The world of casinos, gambling and high-stakes appears very glamorous. It really is no wonder that there have been so many movies made about casinos and the fabulous goings-on within. For decades, movies have been themed around or set in casinos. Many of these movies are well-known, household names.
In recent years, movies such as “21” have brought fame to gambling sites. In this movie, university students are taught by a professor how to count cards. The students are then flown out to Las Vegas to win big and split the profits with their instructor. The lavish lifestyle that the students are thrown in to could make gambling appealing to anyone.
‘Ocean’s Eleven’ is a 1960’s remake, released in 2001, about a planned heist involving Las Vegas casinos. In the 1960’s version, the “Rat Pack”, made up of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, planned to rob five casinos. The 2001 version starred George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts among other big names and was updated to involve robbing the (non-existing in real life) vaults that lie beneath the Bellagio Hotel.
A more comedic casino-themed movie was the 1992 ‘Honeymoon in Vegas’. Nicholas Cage plays a man who takes his girlfriend (Sarah Jessica Parker) to Vegas in order to get married. James Caan portrays a gambler who spots Parker and wishes to spend the weekend with her, thus ensues attempting to win her away from Cage through poker.
Multiple James Bond movies have been staged in casinos or have the character spending time in a casino. The ambiance of mystery, smoke and glamour that portrays the stereotyped gambling rooms is a perfect backdrop for such an illustrious character. The most recent of these movies is ‘Casino Royale’. The film stars Daniel Craig who many critics have reviewed to be the best James Bond ever, or at least since Sean Connery.