Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4748 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

Great film, awful disc
I didn't read the reviews before I bought it, because I knew what a great film it is.
Big mistake, because I wouldn't have bought it if I'd read them.

It's a double sided disc, which means you have to get up halfway through and turn it over. Why? Why do this?

It's also a poor quality transfer (as another reviewer said, it's barely better than VHS).

Avoid this version like the plague.

Well done though slightly long
A long film about "Italian" crime in New York in the 1950-1980 period, and a good one at that. It shows the brutality and the extreme male chauvinism of these gangsters who are ready to sell anything, steal anything, kill anyone in order to make money, and as for killing, to satisfy their insatiable thirst for blood, to satisfy their unquenchable hunger for violence. It also shows, rather on the side because it is not the main object, how justice and before it the police are managing their gang-spirit, splitting their unity and getting the weaker ones to become protected witnesses, and it works: these criminals prefer being hidden away by the Justice Department for decades rather than going away in prison for even longer periods of time. The film is well done: Robert de Niro and Joe Pesci are quite acceptable. Ray Liotta on the other hand appears slightly weak when confronted to the other two, and he has to be since he is the side-kick, and an essential one at that, of both of them. One shortcoming though: even if the police managed to more or less bring the Italians back in line, the film is absolutely silent about the fact that the various traffics and particularly drugs were then abandoned to another mafia, probably even more dangerous, i.e. the Blacks and the Porto Ricans and other Latinos.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

WHAT A FILM!
this film was awsome, i have never given gangster films a chance, i always thought of them as blokes films but i gave goodfellas a go. the acting was spot on, along with the story line, effects etc etc, everything was brill!! i could have watched it again straight after. i really really enjoyed every second of it, and i have now watch many more gangster films but this is by far my favourite. De Niro is a superb actor and pulls of his part with style. if you havent watched this movie you are missing out. 10/10