Best reviews of ⌛ 3 Film Box Set: American Gangster / Casino / Carlito’s Way Blu Ray – Denzel Washington, Al Pacino ⌛

Triple bill of gangster films. In ‘American Gangster’ (2007), when his boss dies, underworld driver Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) seizes his chance and begins to build his own criminal empire. Utilising the bodies of dead US soldiers, Lucas begins importing heroin direct from South-East Asia, increasing purity on the street and undercutting his rivals in one swoop. Before long he’s amassed a fortune, bringing him to the attention of maverick policeman Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe), an honest cop in an otherwise corrupt force, who makes it his business to shut Lucas down. In Martin Scorsese’s ‘Casino’ (1995), Robert De Niro stars as Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein, the mob’s frontman for a billion dollar Las Vegas casino. The story begins in 1973; Ace falls for hooker Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone), while boyhood companion Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) is appointed as his muscle at the club. Over the years various jealousies surface and erupt in a series of violent betrayals and, ultimately, threaten the destruction of Rothstein’s empire. Finally, in ‘Carlito’s Way’ (1993) Carlito (Al Pacino) is a drugs boss just released from prison. Determined to go straight and move to the Bahamas with his girlfriend, Gail (Penelope Ann Miller), Carlito is tempted back to the wrong side of the law by his lawyer, nerdish coke-head David Kleinfeld (Sean Penn), for ‘one last job’.

American Gangster:Ridley Scott’s American Gangster is a brutal, slick, and stylish portrayal of real life cult figure and international drug smuggler Frank Lucas. With tangled webs, deceit, strong aggression, shady characters and sinister plans, American Gangster has the gritty and pleasurable nostalgia of classic gangster films such as The Godfather and Scarface. Drug-kingpin Frank Lucas smuggles heroin into the US by hiding it with the bodies of soldiers killed during battle in Vietnam. By delivering a product that is far superior to his competitors, Lucas has rapidly established his status as Harlem’s most innovative drug dealer. While Lucas delicately constructs his own criminal empire, Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), one of the few honest detectives in a corrupt system, senses a sizeable shift within the hierarchy of the drug underworld and sets out to investigate this hitherto unknown power player that has come out of the shadows to dominate the drug trade. But with Detective Trupo (Josh Brolin), Roberts’ crooked and jealous colleague, wanting to obstruct and ruin the integrity of his idealistic counterpart, Roberts is left with little option other than to take desperate measures to end Lucas’ rule in Harlem.Academy Award winning lead actors Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe both turn in exhilarating and exceptional performances. With an engrossing story, powerful dialogue, realistic violence, and sharp stylish scenes, American Gangster delivers a complete, memorable, finely made, and richly satisfying crime epic that can be savoured again and again.Carlito’s Way : The year is 1975 and former gangster Carlito Brigante has just been released from jail after serving the first five years of a long sentence. Carlito’s lawyer David Kleinfeld has discovered a loop hole in the law and this time, Carlito is determined to go straight. He wants to retire to the Bahamas and set up a small business with his girlfriend Gail. All he needs is a stake. Suddenly Kleinfeld comes forward with the perfect proposition. Just a small debt of friendship. Consider it a favour. But if Carlito’s learned anything from the streets, it’s that a favour will kill you faster than a bullet…Casino: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci star in Director Martin Scorsese’s riveting look at how blind ambition, white-hot passion and 24-carat greed toppled an empire. Las Vegas in 1973 is the setting for this fact-based story about the Mob’s multi-million dollar casino operation – where fortunes and lives were made and lost with a roll of the dice…