Casino [Blu-ray]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

The inner-workings of a corrupt Las Vegas casino are exposed in Martin Scorsese's story of crime and punishment. The film chronicles the lives and times of three characters: "Ace" Rothstein (Robert De Niro), a bookmaking wizard; Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), a Mafia underboss and longtime best friend to Ace; and Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone, in a role she was born to play), a leggy ex-prostitute with a fondness for jewelry and a penchant for playing the field. Ace plays by the rules (albeit Vegas rules, which, as he reminds the audience in voiceover, would make him a criminal in any other state), while Nicky and Ginger lie, cheat, and steal their respective ways to the top. The film's first hour and a half details their rise to power, while the second half follows their downfall as the FBI, corrupt government officials, and angry mob bosses pick apart their Camelot piece by piece. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Cinemascope)
• Features:
  • Moments with Martin Scorsese, Sharon Stone, Nicholas Pileggi and more!
  • Deleted scenes
  • Vegas and the mob
  • History Alive: True crime authors - Casino with Nicholas Pileggi

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Actress - 1995 (Sharon Stone)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - 1995 (Sharon Stone)
•     Nominated Best Director - 1995 (Martin Scorsese)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Robert De Niro - Sam (Ace) Rothstein
       Sharon Stone - Ginger McKenna
       Joe Pesci - Nicky Santoro
       James Woods - Lester Diamond
       Don Rickles - Billy Sherbert
       Alan King - Andy Stone
       Kevin Pollak - Phillip Green
       Joe Bob Briggs - Don Ward
       Dick Smothers - Senator
       Andy Jarrell - Commissioner Bales

• Director:

  Martin Scorsese

• Producer:

  Barbara de Fina

• Screenwriter:

  Nicholas Pileggi

• Book Author:

  Nicholas Pileggi

• Screenwriter:

  Martin Scorsese

• Cinematographer:

  Robert Richardson, Philip Pfeiffer, Newton Thomas Sigel

• Featured Music:

  Hoagy Carmichael

• Editor:

  Thelma Schoonmaker

• Production Designer:

  Dante Ferretti

• Art Director:

  Jack Gammon Taylor, Jr.

• Associate Producer:

  Joseph P. Reidy

• Set Designer:

  Steven Schwartz, Rick Simpson, Daniel Ross

• Costume Designer:

  Rita Ryack, John Dunn

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Charles M. Wilborn

• First Assistant Director:

  Joseph P. Reidy, Phil Marco

• Stunts:

  J.P. Romano, Mario Roberts

• Casting:

  Ellen Lewis

• Steadicam Assistant:

  Ted Chu

REVIEW:

• The explosive beginning of Saul Bass's customarily brilliant opening credits sequence seems to bode well for Martin Scorsese's epic portrait of 1970s Las Vegas, Casino (1995). Weaving a tale about the town, as well as ill-fated mobsters "Ace" Rothstein (based on actual Vegas-ite Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal) and Nicky Santoro, the first hour merges documentary-style detail (including copious narration) with Scorsese's signature technical flair to depict how the Mob skimmed millions from the casinos. As Rothstein's success unravels, Scorsese unstintingly reveals the viciousness of the old school Vegas powerbrokers (including more gruesome violence than any previous Scorsese work), yet the virtuoso final montage and unsettling coda suggest that the new Disney-fied Vegas robbed the city of its success-fantasy soul. Notwithstanding the bravura visuals and attention to 1970s period detail, and despite a career-best performance from Sharon Stone as Rothstein's hustler-drug addict wife, most reviews noted that the reunion of director Scorsese with writer Nicholas Pileggi and stars Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci paled in comparison to 1990's Goodfellas. The De Niro-Pesci opposition was too familiar, as was the overlong story of Rothstein's rise and fall. Stone scored the film's sole Oscar nomination and won the Golden Globe for Best Actress. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi