Best Casino Movies
Ranked by how strongly each film carries the visual signature of casino cinema — measured across 1,449 indexed frames from 24 films, against a 408,752-frame catalogue baseline. Not by box office, and not by vote.
Casino films over-index on tuxedo, neon sign and cigarette — the objects that make the genre recognisable before a line is spoken.
- 1
Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)
Steven SoderberghDP Steven SoderberghIMDb 6.9TMDB 6.7See in full on FrameThrower →
The last time we saw Danny Ocean's crew, they were paying back ruthless casino mogul Terry Benedict after stealing millions from him. However, it's been a while since they've come back together, which is all about to change. When one of their own, Reuben Tishkoff, builds a hotel with another casino owner, Willy Bank, the last thing he ever wanted was to get cut out of the deal personally by the loathsome Bank. Bank's attitude even goes so far as to finding the amusement in Tishkoff's misfortune when the double crossing lands Reuben in the hospital because of a heart attack. However, Danny and his crew won't stand for Bank and what he's done to a friend. Uniting with their old enemy Benedict, who himself has a vendetta against Bank, the crew is out to pull off a major plan; one that will unfold on the night Bank's newest hot spot opens up. They're not in this for the money, but for the revenge.
- 2
Casino (1995)
Martin ScorseseDP Robert RichardsonIMDb 8.2TMDB 8.0See in full on FrameThrower →
This Martin Scorsese film depicts the Janus-like quality of Las Vegas--it has a glittering, glamorous face, as well as a brutal, cruel one. Ace Rothstein and Nicky Santoro, mobsters who move to Las Vegas to make their mark, live and work in this paradoxical world. Seen through their eyes, each as a foil to the other, the details of mob involvement in the casinos of the 1970s and '80s are revealed. Ace is the smooth operator of the Tangiers casino, while Nicky is his boyhood friend and tough strongman, robbing and shaking down the locals. However, they each have a tragic flaw--Ace falls in love with a hustler, Ginger, and Nicky falls into an ever-deepening spiral of drugs and violence.
- 3
Hard Eight (1996)
Paul Thomas AndersonDP Robert ElswitIMDb 7.1TMDB 6.8See in full on FrameThrower →
John has lost all his money. He sits outside a diner in the desert when Sydney happens along, buys him coffee, then takes him to Reno and shows him how to get a free room without losing much money. Under Sydney's fatherly tutelage, John becomes a successful small-time professional gambler, and all is well, until he falls for Clementine, a cocktail waitress and sometimes hooker.
- 4
Terry GilliamDP Nicola PecoriniIMDb 7.5TMDB 7.2See in full on FrameThrower →
Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo drive a red convertible across the Mojave desert to Las Vegas with a suitcase full of drugs to cover a motorcycle race. As their consumption of drugs increases at an alarming rate, the stoned duo trash their hotel room and fear legal repercussions. Duke begins to drive back to L.A., but after an odd run-in with a cop, he returns to Sin City and continues his wild drug binge.
- 5
Casino Royale (2006)
Martin CampbellDP Phil MeheuxIMDb 8.0TMDB 7.6See in full on FrameThrower →
James Bond (Daniel Craig) goes on his first mission as a 00. Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) is a banker to the world's terrorists. He is participating in a poker game at Montenegro, where he must win back his money, in order to stay safe amongst the terrorist market. The boss of MI6, known simply as "M" (Dame Judi Dench) sends Bond, along with Vesper Lynd Eva Green) to attend this game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. Bond, using help from Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), Rene Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini), and having Vesper pose as his partner, enters the most important poker game in his already dangerous career. But if Bond defeats Le Chiffre, will he and Vesper Lynd remain safe?
- 6
Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)
Drew GoddardDP Seamus McGarveyIMDb 7.1TMDB 6.8See in full on FrameThrower →
Jeff Bridgesas Father Daniel Flynn / Dock O'Kelly
Cynthia Erivoas Darlene Sweet
Lewis Pullmanas Miles Miller
Six strangers, (Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cailee Spaeny and Lewis Pullman) each with their own secrets, meet at the El Royale hotel of Lake Tahoe. Taking place over one night, alliances are made and secrets are revealed.
