Movie Scenes in Casinos

We’ve written about the best card flicks and casino-inspired movies before, but what about iconic movie scenes that have been filmed in casinos? Here’s our roundup of famous scenes and which real-life casinos you might have spotted on the silver screen in your favourite flick.

Casino (1995)

Casino could be called one of Robert De Niro’s best works – and it’s a classic. Most of the film takes place at the fictional Tangiers, which was filmed at the Riviera’s Landmark Hotel. The rest of the casino scenes were filmed inside the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. According to the IMDB page, the scenes were mostly filmed in the early hours of the morning so they didn’t disturb the rhythm of the actual gamblers.

The Riviera officially closed on the 4^th of May 2015 and was subsequently demolished to make way for new developments.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJXDMwGWhoA

Rocky Balboa (2006)

The first Rocky movie was released in 1976 and shot on a modest budget of $1 million (US). Sylvester Stallone wrote the script himself, reportedly in just under four days, and insisted on starring as the lead Rocky Balboa himself, which was no doubt a good call! The success of the first (grossing $225 million at the box office!) prompted several more films in the franchise. Yes, there’s even apparently a thing called Rocky: The Musical.

According to Total Rocky, the final fight in the 2006 film Rocky Balboa was filmed at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG0hOpPs6eU

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is an iconic adaptation of the book of the same name by gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. (It was also the second: The first adaptation was in 1980 and starred Bill Murray as Thompson; check out Where the Buffalo Roam, too.) It’s one of our all-time favourite movies set in Vegas.

According to Legendary Trips and IMDb, much of the casino scenes were filmed at the Riviera Hotel & Casino’s Le Bistro Lounge and the Stardust, which was also demolished in 2007.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2XzJ__qpGQ

Mars Attacks! (1996)

Mars Attacks! is a classic and hilariously weird sci-fi alien invasion flick directed by Tim Burton and starring Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close and Danny DeVito. (The speech patterns of the aliens were reportedly created by reversing the sound of a quacking duck.) The destruction of Las Vegas by the aliens was reportedly filmed at The Landmark Hotel & Casino. And, according to this Reddit user, a real-life demolition scene was incorporated into the movie by director Burton.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqtjHWlM4lQ

Rain Man (1998)

Rain Man is one of those movies that you have to see if you’re a serious fan of cinema. If you haven’t seen it yet, we can definitely recommend it – and we might ask where you’ve been… The movie stars Dustin Hoffman as Raymond Babbit, an autistic savant (based partially on the real-life savant Kim Peek) and Tom Cruise as Charlie, his rich, pompous brother. We won’t give away too much of the plot, but we can tell you that some of the iconic casino scenes were filmed at Caesar’s Palace.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS8LTzOkQ7M

Bingo at the movies

You’ll find some hilarious bingo scenes in the movies: Rampage (2009), Hotel Transylvania (2012), Wog Boy (2000), and Bad Grandpa (2013). If this gives you the urge to play online bingo, you’ll want to head over to Swanky Bingo where you will find five fantastic bingo variants (as well as other casino games and onlien slots) and some pretty funny chat monitors.