Casino Is A Brutal, Brilliant Look At Power And Greed In Las Vegas. It Is One Of Martin Scorsese’s Most Underrated Masterpieces And A True Crime Classic.
Released in 1995, Casino is Martin Scorsese operating at full confidence. Coming off the legacy of Goodfellas, he returned to the world of organized crime but shifted the setting from New York streets to the neon glow of Las Vegas. Instead of just focusing on mob soldiers, Casino zooms out and shows the entire machine. The money, the politics, the skimming, the illusion of glamour hiding something much darker underneath.
Robert De Niro plays Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a meticulous sports handicapper sent to run a casino for the Chicago Outfit. De Niro’s performance is controlled, intelligent, and quietly intimidating. Ace is not a street thug. He is a businessman who understands odds, risk, and precision. Watching him manage the casino floor with obsessive attention to detail is fascinating. His downfall is not incompetence, it is ego and emotion creeping into a system that depends on discipline.
Joe Pesci delivers one of the most explosive performances of his career as Nicky Santoro. If Ace represents order, Nicky represents chaos. Pesci plays him with a volatility that feels dangerous in every scene. There is no filter, no patience, and no long term thinking. Nicky is muscle without restraint, and his presence constantly threatens to destroy everything Ace is trying to build. The tension between De Niro and Pesci drives the film and keeps it simmering even in quieter moments.
Sharon Stone gives a career defining performance as Ginger McKenna. She is magnetic, manipulative, vulnerable, and tragic all at once. Ginger is not just a side character or love interest. She is central to the emotional collapse of the story. Stone brings depth to a character who could have easily been one dimensional. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination, and it is easy to see why. She makes you understand Ginger’s ambition, her addictions, and her self destructive spiral.
Scorsese’s direction is masterful. The film runs nearly three hours, yet it never feels wasted. The pacing allows the audience to see the rise and fall in full detail. He uses voiceover from multiple perspectives, slick editing, and an incredible soundtrack filled with classic rock to keep the energy alive. The camera glides through casinos, counting rooms, and desert landscapes with confidence. Every frame feels intentional.
What makes Casino stand out is how it breaks down the business side of organized crime. It shows how the mob infiltrated Las Vegas, skimmed millions off the top, and kept politicians and regulators looking the other way. The movie does not romanticize the lifestyle. It shows the greed, paranoia, and violence that eventually consume everyone involved. The glamour is real, but so is the cost.
Visually, the film is stunning. The bright lights of the Strip contrast with the brutal reality of what happens behind closed doors. The costume design, especially Ginger’s extravagant wardrobe, reinforces the excess of the era. Everything looks big, loud, and over the top, which mirrors the characters’ personalities and decisions.
Compared to Goodfellas, Casino feels more methodical and less chaotic in its storytelling, yet it carries an even heavier sense of inevitability. From the opening scene, you know this story will not end well. That sense of doom hangs over every success and every celebration. It is not about whether things fall apart. It is about when.
Casino has earned its place as a classic because it does more than tell a crime story. It dissects power, loyalty, greed, and the illusion of control. It shows how empires built on corruption eventually collapse under their own weight. The performances, direction, music, and storytelling all come together to create something epic.
Decades later, Casino still holds up as one of the definitive crime dramas ever made. It is bold, stylish, and unapologetically intense. For anyone who appreciates layered storytelling and powerhouse acting, this film remains essential viewing.