So there comes a helicopter shooting all the dons in Atlantic City. It's like in the Army where you shoot them a mile away. Let's assume, Altobello knows how to hire a helicopter and Vietnam veteran assassins who know how to execute such an attack.
Can we believe that the New Jersey police department (or FBI, whoever is in charge) is so incompetent that they wouldnt find out who had steered a helicopter that night?
I've never been to New Jersey but I can't imagine that after the attack the helicopter could dive into the usual helicopter traffic jam at the New Jersey sky.

Inspector: What did you find out about that helicopter attack?
Sgt.: Not so much. There were just too many of them.
Inspector: What about the helicopter of that old Altobello?
Sgt.: Well, if it was him, he used a false license plate.
Inspector: Alright, let's close the file.

Danito, it wouldn't have been as difficult as you think:

Atlantic City has a good-sized airport. And there's lots of helicopter traffic to ferry high rollers in from Philadelphia, New York and Washington DC. Given the money/crime orientation of the casino business, it wouldn't be difficult to bribe a 'coptor pilot to carry the gunman or men over the hotel. And, until they started shooting, the 'coptor wouldn't have attracted much attention if the hotel had a helipad. The pilot then could have set down almost anywhere outside the city (plenty of open land around) and let the gunmen off. They might even have killed him upon exiting, just to cover their tracks.

To add to what Turnbull mentioned, FFC also let the viewer see the plausibility by having Vincent & Michael fly to the sitdown in a helicopter. Remember Michael's advice to Vincent while in the helicopter? "Never hate your enemy. It clouds your judgment."

As a nearby resident of Atlantic City (10 miles) I don't see much helicopter traffic. The Coast Guard operates helicopters out of the Atlantic City Airport, which is designated an International airport. But as Turnbull says there is a lot of vacant, wooded land within a few miles of A.C. and miles of swampy, marsh land. A few miles to the west is the extensive Pine Barrens, a desolate expanse of forest land. So it is very plausible for a private copter to "sneak" in and out of A.C.

I think Danito has something of a point. But what I find implausible is that the attack could have done that much damage so quickly. For one, what were they firing through - a glass dome? The weapon looked like an Uzi of some sort. It can fire 600 rounds per minute, but its clip would probably hold only 25 slugs. Even if piggybacked, they still fired alot more slugs than that. Also, keeping the copter in a restricted radius for so long a time is quite a challenge for any pilot especially if the shooter is firing from only one port.

as for the helicopter, their are several possibilities - the helicopter could have been stolen then torched, owned by a don's legitmate associate then reported stolen after the hit, owned by a don and reported stolen, there are a lot of possibilities. as for the only gun that is shown is the 1 uzi. now in g1 you have 7 guys with automatic thompsons with 100 round drum magazines shooting 1 guy - sonny. in g3 you have 1 guy with 1 uzi to shoot what i count as 24 - 25 guys????????? what is wrong with this picture. either there was more guys in the copter with more guns than were shown or ffc took his cues from the same writer that did hawaii 5-0 where they were shooting the whole show without reloading their 5 shot snub nose revolvers. it would have been more believable if they had shown a door gunner with a 50 caliber machine gun.

Not to make light of it, but if Bin Laden coul plan an aerial attack on New York, Altobello with Luchese's help could so a helicopter attack on an Atlantic City hotel where the comission was meeting.

FFC must have contacted John Woo for one of his 10,000-round magazines. Or maybe the Coen Brothers lent him the 10,000-round Thompson that Albert Finney used in "Miller's Crossing."

It's been a long time since I saw 3 (and it'll be a longer time til I see it again)*, but that helicopter attack was, IMHO, one of the dumbest, over-the-top scenes in the history of gangster movies. All the dons getting rubbed out at the same time in 1 was more believable that that. A big helicopter attack on a hotel in Atlantic City would stir as much negative publicity as the St Valentine's day massacre.


*No offence to anyone whose favorite movie is 3.

As TB and others, you have a good point R. The publicity would have brought he FBI into it bigtime over and above their current investigations. Also, just trying to maneuver the helicopter in such a short time frame to allow the shooter(s) to effectively spray the room would have been a challenge for even the most skilled pilot.

Not remembering all the details of the scene, but maybe there were commando/mercenary types on the copter. They rapelled down ropes and stood over the skylight, sprayed many bullets on the unsuspecting goombahs (my lucky coat!) and then ascended the ropes and off they went. Yeah, GF 3, cheezy action film.

Van Damme or Stallone will star in the remake...

How about Clint Eastwood...."Get off my hotel."

"Go ahead Barzini ... make my day!"

with all those bodyguards in the room, why did they not return fire, unless they were releaved of their guns prior to entry into the room? who had the shotgun stashed behind the bar that neri grabbed?

Some of the BGs drew their guns. But FFC apparently decided that they would not return fire. I also question how Neri would know there was a shotgun behind the bar.

Maybe the Atlantic City chopper was the same that made Henry paranoid in Goodfellas!

Profound!