Some of the greatest moments in cinematic history have been filmed with a boozy backdrop – SB rounds up a selection of the most distinctive bars to feature on the big screen.

This scene from Lost in Translation was filmed atop the Park Hyatt Hotel’s New York Bar in Tokyo

Booze and film seem to go hand-in-hand and there is an immeasurable number of scenes featuring the hard stuff, from sci-fi classics to romantic comedies.

A number of famed film franchises are also fond of including a watering hole on the big screen including the Mos Eisley Cantina in Star Wars and The Raven in Indiana Jones.

Despite the fact that they are usually the setting for a grand fight scene, comical meet or raucous dancing, some of the bars featured in films are stunningly designed. Although some of them can be visited in real life, some are now sadly closed or are simply works of fiction.

There have also been numerous portrayals of bartenders across literature, television and film over the years, both inspiring and irking members of the on-trade – take a look at our list here.

Click through the following pages to see our pick of the best iconic bar scenes in film.

Have we skipped one of your favourites? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Upfront Bar & Grill, Toronto – Good Will Hunting

Anyone who is familiar with Good Will Hunting will remember Matt Damon’s infamous ‘How’d you like them apples?’ line in a scene where Damon upstages an elitist student in a Harvard bar, while also impressing student and love interest Skylar (Minnie Driver). Co-starring Ben Affleck, the duo wrote the script about Will, a young troubled mathematics genius (Damon) growing up in South Boston. The bar is supposed to be the Bow and Arrow bar in Boston – but it is actually the Upfront Bar and Grill in Toronto. Only exterior shots of Bow and Arrow were used, and sadly both have closed their doors.

New York Bar, Park Hyatt Hotel, Tokyo – Lost in Translation

Shot entirely in Tokyo, the Golden Globe-winning film tells the love story between Bob Harris (Bill Murray), an American actor in a mid-life crisis, who travels to Japan for an appearance in a Suntory whisky commercial, and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), an equally depressed, young American who accompanies her husband on a business trip. Bob and Charlotte meet at the New York Bar on the hotel’s top floor, where they forge an unlikely friendship over vodka tonic and whisky.

Jack Rabbit Slims, California – Pulp Fiction

Who could forget one of the most iconic dance sequences in film? The scene from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction depicts John Travolta and Uma Thurman doing some twists to Chuck Berry’s ‘You Never Can Tell’. While it was actually one of the few sets created for the film, the exterior of the bar/restaurant was a closed bowling alley called Grand Central Bowl in Glendale, California.

The Raven, Nepal – Raiders of the Lost Ark

Set in 1936, the first instalment in the Indiana Jones film franchise depicts a young Harrison Ford as archaeologist Indiana Jones. The adventurer first visited The Raven in Nepal to find the headpiece to the Staff of Ra, however the bar was burned down when Nazi agent Arnold Ernst Toht attempted to steal it from Jones’s former lover and bar owner Marion (played by Karen Allen). After 27 years of absence, Marion returned for the fifth instalment, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, where she reunited with Jones and they eventually married and had a son.

 Mos Eisley Cantina – Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

The fictional bar, part of the Star Wars universe, introduces the audience to an array of alien species in George Lucas’s galaxy, far, far away. It’s where we see Ben Kenobi use his lightsaber for the first time, it’s where Han Solo and Greedo have a standoff, and it’s also where Ben and Luke Skywalker meet Han and Chewbacca. There are no clues as to what might be served on the drinks menu, but considering it has a dive bar atmosphere, there’s sure to be cheap booze alongside a backdrop of jazz.

Grand Hotel Pupp, Czech Republic – Casino Royale

While not strictly set in a bar, a casino is as good a place as any to get a tipple, as is the case with famed British agent James Bond (Daniel Craig) who orders his iconic Vesper to exact spec in his first 007 film Casino Royale. As described in the film, the recipe for the Vesper martini according to Bond is: ‘three measures of Gordon’s gin; one of vodka; half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it over ice, and add a thin slice of lemon peel.’

Passengers

The second sci-fi film to make our list is Passengers, starring Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. The pair are trapped on the spaceship after they are awakened just a bit early — 90 years early, to be exact. The spaceship houses a grand and luxurious art deco bar inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Many bar scenes are featured in the film, all of which include a robotic bartender (Martin Sheen) who acts as an ally and confidant to both Pratt and Lawrence as they deal with isolation.

Old Courthouse, Chicago – Groundhog Day

Murray makes another appearance among our line-up, this time back to 1993 where he plays arrogant TV weatherman Phil Connors who finds himself in a time loop again and again. The first “day” he sits down at a bar with his producer, Rita (Andie MacDowell) he orders a “Jim Beam, ice, water”. She orders a “sweet vermouth on the rocks with a twist”. On the second “day”, hoping to impress her, he orders a sweet vermouth just before she does. The film alluded to this bar being inside Rita’s hotel, but the bar is actually in Woodstock’s Old Courthouse, on another side of the town square.

Rick’s Café, Casablanca – Casablanca

“Of all the gin joints in all the towns, in all the world…” is arguably the most famous bar scene in Hollywood history. In Casablanca, Rick (Humphrey Bogart) plays a heart-broken bar owner in Morocco who is reunited with an old flame, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman). She suddenly appears with her husband, Victor Laslow, who’s wanted by the Nazis. Rick has to decide whether to put aside his feelings for Ilsa in order to help Victor escape to help the Resistance. Today, the real-life Rick’s Cafe Casablanca continues to serve avid fans and is filled with architectural and decorative details reminiscent of the film.

Coyote Ugly Saloon – Coyote Ugly

And finally, who could forget one of the most iconic bar films of all time – Coyote Ugly. The 2000 cult film saw Violet (Piper Perabo) head to New York to pursue her song-writing dreams, but struggling to make ends meet she takes on a “day job” as a bartender at the eponymous bar, Coyote Ugly. The feisty female bartenders, known as ‘coyotes’, are famed for regularly sing and dancing atop the bar. The film was based on a memoir written by a former bartender and was based on the popular Coyote Ugly Saloon bar franchise.