21 Of The Most Badass Films Set In Las Vegas
21. Showgirls
Showgirls permanently changed my perspective of Saved By The Bell. Showgirls was directed by Paul Verhoeven and stars Elizabeth Berkley. Berkley plays the role of Nomi Malone, a drifter that made her way from a stripper to a showgirl.
20. Indecent Proposal
Indecent Proposal was directed by Adrian Lyne. The movie stars Robert Redford (John Gage), Demi Moore (Diana Murphy), Woody Harrelson (David), Seymour Cassel (Mr. Shackleford), and Oliver Pratt (Jeremy). David and Diana are a couple that travel to Las Vegas in order to win enough money to finance David’s real estate venture. They lose all of their savings, but runs into John Gage. John offers David one million dollars to sleep with Diana. They accept the offer. Insecurities erupt between David and Diana.
19. National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation
Vegas Vacation is part of a series of Vacation movies that National Lampoon has run. Chevy Chase plays the role of Clark Griswold. In this movie, the Griswolds get into many mishaps. For example, on a visit to the Hoover Dam, Clark gets lost and ends up having to climb the scaffolding to get out.
The Griswold family struggles to stay close throughout the trip because of Clark’s obsessive gambling, Ellen’s (Clark’s wife) affair with Wayne Newton, Rusty’s (Clark’s son) continuous winning streak, and Audrey’s (Clark’s daughter) desire to hang out with her stripper cousin.
18. What Happens In Vegas
What Happens in Vegas stars Cameron Diaz (Joy) and Ashton Kutcher (Jack). Joy and Jack, who didn’t know each other at the time, travel to Las Vegas with a couple of their friends. The two sets of friends meet in the same hotel room because of a computer glitch. Joy and Jack end up partying with each other that night, get very drunk, and end up marrying each other.
Joy and Jack get ready to file for a divorce, but end up in a sticky situation. Right before Joy walks away from Jack, she accidentally gives him a quarter out of spite. Jack uses this quarter to on a slot machine and scores $3 million. Given the two were still married, the two fight who owns the money throughout most of the movie.
17. Very Bad Things
Very Bad Things was directed by Peter Berg. The movie stars Jon Favreau (Kyle Fisher), Cameron Diaz (Laura Garrety), Christian Slater (Robert Boyd), Daniel Stern (Adam Berkow), Jeanne Tripplehorn (Lois Berkow), and Jeremy Piven (Michael Berkow).
Kyle is hosting a bachelor party with his friends in Vegas. Kyle’s friend Michael has sex with a stripper in a hotel bathroom and she accidentally dies in the process. A security guard finds out about what happens and ends up being killed by the group of friends too. The group of friends try to cover up what happens throughout the movie.
16. Viva Las Vegas
Viva Las Vegas is a musical motion picture starring Elvis Presley (Lucky Jackson) and Ann-Margret (Rusty Martin).
Lucky Jackson comes to Vegas to participate in the first Las Vegas Grand Prix. Lucky brought a beat up car with him and needed a new engine. After Lucky makes the money, but ends up spending a lot of it with a swimming pool manager. Lucky finds a rival in Elmo Macini, who is a fellow racer and womaniser. Just when we thought Lucky would lose everything, he starts to sing.
15. Con Air
Con Air was directed by Simon West. Con Air stars Nicolas Cage (Cameron Poe), John Cusack (U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin), John Malkovich (Cyrus Grissom), Ving Rhames (Nathan Jones), Rachel Ticotin (Sally Bishop), and Dave Chappelle (Joe Parker).
Former U.S. Army Ranger, Cameron kills a drunk man in a bar in order to protect his pregnant wife. Cameron does 7-10 years in jail. After Cameron does 8 years, he is released on parole and is scheduled to be flown to Alabama on a C-123 plane. Cameron is on the same plane as several other convicts that are going to a higher security prison.
Some of the other passengers are able to take control of the airplane and chaos ensues. Eventually the plane crash lands on The Strip in Vegas and Poe and Larkin team up to chase after the other convicts.
