GOODFELLAS (1990) - (insert highest rate) - SPOILERS

how good is that? I know this is one of the cornerstones of these boards and that everyone has already claimed it "one of my favorite movies" already, but since I watched it again (it must be my 4th or 5th viewing) a few days ago I just feel compelled to tell the world how I love Martin Scorsese's masterpiece.

in my most humble opinion, Goodfellas is definitely better than Scorsese's early classics (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull), and slightly better than some of his underrated flicks that I absolutely adore (After Hours, The King of Comedy), as well as the Oscar stud The Departed and Goodfellas' young brother Casino. Just like Henry Hill knows he's done and he'll never have "the good old life" again, after watching Goodfellas I feel melancholyc, thinking "they'll never make such a cool film again". I don't expect it.

The technical execution of the golden years as well as of the downfall is just amazing, and the fast paced, scene-after-scene attack of cursing, hustling, guns and drugs and deaths makes you leave wanting more even though the movie lasts almost 3 hours.

Joe Pesci played the best role of his career, the one he has been labeled ever since. Robert De Niro was obviously perfectly casted, and obviously delievered it. and Ray Liotta, if I met him one day I'll say "hey, there's Henry Hill!" before I remember he just played him, but he's not him. and the film runs so naturally, it looks so beautiful, you really enjoy the nights at the restaurant with all the wiseguys, and you sense Henry's state of mind as his life becomes a chaos after he comes back from jail and keeps his Pittsburgh connection, under Paulie's disapproval.
In the end, Henry is done and he has to make a simple choice; he can become a rat and die inside, but keep living with his wife and daughters under FBI's witness protection program or really die, by the hands of his lifetime friend Jimmy (De Niro). simple, and just like that you can really understand how a person could turn against everything he believed when pressed against the wall, even if it the guilt for doing it hurts more than any gun could do. maybe the secret is that the ending is so cool and fittingly, leaving you begging for more...

"regrets, I had a few..."