Casino [HD DVD] Reviews

• Truly Amazing Picture Qualiy

  
  By A3KSA5YTXUZ5UB on 2007-01-10
  The movie is without doubt a perfect union with mean streets and goodfellas. But let's face it, why do we click into a certian HD DVD on amazon, we know whether or not we like the movie, right? We want the goods on the picture quality! Let me tell you something even if you can't take the needed violence in this movie, get it. Even if you can't stand all the foul language, get it. Even if you think Sharon Stone got her acting degree out of a cereal box, get it! Let me tell you something, this three hour epic looks mind numbingly stunning. I literally sat in awe at the sheer beauty of it, I mean what could possibly show of HD DVD picture quality than vegas' bright lights and scorsese' masterful direction? Casino, that's what. Do yourself a favor and get this disc right now because if you don't; Nicky will come back with a bat and if you beat him with a bat, he'll come back with a knife and you beat him with a knife, he'll come back with a gun and if you beat him with a gun, you better kill him because he'll keep comin' back, and back until one of you is dead.
  
  

• What a picture !

  
  By A2M7NSCMM8Y7SX on 2007-02-18
  I mean that statement in two ways. First, in my humble opinion, this is Martin Scorcese at his finest. This is better than Goodfellas by a wide margin. All of the regulars give awesome performances in this (even Sharon Stone, who I can't stand!). If you like mafia pictures, this is the BEST one to own. I also mean that it's a great picture due to the fact that it's on HD-DVD. The picture is astonishingly vivid and clear and the lights of Las Vegas really jump out of the television. It's almost 3-D ! The extras are ample, but I'd say adequate. That's the reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5. There is the obligitory commentary, deleted scenes, and a couple featurettes. It's all whipped cream and a cherry on top of an excellent sundae ! I do like that you can watch the extras and the movie at the same time with commentary running. This and Batman Begins are the reasons you should own an HD DVD player ! Note: I have the HD DVD drive attached to my Xbox 360 and it works brilliantly !
  
  

• Is it just me...

  
  By A319SKSB556033 on 2007-04-27
  ...or is this the darkest black comedy ever made? I just find Casino so amusing and funny that I hardly even notice the grim violence and harrowing drama. I also think that Casino is far, far superior to the over-rated Goodfellas. Even though it's longer, it passes in a breeze. Casino is just so colorful, multi-layered and intricate despite it's apparent simplicity. The film has three different characters narrating the story but none of it feels like exposition and it's never over-bearing.
  
  Adapted from a true story, the film focuses on the fictional Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. The boss is Sam 'Ace' Rothstein, his wife, volatile hustler Ginger and his psychotic 'friend' Nicky Santoro. All they needed to do was to keep the cash-flow at the Casino steady to satisfy the bosses back home. But it was just never meant to be. And everything implodes at the end.
  
  Casino is filled with dozens of sub-plots, tangent stories and brilliant side-characters. James Woods is especially funny as a lowlife con-man who can't even win a fight with a ten-year-old girl. Vinny Vella also amuses as long-suffering Artie Piscano. But it's Sharon Stone who walks away with the movie. Despite starring opposite loads of well-established male lead actors she owns Casino. She was absolutely robbed at the Academy Awards when they gave the Oscar to Susan Sarandon. Stone delivered a performance so authentic that it's truly unfair the amount of criticism she gets for her other, less-important films.
  
  The violence will satisfy gore fans. In this lovely film we have a dope with his head in a vice (after getting icepicks in his balls), a truly brutal beating with baseball bats, some moron getting a pen shoved into his neck and a cheater getting his hand mashed by a hammer. Don't let this put you off, that was the old Vegas. Nowadays you just get told not to come back.
  
  I know most people will call it sacrilege to condemn Goodfellas but Casino is just the better film of the two, plain and simple. Better lighting, far more impressive cinematography and more entertaining characters. It just has so much going for it that Goodfellas did not.
  
  The 1080p HD DVD is absolutely stunning and is surely reference quality stuff. The Dolby Digital+ sound is also amazing and there are plenty of extras. A total must-have.
  
