It is pretty obvious why a filmmaker might want to shoot a movie in Las Vegas. It is one of the most iconic cities on the planet and a cinematographer’s dream. It must be difficult to make a film shot there not look good, with the lights, buildings and natural drama of Sin City as a natural canvas.
There are plenty of reasons why people from all over the world make the trip to Vegas each year. Most go for the casinos. But there are professional sports teams, fine dining restaurants, and world-renowned art galleries now – as well as all the best sportsbooks Vegas can offer.
We tend to concentrate on culture here – especially music and film. So, we thought it would be interesting to share some of the movies set in Sin City that we think you absolutely have to see. The movies themselves are exceptional pieces of art but they might also inspire you to take a trip of your own to the entertainment capital of the world.
Ocean’s 11 (1960)
The big Hollywood stars of the 2000s made a very successful string of remakes and sequels. But, for old-fashioned Las Vegas glamor, you just can’t beat the Rat Pack in a heist movie. Franks Sinatra stars as Danny Ocean, a former paratrooper who enlists ten of his friends – including Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop – to rob five Las Vegas casinos in one night.
The Rat Pack are just about synonymous with Vegas, of course, and this movie is a thrill-a-second, with all the major stars of the time taking turns to out-show business each other throughout. Apparently, the Rat Pack filmed all day and performed nightly at the casinos they were robbing in the film – so this original Ocean’s 11 is as realistic as it gets.
Casino (1995)
Martin Scorsese is known for his gritty New York-set gangster films. But one of his finest pieces of work has to be this 1995 classic showing the fallout of the Godfather years and how the mafia built up Las Vegas as its personal pot of gold in the middle of the Nevada desert.
Set in the 1970s, Scorsese managed to perfectly capture the garish fashion and colors of the time, while telling the story of three individuals who seemingly had it all in the criminal world but couldn’t escape the violence, drugs, and murder. Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone are simply breathtaking in a superb movie.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Not all Vegas movies are about crime and mobsters. Hunter S. Thompson’s classic hate letter to Sin City was famously deemed unfilmable, due to its hallucinatory tangents and unreal characters. But if anyone can turn that into cinematic art, it has to be Terry Gilliam and Johnny Depp.
Depp goes all in on the Hunter S. Thompson impression and is ably assisted by Benicio Del Toro as his crazy attorney who takes a road trip to Las Vegas and is appalled by the excess of this garish place alongside how middle America it has become. Initially not that well received, Gilliam’s film has now been reconsidered as something of a masterpiece.
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
You may have a certain idea of what a Nicolas Cage movie will be like. It is safe to say that Leaving Las Vegas is about as far away from that notion as is cinematically possible. In Mike Figgis’ drama, Cage plays a screenwriter who travels to Sin City with the sole intention of drinking himself to death.
This Vegas film sheds a spotlight on the darker side of the city – and the alcoholism, loneliness, and depression that is unfortunately so common for some of its inhabitants and visitors. Cage won an Academy Award for his role but a special mention should go to Elisabeth Shue, who plays a prostitute who deals with intense trauma.
Swingers (1996)
Let’s get back to some light-hearted fun, shall we? Although Swingers is ostensibly a Los Angeles movie, we have included it here, as there is a very good part where the main characters make a spontaneous trip to Vegas – and the whole feel and look of the swing revival just screams Rat Pack in Vegas to us.
The then just about unknown Vince Vaughan and Jon Favreau head up a group of unemployed actors and writers, struggling to make ends meet in LA. Vaughan’s catchphrases will live long after watching this curious low-budget comedy drama that, ironically, launched the careers of some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
The Hangover (2009)
Most people have had the experience of waking up the morning after and not having much of a clue about the night before. Well, Todd Phillips’ comedy takes that and turns things up to 11 by bringing together Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis as three mismatched bachelor party members who come to with no idea of the previous night’s exploits – and a missing groom-to-be.
This is not the smooth Las Vegas of the Rat Pack or even the ultra-realistic doom-laden Sin City of Leaving Las Vegas. But The Hangover does sum up the modern-day “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” city where just about everything can happen to those looking to have a good time.
Indecent Proposal (1993)
This movie sparked a million dinner party morality questions when it came out in 1993. If someone offered you a million dollars for them to spend an evening with your partner, would you take them up on the deal? That is what Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore have to weigh up in this intense 1993 drama from Adrian Lyne.
Robert Redford is the multi-millionaire offering the deal here to the couple in Las Vegas on vacation. The movie is not without some somewhat dated flaws but the power of money – and where it crosses with morality – is well dealt with, perfectly using Sin City as an ideal supporting character.