14. Ocean’s Eleven (1960)
Ocean’s Eleven stars five members of the Rat Pack. Frank Sinatra (Danny Ocean), Dean Martin (Sam Harmon), Sammy Davis Jr. (Josh Howard), Joey Bishop (Mushy O’Connors), and Peter Lawford (Jimmy Foster). The movie was directed by Lewis Milestone.
Danny Ocean and a gang of ten other World War II Airborne veterans plot to rob five different Las Vegas casinos in one night. The plan is just as precise as a military operation. At midnight while everyone is singing Auld Lang Syne in celebration of New Years, the tower is blown up and the team destroys the electrical systems. Vegas goes dark and the team leaves with the loot.
13. Diamonds Are Forever
Diamonds Are Forever is the 7th spy movie in the James Bond series. It was also 6th James Bond movie that starred Sean Connery. In Diamonds Are Forever, Bond is going after Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who was behind the killing of his wife Tracy. Bonds kills Blofeld by throwing him into superheated mud.
When Bond returns from killing Blofeld, he finds out that a large number of diamonds were stolen from South African mines and two assassins are killing everyone in a smuggling ring one by one. The head of the smuggling ring was Blofeld himself.
12. Bugsy
Bugsy is the story about mobster, Bugsy Siegel. The movie stars Warren Beatty (Bugsy), Annette Bening (Virginia Hill), Harvey Keitel (Mickey Cohen), Ben Kingsley (Meyer Lansky), Elliott Gould (Harry Greenberg), Joe Mantegna (George Raft), Bebe Neuwirth (Countess di Frasso) and Bill Graham (Charlie Luciano).
Bugsy moves to California from New York and falls in love with Virginia Hill. Bugsy buys a house and plans on opening a casino in Vegas. Bugsy’s mob in New York approve of the idea and fund him $1 million. Bugsy puts Virginia in charge to have the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel built and the budget rises to $6 million. The casino fails initially and $2 million of the budget is unaccounted for.
11. 21
21 is a movie based on a true story that stars Jim Sturgess (Ben Campbell), Kevin Spacey (Prof. Micky Rosa), Kate Bosworth (Jill Taylor), Aaron Yoo (Choi), Liza Lapira (Kianna), Jacob Pitts (Jimmy Fisher), and Laurence Fishburne (Cole Williams). The movie is based on the book, Bringing Down The House.
Ben, a student at MIT is accepted into Harvard Med School but cannot afford the $300,000 tuition. Ben has a flashback while interviewing for the Robinson Scholarship about his encounter with professor Micky Rosa. Rosa was impressed by Ben’s answer to the Monty Hall problem. Later Rosa asks Ben to join his blackjack team in which they scheme card-counting techniques. They apply card-counting techniques in Las Vegas and make a killing. However, Cole Williams is on to their scheme and begins to chase after their card counters.
10. The Cooler
The Cooler stars William H. Macy (Bernie Lootz), Alec Baldwin (Shelly Kaplow), Maria Bello (Natalie Belisario), Shawn Hatosy (Mikey), and Ron Livingston (Larry Sokolov). Bernie is a lowlife that lives in a Las Vegas motel. Casino boss, Shelly Kaplow broke Bernie’s knee cap for not being able to pay his debt. Bernie works as a “cooler” and he falls in love with Natalie, a cocktail waitress. Shelly paid Natalie to seduce Bernie in staying around. But Natalie has actually fallen for Bernie too.
9. Ocean’s Thirteen
Ocean’s Thirteen is the third and supposedly the final of the Ocean’s series. Thirteen is a follow-up to Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve. The movie stars George Clooney (Danny Ocean), Brad Pitt (Rusty Ryan), Matt Damon (Linus Caldwell), Don Cheadle (Basher Tarr), Bernie Mac (Frank Catton), Casey Affleck (Virgil Malloy), Scott Caan (Turk Malloy), Shaobo Qin (The Amazing Yen), Carl Reiner (Saul Bloom), Eddie Jemison (Livingston Dell), Elliot Goul (Reuben Tishkoff), Eddie Izzard (Roman Nagel), Andy Garcia (Terry Benedict), Ellen Barkin (Abigail Spondor), and Al Pacino (Willy Bank).