  

• Casino - Blu-ray Info

  
  By AHABFECTNE15I on 2008-10-08
  Version: U.S.A / Region A, B, C
  Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
  VC-1 BD-50
  Running time: 2:58:20
  Movie size: 44,74 GB
  Disc size: 48,10 GB
  Average video bit rate: 19.23 Mbps
  
  DTS-HD Master Audio English 4165 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 4165kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps)
  DTS Audio French 768 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 768kbps
  DTS Audio German 768 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 768kbps
  DTS Audio Italian 768 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 768kbps
  DTS Audio Japanese 768 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 768kbps
  DTS Audio Spanish 768 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 768kbps
  DTS Audio Spanish 768 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 768kbps
  Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps
  DTS English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps
  
  Subtitles: English SDH / Chinese / Danish / Dutch / Finnish / French / German / Italian / Japanese / Korean / Norwegian / Spanish / Swedish
  
  Number of chapters: 16
  
  #Audio Commentary
  #TV Specials (SD - 56 minutes)
  #Deleted Scenes (SD - 5 minutes)
  #U-Control - BonusView - Picture-in-Picture
  
  

• A good performance from Sharon

  
  By A2R4XG0L7Z01V8 on 2007-04-23
  At 178 minutes long, I was expecting to be bored throughout this film, despite everyone raves about this film, along with Goodfellas. And although I did get a bit restless during it, I did find myself sucked into the film and actually trying to work out what was going to come next.
  
  It starts off with a shocking scene, and then is told in retrospective (or so you think), from ten years previously. I certainly sat up straight up when the film started, as this is the scene you're not expecting. Although when it's repeated towards the end, it does tend to go OTT, by showing it from every angle, and showing the viewer what exactly happened.
  
  Visually, the film is very bright, with the neon lights of the casino, and Robert De Niro's colour blinding suits (who puts pink & orange together?!) Honestly when he first walked onto the screen, I thought his wardrobe was made up by a colour-blind person, as most of his suits were OTT bright, or clashed severely. The brightness of the casino is so well done in HD, you almost start to feel like you're there, it's so real, and captures the bright lights of Vegas perfectly.
  
  I thought Sharon Stone's role was the best out of the entire film, as her character goes through such a journey during the film, and the physical changes in her character are shocking. Her character of Ginger is an ex-hooker, who marries Robert De Niro's character, despite not loving him in the slightest. I think she was seeing dollar signs before her eyes. She becomes a mother, and also turns to drink, which ultimately, leads to a shocking end.
  
  This film is definitely not for the fainthearted. There's a closeup scene of someone snorting cocaine, and Sharon's character, Ginger, snorts some in front of her daughter. The F word is said a grand total of 422 times, a bit unnecessary, including in the narration, which makes it a total of 2.4 times per MINUTE on average. The chain smoking is quite harsh as well, as Robert De Niro constantly had a cigarette in his hand in nearly every single scene. (I pity any non-smoking crew on set.) It was necessary to portray what it was like in those days, when smoking was considered classy, and not frowned upon as it is today. I expected there to be some continuity problems that accompanies a chain-smoking character but Robert always held his cigarettes the same distance from the lit end so that their lengths never appear to change.
  
  This film impressed me, and I can imagine it looks so much better in HD, so it would definitely be better than the old regular DVD. But everyone lumping it along with Goodfellas doesn't bode well, cos everyone HAS to like Goodfellas it seems. It's definitely one to watch on HD, and with a TV that's more like a cinema screen would be good too!
  
  
• What does the promo have to do with the Casino Review?
  By A714KXJFQGSGF on 2006-11-20
  The movie was great and seeing what they did to Goddfellas in HD makes this title even more promising.
  
  
• Great Movie
  By A4S4CV8XOAPHR on 2007-01-17
  Obviously a great movie, but the HD DVD is very well done. Excellent film transfer really shows off increased resolution.
  
  
• A Must OWN HD DVD!
  By A33S5RQZ2QVK6G on 2007-06-14
  Though its over 10 years old, the picture of this HD DVD looks as if it was filmed recently in HD! It also includes WBs bookmarking so you can create custom bookmarks and favorite scenes! Joe Pesci and Robert Deniro do a fantastic job displaying Mob activity in 70's Vegas Casinos in all of its HD Glory! Universal has done a stunning job with the HD transfer and 5.1 sound. Start your HD DVD mob collection right with Casino and Goodfellas on HD DVD!
  
  
• Improvement over the standard DVD
  By A2Y1SRORGEBX98 on 2007-10-01
  This HD DVD is a major improvement over the previous standard DVD, which had the movie spread over two sides of the disk and you had to flip the DVD over to finish the movie. On the HD DVD version you can watch the entire film uninterupted. Also the film looks much better in HD.
  
  
• Get it or you'll regret it
  By A9EP4IU06A5YW on 2000-07-16
  Goodfellas move to Las Vegas on steriods and a dash of speed. If you like mob films you will love Casino. It has all the right elements; sleezy, grity, sex, drama, dark humor, lots of violence, and lots of flowing cash. Hollywood ganster mob film with texture, vitality, and great cinamatagraphy. Never a dull moment. If you don't have this film in your library your are really missing out. Oh and the acting is superb. In my humble opinion Oscars all around. Entertainment to the highest level. Must have movie.
  
