Famous Films Featuring Casinos As A Main Setting

Casinos and film plots have a long-standing connection, with the excitement of the casino environment often scripted into the films to add more drama. Casinos are glamorous, with flashing lights, a buzzing atmosphere and the historical links with the underworld, all being factored into the choice to use casinos as a main setting in films. 

There are lots of famous movies you can probably list off that are centered around casinos but there are even more that you might have forgotten about. Here are some of the blockbuster films featuring casinos, as well as a few of the lesser known ones:

Casino Royale (James Bond)

Perhaps the most iconic casino themed film of the century is the James Bond franchises’ Casino Royale. The storyline is heavily revolved around a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro, where 007’s  mission is to defeat a private banker who is funding terrorists. Of course, in typical James Bond fashion, there is a lot more thrilling action involved in taking down the bad guys but the casino plot is the perfect way to add tension and risk into the plot.

There are several other James Bond films that feature casinos, including Dr. No, Diamonds are Forever and Licence to Kill, along with many others, so the casino theme is clearly a favorite with Bond scriptwriters.

Ocean’s Eleven

The Ocean’s franchise is based around cleverly planned heists across a range of big-money, big-risk operations. Ocean’s Eleven, featuring George Clookey and Brad Pitt, was the most commercially successful of the series of films, which is largely attributed to the thrilling casino plot. Set in Las Vegas, the team plans to rob three vaults at the same time. The casinos targeted are none other than the famous MGM Grand, the Bellagio and the Mirage, bringing even more excitement to the storyline.

Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean’s Thirteen also include some casino-based plots, which is understandable given the high-scale levels of the heists and casinos being the ideal targets due to the amount of cash that is held at these venues.

Casino

The most obvious casino-themed film is Martin Scorsese’s thrilling Casino film, starring Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone. The storyline involves a Mafia cash skim operation, FBI investigations and a love interest rivalry thrown into the mix. The film was based on true events, offering insights into the criminal history within the casino industry. 

The Hangover

A more light-hearted film based on casinos is the hilarious comedy The Hangover, where a bachelor party heads to Las Vegas for a crazy stag party. Playing into the popular choice to visit Las Vegas for wild bachelor parties, the group ends up in all kinds of trouble, with a heavy theme of ‘everything that can go wrong in Las Vegas’. From finding a tiger in the bathroom when they wake up after a drunken night, to a cameo of Mike Tyson wielding a punch for the apparent theft of said tiger, The Hangover is without doubt one of the funniest casino based films to hit the big screen.

Rain Man

The highly successful Rain Man film delves into the concept of card counting, with Charlie Babbitt (played by Tom Cruise) using his brother’s incredible recall and counting abilities to hit Caesars Palace in an attempt to win big. However, they are caught in the act, showing how card counting was dealt with in casinos. 

The casino industry has had a long battle with card counting and although it is not technically illegal, if it is discovered, players will usually get asked to leave and banned.

In today’s world of online casinos, card counting has become impossible due to the digital Random Number Generator.  The regulated Canadian casinos online do have a slight risk of card counting in live dealer games but this is usually quickly detected and winnings are voided if the player has used card counting methods to win money online.

Indecent Proposal

Another film with a gripping casino theme, Indecent Proposal is based in Las Vegas, where a couple played by Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson attempt to save their financial problems by winning at the casinos. Whilst there, they meet a billionaire played by Robert Redford who develops a fascination with Moore’s character, Diana. The billionaire offers the couple $1 million to spend the night with Diana and they are left in a dilemma. It is a heart-wrenching movie showing the power of money and the desperation of how far people may be prepared to go when faced with financial struggles.

These are just a few of the great films that have featured casinos but the timeless plot theme is used in many more popular films.