The best casino film locations of all time
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We’re unsure what makes casinos such a sought-after backdrop for stylish and lavish movie sets. Over the years, we’ve been treated to some of the most eye-catching and impressive casino designs.
While some of these establishments paid a hefty sum to shoehorn their establishments into big-budget films for advertising purposes, many were singled out by location scouts as unique settings. And it’s not just Las Vegas casinos renowned for their glitzy, vivid, visually captivating environment – several others dotted around the world have been earmarked as glamorous spots by the world’s most prominent film directors, so here’s our pick of the standouts.
Although casinos have moved online over the last 20 years, this has resulted in a rise in digital platforms catering to different tastes. Some casino websites specifically aim for a slot machine gaming market, and others, such as sweepstakes casinos, where you can play many different titles and use in-game currencies, emphasize games rather than profits.
Ultimately, this means you don’t have to worry about the financial burden of playing at a traditional online casino. While sweepstakes casinos might not sound very extravagant compared to traditional casinos, they have found a keen audience willing to play casino games without concern for the financial impact. Time2play is a provider that has brought the main sweepstakes casinos under one site, with its experts ranking them based on several factors.
Although there has been a considerable rise in the number of digital casinos, there’s still an allure about land-based casinos that continues to attract film and TV directors. Some analysts thought the rise of digital casinos and mobile apps would end land-based casinos. However, as you will see in our list today, some of these megastructures have been designed and built in the same timeframe as the emergence of their digital competition, so that’s clearly not the case.
It might seem counterproductive to preface this section by saying it’s not all about Vegas casinos, only to drop one of the most renowned names on the Strip as one of the best casino film locations of all time. It’s no surprise, given the huge, breathtaking fountain that sits right outside the casino’s main entrance.
However, if you know your casinos and casino films, there’s no way we could have left the Bellagio off today’s list. It featured in the blockbuster Ocean’s 11 and the lesser-known Hangover Part III, third in the series after the more memorable smash-hit first film. Aesthetically, it’s often regarded as the top casino on the Strip. So yeah, it’s a no-brainer for us.
You could argue that James Bond is why land-based casinos never die out. The enigmatic 007 – whoever plays him – almost always finds himself in a casino during his gallivanting around the globe. Monte Carlo has been described as the Vegas of Europe, but that’s a fairly lazy comparison, in our opinion.
Monte Carlo is better known for its high-end clientele. Although Vegas has been known to attract some of the biggest names and events over the years, it doesn’t have the air of wealth and grace that Monte Carlo does, which is helped by the presence of James Bond.
Casino de Monte-Carlo has featured in several Bond flicks, including Never Say Never Again and GoldenEye. It was also featured in Ocean’s Twelve and has been used in film and TV for over 60 years, so it deserves a high place on our list.
We’re going back across the pond to Vegas with our third choice. This list wouldn’t be complete without Caesars. While it might be more notable as the main casino in The Hangover, one of the biggest comedy hits of the 2000s, countless TV shows have also used one of the most famous casinos on the Strip as a spot for filming.
Even before Bradley Cooper and company causing destruction on the Vegas Strip, Rain Man was the first film that exploded into the mainstream and put Caesars on the map. While some parts of the film have been called into question, the Dustin Hoffman classic opened the doors for other big-budget flicks to seek out the casino as a filming hot spot; it also featured in Iron Man in 2008 before reappearing at the cinema in The Hangover the following year.
Although our list might seem a bit Vegas-heavy, there’s no doubt that it has played host to some of the top film backdrops. Not only has Vegas been around long enough, but it also has significant Hollywood backing and a host of casinos queuing around the block, happy to get their name into the cinemas as organic advertising.
The Macau casino featured in Skyfall deserves a mention, as does the Czech Republic-based casino that played such a memorable part in the poker scene at Casino Royale. If we’re going back even further, there’s also Casablanca, one of the greatest films ever with a casino setting. However, given that the majority of the film was shot in California in a studio and not in a casino, it hasn’t made our list today, just in case you were wondering.
