Casino 1995 Based On True Story

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Best Casino Movies Of All Time

In the 1995 film Casino, director Martin Scorsese and star Robert De Niro gave us the fictional story of Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a mob-affiliated casino operator who always knows just how to manipulate odds and maximize profits on behalf of the murderous gangsters he works with. Casino (1995) Without any doubts, the first place belongs to the epic crime movie directed by Martin Scorsese “Casino”. It is a story of Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a gambler and sports handicapper, who heads the Tangiers Casino for the Chicago Outfit, an Italian-American organized crime syndicate. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators.

The intoxicating glamour and allure of casinos makes them the perfect setting for some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters. With the glitz of high rollers, casinos offer an ideal blend of action, adventure and thrills. Want to swot up on the most iconic casino movies out there? We take a look at 10 of the best.

Casino 1995 Based On True Story

Based on the true story of Frank Rosenthal and directed by Hollywood heavyweight Martin Scorsese, Casino offers the archetype of the glamorous lifestyle at the felt in this legendary 1995 movie. Known as one of the finest gaming films ever made, Casino tells the true story of two lifelong friends who create their own gambling empire. The actors were trained by real-life parolees and FBI agents to prepare them for their roles and the costume budget was over $1million!

George Clooney heads up a stellar cast in this fast remake of the 1960 Rat Pack heist caper, which tells the story of the biggest heist in history. Also starring Julia Roberts, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, the cast liked to play cards with each other while off set, with Brad Pitt tending to take the winnings. Though it has since spawned a whole host of sequels, the original Ocean’s Eleven still reigns supreme (though don’t ask George Clooney to corroborate that!)

Another epic casino film starring Matt Damon, who portrays a gifted poker player and law student dreaming of playing in the World Series Poker. Also starring Edward Norton and with an unforgettable cameo by John Malkovich, this movie is single-handedly credited with spawning the Poker Boom in the early 2000s which catapulted the game into the mainstream. Many fans have commented on the accurate portrayal of the adrenaline rush of playing poker.

Based on the true story of real life high roller Stu “The Kid” Ungar, this film charts the rise and fall of one of the most gifted poker stars in history. Michael Imperioli delivers an engaging and convincing performance as Stu Ungar, capturing the essence of a life spent at the felt. Though the movie did not have a large budget and subsequently received mixed reactions on its release, it is regarded as a great portrayal of a man who was faster and larger than life.

Taken from the cult novel of the same name, Fear and Loathing is a psychedelic roller-coaster ride through Las Vegas, as seen through the eyes of Hunter S. Thompson (played by Johnny Depp). The film was released in 1998 and features cameos from Hunter S.Thompson and director Terry Gilliam who had taken over from Alex Cox (Sid and Nancy (1986)) due to creative differences. The casino scene was allegedly inspired by the Circus Circus Casino.

Ok, perhaps not a casino film as such – but the roulette scene in this offbeat German movie is iconic in its own right! Given 20 minutes to save her boyfriend, eponymous heroine Lola has to raise 100,00 Deutsche Mark as fast as she can. Good job she had a mastery of the not-so-obvious rules for roulette! Featuring allusions to Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, there are also several references to German culture throughout the film.

This movie follows the saga of talented MIT students who continually make big wins at Las Vegas. Inspired by the book Bringing Down the House, which tells the true story of 6 students playing big in Vegas, 21 stars Kevin Spacey as Professor Mickey Rosa. Prepare yourself from some truly exhilarating casino scenes and a dependably solid performance by all the cast.

Casino 1995 Based On True Story Full

Tom Cruise depicts a selfish, narcissistic businessman who spots a business opportunity when he meets his autistic brother (Dustin Hoffman) for the first time. Dustin Hoffman is incredibly loveable in this epic portrayal of family bonds and the casino scenes are particularly unforgettable as they cement the assumption that only geniuses can count cards. Both Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro turned down the part of savant Raymond, despite this, the movie went on to become one of the most successful comedy-dramas of all time.

A 90s classic, Maverick stars Mel Gibson as a poker player trying to get his hands on the money needed to buy in to an upcoming poker tournament. The highest grossing western film since 1979, the movie showcases the life of a traveling card shark in the 19th Century and his attempts to take part in the biggest poker showdown of his life. Based on a television show of the same name, Maverick made $183million at the box office.

Following the story of struggling writer (Clive Owen) who lands a job as a croupier, this film takes a look at the spectacular highs and bad beats associated with the casino lifestyle. Shot in a film noir style, Croupier is one of the most underrated films of its genre; a rare combination of both intelligent scripting and engrossing storytelling. If this one isn’t on your bucket list already, you’re in for a treat!

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Casino (1995)

Martin Scorsese's Casino knows a lot about the Mafia's relationship with Las Vegas. It's based on a book by Nicholas Pileggi, who had full access to a man who once ran four casinos for the mob, and whose true story inspires the plot of the movie. Like The Godfather it makes us feel like eavesdroppers in a secret place. The movie opens with a car bombing, and the figure of Sam (Ace) Rothstein floating through the air. The movie explains how such a thing came to happen to him.

