Rating: Summary: one of the decades finest. Review: Perhaps this film has received such negative criticsm because it has been read as a mob picture. Technically I suppose it is. But if you look a little deeper you will find at its heart an incredibly black and funny comedy. In terms of pure cinema, it just doesn't get any better. Scorsese along with his editors and photographers wanted to have some fun, and brother does it show. Its the equivalent of watching an explosion or fireworks. Its inconsistent and at times disfunctional to be sure, but you won't care.This film is packed with so many great ideas, motifs, ans set pieces that any glitches or minor infractions are quickly erased, or shall i more appropriately say pulverised. People have accused Scorsese of retreading much of his past work here, but I don't see it, at least not in a more deeper sense. The closest thing it comes to is After Hours.It is a truly ambitious effort, and in due time I imagine that more will recognize this fact.
Rating: Summary: The most disturbingly violent movie ever made. Review: This movie lost two, possibly two and an half stars of rating because of the excessive, gratuitous, revolting violence that exceeded that contained in any other movie I have seen, including, perhaps, Faces of Death. I am no pascifist peacenick, and I enjoy movies in which Clint Eastwood, Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Bruce Lee, etc... puts a bullet between the bad guy's eyes, breaks his neck, runs a sword through the antagonist, etc... But this movie is not about justice triumphing over evil, guy in white hat killing guy in black hat. The violence in this movie is far more graphic, far more disturbing, far more frighteningly realistic than in any other movie I have seen. The main difference is that this movie contains as many violent scenes as your average action thriller, but these are not fighting or combat scenes, but stark, bloody executions. Ranging from Pesci stabbing a guy to death, repeatedly perforating his jugular with a pen over an innocuous comment, to Pesci's final brutal death by baseball bat, there is nothing heroic about any of these scenes, just morbid. This is the one and only movie in which I got up in the middle and walked out to the lobby for a break because of the violence.As for the acting, DeNiro does a fine job. Pesci is compelling as a completely amoral psychopath, but essentially it is the exact same role he has played in every other movie he has made, but with much more anger, excessive use of the "f" word (at least once every 10 words, literally) and with no humor. Stone was kind of mediocre. The story would be excellent if the violence was toned down to the level of one of the Godfather movies (if that gives you an indication of how bad this was). The only appropriate use I can imagine for this movie is as a psychological testing device. I think that all 9th graders should be forced to watch this movie and if their reaction afterwards is "Cool!," then they should be sent straight to counseling to prevent the development of another Columbine situation.
Rating: Summary: One of the Best Mob Movies Ever Mades Review: "Casino," much like the book by Nicholas Pileggi, depicts the underground world of skimming money, stealing money, and making money. It gives the viewer an incredilbe insight on just how much power the mafia had over Las Vegas in the 1970's. Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci play two very well acted characters, based on two real-life mob bosses that knew and grew up together. If you've ever been to Las Vegas, wanted to go to Las Vegas, or heard anything about Las Vegas, you should definately watch this movie. A gem.
Rating: Summary: A genuine masterpiece Review: I first saw this film on VHS, but enjoyed it so much I just had to purchase the DVD too. Scorsese has produced yet another masterpiece - from start to finish this will have you hooked. Friends of mine thought this was too violent but I felt this was necessary to convey the brutality that went on (the head-crushing scene in particular is almost as gruesome as the chain-saw death in Scarface! ) All the leads are fantastic, lending depth and credibility to the characters - Stone in particular gives a career best performance as Aces drugged-up wife, while DeNiro does another solid turn. I consider this an all-time classic up there with the likes of GoodFellas and Scarface. Picture and sound quality for the DVD version was excellent too (region 2).
Rating: Summary: Outstanding masterpiece Review: This was the best movie I have seen in a while. The actors were brilliant and this movie had everything right as a mobster tale from the beginning to the end! This tale shows that no one can stay on top forever.
Rating: Summary: Some Problems, but over all a good flick. Review: I thought that this movie was more enjoyable then many. And Bobby was great. Although Scorsese has had better movies I thought that this was basicaly well done. If there hadn't been as much narration during the film it would have been more dramatic. I thought a lot of the action was cool (althogh not an action movie) and the soundtrack made it more colorful. Now don't get me wrong I love Joe Pesci, but he could use the f word less. The movie did get repetetive at times, but the acting kept it interesting. And Sharon Stone did a terrific job. So in the end it is a pretty good flick, but will only be truly liked by fans of mafia movies.
Rating: Summary: No apologies Review: This didn't do it for me. After reading the intriguing Vanity Fair article I was floored by the seedy story & characters. Unfortunately for the flick, the constantly-ridiculous soundtrack and annoying narration ruins each scene's ambiance. I like Don Rickles, but what's the hockey puck doing walking around with a shotgun? Totally miscast. I've really given up on Scorsese. He's gotten predictable and borderline boring. That last line also applies to Bringing Out The Dead. 2 stars. One for James Woods. The other for James Woods.
Rating: Summary: It's not GREAT, but it's not bad. Review: Every great director has their failures; Francis Ford Coppola had The Godfather Part III, Stanley Kubrick had Eyes Wide Shut, Brian De Palma had Snake Eyes. This was Scorsese's rotten apple. That's not to say it had a great story and good acting, but it just lacks what makes his other films so great. The main example is the style presented. Marty used to move the camera around with poetic grace; instead, in Casino, he flings it around like something out of a Michael Bay film. Another thing is Joe Pesci; he was so great in GoodFellas, but he was just SO ANNOYING in this movie. F this and F that. I could care less about cursing in movies (Scarface is my favorite movie), but he used it so often and so randomly that the word just lost it's meaning completely. De Niro didn't look like he was really enjoying himself. Maybe he was just sick and tired of being in so many Scorsese films. Stone is okay, not great. Not Oscar nomination great, anyway. But if you're one of those crime-drama movie buffs, you should at least find it tolerable. P.S. The soundtrack kicks.
Rating: Summary: Masterwork, even better then Goodfellas! Review: 3 ours long and it never get boring. It's fascinating from the beginning to the end. One of the best movies of the '90. Great perfomances from the entire cast, very good editing, brilliant camerawork and a rocking soundtrack makes this just one fantastic movie!
Rating: Summary: Definite 5! DeNiro @ his BEST Review: Jeez where can I start with this movie. This is Definitely the BEST mob movie that I have ever seen in my whole history of watching movies. Right when I saw this movie when I rented it I immediately went out to buy it because I knew that this movie was going to be a HOT seller. Deniro is amazing in this film. His definite best. It shows you what a Casino is really like when you are running it from a Mob and the scary thing about it was it was BASED on a true story which kind of put me into shock because I couldn't even imagine someone staying up with everything that Rostein (Deniro) did. For example this is what he went through: Very Wealthy, Had a wife that was a drug attic and only married him because of his money, the leader of a street mob, owned his own Casino, and he had to take care of everyone and everything that was in that casino IMAGINE THAT.
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