When you talk about the best movie directors, the name Martin Scorsese is always bound to appear. His work isn’t as pleasant as a Spielberg but when you leave the cinema with plenty to think about. Let’s take a look at the top three movies he made in the 1990s.
Goodfellas (1990)
After success with movies such as ‘Raging Bull’ and ‘The King of Comedy’ in the previous decade, Scorsese began the 90s with this blockbuster of a movie. ‘Goodfellas’ again starred Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, along with Ray Liotta.
We’re back in the world of organized crime and for some critics, ‘Goodfellas’ is even better than ‘The Godfather’ and with no horse’s heads involved either. Joe Pesci won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, but the movie lost out to ‘Dances with Wolves’ for Best Picture.
Cape Fear (1991)
If this Scorsese movie doesn’t scare you, then nothing will. Robert De Niro is back as the convicted rapist Max Cady who knows a fair amount about how the law works. He’s not happy with the way a case that saw him jailed for 14 years was handled by the defence. Vital information that could have seen his sentence reduced or even seen him found not guilty was omitted and now he’s out for revenge.
The movie also stars Jessica Lange, Nick Nolte and Hollywood legend Gregory Peck in his last role. Nolte plays the lawyer Sam Bowden who is targeted by Cady once the rapist is released from prison.
It all gets even more frightening when Cady impersonates a teacher. He gets close to Bowden’s daughter and then murders their housekeeper. They go to their houseboat at Cape Fear (the local police station would have been a better idea) but Cady of course follows them. Throw in a storm and this is the kind of movie that has you on the edge of your seat and postponing that trip to the coast.
Casino (1995)
Four years later, De Niro starred in another Scorsese movie. This time he plays Sam “Ace” Rothstein who is given the job of overseeing day-to-day operations at the Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. He’s married to Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone) and friends with Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci).
Rothstein has a difficult job, especially as the Mafia have a big say in what goes on at the casino. Hiding the scams at the casino from the police is enough tough task. Away from work though he finds that his relationships are gradually falling apart with his wife out to kill him.
The character of Rothstein is inspired on the real-life casino boss Frank Rosenthal. For Nicky, the character is based on mob enforcer Anthony Spilotro, with Ginger inspired by dancer Geri McGee. The movie shows how Las Vegas changes over a period of time.
Watching a film like this can’t help but get you fascinated in casinos. If you fancy going online and playing some great games, a visit to the play live casino online in Ireland is a great idea.
