25 Best Movie Boozers

East End Pub - Nil By Mouth (1997)

Okay, so this probably isn't the most delightful entry on this list but it is the most authentic.

According to director Gary Oldman. "There is a lot of me in there. I grew up in that neighborhood. All the locations are the actual locations I remember. My mother used to sing in that pub. The bar where you see the father sitting alone—that's where alcoholism puts you. Drinking whiskey chasers at 9:30 in the morning on your own in a pub. It's really attractive, you know? Great life. That pub is the pub my father used to go to, and where he destroyed his liver."

So, yeah, not exactly cheery - but essential viewing all the same.

Belgian Pub - In Bruges (2008)

The piano tinkles, candles flicker, the atmosphere is softer than satin. It also contains the preferred bar stool of one Ken (Brendan Gleeson), an Irish hitman on a job in Belgium.

See, the clientele here is typically colourful - not only is there the aforementioned hitman, there's also a lovely American dwarf who's on a date with a prostitute…

Bob's Country Bunker - The Blues Brothers (1980)

This place is SO WILD that its stage is hemmed-in by chicken wire. Why? Well, the Blues Brothers (John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd) find out when they head there for a gig.

When the patrons take issue with their conspicuously Country-free playlist, they start lobbing bottles right at the band. Talk about a dive.

Tony's Bar - Mean Streets (1973)

Simmering under blood red lights, this place feels more like a subterranean cave than an actual bar - which, of course, is entirely the point in Martin Scorsese's portrait of a down and dirty New York.

The booze is probably watered down, but when regulars include Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro, in pork-pie hat) and Charlie (Harvey Keitel), you can't really complain - nor would you want to.

Fat Sam's Grand Slam Speakeasy - Bugsy Malone (1976)

A bizarre little bar of the Prohibition days, it's probably a good thing that alcohol's been outlawed, considering Fat Sam's is staffed entirely by kids (who talk and act like adults).

Just because alcohol's out, though, doesn't mean we can't have a bit of fun, and Fat Sam's offers plenty of that - not least in its show-stopping live performances.

The Prancing Pony - The Lord Of The Rings (2001-2003)

"This, my friend, is a pint." If there's anything funnier than a pissed hobbit, we've yet to see it.

Like a bar of the olden days, the Prancing Pony looks filthy, probably smells filthier, and certainly isn't a place for innocent wee hobbits (for a start, the stools are too big). But that's exactly what's so good about it - it's a grimy man's pub through and through.

Torchy's - Streets Of Fire (1984)

Torchy's is possible the most famous fictional pub of the 1980s - Streets Of Fire wasn't its first on-screen appearance; it also cropped up in Walter Hill's other flicks The Driver (1978) and 48 Hrs. (1982).

Not hard to see why it was so popular, considering all that live music and a clientele that included Willem Dafoe.

Unnamed Pub - Get Carter (1971)

Conveniently situated just outside Newcastle Station, this watering hole must be doing something right - it's absolutely rammed when Carter (Michael Caine) pops in for a pint.

Perhaps it's because they serve pints in thin glasses - but only if requested.

The Bamboo Lounge - Goodfellas (1990)

The kind of place that has little lamps on the tables and luxurious red table clothes. No word on the food, but we hear a pretty exclusive selection of patrons frequent this drinking hole - including Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci).

Be careful whose jokes you laugh at, mind…

Turk's Head - A Hard Day's Night (1964)

Oh, you know, just a pub that plays host to one of the freakin' Beatles! Deciding to go out and experience life in London, Ringo Starr himself pitches up at this pub in Twickenham to lubricate his larynx before taking a stroll along the canal.

Cor, they were crazy them Beatles.

The Beehive - The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (2005)

If the world's going to end, you might as well spend your final 10 minutes down the local, right? And if you're going to go to a pub, why not head to this one?

They serve peanuts, they don't mind if you turn up in your dressing gown and they serve you three pints (EACH!) even though it's only lunchtime. Oh, and it's about to get vaporised…

The Crown - Hot Fuzz (2007)

Bustling little country pub and host to potential underage drinkers (wearing, somewhat revealingly, full-on braces and drinking pints through straws).

Not that it bothers the landlords. Of course, said landlords are also part of the sinister Neighbourhood Watch Alliance, so their morals are somewhat skewed…

The Ink & Paint Club - Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

To be honest, there's only one reason you'll come to this otherwise run-of-the-mill bar, and one reason alone.

The Leaky Cauldron - Harry Potter (2001-2011)

Plonked in the middle of Charing Cross Road, the Leaky Cauldron looks like any other (slightly careworn) London pub - except it's also a gateway between the Muggle world and the world of the wizards, leading into the magical Diagon Alley.

Booze-free speciality: Butter Beer, which has hopefully had all its calories magically removed.

The Double Deuce - Road House (1989)

Sure, from the outside it looks like the kind of place they take horses before they're turned into glue, but inside… Well, inside isn't that hot either, pretty much standing as a defining example of shabby chic.

Still, it's the workplace of effortlessly cool black-T-shirt-wearer James Dalton (Patrick Swayze) - and scene of many an impressive arse-whooping.

Basement Taverna - Inglourious Basterds (2009)

The Korova Milk Bar - A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Frankly, the weirdest, most ridiculous bar we've ever seen. Given the icky psycho-sexual subtext of Stanley Kubrick's classic (not to mention the sex-obsessed minds of its lead characters), the décor of the Korova Milk bar is entirely appropriate, with its naked female mannequins bent to become raunchy tables. One day there'll be something similar in Shoreditch.

Note: we're still not convinced that's just milk they're drinking…

The Winchester - Shaun Of The Dead (2004)

Rough Bar - Airplane! (1980)

Mos Eisley Cantina Bar - Star Wars (1977)

The Titty Twister - From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Rick's Caf American - Casablanca (1942)

Mother Black Cap - Withnail & I (1987)

The Raven - Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

The Slaughtered Lamb - An American Werewolf In London (1980)

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.