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Casino
Universal // R // August 7, 1998
List Price: $26.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
"Casino" is a fascinating, exciting picture that gets occasionally gets sidetracked by a couple noticable problems. Martin Scorsese's 1995 picture starts off remarkably well. After a short opening, we are lead into the heart of Las Vegas by one Sam "Ace" Rothstein. The mob is skimming thousands out of the Casinos of the city - in one particularly interesting scene, the camera goes into the back rooms and we see the money coming in in almost unimaginable amounts. We also see the rivers that break off from the main stream.
Rothstein is joined by several people from all parts of the mob, but there's one individual who'd cause the most trouble. Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) is an old friend of Ace, but he's extremely volatile and violent, a dangerous criminal who forces his weight around the city - soon enough, he's got his own gang who starts to draw too much attention to themselves, which results in stand-offs between the two old friends.
Something else comes between the two, as well. Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone) is spotted one day by Ace while he's watching the cameras looking down on the casino. He's fallen for her, but she's going to end up causing him more trouble than he'd expected. The two are enjoying one another at first, but she's soon heading back to her low-end criminal ex, played well by James Woods. Public fights and the high-cost of her company soon threaten not only their marriage, but Ace's business in Vegas.
Most of the performances are powerful and effective. DeNiro, who has chosen to go other routes such as comedy since, is dramatic and forceful without being showy. It's a top-notch performance from a marvelous actor. Pesci is impressive, as well - he's jovial one moment and psychotic the next. There's also several strong supporting performances from actors like Don Rickles. The only performance that didn't work for me when I first saw the film six years ago and still doesn't work for me is Sharon Stone's and maybe it's just the character, although I've never been that thrilled with any of her efforts. Her Ginger is shrill and the romance between her and DeNiro is the least interesting element of the story, which makes the second half, when it comes into focus, suffer.
Technically, the film looks wonderful. Usual Scorsese (as well as Oliver Stone) collaborator Robert Richardson's 2.35:1 widescreen cinematography is simply dazzling, with terrific compositions and some interesting cinematic tricks. As usual, Scorsese's use of music is fantastic - the film is wall-to-wall with classic tunes that manage to compliment the scene perfectly. Scorsese's usual editor Thelma Schoonmaker also does a splendid job here, as usual. The film's pace, even stretched out to nearly three hours, is perfect - the rise and fall of the group is not abrupt, but a gradual arc. Production design, costume design and all of the other details are exactly right.
It's probably not the best work that Scorsese has produced, but it still contains several terrific performances and amazing cinematography from one of the best in the business as well as great direction. I would have liked less focus on the Stone character, but overall, "Casino" is still a strong piece of work.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Casino" is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The title is one of the earlier ones that Universal presented in the dual-layer format; the image quality varies throughout - sometimes it looks better than others, but at its best, it looks very good. Sharpness and detail are generally superb, with the exception of a couple of tiny instances of softness here and there. Flaws are minimal, but somewhat noticable at times. A few minor hints of pixelation are visible now and then and there's occasional shimmering and print flaws. Print flaws aren't too distressing - there's a few minor speckles now and then as well as a mark or two. The film's vibrant color scheme looked terrific, appearing well-saturated and vibrant, with no instances of smearing or other flaws. Not as good-looking as I would have liked to have seen the film, but still fairly solid.
SOUND: "Casino" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The film's sound design is not particularly agressive or remarkable. Music is really the only element that gets presented by the surrounds - this gives it terrific presence, with only a few older songs that sound a tiny bit strained. Dialogue sounds clear and crisp, never thin or edgy.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus with film-themed images.
EXTRAS:: Trailer, Production Notes, Bios.
Final Thoughts: "Casino" is a mostly superb film from Scorsese whose element that I found least interesting was the relationship between Ace and Ginger. The first half is especially fascinating, with the behind-the-scenes look at what made the Casinos tick and the build-up of the characters. Universal's DVD is an early effort from the studio and although the picture quality isn't terrible, it could be somewhat better. Hopefully, Universal will re-issue this one in a Collector's Edition.