Reuben and Willy are building a new hotel and casino together. Willy strongarms Reuben to turn over his share to him. Reuben has a heart attack on the spot. Danny Ocean and his gang vow to get revenge on Banks by preventing him from winning a Five Diamond Award.
8. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Austin Powers stars Mike Myers (Austin Powers and Dr. Evil), Elizabeth Hurley (Vanessa Kensington), and Seth Green (Scott Evil). Austin Powers is a parody of the early James Bond movies.
Austin Powers and his nemesis Dr. Evil fought in 1967. In one particular battle, Dr. Evil escapes in his Big Boy statue spaceship and freezes himself into the future. Austin Powers uses a time machine to go after him.
7. Midnight Run
Midnight Run stars Robert De Niro (Jack Walsh), Charles Grodin (Jonathan Mardukas), Dennis Farina (Jimmy Serrano), Yaphet Kotto (FBI Agent Alonzo Mosely), and John Ashton (Marvin Dorfler).
Jon Mardukas is an accountant that had embezzeled $15 million from mafia gangster Jimmy Serrano. Mardukas decides to hide out in New York, but Serrano hires Jack Walsh to scout him down and bring him back to L.A. before midnight on Friday.
6. Leaving Las Vegas
Leaving Las Vegas stars Nicolas Cage (Ben Sanderson) and Elisabeth Shue (Sera). Sanderson is a suicidal alcoholic that wants to drink himself to death. Sera is a prostitute who changes Ben’s life. The relationship between the two is rather awkward as they never have sex with each other throughout the movie (except until the end). Both are not allowed to criticize each other’s lifestyle as well.
5. Swingers
Swingers stars Jon Favreau (Mike Peters), Vince Vaughn (Trent Walker), and Ron Livington (Rob). Mike received a transplant recently and broke up with his girlfriend of 6 years. Trent takes Mike to an overnight trip to Vegas in order to get him back on his feet. Trent Mike meets a girl at a bar named Lorraine and they quickly fall in love.
4. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas stars Johnny Depp (Raoul Duke), Benicio Del Toro (Dr. Gonzo), Toby Maguire (Hitchhiker), Gary Busey (Highway Patrolman), and Christina Ricci (Lucy). Raoul and Dr. Gonzo drives to Vegas with a bag full of drugs. “We can’t stop here! This is bat country!” was one of the taglines of the movie. Duke was hallucinating and thinking that bats were flying all over the place.
The rest of the movie consists of random events such as Duke watching Gonzo transform into a demon. Duke also has flashbacks where he and Gonzo are smashing coconuts on a Cadillac. Duke tries to buy a monkey and Gonzo scares motorists by offering them “pure fucking smack.”
3. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Ocean’s Eleven is the remake of the movie that the Rat Pack starred in. Ocean’s Eleven stars George Clooney (Danny Ocean), Brad Pitt (Rusty Ryan), Matt Damon (Linus Caldwell), Don Cheadle (Basher Tarr), Bernie Mac (Frank Catton), Casey Affleck (Virgil Malloy), Scott Caan (Turk Malloy), Shaobo Qin (The Amazing Yen), Carl Reiner (Saul Bloom), Eddie Jemison (Livingston Dell), Elliot Goul (Reuben Tishkoff), Andy Garcia (Terry Benedict), and Julia Roberts (Tess Ocean).
Danny Ocean broke parole to go to Las Vegas and meet up with Rusty. The two of them work with Reuben and hire an all-star team to rob the vault at the Bellagio, The Mirage, and MGM Grand.
2. Rain Man
Rain Man stars Dustin Hoffman (Raymond Babbitt), Tom Cruise (Charlie Babbitt), and Valeria Golino (Susanna). Charlie is a car deal in L.A. in his mid-twenties. Charlie is in the process of importing 4 grey Lamborghinis when the EPA threatens to shut him down.
