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For those who felt that the Godfather movies presented too idealized a view of the Mafia, Martin Scorsese's maniacally fast-paced, violent, and funny epic is a bracing antidote; Goodfellas reveals, in unstinting detail, the mob's amoral savagery. Based on Nicholas Pileggi's bestselling book Wiseguy, the film chronicles the doomed career of mobster-turned-FBI-informant Henry Hill. Growing up, he idolized the high-living Mafia goons he saw in his Brooklyn neighborhood and eventually became a member of their "family," though he was only half Sicilian. Largely eschewing conventional narrative, Scorsese adopts an episodic structure that allows him to concentrate on specifics of character and milieu. All of the acting -- from Ray Liotta's dazzling star turn as the cocaine-addled Hill to Joe Pesci's terrifying, Oscar-winning portrayal of a psychotic gangster -- is spectacular. And, as in Mean Streets, Scorsese uses pop music like no other director, brilliantly establishing the mood and period, which spans from the 1950s to the early 1980s. Nominated for six Academy Awards, Goodfellas stands as one of the great modern gangster films. Kryssa Schemmerling

All Movie Guide

Martin Scorsese explores the life of organized crime with his gritty, kinetic adaptation of Nicolas Pileggi's best-selling Wiseguy, the true-life account of mobster and FBI informant Henry Hill. Set to a true-to-period rock soundtrack, the story details the rise and fall of Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian New York kid who grows up idolizing the "wise guys" in his impoverished Brooklyn neighborhood. He begins hanging around the mobsters, running errands and doing odd jobs until he gains the notice of local chieftain Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino), who takes him in as a surrogate son. As he reaches his teens, Hill (Ray Liotta) is inducted into the world of petty crime, where he distinguishes himself as a "stand-up guy" by choosing jail time over ratting on his accomplices. From that moment on, he is a part of the family. Along with his psychotic partner Tommy (Joe Pesci), he rises through the ranks to become Paulie's lieutenant; however, he quickly learns that, like his mentor Jimmy (Robert DeNiro), his ethnicity prevents him from ever becoming a "made guy," an actual member of the crime family. Soon he finds himself the target of both the feds and the mobsters, who feel that he has become a threat to their security with his reckless dealings. Goodfellas was rewarded with six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture; Pesci would walk away with Best Supporting Actor for his work. Jeremy Beday

Product Details

• UPC: 085391163121
• Source: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Pan & Scan, Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled, Dubbed, Repackaged
• Time: 2:26:00
• Sales Rank: 9,539

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Scorsese Collection
• Scorsese Collection
• Best of Blu-Ray, Vol. 3
• Goodfellas

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