"Casino" is a fascinating, exciting picture that gets occasionally gets sidetracked by a couple noticable problems. Martin Scorsese's 1995 picture starts off remarkably well. After a short opening, we are lead into the heart of Las Vegas by one Sam "Ace" Rothstein. The mob is skimming thousands out of the Casinos of the city - in one particularly interesting scene, the camera goes into the back rooms and we see the money coming in in almost unimaginable amounts. We also see the rivers that break off from the main stream.
Rothstein is joined by several people from all parts of the mob, but there's one individual who'd cause the most trouble. Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) is an old friend of Ace, but he's extremely volatile and violent, a dangerous criminal who forces his weight around the city - soon enough, he's got his own gang who starts to draw too much attention to themselves, which results in stand-offs between the two old friends.
Something else comes between the two, as well. Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone) is spotted one day by Ace while he's watching the cameras looking down on the casino. He's fallen for her, but she's going to end up causing him more trouble than he'd expected. The two are enjoying one another at first, but she's soon heading back to her low-end criminal ex, played well by James Woods. Public fights and the high-cost of her company soon threaten not only their marriage, but Ace's business in Vegas.
Most of the performances are powerful and effective. DeNiro, who has chosen to go other routes such as comedy since, is dramatic and forceful without being showy. It's a top-notch performance from a marvelous actor. Pesci is impressive, as well - he's jovial one moment and psychotic the next. There's also several strong supporting performances from actors like Don Rickles. The only performance that didn't work for me when I first saw the film six years ago and still doesn't work for me is Sharon Stone's and maybe it's just the character, although I've never been that thrilled with any of her efforts. Her Ginger is shrill and the romance between her and DeNiro is the least interesting element of the story, which makes the second half, when it comes into focus, suffer.
Technically, the film looks wonderful. Usual Scorsese (as well as Oliver Stone) collaborator Robert Richardson's 2.35:1 widescreen cinematography is simply dazzling, with terrific compositions and some interesting cinematic tricks. As usual, Scorsese's use of music is fantastic - the film is wall-to-wall with classic tunes that manage to compliment the scene perfectly. Scorsese's usual editor Thelma Schoonmaker also does a splendid job here, as usual. The film's pace, even stretched out to nearly three hours, is perfect - the rise and fall of the group is not abrupt, but a gradual arc. Production design, costume design and all of the other details are exactly right.
It's probably not the best work that Scorsese has produced, but it still contains several terrific performances and amazing cinematography from one of the best in the business as well as great direction. I would have liked less focus on the Stone character, but overall, "Casino" is still a strong piece of work.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Casino" is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The title is one of the earlier ones that Universal presented in the dual-layer format; the image quality varies throughout - sometimes it looks better than others, but at its best, it looks very good. Sharpness and detail are generally superb, with the exception of a couple of tiny instances of softness here and there. Flaws are minimal, but somewhat noticable at times. A few minor hints of pixelation are visible now and then and there's occasional shimmering and print flaws. Print flaws aren't too distressing - there's a few minor speckles now and then as well as a mark or two. The film's vibrant color scheme looked terrific, appearing well-saturated and vibrant, with no instances of smearing or other flaws. Not as good-looking as I would have liked to have seen the film, but still fairly solid.
SOUND: "Casino" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The film's sound design is not particularly agressive or remarkable. Music is really the only element that gets presented by the surrounds - this gives it terrific presence, with only a few older songs that sound a tiny bit strained. Dialogue sounds clear and crisp, never thin or edgy.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus with film-themed images.
EXTRAS:: Trailer, Production Notes, Bios.
Final Thoughts: "Casino" is a mostly superb film from Scorsese whose element that I found least interesting was the relationship between Ace and Ginger. The first half is especially fascinating, with the behind-the-scenes look at what made the Casinos tick and the build-up of the characters. Universal's DVD is an early effort from the studio and although the picture quality isn't terrible, it could be somewhat better. Hopefully, Universal will re-issue this one in a Collector's Edition.
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