Over the next three movies, the stories became excessively kitschy. In 1995, Campbell introduced Pierce Brosnan as Bond with Goldeneye, which moved on from Timothy Dalton’s gritty take into a more fantastical realm. “It was the thing I sweated on more than anything else.” “There was a lot of playing in it,” he tells Polygon. But for Campbell, who had never picked up a deck, it looked like a snooze. The card game, they believed, made for better drama - it was known more widely, required more skill and delivered higher stakes. Loosely adapting Ian Fleming’s 1953 novel of the same name, screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis had replaced the author’s original game of baccarat with three big rounds of Texas hold’em. This was his second reboot of the James Bond franchise, and on the cusp of production, he realized the movie’s centerpiece - a showdown between 007 and the blood-eyed villain Le Chiffre - took place around a quiet poker table. It is fortunate that 'Casino' is available on Archives.The script for Casino Royale worried director Martin Campbell.

I enjoyed this film and thinking about Scorsese's films again.

This film captures the hardness of Sin City and, as does much of Scorsese's work, has a metaphysical, religious feel below the surface. Violence, sexuality and greed come together to the accompaniment of Scorcese's lavish and apt musical background of songs from the era. Sharon Stone gives a strong performance as his wife, Ginger, while Joe Pesci portrays Rothstein's lifelong friend, the violent and unstable Santoro. Robert De Niro stars as 'Ace' Rothstein, the gambler with Mafia connections who runs a large Vegas casino, the Tangiers. It also has well developed characters although they are all unsympathetic, even vile. The movie is full of violence and criminality. Although lengthy, the film maintains tension and interest throughout as it shows the sordid nature of the business just below all the glitz.

'Casino' offers a close look at Las Vegas gambling during the years through the 1980s when organized crime was rampant. Both films center on money and materialism. Both films are about the greed, glitter, and violence of Las Vegas, with 'Showgirls' involved with glamour and stripping and 'Casino' involved with gambling. 'Showgirls' was a critical and commercial failure although its reputation has increased somewhat in recent years while 'Casino' is a masterpiece. I took the opportunity to watch 'Casino' here on Archives after watching another 1995 film 'Showgirls' set in Las Vegas. I have long been admirer of Martin Scorsese even though there are many of his films I haven't seen.

Casino cast