Where was Extraction filmed? Learn the insane bullet-ridden, sweat-drenched, helicopter-crashing truth behind the franchise’s filming locations.
Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) is a black-ops mercenary who wants to die but keeps accidentally surviving.
In Extraction (2020), he’s hired to rescue Ovi, the kidnapped son of an Indian drug lord, from the grimy, crowded streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh. What follows is a 12-minute “oner” (industry-speak for a sequence that looks like one continuous take) that puts most action movies to shame.
The sequel, Extraction 2 (2023), finds a miraculously alive Rake breaking a Georgian gangster’s family out of a frozen hell-prison, then fighting across a moving train while helicopters try to decapitate him.
Director Sam Hargrave isn’t just a director. He’s a guy who used to be Chris Evans‘s stunt double and thought, “You know what? I should operate the camera while physically strapped to the hood of a speeding car.”
The result is two films that feel less like movies and more like someone actually surviving a war zone.
Table of Contents
💥 Extraction Filming Locations
One shot, three countries, zero CGI safety nets. Here’s exactly where that beautiful chaos went down.
🌡️ Where Was Extraction 1 Filmed?
While Hargrave despises CGI, some interiors were shot on soundstages in Atlanta, Georgia (Netflix’s usual stomping ground) and Sydney, Australia.
But the rule was simple: if it exploded, flipped, or bled, it was practical.
🏚️ Ahmedabad, India – The 12-Minute Miracle
Let’s talk about that 12-minute shot. It has roughly 36 hidden edits (compared to the 2-second average for most action cuts).
To get the effect of the camera seamlessly moving from a street sprint into the back of a speeding car, Sam Hargrave literally strapped himself – with a camera – to the front of a chase car.
When they needed to get inside the vehicle mid-scene? He unstrapped himself mid-shot and dove into the moving car while still filming. This is not normal behavior.
Filming in Ahmedabad was a nightmare in the best way. Hargrave needed massive crowd control for densely packed areas where real people were just trying to buy vegetables. Instead, thousands gathered to watch Hemsworth run past them.
Randeep Hooda (Saju) later admitted he was “heartbroken” at times during filming, likely because the physical demands left him sleeping on ice packs.
The working title for this film was literally “Dhaka.” Netflix changed it because they thought audiences were too dumb to pronounce it correctly. (Their words, not mine.)
What was filmed here:
- Sabarmati Riverfront: The car crash scene was shot by the river near Ashram Road.
- Rudra Prayag Flats, Ranip neighborhood: The entire legendary 12-minute “oner” sequence.
- Surrounding streets: Rake’s foot chase, the car flip, the child rescue, the bridge of death.
🌆 Mumbai, India – The Vibrant Stand-In
One of the most identifiable Mumbai scenes takes place in a back-alley lane next to what used to be Elbo Room in Bandra, one of its most famous nightlife spots.
It features police officers harassing young people outside a club past midnight, which one critic called “so representative of the city’s dying nightlife.”
Mumbai provided the impossible-to-fake texture of a million humans living on top of each other. No soundstage can replicate the smell of diesel fumes, street food, and sweat.
Hargrave used Mumbai‘s natural chaos to double for Dhaka‘s energy, since filming in actual Bangladesh proved too logistically complicated.
Chris Hemsworth described shooting in India as “like being in the Colosseum or a live theatre” with thousands of people watching, waiting for the action hero to either succeed or get eaten by locals.
What was filmed here:
- Lane near the former Elbo Room, Bandra: Nightclub harassment scene.
- Establishing shots of crowded markets and urban sprawl.
- Various street-level chase sequences.
Trivia:
- Eagle-eyed fans should look for an inside joke: Ovi, the kidnapped boy, attends the “Hargrave International School of Mumbai.” That’s a nod to director Sam Hargrave himself.
- At one point, a persistent fan on a motorcycle chased Hemsworth‘s car through the streets, holding up a printed photo for an autograph.
🌉 Ban Pong & Ratchaburi, Thailand – Fake Dhaka, Real Stunts
Here’s the magic trick: Thailand stood in for Bangladesh because the Thai government gave Hargrave an entire town to wreck. The production redesigned Tha Pha down to the street vendors’ carts.
The famous bridge where Rake takes a bullet and tumbles into murky water? That’s the Lat Bua Khao Bridge, and Hemsworth did that fall multiple times. (He’s fine. Probably.)
