Filmmakers have always had a propensity to use the casino as a subject or at least a setting for their films. There is this sense that suave on-screen characters will thrive in this setting and you can build some very interesting plots around the environment. Casinos themselves love movies and use them to enhance their own services usually by offering games, slots or themes based on successful titles. There will always be some debate about which casino movies are the best of all time but here are two that might take some beating.
The casino movie for the cool cats
You cannot mention casino movies without giving Ocean’s Eleven its due accolades. This will always be known as one of the best movies of its type and it has everything an audience could ask for. There are great characters, played by some of the best-known actors; there is the suspense and also that wonderful feeling of beating the house.
The film is centred on a group of criminals, led by Danny Ocean (George Clooney), as he attempts to pull off a heist of huge proportions. The idea is to rob three casinos all at once using a skilled group of reprobates. The group are financed by former casino owner Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) who wants to get back at his old rival Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), the owner of the three casinos in question.
The group consists of a con man, a pickpocket, a pair of gifted mechanics, an electronics and surveillance expert, an elderly con man, an explosives expert and a gymnast for good measure. The heist is pulled off with dramatic effect and with full Clooney charm to produce a clever, exciting and surprising casino movie offering as well as being a box office hit.
On the flip side, real-life casinos love making games based on movies and casinos like Betway, which can be found through a number of online casino websites reviews sites, have an online slot game based on the popular Christopher Nolan-directed Dark Knight Batman movie. They also offer new customers a 100% deposit bonus when they join as an extra incentive to enjoy their movie-based offerings. The reason that movie-based casino games are so popular with the casinos is that they understand customers will enjoy playing games that have themes people are familiar with and can relate to on a cultural basis.
The casino movie for all time
Probably the quintessential casino movie is The Sting, which sees Robert Redford and Paul Newman team up as Johnny Hooker and Henry Gondorff to con big-time criminal Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw) out of a fortune in revenge for his part in the murder of Hooker’s old grifting partner Luther Coleman (Robert Earl Jones). The film sees the pair set up an elaborate plot using all their con man skills to pull of the “big con” leaving the pair rich and finally able to retire from the game. In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
The two films are not quite the same but revolve around a similar theme and again The Sting was a huge box office success when it was released in 1973-74 grossing $160m, which amounts to $800m today when adjusted for inflation and won seven Academy Awards.
So there are two of the greats but the casino movie will no doubt continue to thrive, as will the movie-themed casino game; a match made in heaven.