Blu-Ray Review: Every True Movie Fan Must Own ‘GoodFellas’

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CHICAGO – Very, very few movies are as immensely rewatchable as Martin Scorsese’s masterful “GoodFellas,” now released on Blu-ray in a twentieth anniversary edition timed to coincide with the theatrical release of “Shutter Island” this Friday. One of the most influential films of the ’90s is one of those rare works that has lost absolutely none of its power.

Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0

Can you believe it’s been twenty years since “GoodFellas”? Jon Favreau says it best in one of the special features about the influence of the film on the new Blu-ray release: when you stumble across arguably Scorsese’s best work on cable, it’s almost impossible not to watch the rest of it in its entirety. More than arguably any other film from its era, “GoodFellas” looks like it could have come out in 2010. It’s timeless.

GoodFellas: 20th Anniversary Edition was released on Blu-ray on February 16th, 2010.
Photo credit: Warner Brothers Home Video

If you haven’t seen “GoodFellas,” I envy the first-timer experience you’re about to have. Ray Liotta gives the best performance of his career as Henry Hill, a Mafia outsider who brings the audience into the double-crossing, deadly world of the mob. Joe Pesci won an Oscar, Martin Scorsese and Lorraine Bracco should have, and Robert De Niro gave one of his great Marty performances.

GoodFellas: 20th Anniversary Edition was released on Blu-ray on February 16th, 2010. Photo credit: Warner Brothers Home Video

Technically, “GoodFellas” is a stunner with perfect cinematography by Michael Ballhaus and typically fantastic editing by Scorsese’s regular collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker, who appears with Martin to talk about the process behind the film on a great special feature, one of several on the new 20th anniversary edition of the film.

As for the movie itself, it looks good but not spectacular. Some of the line detail is a bit soft for HD and I think the film could have been remastered a bit more for Blu-ray. The audio is excellent but the video is a bit below expectations for the typically great Warner Brothers catalog line.

Special features on “GoodFellas: 20th Anniversary Edition” include:

o Audio Commentary with Martin Scorsese, Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Frank Vincent, Co-Screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi,
Producers Irwin Winkler and Barbara De Fina, Cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and Editor Thelma Schoonmaker
o Audio Commentary with Henry Hill and Former FBI Agent Edward McDonald
o 3 Featurettes:
o Getting Made
o Made Men: The GoodFellas Legacy
o The Workaday Gangster
o Paper Is Cheaper Than Film: Storyboard-to-Screen Comparisons
o Theatrical Trailer
o An entire separate DVD documentary: “Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film”

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com