One of the best gangster films

Rating: 9/10 (27 April 2017)

GoodFellas deserves its reputation as one of the best gangster films, and also one of the most realistic: some critics have called it a version of The Godfather without the romanticizing of the gangsters. Based on the actual autobiography of a minor player in the gang hierarchy, the film is one of Martin Scorsese's best, with several sequences of what critics have rightly called bravura film making. As expected from Scorsese, lots of language, some sex and drugs, and intense, shocking violence. But if you want a film like this, this is one you will want. In some ways the film is a trial run for the even longer and more ambitious Scorsese film Casino, which makes it interesting to see both films; personally I prefer the grittier Goodfellas. I saw it on the very good Warner Home Video Blu-Ray.