  
• A pretty good movie
  By A2SQS0LD16YTT6 on 2007-03-12
  Overall, I enjoyed the movie very much. It was much better than I expected it to be. The picture was good and it is one of my favourite mafia movies. I would say it is worth the money to go get it. Joe Pesci did a great job playing part of the mafia.
  
  
• Casino on HD DVD places Vegas in your living room!
  By A3SEBTLNBW5973 on 2008-01-26
  I purchased this after reading a review that regards it as one of the best 8mm to hd dvd transfers. Wow, was it right! The color from the opening scene was brilliant; it captured the full Las Vegas ambience in superb detail. The architechure couldn't look more real and its well-lighted signature has never been written to film better. Oh yeah, the sound was nothing to fall asleep on, too. In short, this is a must-add to your hd dvd library.
  
  
• Typical Joe Pesci
  By A11G9KK7AV8G1X on 2007-02-08
  What I expected from Joe P. and Robert D. I thought Sharon did a good performance. Picture quality was OK - sound very good.
  
  
• If you liked Goodfellas you'll like this too!
  By A1UG5O5IBLOWVN on 2007-12-12
  This is based off a true story as well as a documentary I watched recently. It is really wild! We get exceptional performances from all actors involved, many who came from Goodfellas. Sharon Stone does a decent job here too, as well as James Woods of course. Joe Pesci is really funny and it's interesting how they narrate it like in Goodfellas. The picture quality on this HD-DVD is fantastic! I would say it could very well be reference. I got this free from the HD-DVD Toshiba offer but it would have been well spent if I bought it. Vegas baby all the way!
  
  
• Incredible picture quality WOW!!!!! A must have
  By A2GSOYRP3VA79I on 2007-12-16
  This movie is great. I am amazed by the quality the hd dvd format is the best i bought this when amazon had the buy one get one free deal. I am glad i selected this title. Go out and get this movie its entertaining and the picture quality is one of the best out there.
  
  
• The Look and Sound of Perfection! Casino on HD DVD
  By AYC1WYRPP9QJZ on 2008-01-18
  Love it! I got my new HD DVD player with Toshiba's 7 free HD movie deal going on right now (player is $130 on amazon, comes with two hd movies and 5 free by mail).
  
  Casino is incredible. Great acting, great casting, great scripting. Don't let the unintelligent crowd tell you its Goodfellas warmed over. It's not. This story is terrific and it looks and sounds fantastic on HD DVD. Buy it!
  
  
• Scorsese, DeNiro, Pesci, gangsters. Enough said.
  By A2EMM9HWOSY2Q5 on 2008-02-15
  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.
  
  
  
  
  
• Casin in HD-DVD
  By AEJC228XAV5K4 on 2008-01-12
  Excellent upgrade from the SD-DVD. Recommended buy! Too bad HD is going to die.. Great movie to the book and American Justice-Vegas and the Mob which aired on A&E.
  
  
• One of the best Mafia movies of all time
  By A3ASZN52XYIPOF on 2008-01-19
  If you like Mafia movies, you'll love Casino. If you don't like Mafia movies, this is still worth seeing just for the stellar acting job of the entire cast.
  
  
• This Movie Rocks
  By AZBYSD789YFDR on 2008-02-13
  This film is not as well known as Scorcese's other big gangster saga- GoodFellas, but it is actually a fantastic follow-up to the former. Instead of NYC, Scorcese sets this story of mafia mayhem in Las Vegas. There are two levels on which to watch a film like this. First is to delve into the fascinating story of the different personalities that make up the criminal world and how they inevitably clash. This is particularly fascinating with Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci doing just that. The other level of enjoying this film is jumping on the fluid film ride Scorcese takes you on... constant graceful, majestic camera work that picks the viewer up in its hand and zooms you along... like being on its a Small Small World at Disneyland, but going much faster, and the message being... It's Too Small A World for both of us pal.. and moving a few clicks faster at least, accompanied by rock and classic jazz standards. This is not your grandmother's Vegas. Casino cheaters are dealt with swiftly and harshly and the endless desert landscape surrounding Vegas is not empty, but filled with people- all below ground. If you like Scorcese, you must watch this film. If you like Pesci, you will not be disappointed. If you like Vegas, this film offers a fascinating "possible" history of how your favourite casino came to be.
  Sharon Stone is very disappointing in this film. Not a total disaster, but it is difficult to see what charm DeNiro's character found in her to give his life over to her. But this is a small fault in the film. This is a roller coaster ride with slow spots, but overall a great film ride for those who like a healthy quotient of violence and pathos.
  
  
  

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