As well as being home to the gambling capital of the world, Las Vegas, the state of Nevada is also a beautiful area of open desert land that makes it ideal as a location for a number of different movies. Las Vegas and the wider Nevada area have been used as stunning backdrops in a number of well known movies, here we take a look at just a few of them.
The Hangover
The first instalment of (what has affectionately become known as) the Wolfpack Trilogy, the Hangover was released in 2009, and sees groom-to-be Doug go missing on his bachelor party in Vegas, and it’s up to his friends to find him again. Director, Todd Phillips was certain to show off the very best sights of Las Vegas and the wider Nevada area. A lot of the action takes place in, or around, Caesar’s Palace, where the main characters are staying. This includes a final showdown on the casino floor, where Alan (played by Zach Galifianakis) enlists the help of a blackjack guide to win $82,000 by counting cards.
Top Gun
Now 30 years old and highly regarded as an American classic, Top Gun tells the story of Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (played by Tom Cruise) who is given the chance to train at the Navy’s Fighter Weapons School. Much of the movie was filmed at the Fallon US Naval Air Station in Nevada and film shows off some of the most beautiful scenery from the Nevada skies.
Diamonds Are Forever
A failed contract negotiation after ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ meant that George Lazenby bowed out of the James Bond role after just one movie. The producers managed to tempt Sean Connery back into the role for one more official outing. The majority of the plot takes place in Las Vegas, and although most of the interiors were shot in Pinewood, all of the exteriors were shot in the real location, including the iconic Mustang car chase down the Las Vegas strip. The open desert land of Nevada was also used as the location for the research laboratory which Bond escapes in a moon buggy.
Iron Man
14 movies have been released as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Phase 3 well underway and Spider-Man: Homecoming sure out in summer 2017. Iron Man, in 2008, was the film that really kick-started it all and Jon Favreau (who directed and starred as Happy Hogan) was the man who made it all possible. The film focuses on the origin of how billionaire Tony Stark (portrayed by Robert Downey Jr) becomes Iron Man. Although extensively set in New York, the film does have an extended sequence in Nevada, Tony is set to attend an award presentation at Caesar’s Palace, which he inadvertently misses.
