If you’re the gambling type – or even if you aren’t – here are five films which feature casinos in the plot; if you feel you’ve got an itch to scratch once you’ve watched them, why not check out the range of online casino games offered by www.galacasino.com?
Casino
Based on true events, this Martin Scorsese film depicts what happened when the mob took control of the vast majority of Las Vegas casinos – and what happened when it all started to fall apart – as seen through the eyes of characters played by Robert De Niro, his wife Sharon Stone, and business partner Joe Pesci. There are too many highlights to list here, but the expletive-heavy sequence in the desert has to be one of them.
21
Another film based on true events which became a best-selling book, 21 features a team of highly-intelligent students at MIT who, under the guidance of their professor (played by Kevin Spacey), rake in the cash at various casinos by learning the mathematical systems and playing the advantages of blackjack. In other words, card counting. Will the young impressionable wannabe doctor become corrupted in his greed? You’ll have to watch to find out.
Oceans’s Eleven (both versions)
Although drawing young new audiences to the trilogy of Ocean’s heist action-comedies released between 2001 and 2007, the original Ocean’s 11 starred Frank Sinatra and his friends in the Rat Pack; Sinatra once joked of the audacious scheme: “Forget the movie, let’s just pull the job!” Steven Soderbergh oversaw production of the sleek and stylish new trilogy with an all-star cast including George Clooney and Brad Pitt which emphasised the cool factor of casinos for a new generation of movie-goers.
Casino Royale
The first film of a revitalised James Bond franchise coincided with the rising popularity of Texas hold’em poker, as Daniel Craig played to win a fortune at the eponymous gambling den while fighting the bad guys. We don’t want to ruin this for anyone who hasn’t seen the new dawn of Bond but rest assured that the action is just as intense during the fights as it is at the poker table.
Swingers
The film which first brought Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau to the public eye was this funny and warm tale of struggling Hollywood types trying to make a name for themselves. At the start of the film, Vaughn takes Favreau to “Vegas, baby!” in an effort to help him get over an ex. The sharp dialogue between the two at the blackjack table as they discuss gambling etiquette is one of the film’s many humorous highlights
