Ultimate Gangster Collection [DVD]

Collection of contemporary 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 'Scarface' (1983), up-and-coming gangster Tony Montana (Al Pacino) arrives in Miami as a Cuban refugee. With his friend Manny (Stephen Bauer), Tony carries out a hit on a politician, earning him the gratitude of drug dealer Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia). Tony rises rapidly in the 'organization', but courts disaster when he becomes involved with Lopez's cocaine-addicted wife, Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer). In 'Casino' (1995), director Martin Scorsese casts Robert De Niro 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, the destruction of Rothstein's empire. In 'Carlito's Way' (1993), Carlito (Pacino) is a Hispanic 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'. Brian De Palma directs this visually eloquent film about a man's inevitable tragic demise with his familiar penchant for the big set piece and violent action. Finally, in 'Mean Streets' (1973), four Italian-Americans from New York's lower East Side hang around at a local bar. Charlie (Harvey Keitel), the most responsible of the group, tries to protect his girlfriend's cousin Johnny Boy (De Niro) from the local debt collectors, but his young charge seems determined to live fast and die young. Heavily influenced by the French New Wave, 'Mean Streets' provided the first high-profile success for director Martin Scorsese and star Robert De Niro.

• Sales Rank: #9805 in DVD
  
• Released on: 2008-10-13
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 - 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 736 minutes