Popped up in some suggestions. There are few better movies than this one. Its Scorsese's magnum opus (yes, better than Raging Bull) and completely iconic. Joe Pesci and De Niro are brilliant. Although he has a career, I wonder why Ray Liotta never really blew up into the A List.
This is pretty much a perfect gangster/crime movie because it really happened. Scorsese makes you feel like a fly on the wall, it's faultlessly performed, directed, edited, with a soundtrack to knock your socks off. The constant narration from Liotta and Bracco only add to its good vibes, the violence is necessarily harsh, the period detail is exquisite. Is there a single weak point in this movie? The reason why Liotta's career didn't take off is he was typecasted into basically playing cops or criminals in every role. In Unlawful Entry he was both(and he was excellent). The pistol-whipping scene he has in THIS masterpiece is the coolest fucking scene in history. Plus, this film has some GREAT Italian cooking tips here and there as well. "I'm gonna go get the papers get the papers."
One of my all time favorite movies. Definitely Marty's best, and the use of his mother as Tommy's mom was brilliant. The only flaw in this movie is in the part that introduces the "Two niggers just stole my truck scene". The screen cap says 1963 but they are leaning on a 1965 Impala SS. Other than that, movie perfection. The entire "funny how?" scene was completely ad libbed and is pretty much what won Peci the Oscar. I must have seen that movie 100 times, no exaggeration and at one point I could recite nearly the entire thing from memory. The scene at the Copa when they walk in was, at the time, the longest continuing shot in movie history and was superbly done.
The thing that really sets Goodfellas above everything else was Scorsese's brilliant third act. The frenetic pacing and editing mirroring Henry's decent into coke addiction is so well done and so far outside of traditional movie story telling that it really makes the a cut above everything else. I really love the movie. Alright since this is a friendly discussion Ill put this to you guys, if Goodfellas didn't exist would Casino be as vaunted as Goodfellas became? Of the two Casino has always been my favorite. Almost everything, I believe, is just about on par with each other. I think Joe Pesci plays a much more intense, definitely more fleshed out, psychopath in Casino, more Oscar worthy than Goodfellas except for the stand out "Do I amuse you?" scene. Both movies have brilliant lead actress performances. Music, editing, voice over, cinematography, all impeccable. A movie I think suffered from being a tad too long for your average movie goers taste and being very similar in theme to Goodfellas which only came out a few years prior. I've always just enjoyed the story and characters better in Casino.
Casino is also exceptional, but it's extreme length I think causes it to run out of steam a bit towards the end. As far as female leads go, Bracco and Stone are equally brilliant (both Oscar nominated) however I sympathize with Bracco and HATE Stone's gold-digging whore. Goodellas also is a straight-up non fiction story while Casino is a Roman-A-Clef (based on Stardust boss Frank Rosenthal) but regardless they are both four star films. Casino's soundtrack is even better, though. It's one of the best and most meticulously-selected soundtracks ever. Rosenthal had that talk show like DeNiro in the movie, with the biggest guest stars: Also, it was no accident casting an actress as beautiful as Stone to play Geri Rosenthal. DAYUM:
I think it's borderline criminal that it lost best picture to Dances With Wolves, which I guess isn't a bad movie if you're into a really, really, really PC retelling of the old west, but it's simply not as good. The acting in this movie was superb. I think of all the characters Pesci stood out the most. The Godfather may have been a great movie. This was a great movie and also told what life in the mob was actually like without glorifying anything. I think it's a little better than Casino, but I loved both. I don't give a shit if a movie runs a little long when it's well done. Casino felt a lot more brutal at times, especially the scene at the end. It was interesting to see Scorcese's take on the people in the higher mob ranks, as opposed to guys being just associates in Goodfellas.
I love this movie, and certainly acknowledge that it's considered Scorcese's best. I just don't agree. 'The Departed,' for me, is a better film. I do agree that 'Casino' probably runs a bit too long, in addition to not really having any characters that you pull for. Good movie though. Maybe I've seen Goodfellas too many times. While everyone focuses on Pesci and De Nero, for me, it's about the other performances as at this point Pesci and De Nero were being Pesci and De Nero. Frankly, I find Pesci's performance in this film (and the 30 odd similar roles he played in its wake) to be overplayed. Liotta was brilliant. To be fair, and put this in perspective, I'm nitpicking - which is the point of a thread like this. Great movie, but maybe hasn't aged as well for me due to repeated viewings. I definitely would put this in my Top Ten crime movies of all time, no doubt about that, but there are definitely bits that make it imperfect - which is fine. I also agree, it should have won best film. To be fair, you don't really know a film's impact when it receives the award. Goodfellas has aged way better than Dances, but realistically Dances was a new take on 'the Western' - and Goodfellas was yet another Mob Movie. 20 years later you certainly get perspective and Goodfellas is by far a more important movie. I'd give it 9.5 out of 10.
I think I like Pescis character in Casino better too. Tommy Devito was (a little) too cartoony and Nicky Santoro was a bit more nuanced and believable. Although both are easily Top 10 gangster movies, I still think Godfather 2 wins out. That movie is just in a class of its own.
Scorsese movies I consider "masterpieces": Mean Streets Raging Bull The King Of Comedy The Last Temptation of Christ Goodfellas Casino Gangs of New York The Departed Hugo The Wolf of Wall Street I don't consider Taxi Driver to be a masterpiece, or even a good movie. It's a depressing, sleazy decent into hell and that's all. Hugo is incredible and his first family movie, The Artist beating it for best picture was just plain bullshit. He's made plenty of "good" movies too: Kundun, The Aviator, After Hours, Boxcar Bertha. I consider Raging Bull to not just be his best movie (FAR and away) but the best film of the entire 1980's decade. What is he, but America's greatest filmmaker? There will be a big fucking hole in entertainment when he's gone. It just won't be the same without him.
Cape Fear is "good". Not "great". It's visceral and intense, but it's also fucking ridiculous. DeNiro's version of Max Cady is an impossible catcaciture of a mad-dog bad guy. But I guess the movie is supposed to have such stupid elements to carry the story. The performances in it ARE amazing, though. Especially Joe Don Baker's. Funny fact: originally, Steven Speilburg was supposed to make Cape Fear while Scorsese was signed on to direct Schindler's List. Spielburg still stuck around to produce Cape Fear. One I DID forget to mention is Bringing Out The Dead. Completely awesome. Also Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Jesus, he's made a lot of great films.
I completely disagree on Cape Fear. Aside from Heat, it was DeNiro's best performance for 20 years. He was terrifying. Especially when seducing Juliette Lewis. He shoves his thumb in her mouth, and she's kind of into it for just a second, then she realizes what's happening. And somehow this makes it all on the final cut. It is so fucking disturbing. Then when he attacks Nick Nolte's mistress. Shit, the police strip search scene is crazy. The whole movie doesn't let up. As for Goodfellas, it makes me wants meatballs. EVERY TIME. Nevermind how exceptional it is in the pantheon of timeless films. It makes me want spaghetti and meatballs.
Scorsese has been asked about the film's cooking tips and he swears by all of them. The garlic thing certainly seems both plausible and ingenious. Now I want to try it. Fucking mobsters. Eating better than you or I in PRISON. That scene isn't shocking, but it's messed up how scumbags were scumbags, yet a CONNECTED scumbag basically gets a home-away-from-home when they go to their version of jail. Not so much the same these days, though.
Goodfellas is a movie you are required to watch any time you flip into it, much like Shawshank. Is there any higher praise?