Product Description

Universal 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 multi-million dollar casino operation where fortunes and lives were made and lost with aroll of the dice.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7181 in DVD
• Brand: Universal
• Released on: 2006-12-19
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English, Spanish, French
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 3.00 pounds
• Running time: 179 minutes

Amazon.com
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

Customer Reviews

Classic...
Timeless cult-classic brilliantly restored and preserved in highest quality possible today - 5.1 audio and Full HD video. What more can You want?

Martys Casino
I have owned this HD disc for a while and I never grow tire of it!! In many ways, this film is superior to "Goodfellows" which I also own in HD, not the least being--Sharon Stone!! Her Oscar nominated and Golden Globe winning performance is worth the price of the movie alone!! A previous reviewer downgraded her performance but I believe this is a personal bias rather an objective one!! Next to her "Basic Instinct" breakthrough, "Casino" shows that with a great director, Sharon can deliver the goods as well as any of the great femme actors out there like Charlize & Hillary who I also like. Dig this in Hi-Def for the gaudiness and the scene where Ginger throws the chips in the air while DeNiro is entranced by her. Keep in mind though that this is a Universal release and is only available in HD, so do cop a Toshiba machine before they're gone.

Scorsese, DeNiro, Pesci, gangsters. Enough said.
The abbreviated review is here: This movie is about gangsters, is directed by Scorsese and stars DeNiro and Pesci. You need to see it, especially in HD-DVD format.

The extended review continues... Casino is not as critically acclaimed or part of the movie goer's conscious like Goodfellas (which is an excellent film) but it should be. It's about gangsters and Las Vegas before the big corporations sanitized Vegas and turned it into an adult version of Disney World.

It's "based on a true story", but only loosely. But does it matter? A great story told only the way Scorsese can tell it is entertainment at its best whether it's tightly based on a true story, loosely based on a true story, or is an original fictional screenplay.

My only warning is the movie had, at the time, the record number of f-bombs ever in a movie at over 420. I'm personally not offended by it but I watched it with my older Chinese in-laws, who were a little disturbed by the language. I just told them that's the way gangsters talk and the movie is just keepin' it real. Just know this tidbit when choosing your fellow viewers.