After the healthy return on investment of Goodfellas, Universal gave Martin Scorsese the green light for Casino. It was to be a spiritual sequel, an organized crime epic about mobster Frank Rosenthal and his Stardust casino in Vegas. It was to showcase the talents of mob favorite Robert De Niro and feisty actress Sharon Stone, the two stars of Scorsese\u2019s Raging Bull and Goodfellas. And it was to feature a slick and sophisticated Las Vegas backdrop, complete with dazzling lights and the roar of slot machines.<\/p>\n
Casino is a riveting thriller. At three hours long, it never lags or runs out of steam. Thanks to Scorsese\u2019s masterful editing and taut narration, the film flies by and feels like an unbridled jolt of cinema.<\/p>\n
It is not only a tale of mobster tycoons and their casinos, but it also examines the corrupt system that allowed such illegal activity to flourish in Sin City. The movie lays bare the interconnected web of corruption that centered in Vegas, with tendrils reaching out to politicians, Teamsters unions, Chicago mafia and the Midwest mob based out of Kansas City.<\/p>\n