Amazing mafia movie, about as good as the godfather

Rating: 10/10 (5 July 2009)

I had heard quite a bit about this film before I finally bought the DVD a few weeks ago.I had never seen it play on TV so I picked it up and watched it that very day.I must say, I was blown away.I knew it was going to be good, but the film was excellent.It is definitely in my Top 5 favorite gangster films.It's one of the few films I know which concentrates on Jewish gangsters as opposed to italians.Everything about this movie is great, from the score, to the acting, to the story.It's almost perfect.It's a bit hard to understand at times and you might need multiple viewings to get the complete experience.The film is in non-chronological order and jumps from three different time periods, the 1910's, the 1930's and the 1960's.We see the characters as kids, how they meet and how they start their own criminal activities while worrying about another gangster.They then jump to the 1930's, where they are adult gangsters, robbing banks and dealing in alcohol during prohibition, and finally the 1960's where the leader returns to the old place after 35 years.The cast of the film involves Robert De Niro, James Woods, Joe Pesci, Burt Young, William Forsythe and Jennifer Connelly.The acting is excellent from everybody involved.It's quite bloody and violent for a 1980's film.It's also a good thing the original version has been released here.Apparently, for the U.S theatrical release, the film company cut almost 90min of footage and re-edited the film in chronological order.This caused the film to be a mess, it got horrible reviews from critics and did not make much money at the box office.The original version is widely praised and is an excellent film.If only they had released that version in the first place.The cut version is very rare nowadays.I personally think this is one of the best mafia films of all time and if you are a fan of "The Godfather", you will probably love this film.