What was filmed here:
- Lat Bua Khao Bridge: The iconic bridge standoff where Rake falls into the river (yes, that fall was real).
- Tha Pha village: Extensively modified to look like a Dhaka street, complete with Bengali signage and tuk-tuks.
- Various back alleys: The stairwell fight, the child soldier encounter.
💀 Australia – Where Rake Broods
Tyler Rake‘s house in Extraction (2020) was filmed in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It’s CBD and surrounding riverside areas were used for the exterior shots of Rake‘s contemplative, suicidal-undertone house overlooking water.
It’s the calm before the storm – and the only time the production wasn’t sweating through its shirt.
Why Brisbane? For practical reasons, Queensland‘s film incentives and the availability of waterfront properties that could double for a depressed mercenary’s hideout.
The interior scenes of the house were filmed on a soundstage (not in Australia).
What was filmed here:
- Tyler Rake’s house: The opening scenes of a broken man staring at water.
Trivia:
- Chris Hemsworth was born and raised in Melbourne and on Phillip Island.
❄️ Where Was Extraction 2 Filmed?
Here’s a fun fact: Extraction 2 was supposed to film in Australia. That was the plan. Then COVID-19 laughed in everyone’s face.
With only 12 weeks of preparation, the entire production relocated to the Czech Republic and Austria. No big deal. Just move a multi-million-dollar action franchise across continents during a pandemic.
⛓️ Prague, Czechia – Prison Break Central
The prison scene wasn’t just any prison. It was shot at Mladá Boleslav Prison, a former working jail about 30 miles northeast of Prague, Czech Republic. Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt got busted out of the exact same location during the opening of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol back in 2011.
Here’s the twist: the 21-minute prison-break “oner” wasn’t limited to just that one spot. The interior cellblocks and corridors were shot inside Mladá Boleslav Prison.
But the massive exterior courtyard riot where Rake fights off what feels like an entire army in freezing snow was filmed at an 18th-century grain storage facility nearby. And yes, that snow was real. Below-zero, Czech-winter real.
Sam Hargrave originally planned this entire sequence for Australia. Then COVID-19 laughed in his face. The team had just 12 weeks to rebuild it from scratch in the Czech Republic. That it became one of the most celebrated action scenes of the decade is a miracle of sheer stubbornness.
What was filmed here:
- Mladá Boleslav Prison: Rake’s one-man army prison riot.
- Litoměřice & Záhorany: Specific action beats, including the initial extraction.
- Prague streets: Car chase segments and establishing shots.
🚁 Vienna, Austria – The DC Towers Death Drop
The DC Towers, Austria’s tallest building, is 250 meters (820 feet) tall. The 57th-floor fight happens on a glass awning that’s almost entirely CGI. The bluescreen kept catching crew reflections, so they built eight progressively shattered versions. Obsessive and awesome.
The real chaos happened at Donauplatte (Danube Plateau), near DC Towers. Controlled traffic. Perfect for landing helicopters and blowing up a taxi. They crashed 47 vehicles there. A daycare center closed for two weeks. Nothing says “child-friendly” like an exploding taxi.
The crew lived in the DC Towers. Offices, dorms, craft services – all inside. Imagine sharing an elevator with Hemsworth. Filming ran from late January to mid-February 2022. Freezing. Snow. Wind. Three layers between takes. Golshifteh Farahani called it “a beautiful nightmare.”
Hargrave wanted Hemsworth dangling from a crane on floor 53. Vienna‘s winter winds said no. Those winds probably saved his life. The money shot: a real helicopter flown by legendary pilot Fred North landing on a moving train. No CGI. Just madness.
What was filmed here:
- DC Tower 1 (57th floor): The glass awning and gym fight.
- Donauplatte (Danube Plateau): Ground-level helicopter chaos, taxi explosion, shootouts.
- Tech Gate Vienna: Hair, makeup, catering, and a small army of extras.
- Underground roundabout: Tactical chase movements.
Trivia:
- The crew spent an estimated €5 million in Vienna during just two weeks of shooting. Local restaurants, hotels, and coffee shops had no idea why business suddenly boomed. They just knew those Australians were very, very cold.
🔥 Extraction 3 – What We Know So Far
Netflix has officially greenlit Extraction 3. Principal photography is scheduled to begin in June 2026 and run through October 9, 2026. That means a realistic release date of 2027 on Netflix.
For the first time, the franchise is heading to Sydney, Australia (Hemsie’s home turf) as the primary production base, with additional filming confirmed for various locations in Europe – expect cold, expensive cities with good tax incentives.
