It’s Time For Another Round of Vegas Movies in the Flesh
Did your last Vegas vacation spur from watching an awesome movie scene? You're not alone! Galavantier's "Vegas Movies In Real Life" series is kicking off again for another installment of amazing Vegas movie scenes and where you can go live out your part when you're in town...
Austin Powers
Oh, behave, dear readers. The International Man of Mystery we all know and love definitely had some roots set in Vegas when the first Austin Powers movie came out in 1997 (jeez - that long ago?). If you recall the opening scenes with Austin barreling down a desert road in his signature "Shaguar" you'll know right off the bat that this is Nevada. We'd recognize that desert anywhere. More specifically, this region is the Valley of Fire National Park and one of the country's most gorgeous and geologically unique areas that you can easily explore (also used to film alien planet scenes in Star Trek). About 50 minutes outside of the city, Valley of Fire offers campgrounds, hikes, and plenty of excursions that we can help you out with. If you'd care to visit Alotta Fagina's penthouse while you're on the Vegas Strip, just take a look at The LINQ Hotel & Casino and know that once upon a time it was Imperial Palace and the exterior of Alotta's home in that hilarious hot tub scene. Other casinos Austin filmed scenes include The Riviera and The Stardust, which has evolved into The Cromwell, but don't forget that classic scene where Burt Bacharach plays piano on a double decker driving down The Strip. The second they start offering that VIP experience, we'll be all over it.
Mars Attacks!
Do you remember how many famous actors were even in this movie? It's insane. And especially surprising when you see how many critically-acclaimed names were in this movie that only pulled in 2.5 to 3 stars. It's crap, but it's hilarious crap. Let's move on. How about those explosions?! When those pesky martians land on Earth (and where else than in the bizarre, desolate Nevada desert) the animosity hits and the attack begins. We get to see the iconic Luxor Hotel as an epic backdrop to some human-zapping and laser-beaming. The destruction of the fictional 'Galaxy Hotel' is actually The Landmark Hotel, a smaller property of Howard Hughes' that opened in 1969 and closed in 1990. One of the benefits of our city's building turnover rates is that we get to use our sweet implosions to help make movies, as in the case of Mars Attacks! The Landmark Hotel kept its electrical wiring and lights intact and on during the implosion to add to the pyrotechnics rigged at the base to help simulate an alien attack on the base before it collapsed. Pretty neat stuff, eh? Buildings that hosted famed performers like Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Liberace, Pat Cooper, and Phyllis Diller should go out with an immortalized bang like this.
Last Vegas
Last Vegas could be viewed as one gigantic ad for Aria Resort & Casino, but there's a lot of good stories behind all the other spots the movie had to film during their Vegas shoot, which only lasted a quick 10 days. The top of the Stratosphere was used in an exciting scene to dangle Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline off the edge and 866 feet above the ground, but only if director Jon Turteltaub would do it too. You can certainly get all those thrills by visiting the Stratosphere's top and enjoying the rides, bar and views anytime. You can't un-see RedFoo's colorful Speedo being thrust into De Niro's face when they end up judging a bikini contest at Aria's pool, and Liquid is waiting for the party to start every summer. If you wanted to recreate their nightclub scene at Haze Nightclub, you're in for two bits of bad news. First, they had a custom-built duplicate of the entire club created in Atlanta, down to the blueprints as it was less expensive for filming. Secondly, the real Haze Nightclub has since closed. Sad face. But, you'll rest easy knowing that epic clubs are always around and a replacement for Haze will surely arrive soon. There are even more Vegas scenes filmed at Binion's, the Neon Museum, Fremont Street, the New York New York's Brooklyn Bridge, McCarran airport and more, so this movie is legit jam-packed with Vegas scenery.
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
Abracadabra - you're in Vegas! Okay, so magic isn't really that easy, as shown in last year's movie The Incredible Burt Wonderstone with Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wild and Jim Carrey. It's the wild world of professional magic and Vegas is where real-life people who practice professionally really do make their home, so it's an obvious set. Wonderstone and Marvelton (Carell & Buscemi) host their residency show at Bally's, specifically in the Jubilee Theater, which they revamped to appear as 'The Burt & Anton Theater.' It tickled me to know that James Gandolfini researched his role as Bally's president by talking with former Mirage president Felix Rappaport, whom I had worked with as well, and can now totally see how Gandolfini implemented his learnings. When we move to the street-magician side of things with Carey's character, he was featured more in a Downtown Vegas setting. Director Don Scardino said Carell was filmed on the Strip because he believed his character is "a creature of the Strip," while Carey was filmed in and around Fremont Street, where his character felt more at home. There's even a little bit of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop from Pawn Stars as a cherry on top of this tribute to Vegas magic. Get your magic fix from any street performer you find, but take time to go to the big leagues with David Copperfield, Illusions starring Jan Rouven, or Nathan Burton's Comedy Magic.
