Danny Ocean calls on old buddies from his World War II unit to pull off a heist on five casinos in Las Vegas at the same time on New Year's Eve. As the crew attempt the perfect robbery, a series of events and the snooping of a former gangster threaten to thwart their carefully laid plan.It seems not everyone is even aware that the 2001 Ocean's 11 is a remake of a Rat Pack caper from before man lands on the moon. Indeed a line of dialogue really dates the film: when Danny Ocean (played by Frank Sinatra) is asked why no-one's done the heist before if it's so fool-proof, he responds with "Same reason nobody's gone to the moon yet - no equipment. But we're equipped." The suave dialogue between the huge cast pops with 1960s swing culture whether it's through a sassy one-liner, an obvious set-up leading to a rewarding pay-off, or a smarts-riddle back and forth between men in sharp suits and slicked hairstyles.Naturally for a film from this era, there are more than a couple of moments which should be taken with a hefty pinch of feminist salt. In one scene, two of the gang are receiving massages and it's heavily suggested the two women are open to the idea of impromptu prostitution. In another, Sinatra tempts his estranged wife to get back together with him by sliding his hotel room key down the front of her dress. Finally, Dean Martin distracts an incredibly drunk women from heist activities by making advances on her. So yeah, not exactly up to 2018 post-Weinstein standards.The plot lurches from one conversation to the next and never really feels like it's going anywhere until suddenly they're undercover in the casinos spraying doors with invisible glow in the dark paint and rigging fuse boxes in preparation for the big one. Before you realise it, the lights have gone out and they're stuffing bags with cash. The heist itself is over in a matter of moments and the rest of the film focuses on the gang's attempts to avoid suspicions of a retired gangster hired by the casino bosses to get their money back (played by Cesar Romero, the man who would go on to play the Joker in the Batman TV series). He unsurprisingly turns the screw on the gang by blackmailing them for half their loot in return for his silence.The 'shocking twist' ending you're promised on the back of the DVD case was so predictable that I even joked "what if this happens?" - little did I know that I'd unintentionally ruined the surprise. As good as this film is, the remake is superior; a better use of the cast, a better script and a better reveal all contribute to a more enjoyable cinematic experience. What you get here is a slice of classic cool (and it is cool) with some great moments but an unsatisfying ending.Best Quote: *picking up the hotel room phone* "Hello, this is a recording. You've dialled the right number - now hang up and don't do it again!"

This film is pretty unremarkable, while still retaining that old school cool that we've come to love. I like seeing the pack in action but if replaced with no names this film would be a disaster. The foundation of the film really is the cool men themselves, with a plot so lackluster even they seem to forget what's happening at times. Worth a little bit of your time if you enjoy that suave cool style of this era, otherwise there's not much to see here.

The 2001 version of Ocean's Eleven is one of my personal favorite movies. I had put off seeing it for a while because I tend to be a bit biased against remakes. But after seeing and liking it, I was eager to see the film it was based on. I don't really know what I expected going in to see the 1960 version, but it definitely wasn't what it turned out to be. Frankly, the remake far surpasses the original. I've talked to some people about it and they have said that it is unfair to compare the two films. If you can't compare an original film to its remake, then there is something seriously wrong.The two films bear little semblance to each other, even in terms of plot. In this movie, the protagonists all conspire to rob five Las Vegas casinos at the same time. Believe it or not, this is far less complicated than the plot of the remake. The idea here is that they cut the power to Vegas, enter the casinos, take the money, and leave. That's it. It's almost an hour before they even start planning the heist, and the sequence itself lasts only about five or ten minutes. Even if the thieves in the remake targeted only one casino, the heist serves as that movie's centerpiece; in the original, it feels like an afterthought. And there's nothing really interesting about how it's done. Some gimmicks are introduced, but they don't play any major role in the long run. For example, the Eleven put infrared paint of some kind around the casinos so they can easily navigate it in the dark. Considering how small the casinos appear to be, it seems like a flashlight would have sufficed.Another problem with hitting five casinos is that the Eleven are split up into five teams. In other words, we don't really get to know them very much. In the remake, every character had some kind of unique personality or ability. In this version, only a handful of the Eleven are memorable in any way. Peter Lawford plays a ne'er-do-well wealthy mama's boy. Richard Conte plays a Walter White-type who wants to provide for his family in the aftermath of his impending death. But that's pretty much it. When the heist is being planned, the arrival of a cowboy named Jackson is made a big deal of. The guy is then completely dropped from the story and makes no further appearances of note. Does anyone honestly remember the nuances of Henry Silva's character? How about Buddy Lester--how did he distinguish himself from the other actors? Characters should be the crux of a film like this--it's kind of implied in the title, after all.The movie is also incredibly dated. Most of the "humor" is years past its sell-by date--kind of like the actors. Most of the actors in this film are in their 40s; by modern standards, they look at least 55. Despite this, they are constantly surrounded by horny women who ogle and suck up to the main cast, something that is only in the movie to show how attractive its main characters supposedly are. Frank Sinatra, who also looks far beyond his 44 years, is cheating on his wife with a dissatisfied mistress. The subplot is only mentioned a couple of times before being quickly discarded; it only seems to exist to show that Ocean is a philanderer and therefore cool by the movie's standards. The portrayal of women in this movie was silly in 1960 and is arguably the funniest thing about it now, even if it's unintentional. Most of the actors aren't given any kind of challenging material, so trying to grade their acting is futile; it doesn't offer anything memorable good or bad. But Akim Tamiroff does have something to work with: he plays the perpetually nervous man organizing the heist. He's probably the worst actor I've ever seen. Maybe he just couldn't work with the script, but he bugs his eyes out at every opportunity and whoops and hollers like a rabid chihuahua at the slightest provocation.By the end of it all I was left wondering what the point had been. A lot of questions remained unanswered. Why did Richard Conte's character die in the middle of the heist after experiencing no symptoms in the few hours prior? What's going to happen between Danny and his wife, especially considering Angie Dickinson is given such high billing? Why did they choose to leave all the money in the garbage, where it could have been found by the police or lost? Why did they hide the money from Santos in the coffin, where it could have easily been discovered by church staff? Why are nubile 20-year-old girls mindlessly throwing themselves at 40+ men, with faces like road maps of Manhattan, within seconds of meeting them? I really wanted to like this movie. The remake is one of my favorites and I was hoping this could match it. It made me realize, however, why remakes should exist: to take sub par movies with interesting premises and make them actually deliver. This is the perfect example of that.

If there are any fans of this movie out there I'm sorry, but I didn't think this movie was very good. At all really. The plot was very hard to follow, the acting wasn't that good, and the soundtrack basically consisted of two songs. Ain't That a Kick in the Head by Dean Martin and Eee-O-11 by Sammy Davis Jr. , both of which were played over and over though out the film. By the end of the film, I was so sick of those songs I wanted to scream. And Frank Sinatra didn't sing at all which was kinda the main reason I watched the movie in the first place. To hear him sing. Big disappointment there. But Sinatra was the highlight of the film anyway. I always enjoy his performances, no matter how bad the film itself is. If I were a viewer, I would watch the remake of this film instead. It's made much better and the acting is better as well. I'm sad to say it but this film was kind of a flop.