Goodfellas (1990)

The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mob, covering his relationship with his wife Karen Hill and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito in the Italian-American crime syndicate.

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Writers:

Nicholas Pileggi (book), Nicholas Pileggi (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci

Top Rated Movies #19 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 43 wins & 38 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro	...	James Conway
Ray Liotta	...	Henry Hill
Joe Pesci	...	Tommy DeVito
Lorraine Bracco	...	Karen Hill
Paul Sorvino	...	Paul Cicero
Frank Sivero	...	Frankie Carbone
Tony Darrow	...	Sonny Bunz
Mike Starr	...	Frenchy
Frank Vincent	...	Billy Batts
Chuck Low	...	Morris Kessler
Frank DiLeo	...	Tuddy Cicero
Henny Youngman	...	Henny Youngman
Gina Mastrogiacomo	...	Janice Rossi
Catherine Scorsese	...	Tommy's Mother
Charles Scorsese	...	Vinnie

Storyline

Henry Hill might be a small time gangster, who may have taken part in a robbery with Jimmy Conway and Tommy De Vito, two other gangsters who might have set their sights a bit higher. His two partners could kill off everyone else involved in the robbery, and slowly start to think about climbing up through the hierarchy of the Mob. Henry, however, might be badly affected by his partners' success, but will he consider stooping low enough to bring about the downfall of Jimmy and Tommy?

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Plot Keywords:

gangster | organized crime | sadistic psychopath | mafia | rise and fall | 

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Taglines:

"As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a gangster." -- Henry Hill, Brooklyn, N.Y. 1955.

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

21 September 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Good Fellas

Filming Locations:

19 Alfred Lane, New Rochelle, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,368,901, 23 September 1990

Gross USA:

$46,836,214

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$46,879,633

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

146 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The long tracking shot through the Copacabana nightclub came about because of a practical problem: the filmmakers could not get permission to go in the short way, and this forced them to go round the back. Martin Scorsese decided to film the sequence in one unbroken shot in order to symbolize that Henry's entire life was ahead of him, commenting, "It's his seduction of her (Karen), and it's also the lifestyle seducing him". This sequence was shot eight times.

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Goofs

When Henry says "Air France made me. . .", the aircraft shown is a Convair 240, which Air France has never flown.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Henry Hill: The fuck is that?

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Alternate Versions

The Indian release was heavily cut. It received an A (adults only) certificate after 38 cuts (violence, sexual content and language) were made.

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Connections

Referenced in Iron Chef America: The Series: Symon/Burrell vs. Cora/Irvine (2011)

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Soundtracks

Firenze Sogna
Written by Cesare Cesarini (as Cesarini)
Performed by Giuseppe Di Stefano
Courtesy of London Records, a Division of PolyGram Records, Inc.

User Reviews

The greatest mob film still today

Amazing is the one and only word to say for this film. I have always thought that Goodfellas was one of the greatest films ever made and set a landmark in the 90's or even in movie history. I bought Goodfellas last week and I got to watch the film a couple days ago. I really just couldn't lay my eyes off the film and everything about it was just simply worth watching. The acting was excellent, Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, and other actors did great and almost all of the characters they portrayed were 100% accurate. The camera-work also was brilliant and Martin Scorsese does a beautiful job by putting excellent camera shots in his films and I give him high credit for that. The soundtrack too is one of the best soundtracks ever made and the song "Layla," put chills down my spine of how great this song fitted the film. Overall, Martin Scorsese made his best film in my opinion and him and Nicholas Pileggi made an excellent and sharp script that made this, the greatest mob film still today.

Hedeen's Outlook: 10/10!! **** A+