Poll : 07 October - 19 October 2009

Analysis

This was a fun one, with some very amusing feedback and a host of other valid suggestions, which we’ll share below.

It was neck and neck between Mars Attacks and Showgirls from the get-go, but the star-studded and universally-panned sci-fi flick was the leader by a nose for the duration. Not that Showgirls wasn’t capable of giving it a good run for its money. As LVA Stiffs & Georges blogger David McKee so eloquently put it when he cast his vote, Showgirls, without a doubt. The big mystery is why Boyd Gaming not only allowed this to be filmed at the Stardust but permitted the Stardust's name to be promiscuously used throughout the film, especially when the script depicts Stardust execs as two-faced, conniving, venal, and rapacious (and that's just for openers). Did Boyd even read the script? They really let themselves be dragged through the mud."

"My choice for worst gambling movie is Fever Pitch," comments Anthony Curtis. "This 1985 stinker, starring Ryan O'Neal and Catherine Hicks and directed by Richard Brooks, pulled out every gambling cliché in the book and none of them worked in the film (I even thought Bob Stupak showed up, but I can't find confirmation). It was apparently nominated for four Razzies, including worst picture. I can't imagine how it lost."

Here’s what you had to say:

• "You forgot 21."
• The worst Vegas movie of all time was a movie called Lucky You, starring Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore. I saw it on a plane ride and I still regret it. [Ed: Oh, yes, you’re right! We saw this poker flick too and it should definitely have been on the list. It was so bad, we’d banished it from our consciousness.]
• Play it to the Bone and Get Carter are a dead heat for the worst." [Ed: As a Brit, the current writer was appalled that anyone would attempt a remake of the classic Get Carter, (substitute Sylvester Stallone for Michael Caine??!! I don't think so) and then even more appalled when it turned out not to be a remake at all, but a totally new -- and terrible -- film that merely sullied the name of the original.]
• "Casino.
• "My vote: All In (2006). Rented it for a flight from Detroit to Vegas from Netflix (did a search for "Las Vegas" for movies to get us psyched). Watched about 15 minutes. Terrible! Looked like it was taped by my uncle with a Beta cam-corder. Louis Gossett Jr. and Micheal Madsen should have their a$$es kicked for acting in this movie. Looking at the back of the chair in front of me and reading Skymall was a better choice than this movie."
• "I selected Showgirls over all the others due to its lofty goals. It’s been said that the filmmakers thought they were making the most erotic film ever and instead made a film that made you consider never having sex again. The hilarious badness it achieved with a huge budget, possibly higher than any other film listed, must give it precedence over a low budget attempt that didn't have a lot to work with."
• "My all-time worst Vegas movie was Heat, starring Burt Reynolds. This movie was awful. It was filmed at the Sands and other Vegas locations. But it was horrible to watch on video - don't think it made it on TV or anywhere - so it didn't even make the list on your poll - but it was horrible!!"
• The horrrible Bette Midler "comedy" from the 80's called Jinxed - simply as awful as she is in real life a horrible person (in my humble opinion)."
• "It has to be Las Vegas Story, starring Victor Mature as a cop who encounters an old flame who's back in town, singing in the same lounge where they first met. Hoagey Carmichael is the pianist, and also the best actor in this B-movie that not even Oscar Goodman would defend!"
• "Without a doubt, 2006's Bachelor Party Vegas. Just horrible."
• "Honeymoon in Vegas."
• "Leaving Las Vegas with Nicholas Cage. Horrid movie....lol."
• "My vote goes for: Money Plays with Roy Scheider and Sonia Braga (1996)."
• "By far the worst Las Vegas film ever made is the George Clooney/Brad Pitt remake of Ocean's Eleven. That whole series sucked."
• "I chose Mars Attacks. It was just awful, but I had to flip a coin between that and 3,000 miles to Graceland (even though I love Elvis impersonators)." [Ed: Anthony Curtis is a fan of this movie, particularly for the awesome shoot-‘em-up scene, which the current writer also thinks is pretty cool : )] But one movie I may have voted for that I didn't see on the list was Leaving Las Vegas with the suicidal alcoholic Nicolas Cage and Elizabeth Shue. The movie was so depressing that you couldn't get yourself up enough to enjoy it. And why watch a movie if it's going to depress you?"
• "Swingers, baby!"
• "Rock Hudson’s last movie was "The Vegas Strip War in 1984. It was fun identifying all of the Vegas locales in the movie, but the plot was an incomprehensible mess. But it’s worth looking at to see what The Strip was like in 1984."
• "Rat Race."
• "Okay, I was thinking I would get to see a Vegas movie. It was released in March. It appears it was filmed in Vegas. They show the Sapphire gentlemen's club, which is where most of the characters work. However, the acting sucked (I believe only 2 actors have other movie credits according to IMDB.com) and the premise of switching out a full 6 deck shoe without being caught is preposterous, IMHO. Oh, the plot is that a casino owner rapes a stripper and the stripper and her friends plot to rip off his casino to get even." [Ed: Sounds pretty dire, but what’s it called, so the rest of us can avoid lol?]
• "All these movies stink, but I must say that Vegas Vacation was the worst!"
• "The worst Vegas-based movie was Cherry 2000."