To me, this movie is perfection.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

"Casino" tells the story of Mafia families, trying to enter the nightlife of Las Vegas. While everything is going more than smooth in the beginning, risk is rising when some of the involved develop own interests that could be most dangerous for the legal impression of the project.Some films just manage to instantly convince you that you're watching something special. This is one of them. Although the plot is nothing new or unseen, the storytelling is carried out so skillfully that it is hard not be drawn into the story right away. The film establishes original and exciting characters, even though I have to confess that the love story was the only weakness of the production for me. But the plausibility, the masterful tempo and flow of the film make up for this by far.All in all you shouldn't miss out on this piece that is not only a pleasure for fans of the genre but for anyone interested in movies, since it shows how to master a certain sort of film.

Teaming Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in a gangster flick is pretty much a no-brainer, but I couldn't help thinking, especially in the latter hour of the movie, that the picture tried to be just a bit too ambitious for it's own good. At three hours, the picture loses some of it's edge, even with Pesci's manic and over the top characterization of Nicky Santoro, a mob hit man sent to Vegas to keep an eye on Sam 'Ace' Rothstein (De Niro) as the boss of the new Tangiers Hotel. The scene with Tony Dogs (Carl Ciarfalio) with his head in a vise will make you glad you live in a different universe from these guys.The surprise role in this picture had to be that of Ginger McKenna, portrayed by Sharon Stone. If you never thought she had much range as an actress she'll probably change your mind here, especially by the time she's had it with Ace and goes into that trashing, hysterical fit before she gets thrown out of the house. I thought it was a nifty touch when the film makers threw in that Rolling Stones cover of 'Heart of Stone' in an early scene between Ace and Ginger. That was perfect.Overall, not a bad gangster flick, but if ever remade, I'd recommend eliminating most or all of the narration by the principals, and let the action speak for itself. That, and a critical eye for all that's unnecessary to pare the story down to it's essentials. Keep De Niro, Pesci and Stone though, they know how to turn up the heat when you need it most.

Many films have come before it, many will come after it, but none will be able to top it. I haven't seen all of Martin Scorsese's movies, but I will bet real money that none of them are as good as this. He's directed some great movies, "Goodfellas", "Taxi Driver", and "Silence" are just some off the top of my head, but those all dwarf in comparison to this. Scorsese took a lot of aspects from "Goodfellas", and improved on them in ways that leave me in awe. I like to call this "Goodfellas without the flaws". Is that a controversial statement, probably, do I care, no. The only real flaw that "Goodfellas" had, as I've said before, was the ending. It always felt to me like they just kind of ran out of budget and skipped to the ending. "Casino" fixes that, this movie's 3 hours long, and it's paced out perfectly. Every scene, no matter how small, contributes to the plot, even characters that only show up in a handful of scenes contribute to the plot. Scorsese has the ability to make some of the most detestable people interesting. Even though the characters are all criminals, you still enjoy them being on screen. Ace is the closest thing to a protagonist here, but you sympathize with him when people begin to turn on him in order to protect their own self interest.It's the perfect example of how greed and corruption and self interest can be the most destructive thing imaginable. It starts off simple enough, some mob guys want to make some money in Vegas, but greed slowly starts to take over people like a disease. Friends turn on each other, lie to each other, forget promises, and you just can't turn away. There's enough drama, action, and comedy to keep you invested in what's going on. And when it's all said and done, when the empire falls, when the layout of Vegas is changed forever, Ace is the only one really left with anything. Everybody who turned on him, who lied to him, who manipulated him either dies, or is left with nothing. Nicky and his brother get bludgeoned to death, Ginger goes through all her money and ODs alone with no one there for her, and Sam is still kept by the mob because he's a good earner. He loses so much by the end, but he keeps his life, he starts over, from the bottom, to the top, back to the bottom. While Sam tries to control this sinking ship around him, he always stays relatable, you want him to succeed, if not that than live at least. "Casino" is the ultimate tale of greed, the ultimate tale of deception, of how self preservation can be the worst thing a human being can have. And it does all of this while simultaneously being funny, sad, and informative as to how the mob works. When I think of great gangster movies, I don't think of "The Godfather", I don't think of "Goodfellas", I think of this. Everything I could ever want out of a movie is here, it's the best pure movie I can think of, and it sits at the very top of my Top 10, never to be challenged, never to be replaced, never to be questioned. It is absolute. And that's that.

I saw this movie 20 years after its initial release. Yes, I know, not good. But this gave me the opportunity to look at it from a perspective where movie styles have changed. Did it stand the test of time? It is safe to say that this movie more or less concluded the typical mafia movie era, movies with overactive swearing gangster types, Italian lingo, violence, extortion, addiction. I must say, watching this film gave me the feeling that I had seen it all before. This is a template movie, a template for the style, a template for the characters, a template for the violence, templates for practically everything. As a result everybody is behaving one- dimensional, behaving as expected, no character development. Joe Pesci is really a caricature of himself, Robert De Niro is flat. Sharon Stone's part is at times interesting to watch. All in all this movie gets 6 out of 10 from me, mainly because the pace is okay.