Casino

Casino was based on a true story, right?

all I know is that both Ace Rothstein and Nicky Santoro are inspired on real life gangsters, but I really think the whole story is fiction.

Ace Rothstein is based on casino boss Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, whose career inspired the movie.

Nicky Santoro was based on Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, SPOILER: who with his brother, was killed in a cornfield and buried. :SPOILER

Cameo: [ Frank Cullotta] the grey-haired hitman in sunglasses near the end of the movie. He was the chief lieutenant of Tony "The Ant" Spilotro in the late '70s, early '80s. Cullotta entered the Witness Protection Program before the "cornfield incident" took place and was not present, unlike Marino. - IMDB

While the movie begins by stating it is based upon a true story, it never names the actual casino involved. The Tangiers casino is fictional. The story is actually based upon the history of the Stardust casino, a fact well documented in the Vegas history books. Scorsese discreetly documents this fact via the soundtrack, in which the song "Stardust" is heard three different times. An instrumental version plays during Ace and Ginger's wedding and a vocal version is heard during the scene where Remo asks Marino if Nicky and Ginger are having sex and also during the very end of the final credits.
- IMDB

The movie is closely based on the book, "Casino," by Nicholas Pileggi, who wrote "Wiseguy."

Wiseguy is what Goodfellas was based on, right?

Yeah. Goodfellas was based on Wiseguy. A good book and a good movie.

Has anyone read both Wiseguy & Casino? If so, are they worth reading? And how good are they compared to the movies?

I have read Wiseguy. I read it within two days. It was really good. As for it being better than the movie or not, I have to say that they are about the same in enjoyability. Although, the movie is very different from the book.

Irish Ive read both of them, and I would reccomend them both. Wiseguy goes into some extra stuff thats not in the movie, but its not like the extra stuff in The Godfather; this stuff you'll actually want to read.
I have never seen the first part of Casino, so I cant tell you how close the book and the movie are. The book drags on a little taking about Allen Green, I think was the name, but it is still a pretty enjoyable read.

Where can I find these books? Barnes & Noble's or what? I wanna read Wiseguy, Casino, and The Godfather.

Try your local library first. But all three should be availabe on either Barnes and Noble or Amazon. You can buy used copies at abebooks.com

I found all three used in HB on Ebay for pretty cheap. I would look there if you're like me and like things in hardcover.

When is Casino going to be rereleased on DVD? I've heard around Christmas from the dude at Bestbuy, but I couldn't find anything official.

I know Raging Bull is coming out before Christmas (Dec. 14). But I don't anticipate Casino until next year at the earliest.

I haven't seen Raging Bull, is it any good?

It's been delayed.

Where did you hear that Don Vercetti?

The History Channel presented an hour long interview with Nicholas Pileggi author of Casino, with lots of pictures of the real life characters that the movie is based on. The interview is available on DVD. I'd post a link to the the History Channel web site if I knew how to do that.