For those of you who read my review of Season 1 of Las Vegas (thanks by the way!) will know that I borrowed Season 1 off of a friend and loved it and so a week later I borrowed series 2 - well, now a week later I have finished that series too! (what am I gonna watch now?........).
'Las Vegas' ... Read review
Season Two... Twice As Hot.Television's hottest drama, Las Vegas is back with all 24 ... more
episodes of the thrilling Second Season, and the stakes are higher than ever! Rejoin the red-hot surveillance team of the Montecito Resort and Casino as they take on m...
One of television's hottest drama series' Las Vegas is back with all 24 episodes of the ... more
thrilling Second Season and the stakes are higher than ever! Rejoin the red-hot surveillance team of the Montecito Resort and Casino as they take on more card-c...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 2000 - Drama - Director: Giuseppe Tornatore - Original Language: Italian - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Sulfaro, Luciano Federico, Matilde Piana
Advantages: Different, more interesting story lines to season one Disadvantages: some poor acting
...review of Season 1 of Las Vegas (thanks by the way!) will know that I borrowed Season 1 off of a friend and loved it and so a week later I borrowed series 2 - well, now a week later I have finished that series too! (what am I gonna watch now?........).
'Las Vegas' is set in and around the Montecito Hotel Resort & Casino located on the Strip in Las Vegas and the people that work there.
Season one was mainly focused on ... ...of a regular occurrence in Las Vegas (no I'm not going to tell you who!.....) a few episodes before the end will have you in tears (if you're a wimp like me anyway!) as we watch his memorial service with Guns 'n' Roses' 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' playing for dramatic impact and it certainly worked.
For those of you who read my review of Season 1 of Las Vegas (thanks by the way!) will know that I borrowed Season 1 off of a friend and loved it and so a week later I borrowed series 2 - well, now a week later I have finished that series too! (what am I gonna watch now?........).
'Las Vegas' is set in and around the Montecito Hotel Resort & Casino located on the Strip in Las Vegas and the people that work there.
Season one was mainly focused on the surveillance and security staff but Season two sees a lot of the other characters coming in to their own.
♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦♠b 27;♥♦♠♣♥♦ The Main Characters: ♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦♠ ;♣♥♦♠♣♥♦
Big Ed Deline (James Caan - 'The Godfather', 'Misery') is ex C.I.A and now the president of the Montecito. He used to head up the Security and Surveillance team and although is still 'in charge' he has passed that position on to Danny McCoy. Ed is the tough guy with a heart of gold - don't mess with his family or his casino and you'll be fine!
Danny McCoy (Josh Duhamel) is Ed's 'right hand man'. He is the handsome ex Marine who seems to get all the ladies. He now heads up the Security and Surveillance team.
Nessa Holt (Marsha Thomason - 'Where the heart is', 'Pie in the sky') is the beautiful, English Casino Pit boss. She knows everything there is to know about poker and blackjack etc. She's the one who looks after the tables and makes sure nobody's cheating etc. Nessa was brought up by Ed and his wife after her own father was killed.
Casino Host, Sam (Samantha Jane) Marques (Vanessa Marcil - 'The Rock', 'NYPD Blue') another sickeningly stunning woman (if you're a woman anyway - If you're a man then she's just stunning!) who is in charge of getting all the big money spender clients (known as the Whales) to the casino and keeping them there. She will do anything for the rich and she really loves the money!
Special Events Co-ordinator, Mary Connell (Nikki Cox) is in charge of organising the events (hence the job title) and singers at the Casino etc. She has been in Love with Danny since they were about 10 years old and for some reason seems to always walk around in very revealing tops????
Mike Cannon (James Lesure - 'Alias', 'NYPD Blue') is an MIT electronics graduate. He used to work as a Valet where he earned twice as much but at the end of series one Ed recruited him to work in the Security and Surveillance team.
Last but not least is Big Ed's daughter Delinda Deline (what were her parents thinking?!!) played by Molly Sims ('Starsky & Hutch'). She runs the Nightclub 'Mystique' in the Casino.
There are 24 episodes in this Season compared to the 23 in Season one. The episodes are spread out over 6 discs, held together in 3 separate plastic cases and therefore this boxset is much more compact that the first. The main difference in the layout of this boxset from the first is the fact that it has a short info about each episode on the back of the three cases whereas the first simply had the title. I don't always like this as I find that I can't help but read them and then the episode isn't quite such a surprise. It is helpful though if you only want to watch one episode and cannot remember the title.
Each episode starts with a 'teaser' of a few minutes long before going into the opening credits. Each episode is approximately 40 minutes long.
