It’s Academy Awards season, so here are the best movies set or filmed in Las Vegas, according to the City Cast Las Vegas team.
‘Mars Attacks’ (1996)
🎬 Sonja Cho Swanson | Executive Producer, City Cast Las Vegas Podcast
“There are a lot of contenders, but Tim Burton’s ‘Mars Attacks' has a special spot in my heart — it’s a zany sci-fi flick and actually incorporates footage of the real live implosion of the Landmark Hotel. What’s more Vegas than that?”
‘Showgirls’ (1995)
🎬 Dayvid Figler | Co-Host, City Cast Las Vegas
“The much maligned, but also camp classic is in many ways a perfect film. It focuses on a visitor who immediately reaches for the big time and incidentally hooks up with Vegas locals for an arc doomed to end on a hitchhike outta town. In between, we get some of the best location shots and hyperbolic Vegas life (almost all from the lens of someone who has probably never been off the Strip) all in service of a comical, decadent, and generally horrifically excellent bad film about a journey through an amusing version of our city.”
‘Lost Highway’ (1997)
🎬 Sarah Lohman | Co-Host, City Cast Las Vegas
“'Lost Highway' was filmed all over Southern Nevada, Death Valley, and Amargosa and had major desert horror vibes.” For additional David Lynch desert goodness, Sarah recommends the show “Twin Peaks: The Return," “Set in Vegas — although it was actually filmed in L.A. & at the Morongo Casino (I think), it's still got some major Vegas vibes.”
Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s “Casino." (Universal Pictures/ Getty Images)
‘Casino’ (1995)
🎬 Rob Kachelriess | Editor, Hey Las Vegas
“Whether it's real life or in the movies, Vegas works best when there's a criminal element involved. So, of course I have to go with Martin Scorsese's ‘Casino.' The 2001 version of ‘Ocean's Eleven’ is a close second. I love a heist movie, especially when it's set in Vegas.”
The Hangover (2009)
🎬 Layla Muhammad | Producer, City Cast Las Vegas
“I'd be remiss to not mention ‘The Hangover." Watching that as a kid who grew up in Vegas was eye opening to how the world perceived Las Vegas. Not to mention it is just such a successful comedy despite the plot being the typical Vegas shenanigans.”
Justice for Pam! (Denise Truscello/Getty Images)
‘The Last Showgirl’ (2024)
🎬 Adrian González | Editor, City Cast
There are so many to choose from, but because it’s fresh in my mind, I have to give Pamela Anderson her flowers for her performance in “The Last Showgirl." The movie itself is ok, but Anderson’s performance is something special. Shame on The Academy for not giving her a nomination, but she’s a winner in my heart. Our very own Dayvid Figler reviewed this film and its myths of “authentic” Las Vegas.
