The Vegas Strip Wars

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Audience Member A TV miniseries pilot-floater that shows exactly where TV execs got the idea for James Caan's "Las Vegas" TV-series two decades later. Best recommended toward today's viewer for its extensive interior/exterior shots of classic 80s Vegas, a bit down on its own luck, prior to its 1989 revival via Steve Wynn's Mirage. Gracious gandering includes thorough in-and-out of the (now-imploded) Desert Inn and the 4,000 square-foot leaded, stained-glass ceiling of the Tropicana. Viewers are dealt a full-boat of stock characters and cliche scriptwork, so they best be all about savoring the swagger and ambiance of old-school Vegas, real and imagined. Two minutes in, you'll swear it's fight-promoter Don King, but actually it's a spot-on delivery by James Earl Jones in a 18-inch-tall hairpiece. Plenty of backstory onboard. Rock Hudson's here in one of his last performances, his cheeks barely beginning to hollow, just weeks after his AIDS diagnosis, a year before it was publicly acknowledged, 18 months before his death. At twenty-minutes in, Rock delivers solid some dramatic double-entendre scriptlines regarding his physique and his career-end. Twenty-six year-old Sharon Stone co-stars, foreshadowing by eleven years her well-earned Oscar-nod role in "Casino." Stone landed this role by marriage to the film's associate producer George Englund, Jr. (who briefly appears as an Alcatraz guard), in turn the son of the film's executive producer. Mid-production, Stone dumped Englund and wed the film's (just-plain-ol') producer Michael Greenburg (who held good Hollywood connections) after imploding Greenburg's marriage. Next thing 'ya know, she's aside Richard Chamberlain in "King Solomon's Mines" and William Shatner in TV's "T.J. Hooker." Three years later, Stone dumped Greenburg. Another valuable lesson in HowToReallyGetAhead 101, I suppose. For the vintage Vegas vibe, recommended. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Vegas Strip Wars

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