Casino
by Martin Scorsese
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DVD details
Actor: Frank Vincent, James Woods, Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro, Sharon StoneDirector: Martin Scorsese
Brand: NBC Universal
Cinematographer: Robert Richardson
Writer: Martin Scorsese
Editor: Thelma Schoonmaker
Writer: Nicholas Pileggi
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 178 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-01-17
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MCA/Universal Pictures
DVD Reviews of Casino
DVD Review: Las Vegas, not Disneyland
Summary: 5 Stars
Just some thoughts...
Throughout the years, while discussing Las Vegas with people who are knowledgeable about Las Vegas, I usually ask them this question: "Which Las Vegas do you like better - the massive family-friendly Vegas of today with huge hotels, or the Vegas of the '70s when it was smaller, was more for adults, and run by the Mob?" The answers I get are mixed. When they ask me which Vegas I like better, my answer is the Vegas of the '70s when it was smaller. Their next comment is usually, "Huh? You're too young to know the Vegas of the '70s." My answer is, "No I'm not. I was there a few times in the mid to late '70s and I remember it very well. The city was 1/3 the size it is now, the hotels were smaller, people dressed up when going to the casinos, and it was more for adults than it is now." Even though I was a little kid the first time I visited Las Vegas, I remember these things very well. There wasn't a whole lot for me to do there as a kid, except maybe go swimming in the hotel pool and go to Circus Circus. But I remember being fascinated with the city. The 100+ degree heat in August. The Strip. Fremont Street. All the lights. The nightlife. Seeing people standing on the street corner dressed in glitzy outfits waiting to cross the street. The casinos. The slot machines. The card games. The live entertainment. I of course wasn't allowed in casinos for extended periods of time, but I walked through a lot of them and liked what I saw. The next time I visited Vegas was in August 1984. It was basically the same city, but a little bigger. Then the next time I visited Vegas was Labor Day Weekend 1995.
What, I mean WHAT happened? The city was now humongous, probably three times the size as it was in the mid '70s. Giant hotels with 5,000 rooms. Massive casinos. Hardly anybody was dressed up. It seemed like a family-friendly city instead of mostly for adults. The new giant hotels dwarfed the older ones. The Sands, Dunes, Sahara, Stardust, Aladdin, Frontier, Circus Circus, Riviera, Caesar's Palace, Hacienda...seemed so small now. One year I got into a conversation with a limo driver and he told me that entertainers who performed in Vegas back in the '60s and '70s took a lot of pride in their performances. He used B.B. King as an example. He said that B.B. King would practice for hours before the show because he wanted to give a great performance and stay sharp. He said that nowadays, an entertainer just gets out of a limo and goes right on stage. Who knows if they even practiced.
Now about this movie...
I had never seen Casino (1995) until tonight. I was hooked on this three-hour movie from the moment it started because right at the beginning there is a voiceover by Robert De Niro where he says (referring to the Vegas of today), "The town will never be the same. Today it looks like Disneyland." He goes on to say, "In the old days, dealers knew your name, what you drank, and what you played. Now, it's like checking in at the airport. And if you want room service, you're lucky if you get it by Thursday." He also says that after the Mob was rooted out, big corporations took over, mommy and daddy play the poker slots, and the old casinos are being torn down. Hearing all this really drew me into the movie because this is EXACTLY how I personally think when it comes to Vegas, as I described earlier.
This movie stars Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone. Basically, without going into a lot of specifics, the movie shows Vegas in the days when it was run by the Mob. It shows the dark side of Vegas - Mafia crime, drugs, alcohol, the consequences of cheating while gambling, brutality, murders, greed, how every crook is looking out for each other, and the lengths that Mob bosses will go to in order to gain more and retain what they have. The period of time this movie covers is 1973-1980. Ultimately, the movie shows how the Mob made some bad mistakes that resulted in the Feds getting the Mob out of Vegas and how corporations took over and made it family-friendly.
The acting in this movie is superb. I thought Joe Pesci's acting was especially good. Sharon Stone and Robert De Niro were excellent in their roles. The movie has tons of filthy language. This really adds a sense of realism. It also has quite a bit of violence and blood and gore.
I noticed that the up-close shots of the casinos were done in a way so the viewer would have a hard time telling what casino was being shown and/or what casino was next door. This movie takes place in the '70s but was made in 1995, so the goal was to hide some of the newer hotel/casinos that were around in 1995 but weren't around in the '70s, such as The Mirage, Treasure Island, MGM Grand, Luxor, Excalibur, etc. In the far-away shots, older hotel/casinos that existed in the '70s that were still around in 1995 (the year this movie was made) were shown, such as Stardust, Frontier, Circus Circus, Sahara, Dunes, Riviera, The Sands, etc. The filming of downtown Vegas wasn't a problem, as just about all the hotel/casinos that existed in 1995 also existed in the '70s, such as The Golden Nugget, The Horseshoe, The Plaza, Four Queens, etc.
This DVD's extras are very good. It has a digitally remastered picture, a feature called Casino: The Story which talks about the script and the book the movie is based on, deleted scenes, and some moments with director Martin Scorsese, Sharon Stone, screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, and more.
I like Las Vegas, even the family-friendly Vegas of today. I wish it was still the size it was in the '70s, but generally speaking, it's still one of the best vacation destinations in the world, and one of my favorite places. Though it's violent and somewhat disturbing, this movie will provide a nostalgic look back to the smaller, adult-themed Vegas of yesteryear. I highly recommend this movie.
Description of Casino
Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci star in director Martin Scorsese's riveting look at how blind ambition, white-hot passion and 24-karat greed toppled an empire. Las Vegas 1973 is the setting for this fact-based story about the Mob's multi-million dollar casino operation where fortunes and lives were made and lost with a roll of the dice. Starring: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods, Kevin Pollak, Don Rickles, Alan King, Frank Vincent Directed by: Martin ScorseseDirector Martin Scorsese reunites with members of his GoodFellas gang (writer Nicholas Pileggi; actors Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Frank Vincent) for a three-hour epic about the rise and fall of mobster Sam "Ace" Rothstein (De Niro), a character based on real-life gangster Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal. (It's modeled after on Wiseguy and GoodFellas and Pileggi's true crime book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas.) Through Rothstein, the picture tells the story of how the Mafia seized, and finally lost control of, Las Vegas gambling. The first hour plays like a fascinating documentary, intricately detailing the inner workings of Vegas casinos. Sharon Stone is the stand out among the actors; she nabbed an Oscar nomination for her role as the voracious Ginger, the glitzy call girl who becomes Rothstein's wife. The film is not as fast paced or gripping as Scorsese's earlier gangster pictures (Mean Streets and GoodFellas), but it's still absorbing. And, hey--it's Scorsese! --Jim Emerson
Director Martin Scorsese reunites with members of his GoodFellas gang (writer Nicholas Pileggi; actors Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Frank Vincent) for a three-hour epic about the rise and fall of mobster Sam "Ace" Rothstein (De Niro), a character based on real-life gangster Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal. (It's modeled after on Wiseguy and GoodFellas and Pileggi's true crime book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas.) Through Rothstein, the picture tells the story of how the Mafia seized, and finally lost control of, Las Vegas gambling. The first hour plays like a fascinating documentary, intricately detailing the inner workings of Vegas casinos. Sharon Stone is the stand out among the actors; she nabbed an Oscar nomination for her role as the voracious Ginger, the glitzy call girl who becomes Rothstein's wife. The film is not as fast paced or gripping as Scorsese's earlier gangster pictures (Mean Streets and GoodFellas), but it's still absorbing. And, hey--it's Scorsese! --Jim Emerson
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