While most movies focus on the glamorous aspects of Las Vegas, Casino looks at what made the city such a gambling hub in the first place. It examines the city’s roots and its past ties to organized crime, all while still showing us the opulence and neon signs that make it so famous today. It also explores the darker side of this “paradise” that leads to murder, avarice, and betrayal.

Unlike Goodfellas, which was a ground-level view of mob life, Casino takes a bird’s eye view of these guys. This allows the film to be much more of a religious parable, a story about mankind being gifted a place where they are not watched or judged, but then destroying it through their own greed and shortsightedness. Sam ends the movie exiled from Las Vegas, just like Adam and Eve were banished from paradise in the Bible.

Casino is an excellent example of how Scorsese uses his film to deliver social commentary. He is too careful a filmmaker to obscure or distort his characters, but there is always an element of moral ambiguity that permeates the film. From the moment Nicky starts his narration with the generic phrase “the bosses” to the way that low-level hoods start itemising their expenses, the sense is that these criminals are trying to hide their sins from a higher authority – and in the end this deception will catch up to them.

Casino features an incredible cast, led by a remarkable performance from Robert De Niro as the sly and slippery Sam Rothstein. Sharon Stone is also on top form as blonde hustler Ginger McKenna. The supporting cast is impressive too, with Joe Pesci adding tension as the menacing Santoro.