Who’s back:
- Chris Hemsworth (Tyler Rake, somehow still alive)
- Idris Elba (Alcott, the mysterious fixer)
- Golshifteh Farahani (Nik Khan, the scene-stealing badass)
- Sam Hargrave returns to direct
- Script by David Weil (not Joe Russo this time)
🌍 The Extraction Universe – Spinoffs, Sequels, and Chaos
The Russo Brothers’ AGBO isn’t messing around. They’re building a connected universe of Extraction-themed chaos.
🎭 Mercenary – 8-Episode Spinoff Series
Tyler Rake is sitting this one out. Instead, Mercenary features a soldier-for-hire named Diallo (played by Omar Sy from Lupin) who takes a dangerous rescue mission in Libya.
He must navigate warring factions while dealing with deep personal emotional wounds. So, Rake with a French accent and better fashion. The showrunner: Glen Mazzara from The Walking Dead. Expect moral ambiguity and at least one character you love to die horribly.
Ireland & Morocco have been confirmed as primary filming locations.
Key cast:
- Omar Sy (lead mercenary)
- Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones)
- Boyd Holbrook (Narcos, Logan)
- Sacha Dhawan, Ross McCall, Pip Torrens, Emma Appleton
🥋 TYGO – South Korean Action Thriller
This is a South Korean-based action thriller. No plot details yet, but if Don Lee is punching people and Lisa is doing anything physical, the internet will explode.
The cast:
- Don Lee (Eternals, Train to Busan)
- Lee Jin-uk
- Lalisa Manobal (Lisa from BLACKPINK) – yes, that Lisa
🎥 The Extraction Filming Style – Why It Feels Different
Director Sam Hargrave‘s philosophy is simple: immersion through minimal CGI and maximum physical danger. He doesn’t sit in a chair with a monitor. He straps himself to the hoods of chase cars, hangs from wires, and dangles off trains.
For Extraction 2, he was strapped to the side of a moving train in freezing conditions while a helicopter landed feet away. He was the camera operator. On the train. In the cold. While helicopters.
The “Oner” Evolution:
- Extraction 1: 12 minutes, 36 hidden edits, Hargrave unstrapped himself from one moving car and ran into another mid-shot.
- Extraction 2: 21 minutes, 29 shooting days, months of rehearsal, Hemsworth‘s arm on fire for 15 seconds.
- Combat Realism: Hemsworth trained for three months until the choreography became “muscle memory.” That’s not vanity – that’s necessity.
When you’re shooting a 21-minute sequence, you can’t stop to ask “wait, what’s the next move?” You just do it. Or you die. One of the two.
📋 Extraction FAQ
We know you’ve been googling these at 2 AM. Here you go.
Is Extraction a franchise?
Yes. Two main films (Extraction 2020, Extraction 2 2023), Extraction 3 greenlit for 2026 filming/2027 release, a spinoff series Mercenary (Omar Sy), and another spinoff TYGO (Don Lee, Lisa). The Russo Brothers’ AGBO is building a universe.
What guns are used in the Extraction movie?
Rake uses a variety of weapons: in Extraction 1, he favors the Tavor X95 (Israeli bullpup rifle) and the Glock 17 pistol. Extraction 2 adds the AK-74M and a custom Benelli M4 shotgun. But honestly, Rake could kill you with a ballpoint pen if the script demanded it.
What is the Extraction movie rating?
- Extraction (2020): R (for strong bloody violence, language, and some dr*g material).
- Extraction 2 (2023): R (same reasons, plus more fire).
Not for kids. Definitely not for kids.
Where can I watch the Extraction movies online?
Netflix is the only place to stream both Extraction movies. Both films are Netflix originals. They live exclusively on Netflix.
The Extraction franchise is proof that you don’t need CGI when you have a director willing to strapped to a moving car, an actor willing to set his arm on fire, and a crew willing to film in actual heat, actual freezing cold, and actual helicopter landing zones.
It’s messy, it’s brutal, and it’s the most fun you’ll have without leaving your couch. Now go watch Tyler Rake fall off a bridge again. You know you want to.
Disclaimer: This fan-created article is provided for entertainment purposes only. We don’t guarantee the accuracy of any of these facts and don’t recommend making important life decisions based on them. All referenced titles, names, and related intellectual property are the property of their respective owners, and no copyright infringement is intended.
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