Within California, filming was done primarily on location in Saratoga, San Jose and Los Angeles.Hughes, Howard (September 1, 2009). Aim for the Heart. I.B. Tauris. p. 78. . Various filming sites included Interstate 680 and State Route 87 in San Jose for the opening chase sequence featuring the semi-tractor trailer, the famous Villa Montalvo mansion for the henchmen meeting scene in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Saratoga, and the San Jose International Airport as well as the Mojave Air & Space Port for the final action climax scene, which author Laurence F. Knapp described as "both purgative and objectionable—a vivid, personal exchange of camera angles and vantage points that complicate, rather than conclude."Knapp, Laurence F. (September 1996). Directed by Clint Eastwood: Eighteen Films Analyzed. McFarland & Company. p. 176. .Gordon, William A. (June 1, 1995). Shot On This Site. Citadel. p. 31. . A furniture warehouse on the corner of 4th and Hewitt streets in downtown Los Angeles, stood in as the hideaway for Strom's illegal theft operation. But in relation to same hideaway's demise later in the film, a different building was used in the City of Commerce. A warehouse previously occupied by an auto agency slated for demolition on Flower near 12th Street, stood in for the impending explosion-filled destruction. During an introductory scene, where Eastwood's character pulls up in an unmarked squad car to foil the plans of the car thieves, a z-shaped thoroughfare called Santa Fe Street, provided the perfect secluded background at night which also happened to overlook the Los Angeles skyline. For the action sequences involving aircraft at the San Jose airport, a Hansa twin-engine jet was used to collide with a Convair 880 that was briefly disguised as a 150-passenger Evergreen International Airlines Boeing 727.