While Charlie was vacationing in Vegas, his father passes away. The $3 million inheritance is being sent to a mental institution for Charlie’s autistic brother, Raymond.
It turns out that Raymond is an expert at card counting and has a solid memory. Charlie takes Raymond to make some money in Vegas with his talents and eventually finds himself becoming closer to him.
1. Casino
Casino was directed by Martin Scorsese. Casino stars Robert De Niro, (Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein), Sharon Stone (Ginger McKenna), Joe Pesci (Nicky Santoro), and James Woods (Lester Diamond). Ace is a sports handicapper with the mob. Ace oversees the management at the Tangiers Hotel in Vegas. Ace was good at doubling profits using his experience in gambling. The mafia bosses send Nicky to protect Sam and his casino.
Sam falls in love with a girl named Ginger. Both get in a serious relationship, but Sam’s relationship with Nicky begins to deteriorate. Later on in the movie, Sam finds out that Ginger is secretly financing her pimp and gets more comfortable to Nicky. Then the shit really hits the fan.
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Comments
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Alex
November 15th, 2008 at 3:56 pmCall it a top 11, keep your top 10 throw in Bugsy and call it a day. The other movies on this list are shit. Especially Con Air, Showgirls and Vegas Vacation.
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asdf
November 15th, 2008 at 3:58 pmCasino deserves top spot for sure. good list
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Jimmty Watts
November 15th, 2008 at 4:35 pmWow dude you did pick some good ones.
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J
November 15th, 2008 at 6:28 pmWheres Smokin Aces? thats semi-vegas and that movie was badass
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RTL Staff
November 15th, 2008 at 7:29 pmGood one, J. I actually forgot that movie was filmed in Vegas.
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jon
November 15th, 2008 at 7:47 pmWhere is 3000 Miles To Graceland?
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Anonymous
November 15th, 2008 at 9:10 pmwhere the fuck did you learn to write?
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Matt
November 16th, 2008 at 7:35 amRevolver was a badass flick set in las vegas, whereas most of the other movies on there weren’t badass in the slightest. Good choice with Casino though, deserved the number one spot.
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Allan
November 16th, 2008 at 9:33 pmCome on, how can one not mention “3000 Miles to Graceland”? The opening Vegas scene is fantastic – the rest of the movie – not so much
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kimilykaye
November 17th, 2008 at 11:22 am21 was the worst – bits were good but it was sooo predictable that it didn’t pass the sleep test.
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Anonymous
November 17th, 2008 at 11:34 amor Honeymoon in Vegas?
interesting the number of films that involve Elvis and Nicholas Cage.
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Matthew
November 17th, 2008 at 2:21 pmTrent didn’t fall in love with Lorraine in Swingers, Mike did. And Mike didn’t receive a transplant; he simply moved from NYC to LA.
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BTG
December 18th, 2008 at 1:22 pmReally bad things was an absolute piece of shite
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Mister Maia
February 18th, 2009 at 12:21 pmMan, how couldn’t you put 3000 miles to Graceland and Rounders?
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Best Online Gambling Tips, Casinos, Poker, Bingo, Blackjack… » Blog Archive » Best Vegas movies
March 11th, 2009 at 2:49 am[...] little short on actual opinion, 21 of the Most Badass Films Set in Las Vegas made me curious as to which Las Vegas movies register most with their [...]
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starpokerbot.com » Blog Archive » Best Vegas movies
March 20th, 2009 at 9:03 am[...] little short on actual opinion, 21 of the Most Badass Films Set in Las Vegas made me curious as to which Las Vegas movies register most with their [...]
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abc
August 7th, 2009 at 2:33 pmThat has to be the WORST synopsis of “Swingers” EVER!!! Based on that description the movie should be banned from Earth. The movie is so much better than the 3 or 4 lame-ass sentences with which you bore us…
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Anonymous
November 6th, 2009 at 2:33 amI haven’t seen swingers yet but I’m guessing he was transferred and didn’t receive a transplant lol that made me laugh though.
