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Casino [HD DVD] by Martin Scorsese
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DVD detailsActor: Frank Vincent, James Woods, Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone Director: Martin Scorsese Brand: Universal Pictures 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); Spanish (Original Language); French (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed) Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 2.35:1 Running Time: 178 minutes DVD Release Date: 2006-12-19 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Casino [HD DVD]DVD Review: A good performance from Sharon Summary: 3 Stars
At 178 minutes long, I was expecting to be bored throughout this film, despite everyone raves about this film, along with Goodfellas. And although I did get a bit restless during it, I did find myself sucked into the film and actually trying to work out what was going to come next.
It starts off with a shocking scene, and then is told in retrospective (or so you think), from ten years previously. I certainly sat up straight up when the film started, as this is the scene you're not expecting. Although when it's repeated towards the end, it does tend to go OTT, by showing it from every angle, and showing the viewer what exactly happened.
Visually, the film is very bright, with the neon lights of the casino, and Robert De Niro's colour blinding suits (who puts pink & orange together?!) Honestly when he first walked onto the screen, I thought his wardrobe was made up by a colour-blind person, as most of his suits were OTT bright, or clashed severely. The brightness of the casino is so well done in HD, you almost start to feel like you're there, it's so real, and captures the bright lights of Vegas perfectly.
I thought Sharon Stone's role was the best out of the entire film, as her character goes through such a journey during the film, and the physical changes in her character are shocking. Her character of Ginger is an ex-hooker, who marries Robert De Niro's character, despite not loving him in the slightest. I think she was seeing dollar signs before her eyes. She becomes a mother, and also turns to drink, which ultimately, leads to a shocking end.
This film is definitely not for the fainthearted. There's a closeup scene of someone snorting cocaine, and Sharon's character, Ginger, snorts some in front of her daughter. The F word is said a grand total of 422 times, a bit unnecessary, including in the narration, which makes it a total of 2.4 times per MINUTE on average. The chain smoking is quite harsh as well, as Robert De Niro constantly had a cigarette in his hand in nearly every single scene. (I pity any non-smoking crew on set.) It was necessary to portray what it was like in those days, when smoking was considered classy, and not frowned upon as it is today. I expected there to be some continuity problems that accompanies a chain-smoking character but Robert always held his cigarettes the same distance from the lit end so that their lengths never appear to change.
This film impressed me, and I can imagine it looks so much better in HD, so it would definitely be better than the old regular DVD. But everyone lumping it along with Goodfellas doesn't bode well, cos everyone HAS to like Goodfellas it seems. It's definitely one to watch on HD, and with a TV that's more like a cinema screen would be good too!
More Casino [HD DVD] reviews: 1 2 3 4 5
Description of Casino [HD DVD]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 multimillion-dollar casino operation, where fortunes and lives were made and lost with a roll of the dice. 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 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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