1,732 reviews
Needs to be seen to be believed; in one word: perfection. Every frame, every voice-over, every song - it all comes together at the exact right moment to create the perfect film experience. This film makes you really understand and feel what makes the American mafia so compelling; in the eyes of a kid, who was unfortunate enough to grow up in a tough neighborhood, those gangsters are rock stars. Live fast, die young - but when you die, it ain't gonna be of a glamorous suicide or drug overdose - the ending will be brutal, ugly and sad. And it may very well be one of your best friends that will blow your brains out.
I'll never get tired of watching Goodfellas; the entertainment value of this film is just amazing. It doesn't happen very often that every person involved in the process of making a film is at the peak of his/her game. And rarely do art and entertainment come together the way they did here. Storytelling with impeccable pacing, this is what it's like when a master composer conducts his masterpiece. All hail the king; the most versatile and talented filmmaker of his generation: Martin Scorsese.
My vote: 10 out of 10
Favorite films: IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/
Lesser-Known Masterpieces: imdb.com/list/ls070242495/
Favorite Low-Budget and B-Movies: imdb.com/list/ls054808375/
Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: imdb.com/list/ls075552387/
I'll never get tired of watching Goodfellas; the entertainment value of this film is just amazing. It doesn't happen very often that every person involved in the process of making a film is at the peak of his/her game. And rarely do art and entertainment come together the way they did here. Storytelling with impeccable pacing, this is what it's like when a master composer conducts his masterpiece. All hail the king; the most versatile and talented filmmaker of his generation: Martin Scorsese.
My vote: 10 out of 10
Favorite films: IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/
Lesser-Known Masterpieces: imdb.com/list/ls070242495/
Favorite Low-Budget and B-Movies: imdb.com/list/ls054808375/
Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: imdb.com/list/ls075552387/
- gogoschka-1
- Dec 16, 2013
- Permalink
- MovieAddict2016
- Mar 30, 2003
- Permalink
- alexdanford
- Mar 29, 2020
- Permalink
- tothestables
- Mar 3, 2022
- Permalink
One of the most iconic movies of the 90s. So many unforgettable moments in cinema history. Quotable lines throughout also. A fun film on a bit of a negative subject.
- whoisfishmooney
- Mar 9, 2022
- Permalink
It is hard to describe the brilliance that is Goodfellas. As good as Raging Bull and Taxi Driver are, I think Goodfellas is Martin Scorsese's best film and is a textbook example of a great director at the peak of his talents. The film crackles with raw energy and enthusiasm, the film is superbly directed and the final sequence is nothing short of stunning. The script is also excellent with memorable quotes, the story is never less than compelling and the pop and rock soundtrack is winning. The cinematography and detail is immaculate, and the ensemble cast is one of film's finest. Joe Pesci won an Oscar for his performance, and as good as he was, he is perfectly matched by Robert DeNiro and Ray Liotta. All in all, it is a brilliant film and an instant classic no matter what time, day, week or year. 10/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jan 8, 2011
- Permalink
If there was one word that I could use to describe Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas": it'd be priceless.
A surreal and deeply fascinating take on life of Henry Hill who was involved in the Mob for three decades and his rise throughout the time span (and Nicholas Pileggi's book "Wiseguy").
There isn't a single moment in the movie where it doesn't miss a beat, you could only tell by the atmosphere of the time period and it seems so real.
The performances in this film simply make it even more memorable and how the characters are portrayed here especially by Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), and Paul Sorvino are believable and easy to understand that they were a family, very close and tightly knit to the core. Also, how director Martin Scorsese lets the movie pace itself and keeps the viewer off guard in what happens deserves a lot of credit.
A surreal and deeply fascinating take on life of Henry Hill who was involved in the Mob for three decades and his rise throughout the time span (and Nicholas Pileggi's book "Wiseguy").
There isn't a single moment in the movie where it doesn't miss a beat, you could only tell by the atmosphere of the time period and it seems so real.
The performances in this film simply make it even more memorable and how the characters are portrayed here especially by Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), and Paul Sorvino are believable and easy to understand that they were a family, very close and tightly knit to the core. Also, how director Martin Scorsese lets the movie pace itself and keeps the viewer off guard in what happens deserves a lot of credit.
- mhasheider
- Nov 5, 2004
- Permalink
- itssamebloke
- Apr 12, 2022
- Permalink
- orangeblackwhite
- Mar 17, 2022
- Permalink
"GoodFellas" may be the most important film of the 1990s in the fact that its incredible success led to some of the other great movies of the decade. Films like "The Silence of the Lambs", "The Crying Game", "Pulp Fiction", "The Usual Suspects", "Fargo", and "L.A. Confidential" would have likely never been made as well as they were without the influence of Scorsese's "GoodFellas". The film is an intense study of a Mafia family over a 30-year stretch. Ray Liotta plays the half-Irish, half-Sicilian kid from Brooklyn whose only dream is to be a gangster. Although Liotta's story is at the heart of "GoodFellas", it is the supporting cast that is the film's calling card. Robert DeNiro gives one of his greatest performances, Paul Sorvino is quietly effective, and Lorraine Bracco (in an Oscar-nominated role) does the best work of her career. However, it is Joe Pesci (in his well-deserved Oscar-winning turn) who steals every scene as the one who does the "dirty work". This is probably the definitive film in a decade that produced many film-noir styled classics. 5 stars out of 5.
