Power 

Movie directors often use cigars as a symbol of power and sometimes really stress that symbolism by ensuring that only person smokes a cigar while others smoke lesser tobacco products. In the Dirty Dozen only Ernest Borgnine … the senior officer … smoked a cigar. In some of the James Bond movies both Bond and the leading bad buys smoke cigars.

The heroes in Independence Day smoke cigars perhaps as a prop to reinforce the message that they have the power to defeat the invaders from outer space. Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwartzenegger are often seen smoking cigars in their movies and I’m sure that you have seen many other films where cigars are used as a subliminal message of power.

Smoke

In this very brief look at the world of cigars and movies it would remiss of me not to take you back 14 years to 1995 and the making of Smoke. This plot of this interesting little movie is woven around the life of a small New York smoke shop and the people who come and go.

If you’re looking for a block buster thriller with lots of power and affluence symbols then Smoke is not going to scratch where you’re itching. However if you’re looking for something that will make you think about life as you sit back and smoke your next cigar … and maybe even make you feel a little warm and fuzzy … then Smoke is definitely worth watching.

Pierce Brosnan in Die Another Day