- 7
Mississippi Grind (2015)
Ryan Fleck, Anna BodenDP Andrij ParekhIMDb 6.4TMDB 6.0See in full on FrameThrower →
Gerry is a talented but down-on-his-luck gambler whose fortunes begin to change when he meets Curtis, a younger, highly charismatic poker player. The two strike up an immediate friendship and Gerry quickly persuades his new friend to accompany him on a road trip to a legendary high stakes poker game in New Orleans. As they make their way down the Mississippi River, Gerry and Curtis manage to find themselves in just about every bar, racetrack, casino, and pool hall they can find, experiencing both incredible highs and dispiriting lows, but ultimately forging a deep and genuine bond that will stay with them long after their adventure is over.
- 8
Snake Eyes (1998)
Brian De PalmaDP Stephen H. BurumIMDb 6.1TMDB 6.2See in full on FrameThrower →
Ricky Santoro is a flamboyant and corrupt Atlantic City cop with a dream: become so well connected that he can become mayor. In lieu of that, he'll settle for keeping his comfortable lifestyle. On the night of the heavyweight boxing championship, Rick becomes mixed up in the assassination of the Secretary of Defense, an assassination involving his best friend. Becoming the investigating officer in the case, Rick soon uncovers a conspiracy to kill the Secretary and a mysterious woman in white. The conspiracy was shocking, but not half as shocking as the identity of its mastermind.
- 9
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Mike FiggisDP Declan QuinnIMDb 7.5TMDB 7.2See in full on FrameThrower →
Because his wife left him and took his son with her, screenwriter Ben Sanderson has started drinking, a lot. He's getting more and more isolated and he troubles women in bars because he wants to have sex with them. When he gets fired, he decides to leave everything behind and move to Las Vegas and drink himself to death. In Las Vegas he meets Sera, a prostitute with some problems as well who he moves in with.
- 10
Dr. No (1962)
Terence YoungDP Ted MooreIMDb 7.2TMDB 7.0See in full on FrameThrower →
James Bond 007 is Britain's top agent, and is on an exciting mission, to solve the mysterious murder of a fellow agent. The task sends him to Jamaica, where he joins forces with Quarrel and a loyal C.I.A. Agent, Felix Leiter. While dodging tarantulas, "fire breathing dragons", and a trio of assassins, known as "the three blind mice". Bond meets up with the beautiful Honey Ryder and goes face to face with the evil Dr. No.
What casino films are made of
How much more often each element appears in a casino frame than in an average frame from the catalogue. A ratio, not a share — tuxedo is not in most frames, it is simply far more common here than anywhere else.
- tuxedo5.7×
- neon sign4.3×
- cigarette3.6×
- dress shirt3.6×
- blazer3.0×
- suit jacket2.7×
- suit2.3×
- sunglasses2.3×
How casino films are shot
Weaker signals than the objects above, and worth saying so: most dramatic genres skew dark and night-heavy, so these numbers separate casino from the catalogue far more than they separate it from its neighbours.
- 29%dayvs 42% baseline
- 31%naturalvs 43% baseline
- 58%nightvs 43% baseline
- 50%low keyvs 40% baseline
- 84%eye levelvs 69% baseline
What breaks the pattern
The Card Counter (2021) is the least typical film here — it carries the least of what the rest of this list is made of. Which is either a failure of the genre label, or the most interesting film on the page.
Method
Every frame in the FrameThrower catalogue is tagged for shot size, lighting, time of day, camera angle, colour and the objects visible in it. This page aggregates those tags across 1,449 frames from 24 films carrying the casino label, and compares each figure to the same measurement across the whole catalogue (408,752 frames). Films are ranked by how closely they match the theme’s over-indexed elements, weighted by how distinctive each element is; one film per series. Only films with at least 20 indexed frames and 500 TMDB votes are listed.
Machine-readable: /api/list/casino
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