- Robert_duder
- May 28, 2007
- Permalink
Chalk me up as another reviewer who found this movie to be vastly overrated. My wife and I saw it a couple nights ago, for the first time, and it just pales in comparison to cinematic triumphs such as The Godfather movies or The Sopranos.
As much as anything else, there are no likable characters. Part of the reason you could keep turning in to The Sopranos is that you could genuinely like and identify with the principals, despite their brutality and crimes. Here, you can't. None of the principals have any displayed virtues: at best, they're shallow and two-dimensional.
Yes, the highly lauded soundtrack has many tunes. But if you're going to use the hoary old tactic of advancing pop tunes down the years to denote the march of time, could you not be so flamingly anachronistic as all of that? They were playing 40s tunes in the doo-wop era, 50s doo-wop post-British Invasion, 60s psychedelic pop in the 70s, and early Eric Clapton in the disco era. Get the freaking DATES right.
Speaking of anachronisms, the film's jammed with them, and while it's superficially a glittering, gritty portrait of the wiseguy life and the wiseguy era, the goofs just overload. Cars too late for the year. Phones too late for the year. Livery too late for the year. Did Scorsese bother at all with accuracy and continuity, or did they just say "Eh, get an old looking car out there." It pains me to read about how exacting and painstaking DeNiro was to get every aspect of Jimmy's personality true to life, exactly how the real Jimmy Burke did, in the middle of a blizzard of anachronisms.
Most damning, there's just no dramatic tension. There's little by way of plot, little by way of suspense. The actors did good jobs with the material and direction they were given, but that's not remotely enough to sustain this seriously overrated flick.
5/10.
As much as anything else, there are no likable characters. Part of the reason you could keep turning in to The Sopranos is that you could genuinely like and identify with the principals, despite their brutality and crimes. Here, you can't. None of the principals have any displayed virtues: at best, they're shallow and two-dimensional.
Yes, the highly lauded soundtrack has many tunes. But if you're going to use the hoary old tactic of advancing pop tunes down the years to denote the march of time, could you not be so flamingly anachronistic as all of that? They were playing 40s tunes in the doo-wop era, 50s doo-wop post-British Invasion, 60s psychedelic pop in the 70s, and early Eric Clapton in the disco era. Get the freaking DATES right.
Speaking of anachronisms, the film's jammed with them, and while it's superficially a glittering, gritty portrait of the wiseguy life and the wiseguy era, the goofs just overload. Cars too late for the year. Phones too late for the year. Livery too late for the year. Did Scorsese bother at all with accuracy and continuity, or did they just say "Eh, get an old looking car out there." It pains me to read about how exacting and painstaking DeNiro was to get every aspect of Jimmy's personality true to life, exactly how the real Jimmy Burke did, in the middle of a blizzard of anachronisms.
Most damning, there's just no dramatic tension. There's little by way of plot, little by way of suspense. The actors did good jobs with the material and direction they were given, but that's not remotely enough to sustain this seriously overrated flick.
5/10.
- Bevan - #4
- Oct 19, 2015
- Permalink
Amazing is the one and only word to say for this film. I have always thought that Goodfellas was one of the greatest films ever made and set a landmark in the 90's or even in movie history. I bought Goodfellas last week and I got to watch the film a couple days ago. I really just couldn't lay my eyes off the film and everything about it was just simply worth watching. The acting was excellent, Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, and other actors did great and almost all of the characters they portrayed were 100% accurate. The camera-work also was brilliant and Martin Scorsese does a beautiful job by putting excellent camera shots in his films and I give him high credit for that. The soundtrack too is one of the best soundtracks ever made and the song "Layla," put chills down my spine of how great this song fitted the film. Overall, Martin Scorsese made his best film in my opinion and him and Nicholas Pileggi made an excellent and sharp script that made this, the greatest mob film still today.
Hedeen's Outlook: 10/10!! **** A+
Hedeen's Outlook: 10/10!! **** A+
- OriginalMovieBuff21
- Apr 10, 2005
- Permalink
This is the gangster film at its finest. Scorsese is on top form as are Pesci and De Niro. Liotta has never bettered the performance he gives here. The film starts as it means to go on - violent, full of profanity, fast paced and very stylish. The story follows Liotta's character from boy to man as he climbs his way up through the ranks of organised crime. We see all the highs and lows of his life and meet a host of very believable and very undesirable characters along the way. It's a film full of memorable scenes whilst remaining much more than the sum of its individual parts at the same time. This is what all movies should be like. It draws you in and won't let you out of its grasp at any point. When it finishes you feel exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. If ever the word 'masterpiece' was meant to be used, it was for this film.
