Here are 3 of the best movie scenes featuring casinos and gambling:
Casino Royale (2006)
We best associate Secret Agent James Bond with glamorous casinos, expensive cars and dry martinis. Arguably, the best casino scenes in the entire franchise are featured in Casino Royale. In Daniel Craig’s first appearance as James Bond, the agent plays several games of Texas Hold ‘em throughout the film, with the aim being to beat villain Le Chiffre and secure a jackpot of £115,000,000.
Many of Casino Royale’s gambling scenes took place at Atlantis Casino in the Bahamas. The film’s budget was a huge $112,000,000 and it received an estimated $594,420,283 in the worldwide box office.
The Hangover (2009)
Nominated for a Golden Gold Award for Best Motion Picture, The Hangover is a comedy featuring a group of friends in Vegas, on a bachelor party weekend that goes disastrously wrong. The budget for this film was an estimated $35,000,000, with it going on to achieve a worldwide box office gross of $467,483,912 by December 2009.
The casino scene is filmed in The Riviera Hotel and Casino and plays homage to another Nevada based film, Rain Man. In an attempt to win back a notorious gangster’s lost $80,000 and save their friend, Alan and his friends try their hand at Blackjack. Using a card counting method he is able to rig the game and win back the amount they need. However, the trio must make a quick getaway after the pit boss works out their plan.
Maverick (1994)
Bret Maverick, played by Mel Gibson, is in need of cash to enter a Winner Take All poker tournament. His journey to finding the money is a treacherous one and involves him joining forces with a success gambler and thief named Annabelle Bransford, who is played by Jodie Foster. Maverick was one of the most watched films of its year and received a worldwide gross of $183,031,272.
One of the film’s most memorable scenes takes place in the poker room of a steam boat. The game is extremely tense and at the end reveal, component Angel has a straight flush, but Maverick, after a single card deal containing an ace of spades, shows his winning hand is a royal flush. The scene then erupts into a deadly gunfight with Angel being shot dead and the money being taken by Cooper, who is later revealed to be Maverick’s son.
Casino Royale, The Hangover and Maverick are each remembered for their remarkable gambling scenes. Interest in casino games is growing, particularly in the online market. This is due to the high amount and quality of games on offer, in addition to the generous casino bonuses.
This growing interest for gambling and casinos means that we can expect the film industry to continue featuring films and scenes of this genre in the near future.
Published February 9, 2018
Email this article
Casino Royale