As Rothstein's success unravels, Scorsese unstintingly reveals the viciousness of the old school Vegas powerbrokers (including more gruesome violence than any previous Scorsese work), yet the virtuoso final montage and unsettling coda suggest that the new Disney-fied Vegas robbed the city of its success-fantasy soul.
Weaving a tale about the town, as well as ill-fated mobsters 'Ace' Rothstein (based on actual Vegas-ite Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal) and Nicky Santoro, the first hour merges documentary-style detail (including copious narration) with Scorsese's signature technical flair to depict how the Mob skimmed millions from the casinos. The explosive beginning of Saul Bass's customarily brilliant opening credits sequence seems to bode well for Martin Scorsese's epic portrait of 1970s Las Vegas, Casino (1995).
