by Connor Ablett
Luxurious outfits, cool haircuts and money, money and more money were the main elements of this era, and movies reflected exactly that. However, the film industry was booming then and we now have thousands of great and trashy movies. Among them there were some great 80s movies about casinos that are worth watching even today.
Rain Man (1988)
Rain Man is one of the classics of the 80s. This movie even managed to pick up the Best Picture award at the Academy Awards in its release year. However, this movie isn’t often remembered for its casino plot in the story. This is due to an amazing performance and charisma of the lead actors – Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. And even though the movie is not remembered for the casino, it still is the best casino movie of the decade.
This is because the lead character played by Dustin Hoffman is autistic and he has a gift of counting cards for poker. His brother, Tom Cruise, plans on using his gifts in order to win huge amounts of money and they manage to create a close relationship along the way. And if you’d like to try your skill of counting cards, you can play a few games online and check out recent mobile casinos that have poker and other table games.
The Color of Money (1986)
The 80s were huge for Tom Cruise and he was in yet another casino movie of the decade. In The Color of Money, Tom Cruise is gambling at the pool table with Paul Newman. The two characters play in a pool competition on the road and eventually end up in Atlantic City where they have to play against professionals.
Casino Raiders (1989)
Hong Kong has a lot to contribute to the action cinema industry and they have proven that with this amazing movie Casino Raiders. In the movie, two best friends are main characters and the movie is set in Hong Kong. They are both professional gamblers and are sent to Lake Tahoe casino to help a man named Lung. The movie is high in tension and action where these two have to use high-tech tools in order to cheat the casino and win large sums of money.
Ace (1981)
This is a classic from Italy and this comedy tells us a story of Asso. He was the best poker player in town, but he gets killed on his wedding night by one sore loser. Then we get to see his afterlife and what happens when he gambles in Heaven for a chance to come back to Earth as a ghost to find a man for his wife.
House of Games (1987)
For all of you who love thrillers, House of Games will be a good movie to watch. This film features a psychiatrist who finds herself in a world of gambling. This all starts when one her patients threatens to commit suicide and he finds out the source of his anxiety which happens to be the bookie Mike. Once she discovers that Mike is actually a conman, things get dangerous.
The Big Town (1987)
In this great movie Matt Dillion is a star as J.C. Cullen, who is an Iowa farm boy. Then he becomes a pro craps player in Chicago and falls in love with the wrong woman. Suzy Amis is a wife of a gangster, played by Tommy Lee Jones and the movie is packed with thrills and action with a great story.
Everyone loves a great action movie with various twists and turns, and casino movies from the 80s certainly offer such a thrill. So, if you haven’t seen some of these movies or you’d like to see how life was in this era, give these great movies a shot.
