Description
Book SynopsisSin and redemption. The ridiculous and the sublime. The carnivalesque excess of the Strip and the barrenness of the desert surrounding the city. Visited by millions of fortune seekers – and starry-eyed lovers – each year, Las Vegas is a city with as many apparent contradictions as Elvis impersonators and this complexity is reflected in the diversity of films that have been shot on location there.
A copiously illustrated retrospective of Vegas's appearances on the big screen, this new volume in Intellect's World Film Locations series presents synopses of scenes from a broad selection of films – from big-budget blockbusters like Oceans Eleven to acclaimed classics Rain Man, Casino and The Godfather to cult favourites like Showgirls and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Insightful essays throughout explore a range of topics, including the Rat Pack's Las Vegas, the cinematised Strip, Las Vegas as a frequent backdrop for science fiction and the various film portrayals of iconic pop-cultural figures like Elvis and Frank Sinatra. Rounding out this information are film stills juxtaposed with photographs of the locations as they appear today.
Table of ContentsMaps/Scenes
Scenes 1-8 – 1957-1980
Scenes 9-16 – 1982-1988
Scenes 17-24 – 1988-1995
Scenes 25-32 – 1995-1998
Scenes 33-29 – 1999-2005
Scenes 40-46 – 2007-2010
Essays
Las Vegas: City of the Imagination – David Sterritt
Pack Mentality: The Vegas of the Original Ocean’s Eleven – Walter Raubicheck
Fear and Loathing: Las Vegas and the Cinema of American Excess – Mike King
Dream Machine: Las Vegas as Mythical Destination – Oana Chivoiu
Electric Dreams: Lighting Up The Strip Sydney Pollack Style – Carol Cling
Strings Attached: Las Vegas in Science Fiction ‘B’ Movies – Henri-Simon Blanc-Hoàng
Beyond the Strip: Life and Culture on the Outer Limits of ‘Sin City’ – David Dickens