I wont go into detail of the storylines of each episode (because frankly it will take too long and you'll all get bored - plus it will ruin it if you decide to watch it!) but the majority of the storylines they use are good and some are a lot better than in Season one. In this series there is much less focus on card counters and cheats (though they do pop up occasionally, this is still Vegas after all!) and there is far more sex, murders and kidnappings. There is much more insight into the personal lives of the characters. At the end of Season one we saw Danny leave to fulfil his military duty in Iraq and we see him return in Season two with a surprise for Mary and the first few episodes are centred quite highly on their relationship. At the beginning of the series Danny, Mike, Sam, Delinda, Mary and Ness buy an apartment together to rent out but this is only mentioned again a few times as if they decided to abandon the idea.
One thing I did notice was that Ed (Caan) seems to be able to solve a lot of problems by 'making a phone call' and simply saying 'this is Ed Deline' though we hardly ever find out who he is talking to!
There were a couple of 'naff' episodes again (such as the Vampire episode!! - Don't ask!) as there were in Season one but thankfully the majority of the plot lines etc were good enough that this wasn't really a problem. The 'naff' episodes were still enjoyable and very comical but a bit far fetched.
The camera work is fantastic and will often have a 'whoosh' scene where the action is sped up as the camera works it's way throughout the Casino etc. It is the fancy camera work that adds to the actual 'action' of the scene and adds to its enjoyment.
More of the episodes in this Season takes you out of the casino and around Vegas itself and further which was brilliant because it gave the viewer a bit of variety.
There is humour in a lot of the episodes which worked really well with the 'action' side of the series and made it less serious. There is an excellent contrast though to cause the viewer to have mixed emotions about what is happening. The final episode was much less emotional (for me anyway! I'm a big wimp) than Season one though still impressive and may shock viewers. However, the loss of a regular occurrence in Las Vegas (no I'm not going to tell you who!.....) a few episodes before the end will have you in tears (if you're a wimp like me anyway!) as we watch his memorial service with Guns 'n' Roses' 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' playing for dramatic impact and it certainly worked.
James Caan is an accomplished actor anyway and this shines through in the show. A lot of the other main actors particularly Josh, James and Vanessa appear a lot more comfortable in this series and this is reflected in their acting compared to that in series one. Marsha Thomason however is the only 'main' character that I could not fully appreciate as sometimes her acting was a little false and uncomfortable. She wasn't very convincing in some of the more challenging scenes where Vanessa for example pulled it off and occasionally she irritated the hell out of me! That said though, each character has his or her own style which I think is great because there aren't really any two people alike and so they can really make their characters their own. They all gel well together and are very believable as a close knit group of friends/colleagues.
There are recurring characters which we have learned to love from series one such as Detective Luis Perez (Guy Ecker), Ed's wife Jillian (Cheryl Ladd), the brilliantly funny Gunther (Harry Groener) and my favourite, Fred Puterbaugh (turned up in series one with 3 dollars and a suicide note and now thanks to the Montecito is a multi billionaire) played by Jon Lovitz. Along with Lovitz, there is an array of celebrities which adorn the Casino in this series including Sylvester Styllone, Jon Bon Jovi, Snoop Dogg, The Pussy Cat Dolls, Black Eyed Peas, Ashanti and Gladys Knight amongst others.
Another feature which definitely adds to the effectiveness of the storylines etc is the skilful placement of music throughout. I mentioned earlier the expertly placed 'Knockin on Heaven's Door' by Guns n Roses but throughout the series they have also remarkably placed very fitting music including Elvis Presley which I think is brilliant as when I think of Vegas I can't help but think of Elvis and with the emphasis on the special guests, there are obviously appearances from The Pussy Catt Dolls, Snoop Dogg, Gladys Knight, Black Eyed Peas and Ashanti.
There are only two Bonus Features in this boxset (which is fine by me as I very rarely watch them anyway):
There is a Gag Reel showing the bloopers from Seasons 1 and 2 which is actually very funny and not too long so is worth a watch.
'VIP Access Only' which is an insight into the life of a 'High Roller' as you are taken on a tour with a 'High Roller' Executive from The Palms. This si quite interesting thougbh does go on a bit and gets a bit boring after a while.
Created by Gary Scott Thompson Music by Charlie Clouser Produced by NBC Universal Television and DreamWorks Television Certificate 15 Approximate Running Time: 16 Hrs 20 mins (with extra 23mins for Bonus Features)
As I borrowed this from my friend I don't know how much it cost but I have checked on Amazon and you can pick up this boxset from £15.97 which I think is well worth it and from Play.com for £17.99 (including delivery)
Overall I really enjoyed watching this series and found it just as entertaining, if not more so, than the first. It is a very 'easy to watch' (though don't mistake that for boring) and am looking forward to watching Series 3 which I think will be released in the UK soon. It has a great mix of action, comedy and drama which I think would appeal to most. It did quite addictive and I think I watched the series in just under a week (considering I'm working and studying and have a boyfriend that wasn't bad going!)
NewYork2006 11.02.2007 (11.02.2007)
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Review of Las Vegas - Series 2 - Complete (Box Set) (DVD)
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