The first hour plays like a documentary; there's a narration, by Rothstein (Robert De Niro) and others, explaining how the mob skimmed millions out of the casinos. It's an interesting process. Assuming you could steal 25 percent of the slot machine take—what would you do with tons of coins? How would you convert them into bills that could be stuffed into the weekly suitcase for delivery to the mob in Kansas City? Casino knows. It also knows how to skim from the other games, and from food service and the gift shops. And it knows about how casinos don't like to be stolen from. There's an incident where a man is cheating at blackjack, and a couple of security guys sidle up to him, and jab him with a stun gun. He collapses, the security guys call for medical attention, and hurry him away to a little room where they pound on his fingers with a mallet and he agrees that he made a very bad mistake.

Rothstein, based on the real-life figure of Frank (Lefty) Rosenthal, starts life as a sports odds maker in Chicago, attracts the attention of the mob because of his genius with numbers, and is assigned to run casinos because he looks like an efficient businessman who will encourage the Vegas goose to continue laying its golden eggs. He is a man who detests unnecessary trouble. One day, however, trouble finds him, in the person of Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone), a high-priced call girl. Scorsese shows him seeing Ginger on a TV security monitor, and falling so instantly in love that the image becomes a freeze-frame. Ace showers her with gifts, which she is happy to have, but when he wants to marry her she objects; she's been with a pimp named Lester Diamond (James Woods) since she was a kid, and she doesn't want to give up her profession. Rothstein will make her an offer she can't refuse: Cars, diamonds, furs, a home with a pool, and the key to his safety-deposit box. She marries him. It is Ace's first mistake.

Another mistake was to ever meet Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) when they were both kids in Chicago. Nicky is a thief and a killer, who comes to Vegas, forms a crew, and throws his weight around. After he squeezes one guy's head in a vise, the word goes out that he's the mob's enforcer. Not true, but people believe it, and soon Nicky's name is being linked with his old pal Ace in all the newspapers.

Scorsese tells his story with the energy and pacing he's famous for, and with a wealth of little details that feel just right. Not only the details of tacky 1970s period decor, but little moments like when Ace orders the casino cooks to put 'exactly the same amount of blueberries in every muffin.' Or when airborne feds are circling a golf course while spying on the hoods, and their plane runs out of gas, and they have to make an emergency landing right on the green. And when crucial evidence is obtained because a low-level hood kept a record of his expenses. And when Ace hosts a weekly show on local TV—and reveals a talent for juggling.

Meanwhile, Ginger starts drinking, and Ace is worried about their kid, and they start having public fights, and she turns to Nicky for advice that soon becomes consolation, and when Ace finds out she may be fooling around he utters a line that, in its way, is perfect: 'I just hope it's not somebody who I think it might be.' 'It was,' the narration tells us, 'the last time street guys would ever be given such an opportunity.' All the mob had to do was take care of business. But when Ace met Ginger and when Nicky came to town, the pieces were in place for the Mob to become the biggest loser in Vegas history. 'We screwed up good, ' Nicky says, not using exactly those words.

Scorsese gets the feel, the mood, almost the smell of the city just right; De Niro and Pesci inhabit their roles with unconscious assurance, Sharon Stone's call girl is her best performance, and the supporting cast includes people like Don Rickles, whose very presence evokes an era (his job is to stand impassively beside the boss and look very sad about what might happen to whomever the boss is talking). Unlike his other Mafia movies (Mean Streets, 1973 and Goodfellas, 1990), Scorsese's Casino is as concerned with history as with plot and character. The city of Las Vegas is his subject, and he shows how it permitted people like Ace, Ginger and Nicky to flourish, and then spit them out, because the Vegas machine is too profitable and powerful to allow anyone to slow its operation.

When the Mafia, using funds from the Teamster's Union, was ejected in the late 1970s, the 1980s ushered in a new source of financing: Junk bonds. 'The big corporations took over,' the narration observes, almost sadly. 'Today, it works like Disneyland.' In a closing shot of the new, family-oriented casinos in the corporate Las Vegas, the families who have replaced the colorful characters of an earlier generation look like the suburban zombies over-running a mall in George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) and its sequl, Dawn of the Dead (1979).

Cast:

Performer, Character

Casino 1995 Based On True Story Cast

Robert De Niro, Sam (Ace) Rothstein

Casino 1995 Based On True Story

Sharon Stone, Ginger McKenna

Casino 1995 Based On True Story Movie

Joe Pesci, Nicky Santoro

James Woods, Lester Diamond

Don Rickles Billy, Sherbert

Alan King, Andy Stone

Kevin Pollak, Phillip Green

L.Q. Jones, Pat Webb

Casino 1995 Based On True Story Movies

Dick Smothers, Frank Vincent

Melissa Prophet, Jennifer Santoro

Bill Allison, John Nance

Vinny Vella, Artie Piscano

Oscar Goodman, Himself

Catherine Scorsese (Marty's Mom),Piscano's Mother

Frankie Avalon, Himself

Steve Allen, Himself

Jayne Meadows, Herself

Jerry Vale, Himself

Production Credits:

Producer, Barbara De Fina

Associate Producer, Joseph Reidy

Director, Martin Scorsese

Screenwriters, Nicholas Pileggi and Martin Scorsese (based on the book by Nicholas Pileggi)

Cinematographer, Robert Richardson

Editor, Thelma Schoonmaker

Composers, Too Many to list here. Check the film's web sites.