Downtown Locations Include:
Strip & Beyond Locations Include:
5.8 Min Read
Step into the dazzling realm where the Vegas lights meet the magic of the silver screen. While the 24/7 heartbeat of the city’s casinos has limited the number of films shot here, the Nevada Film Office has helped facilitate and offer hundreds of locations.
In this guide, we have a curated list of must-visit locations for the ultimate Vegas movie buff. Embark on a cinematic journey—have you experienced them all?
Downtown Vegas
The Plaza (Oscar’s Steakhouse)
There is no better way to start a Las Vegas movie scavenger hunt than with the iconic movie Casino. In fact, there are so many Las Vegas locations in this movie that one could have a multi-day affair to go to all of them.
In the movie, Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone have a tense confrontation at what is now Oscar’s Steakhouse inside The Plaza. Oscar’s is named for former long-time Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.
The Fremont Hotel
Baby, you will be ‘so money’ if you visit The Fremont Hotel, where many of the interior casino scenes of Swingers with Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau were filmed.
Circa (exterior)
For your first obscure stop, walk under the Fremont Street Experience from the Four Queens past Circa, and you will be in the place of the movie-watchers’ point of view for an early scene in the movie King Ralph.
Before John Goodman became a king, the makers of the film wanted the viewer to know that Goodman’s lounge singer character worked right near adult establishments such as the Glitter Gulch – one of the structures that the upscale Circa replaced.
The Bungalows Hostel (Strip location)
Like we said, there were going to be some obscure ones. That is true for the next stop. In The Hangover, a false front was constructed on the north side of what was then Hostel Cat (now The Bungalows Hostel), a hostel, to create “The Best Little Chapel.”
Piero’s Italian Cuisine
Ok, we had to include a location from Casino a second time. In the movie, Joe Pesci’s The Leaning Tower restaurant is Piero’s Italian Cuisine restaurant. Today, Piero’s looks and feels like an old-school mobster hangout like it was depicted in the movie.
Las Vegas Strip & Beyond
Resorts World Las Vegas (exterior)
Resorts World is located on the former site of The Stardust. Most of the interior Las Vegas filming for probably the most important film on the scavenger hunt (cough cough) was done for Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas. Don’t look for the wedding location as it was filmed in LA.
Wynn Las Vegas and Encore (craps table)
The Red Dragon Hotel & Casino in Rush Hour 2 was actually The Desert Inn. The Desert Inn closed in 2001, and before it was demolished, movie producers turned it into the fictional casino shown in the film. The site of The Desert Inn is now where Wynn Las Vegas and Encore currently stand.
Since Chris Tucker was on a hot streak of craps in the movie, head to the craps table to check this one off your list.
The Mirage/Hard Rock (front desk)
Chevy Chase takes his family on a Vegas Vacation to The Mirage (future Hard Rock). The front desk, where they check in (and get complicated directions), has a large fish tank behind it and is one of Vegas’s most iconic landmarks.
Check out the full history of the Mirage before it becomes the new Hard Rock.
Bellagio (Picasso restaurant)
Ocean’s Eleven famously took place in Las Vegas – primarily at Bellagio. In the movie, Andy Garica and Julia Roberts dine at Picasso – located down the escalator from the entrance to the Via Bellagio Shops.
The Horseshoe (pool)
Nicholas Cage, Sarah Jessica Parker, and James Caan starred in Honeymoon in Vegas, mainly at Bally’s Las Vegas, including its casino, hotel, and pool. Bally’s Las Vegas has since been renovated and re-branded to The Horseshoe.
Virgin Hotels (exterior)
Nicholas Cage is on the list again with Con Air. The end of the movie famously had the airplane striking the famous guitar at the Hard Rock. Hard Rock Las Vegas has since been sold, renovated, and re-branded to Virgin Hotels.
Since the guitar is no longer there… it was destroyed in the movie, after all, you can just stand on the Harmon Avenue side of the building and imagine where it used to be.
Caesars’ Palace and Caesars’ Forum Shops
Versace store
The not-so-PG early 90s box office flop Showgirls was filmed at a handful of Vegas locations. Our choice for the scavenger hunt location is the Versace store at Caesars’ Palace Forum Shops.
This location was the scene that was the genesis of the movie’s best line, where Elizabeth Berkley first saw the Versace dress that she would ultimately wear and mispronounce.
Casino blackjack tables
Before the kids from the movie 21 brought down the house in Vegas, Dustin Hoffman made a nice tidy profit playing blackjack on the Vegas Strip at the blackjack tables at Caesars Palace in Rain Man.
As a bonus, when you watch the blackjack scene, you can see how much Caesars’ Palace changed between Rain Man, which came out in 1988, The Hangover, which came out in 2009, and The Big Short, which came out in 2015 – all of which were filmed at Caesars’ Palace.
Mandalay Bay (Michelob Ultra Arena)
Sylvester Stallone emerged from his fictional boxing retirement to fight real-life professional fighter Antonio Tarver in Rocky Balboa. The fight takes place at the arena inside Mandalay Bay – the location of many great real Vegas fights.
Las Vegas Harley-Davidson (Strip location)
A bonus very obscure location on the scavenger hunt is another site in Vegas Vacation where Chevy Chase plays and is not so lucky at eccentric casino games. The scenes took place at The Klondike. The Klondike was torn down over a decade ago and replaced with the Las Vegas Harley-Davidson dealership.
Red Rock Casino & Resort (casino entrance)
If you want to see where the kids in the movie 21 made their first big blackjack win in Las Vegas, head to Red Rock in Summerlin. The main casino entrance has a fountain and fire feature.
In the movie, the fire feature was enhanced for visual effects. Hopefully, you will be as lucky as they were in the film.
