British filmmakers have not steered away from gambling, and reasonably so. Las Vegas commands admiration, but British filmmakers have created an entertaining series of gambling movies that have fascinated the audience all around the world. Some of the most famous casino games are based on movies as well. You can see your favourite actors playing casino games in these movies. It makes the games more fun and enjoyable. On the other hand, many online casinos feature free slot games that have characters from the movies.
Let us turn our focus to some of the highly-rated casino movies in the UK.
Funny Man (1994)
- A departure from the usual high-stakes live casino games we've discussed in this article before, Funny Man is a horror-comedy where high stakes are something completely new. Here the central character is Max Taylor (played by Benny Young), who plays a poker game against a mysterious man, Callum Chance (played by Christopher Lee) and as such wins the title of his old haunted mansion.
- Cue Max then welcomes his lively family and friends to the home, only to get swept up in the stalk and slash that the creature of the title, Funny Man had prepared.
- It is dumb, it is strange, it is full of kitsch and colour, but if you are into this kind of stuff, it is a pleasant movie. If you think of Evil Dead, you will get an idea of the silence and laughter involved.
Lock, Stock, Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
- Nobody can undermine the talents of Guy Ritchie in the action genre. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels is one of his wonderful creations. This movie is written and directed by Guy Ritchie and features Nick Moran, Dexter Fletcher, Jason Statham, and Jason Flemyng.
- As four guys find themselves heavily indebted to a rugged East End man in London, it is time to take things into their own hands. Unfortunately, they manipulated a card game and unleashed the fury of the underworld of London.
- In a vain attempt to fix their wrongs, they came across another scheme. They planned to go after a gang of novice drug smugglers to snatch the loot for themselves.
- As the iconic title suggests, the film is about a pair of smoking barrels – finely made antique double-barrel shotguns.
- Unfortunately, these firearms go missing, eventually leading to some fairly insane events in the film. There is a lot of blood, intestines and drugs involved in this gambling-themed movie. Hence it is not for the faint-hearted.
Croupier (1999)
- A lustful drama, Croupier was a film that put Clive Owen squarely in the eyes of the US audience as a guy to behold. The film was released in 1999 and is looking at a rating of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, which is no small feat.
- Clive plays Jack Manfred, a man who is struggling to make it as a novelist, takes on a new job as a croupier in a fancy casino to make the ends meet. The film centres around the croupiers, employed at the casino, as well as the clients, and the intricate relationship between the two – purely against casino policy. Of course, there is a cheat at stake, is Jack going to get involved and get mixed up in the sleaziness? Find out for yourself.
Snatch (2000)
Guy Ritchie works his magic once again. In Snatch, fans are served in a play-themed movie. Featuring Hollywood heavyweights Benicia del Toro, Brad Pitt, and Jason Statham, this critically acclaimed movie is one of Britain's best-ever gambling movies. If nothing else, it is worth listening to Brad Pitt's pikey accent and his bizarre mannerisms as he takes on a threatening group of gangsters in this video. Winner of four awards and six nominations, Snatch is as exciting as one might think.
Revolver (2005)
Revolver is another marvel from Guy Ritchie's collection. The film follows the same concept and setup as Lock, Stock, and Two Burning Barrels and Snatch. It features Statham for the third time, but the film itself isn't as good as the first two. Some people have put this down to Guy's friendship with Madonna upsetting his artistic process, although it may sound like it is almost a ludicrous reason. It still is a good adventure, particularly if you liked his other flicks.
The movie revolves around gambling, playing cards at the core, but essentially every game in the game of life. Jason Statham is our card guy who winds up in jail and learns "The Formula." On the other hand, Macha, Ray Liotta, assumes a manager role in gambling operations. This film goes a bit darker than Ritchie's earlier work – even to its detriment. Watch it and judge it for yourself.
Casino Royale (2006)
- Released in 1953, Casino Royale was the very first Bond novel by Ian Fleming. Considering the 53 years between the novel and the film, the adaptation of the big screen is fairly faithful to the original plot. Except for Baccarat making way for more trendy Texas Hold'em, it is pretty much all there, down to the iconic gruesome torture sequence.
- The gambling scenes at Casino Royale are serious. Even audiences who are not poker experts can watch the game and taste the despair. Bond and Le Chiffre battle it out on the green felt, without any disguises. In the old movies, you'd see 007 use some sly trickery to draw the most out of his opponent. It is all down to the last card at Casino Royale.
- Casino Royale is the origin story of James Bond's. Even though the first version of the movie was released back in 1967, this Peter Sellers movie was never part of the official canon, being nearer to Pink Panther than Bond.
- The production company Columbia Pictures used its chance well in 2007. They reverted to their origins to reinvent the character and world of international espionage. Whereas Brosnan's Bond was fun and boyish, Daniel Craig's extreme, cold-blooded and brooding hard-god closely resembles Fleming's depiction of Her Majesty's hired gun.
- The Bond franchise was successfully rebooted with Daniel Craig as the British super-spy, in a storyline that has him up against a controversial gun dealer in a high-risk Poker game. Somehow Bond persuades his bosses to stump a huge $10 million buy-in with taxpayers' funds.
Far edgier than Brosnan's 007, here Craig makes you want to wear a tuxedo and go down to Montenegro or St Tropez for poker, blackjack, or a wide variety of other online casino games. It makes up for exciting television, and one that casino game players are going to enjoy.