Reviews: # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z All 

Goodfellas (1990) - 2 Disc Special Edition


DVD Cover
Three 1/2 out of Five

Movie

Rating: R
Length: 145 minutes

Video

Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Audio

ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 2.0

Captions

English, French, Spanish

Purchase

Plot

Watch Henry (Liotta), Jimmy (De Niro) and Tommy (Pesci) work their way up through the mob. See how greed, ego and drugs start to unravel them and their gang. This film is based on a true story.

Pros

Cast and director; even the actors with smaller roles were very well cast. This is a solid movie directed by one of the best (Scorsese). There is a scene where Tommy wants to know why Henry thinks he's so funny that is just priceless.

Cons

If you don't like hearing the "F" bomb a reported 246 times (mostly by the always animated Pesci) and if you're against violence (the movie opens up with a stabbing & shooting), you'll want to stay away from this. And, like most of Scorsese’s films, this runs for just under 2.5 hours.

Extras

  • Audio Commentary by Cast and Crew
  • Audio Commentary by Subject Henry Hill and FBI Agent Edward McDonald
  • "Getting Made" Documentary
  • "Made Men: The Goodfellas Legacy" Documentary
  • "The Workaday Gangster" Documentary
  • Theatrical Trailer

Recommendation

I have a hard time with this movie simply because of all the rave reviews it gets (at the time of this writing, it is #19 on IMDb's top 250 movies list). I've watched it three times over the last 4 years; each time telling myself to pay attention so I could catch whatever it is that makes everyone think that this movie is IT. Maybe I'm just a moron, but I don't get it. Is this movie enjoyable and entertaining? Absolutely! Is it the best mob movie made? No. It's not even the best Scorsese movie; I can think of three off the top of my head I like better (The Aviator, The Departed, Gangs of New York). The bottom line is that this film is well worth the time to check out; I just don't believe it should be so highly anointed. The extras were good but I was expecting more.

Director

Martin Scorsese   [The Aviator, Cape Fear (1991), Casino, The Departed, Gangs of New York, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver]

Actors

Frank Adonis - Anthony Stabile
[Raging Bull, True Romance, Wall Street]
Lorraine Bracco - Karen Hill
Tony Darrow - Sonny Bunz
Robert De Niro - Jimmy Conway
[Angel Heart, Casino, The Deer Hunter, Godfather II, Heat, Men of Honor, The Mission, Once Upon a Time in America, Righteous Kill, Ronin, The Score, Taxi Driver, Wag the Dog]
Frank DiLeo - Tuddy Cicero
Ray Liotta - Henry Hill
[Blow, Cop Land, Hannibal, Heartbreakers, Identity, In the Name of the King, Smokin' Aces]
Chuck Low - Morris 'Morrie' Kessler
[The Mission]
Gina Mastrogiacomo - Janice Rossi
Joe Pesci - Tommy DeVito
[Casino, Home Alone, JFK, Lethal Weapon 2/3/4, My Cousin Vinny, Once Upon A Time in America, Raging Bull]
Catherine Scorsese - Mrs. DeVito, Tommy's Mother
Suzanne Shepherd - Karen's Mother
[Requiem For A Dream]
Frank Sivero - Frankie Carbone
[The Godfather: Part II]
Paul Sorvino - Paul Cicero
[Nixon, Reds]
Mike Starr - Frenchy
[Ed Wood, The Ice Harvest, Miller's Crossing]
Frank Vincent - Billy Batts
[Casino, Cop Land, Gotti, Raging Bull]

Links

All movie titles, pictures, etc... are registered trademarks and/or copyrights of their respective holders.