western Movies of All Time