- thomashamps
- Sep 12, 2000
- Permalink
- goodgearthis
- Apr 12, 2022
- Permalink
Scorcese & Pileggi's masterpiece on the life of Henry Hill as a Brooklyn NY mob wise-guy.
As much as the true events of Henry's life have more than likely been dramatised and glamourised to a certain extent, the essence of this film IMO is that it is still a brilliantly damning portrayal of the characters and lifestyle of mobsters.
The sham of the mafiosi is exposed - preaching loyalty, respect & principles - but when it comes down to it they are just two-bit criminals that'll stab each other in the back for money or power over others. Each of them has an inflated sense of self-worth and stature that comes with being a "wiseguy", breeding with it paranoia that others are not giving them the respect they deserve.
An example is De Niro's portrayal of Jimmy Conway. His outward persona is that of a calm and reasonable nature. But really he is a paranoid killer who at the drop of a hat would kill even his closest associates for money. I use associates rather than friends, as their relationships are of tolerance rather than kinship. Distrust, hate and jealousy through the forced smiles.
Interesting that given this, certain people envy their life-style and would have loved to have been a wiseguy. I personally couldn't think of anything worse that being tied for life with having to keep the likes of Tommy company, but whatever rocks your boat. Some people have actually paid to see The Dukes of Hazzard film, so I shouldn't be surprised.
As much as the true events of Henry's life have more than likely been dramatised and glamourised to a certain extent, the essence of this film IMO is that it is still a brilliantly damning portrayal of the characters and lifestyle of mobsters.
The sham of the mafiosi is exposed - preaching loyalty, respect & principles - but when it comes down to it they are just two-bit criminals that'll stab each other in the back for money or power over others. Each of them has an inflated sense of self-worth and stature that comes with being a "wiseguy", breeding with it paranoia that others are not giving them the respect they deserve.
An example is De Niro's portrayal of Jimmy Conway. His outward persona is that of a calm and reasonable nature. But really he is a paranoid killer who at the drop of a hat would kill even his closest associates for money. I use associates rather than friends, as their relationships are of tolerance rather than kinship. Distrust, hate and jealousy through the forced smiles.
Interesting that given this, certain people envy their life-style and would have loved to have been a wiseguy. I personally couldn't think of anything worse that being tied for life with having to keep the likes of Tommy company, but whatever rocks your boat. Some people have actually paid to see The Dukes of Hazzard film, so I shouldn't be surprised.
- SmilingRon
- Sep 4, 2005
- Permalink
This film gets you by the balls and you better strap yourself in for a thrill ride in mafia culture Italian style. 10 out of 10 rating from me full marks movie.
- darwinlovesprice
- Mar 7, 2022
- Permalink
Trouble with goodfellas is it sets the bar so high for mafia organised crime style movie. Outside of godfather and scarface this is the holy grail in its genre.
- doolanfile
- Mar 18, 2022
- Permalink
The movie that dispelled the romantic myths about La Cosa Nostra and showed it as it really was. "The Godfather" for the 90's minus the silly notions of love, honor, and family. Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) is a half-Irish, half-Italian who rises to prominence in Paul Cicero's (Paul Sorvino) Lucchese Crime Family along with Jimmy Conway (Robert DeNiro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). This is his story of hi-jacking, stealing, cheating, killing and finally drug dealing. He makes no excuses about what he does. Simply put he is just doing business and trying to survive on the mean streets of New York City. He explains the trials and tribulations of being a mobster and what it's like to have to do these things and live with the consequences. Cicero, an aging old-time underboss, heads a dangerous and powerful organization that enjoys free reign over the neighborhood in which Hill lives and recruits him when he is only a kid to work for them and learn to "score" more specifically, the art of committing crime. Hill quickly hooks up with veteran criminal Jimmy "The Gent" and his protege Tommy to hi-jack trucks from the Idlewild Airport. This makes these three rich and respected in the underworld but there is a new game in town. Narcotics. They quickly undertake this highly profitable business even though they know it is against the expressed rules of Paulie. This combined with another serious rule violation and the score of a lifetime sets them up for their own possible demise. Lorraine Bracco co-stars as Henry's wife. A marvelous true life story of one of the most violent and profitable street crews in the history of the American Mafia. The best movie of 1990.
- arthurclay
- Aug 28, 2004
- Permalink
This is my absolute favorite movie. Watched it so many times. I seen Ray Liotta died yesterday and watched it again out of respect. This movie is what other movies hope with no faith to be measured against.
Having never seen it before but heard so much about it I was expecting it to be one of the best films I've ever seen instead it was just very good in my eyes. Potentially it has lost some originality by so many other films copying features of it that it just didn't seem new anymore but whilst nothing was wrong with it and like I said it was very good with some fantastic performances it just didn't stand out against so many others of this genre for me.
- muamba_eats_toast
- Apr 24, 2020
- Permalink
- FilmSnobby
- Nov 24, 2005
- Permalink