Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1674 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-10-25
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Special Edition, Widescreen
• Original language: English, Italian
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 139 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Martin Scorsese's 1990 masterpiece GoodFellas immortalises the hilarious, horrifying life of actual gangster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his teen years on the streets of New York to his anonymous exile under the Witness Protection Program. The director's kinetic style is perfect for recounting Hill's ruthless rise to power in the 1950s as well as his drugged-out fall in the late 1970s; in fact, no one has ever rendered the mental dislocation of cocaine better than Scorsese. Scorsese uses period music perfectly, not just to summon a particular time but to set a precise mood. GoodFellas is at least as good as The Godfather without being in the least derivative of it. Joe Pesci's psycho improvisation of Mobster Tommy DeVito ignited Pesci as a star, Lorraine Bracco scores the performance of her life as the love of Hill's life, and every supporting role, from Paul Sorvino to Robert De Niro, is a miracle.

Amazon.co.uk Review
Given the number of truly great Mafia movies over the years it would be a brave soul who classed GoodFellas as the best. But surely we can all agree that it is, at the very least, first among equals. Martin Scorsese took the factual details of mobster Henry Hill's life, as written by author Nicholas Pileggi, and turned it into a cinematic experience that has burnt itself indelibly into the consciousness of every viewer, and which now forms a touchstone in the lexicon of film and TV-making (what is The Sopranos if not GoodFellas: The Soap?) For aficionados it's a virtuoso exercise in filmmaking, showcasing remarkable and innovative use of steadicam shots, freeze-frame, voice-over narration, editing and incidental music (you'll never be able to listen to "Layla" the same way again). Every would-be hotshot director from Quentin Tarantino to Doug Liman to Jon Favreau has paid homage to it.

But above all that, it's an extraordinarily visceral, gripping and thoroughly enjoyable piece of storytelling as we witness the glory days of organised crime from the protagonist's viewpoint; then, abruptly after one bloody murder too far, we see him decline in a spiral of drugs, violence and paranoia. The principal triumvirate of Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci ("You think I'm funny? I'm here to amuse you?") and Robert DeNiro are utterly convincing as the three wiseguys. If you haven't seen it for a while, watch out for many familiar Sopranos faces in the rest of the cast, not least of course the wonderful Lorraine Bracco.

On the DVD: Finally, GoodFellas gets a worthy DVD release, with the feature presented in a new anamorphic 16:9 digital transfer, accompanied by two separate commentary tracks. Scorsese, Pileggi and other collaborators are present on a patchwork and partial track which is too disjointed to be really satisfying; fortunately on the second track, Henry Hill himself is joined by ex-FBI agent Edward McDonald to chat about their own memories of the events depicted in the movie. On the second disc there are four new documentaries which look back at the making of the picture, at its effect on other filmmakers, at Scorsese's creative process, and the true-life background to the film. A gold-plated essential item for every DVD collection. --Mark Walker

Synopsis
Based on Nicholas Pileggi's book 'Wiseguy', Martin Scorsese's GOODFELLAS is a wry, violent, and exhilarating film about the life of Henry Hill, an aspiring criminal who ends up in the FBI's witness protection program after testifying against his former partners.
As a poor Irish-Italian growing up in 1950s New York City, Hill (Ray Liotta – SOMETHING WILD, UNLAWFUL ENTRY) rises through the ranks of his Brooklyn neighbourhood's organized crime branch, and with money from the mob he begins living the good life, complete with a beautiful bride, Karen (Lorraine Brocco – THE SOPRANOS), a fancy home, and the best seats at the most exclusive restaurants. A botched robbery lands Henry in prison for a brief period of time, and when he gets released, his reckless infidelities and drug abuse damage his associations with his adopted family.
Scorsese's film is a visual and sonic onslaught, featuring a brilliant pop-music soundtrack and stunning camera work--including the infamous Steadicam one-take that introduces the audience to the Copacabana's patrons. He uses the songs to infuse a rhythm into every scene that is at once breathtaking and invigorating. As the psychopathic Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci – RAGING BULL, MY COUSIN VINNY) delivers an unforgettable, Oscar-winning performance that is alarming in its cold-blooded callousness and Robert De Niro adds to the prestige with his quietly calculating turn as Irish hoodlum Jimmy Conway, helping to cement GOODFELLAS' place as a classic portrait of life in the mob.

Customer Reviews

oh my god
What can I say, this is sensational. Liotta in the lead role of Henry Hill is out of this world and it is a tragedy that he hasn't gone on to be one of the world's most revered actors which is largely down to stupid career choices. Make no mistake after watching him in this, you will see how he should be up there with Brando and now the greatest of all time without doubt, De Niro. The way the film's shot gives it a fast, contemporary feel but from the very first moment "for as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster", you know you are watching a classic, one of the greatest films of all time. The stark reality of the characters and their wise guy ways give this the edge over, the Untouchables, Once upon a time in America and even the Godfather trilogy. Make no mistake this is a classic and Scorcese further proves himself to be the greatest movie maker of all. The only downside is that due to it being one of the first DVD's it's in two sided format and poor extras which Warner Brothers are fast getting a reputation for. Hence the rock bottom price. However it is almost three hours long so you're getting a bargain. Heck, the front cover's worth a tenner!

Brilliantly executed film, shame about the extras
The only things keeping this movie from being known as Scorsese's crowning achievement are those other movies he made known as known as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull.

It is usually accepted that Raging Bull was the greatest movie of the 1980s. That's probably true. Goodfellas is possibly the greatest movie of the 1990s.

The thing that makes this movie so attractive to me is that Scorsese could have easily made another Godfather. Goodfellas isn't about Mafia Kings, or Crime Lords. This is about the lower levels of the mafia who don't have the glamorous lifestyle as "the kings". These are the people who are several levels down from Don Corleone. Hence, the tone of the movie is much more raw, and violent. Thus, this film is more similar to Scorsese's 1973 classic Mean Streets as opposed to Coppola's Godfather.

Scorsese pays attention to every little detail in this movie. He uses so many different aspects of cinema in order to turn what may be a typical scene into something that you always remember. Examples of this include the brilliant camera work through the back entrance of the nightclub ; freeze frames that are accompanied with interesting narrative ; great shifts in scenes that highlight twists in the characters' minds. It is as though Scorsese had a whole bag of tricks that he was picking from to put into this movie - and they all work perfectly.

The soundtrack is brilliant. In some cases it places an exclamation point on a dramatic scene, in other cases it is used to give the viewer a sense of a time period. Scorsese even shows the same scene twice from two different angles just to illustrate two different points of view...brilliant!

This is Scorsese's best film from the 1990s, even better than Cape Fear and Casino. Robert De Niro, is brilliant, as you would expect from on of the greatest actors of all time, Joe Pesci plays his usually "scrappy little Italian psychopath" to perfection and Ray Liotta, recently seen misfiring in Hannibal, defies all expectations in what is without doubt his best performance to date.

The DVD is a double sided disc and the distinct lack of any extras does not do justice to this brilliant film. However, never fear as there is a Goodfellas special edition due out next year, to celebrate the existence of such a wonderful film.

I hate flippers
Avoid this, it will only encourage more of the same. I'm not talking about the magnificent film Goodfellas, but rather the fact that it is ruined by having to flip the DVD over halfway through.

It is also an extremely poor, non-anamorphic transfer that barely surpasses the VHS version.

Hopefully if enough of you don't buy this version, Warner Home Video might release a special edition that might do the film justice.