Goodfellas stands the test of time as one of the best mafia movies ever made. In 1990, Martin Scorsese released the film, showing all the gritty layers of the mob. Goodfellas was an instant hit with countless familiar faces, quotable lines and scenes that went on to have an impact on countless films. Goodfellas follows the narrator and protagonist, Henry Hill, as he rises in the mafia with two other guys by his side.
Scorsese keeps Goodfellas as real as possible. The film shows off the lavish lifestyle of organized crime but also shows the violence and grittiness that come along with it. There are so many iconic scenes in Goodfellas that it's hard to narrow down the best ones. There are, however, a few that rank in higher significance than others.
10 The “As Far Back as I Can Remember...” Narration Kicks off One Wild Ride
The Audience Is Introduced to Henry as the Narrator of the Story
In the opening scene of Goodfellas, the audience is introduced to Henry Hill, Tommy DeVito, and James "Jimmy" Conway. They open the trunk of the car to reveal a badly beaten man, who they thought was dead. Tommy violently plunges a knife into the man in the trunk, repeatedly, while Jimmy unloads his revolver on him after. Henry, indifferent to this, stands and stares at this massacre. In a voice-over, Henry says:
As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.
There couldn't be a better scene to kick off the epic story of Goodfellas. From there, the audience can only expect it to get even more gruesome, which is exactly what happens in the film. This opening scene operates as a soft launch into the world Henry Hill can't get enough of, glorifying the benefits of being in the mob.
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9 Tommy Shoots the Camera as Henry Laments About Normal Life After the Mob
The Scene Was Scorsese’s Lover Letter to the Film The Great Train Robbery
The final scene in Goodfellas shows Henry living in suburbia, bored out of his mind, but thankful that he's alive. While the final scene with Henry is him smiling at the camera, he sounds pretty miserable. He narrates that he ordered spaghetti and meatballs only to get egg noodles and ketchup. This new lifestyle was a downgrade to what once was a luxurious life. The difference now, though, is he lives without all the risks of being murdered daily.
After Henry's weird acceptance, Tommy breaks the fourth wall by shooting at the camera, which was Scorsese's way of paying homage to The Great Train Robbery, a film made in 1903. Scorsese was a big fan of the movie and essentially recreated its ending for the end of Goodfellas — and it worked. It was a brilliant way to declare the end of the movie and bring a close to the saga of Henry Hill.
8 The Copacabana Long Shot Gives the Audience an Extended Look at the Benefits of Gangster Life
The Easy of Luxury Makes the Mafia Power Even More Enticing
If the introduction of Goodfellas was the soft launch into the life of a gangster, the Copacabana long long-shot scene was the deeper launch into the luxuries given to the mafia. The long tracking shot follows Henry and Karen into the Copacabana, in one super long take. It looks like a maze for the audience as well as Karen, but Henry walks through it easily like he's done so many times before. He knows everyone's name and greets every single person that he passes.
It's a no-brainer for Karen and Henry to instantly be consumed by a world like this. This was the first time Karen had been officially accepting of the world that Henry brought her into. From here on out, there could only be luxurious ballrooms and gorgeous nights out for both of them. That's what they assumed, but the mob world grew more complicated.
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7 Billy Bats Tells Tommy to Get His Shine Box
Billy Bats Should Not Have Antagonized Tommy
Tommy sees Billy Bats and Billy reminisces about Tommy's younger days as a hustler who shined shoes. Instead of telling the story for old-time sake, he ultimately does it to antagonize Tommy. He says that Tommy will always be the little boy with his shine box, prompting an escalation that makes the other guys hold back the ill-tempered Tommy. Billy plays it off like he was just trying to talk about the past, but Jimmy is keen on his bear-poking notions and tells him he was purposely getting under Tommy's skin.
For this insult, Jimmy and Tommy kill Billy. It isn't revealed until later that Billy Batts was the man in the trunk from the beginning of the movie. Tommy lets his temper get the best of him, as he does a few times in Goodfellas, but this kill causes Tommy's eventual downfall.
6 Karen Wakes Henry up as She Points a Gun at His Face
Karen Had Enough of Henry’s Cheating and Decided to Respond Drastically
After verbally attacking Henry's mistress, the next day Karen wakes Henry up with a gun pointed at his face. She's sick of his cheating ways and asks repeatedly if he loves her or the woman he's cheating on her with. It's one of the times the voice-over shifts to a different character, which provides the audience a peak in Karen's thoughts. She confesses that she could never leave him but is angry about having to share her husband with someone else.
In a swift motion, after calming Karen down to the best he could, Henry overpowers her. He grabs the gun and her throat, yelling that he's got enough worries about the same thing happening to him on the street. He shouldn't have to worry about being whacked at home when it's a general worry of his while working. At this point in the movie, drugs and the lavish lifestyle begin to unravel these characters.
5 Tommy Kills Spider Over One Insulting Comeback
Tommy's Temper Once Again Gets the Better of Him
Earlier in Goodfellas, Tommy shoots Spider in the foot after mocking Spider at one of their poker games. Later in the film, Tommy throws insults at the recovering Spider again when they play another poker game. Spider, realizing he won't stand for any more Tommy insults, says "Why don't you go f*** yourself, Tommy". Everyone laughs and Jimmy even jokes with Tommy, asking if he's going to let him get away with that. Stewing in his juices, he pulls out his gun and shoots Spider dead over those six words.
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Spider was played by Michael Imperioli, who went on to play Christopher Moltisanti in The Sopranos. David Chase was a fan of Goodfellas and wrote a scene in his show where Christopher shoots a bakery employee in the foot. The baker's name was Spider. Speaking with GQ, Michael Imperioli said:
I don't know if I would have had the same career had I not done GoodFellas.
Imperioli also noted that maybe The Sopranos wouldn't have happened for him or even exist at all if it wasn't for Goodfellas.
4 Paul Cicero Angrily Turns His Back on Henry Hill
Paulie Still Provides Henry With Some Sympathy and Money
Against Paulie's wishes, Henry began drug trafficking, wholesaling numerous types of drugs in the process. When the operation collapses, Henry has nothing and no one to turn to. With his hat in his hand, he goes to Paulie for any help that he can get.
Paulie, with his guard up, tells Henry how he feels, and reminds him that he betrayed his trust. Somehow still sympathetic, he provides Henry with some money. After that, he says to Henry:
Now I gotta turn my back on you.
3 Tommy’s Actions Finally Catch Up With Him
Tommy Thinks He’s Getting Made, but Karma Catches up Instead
The lead-up to this infamous scene in Goodfellas starts with Jimmy more excited about Tommy getting made than Tommy himself. Henry notes the fact that they could never be made because they weren't fully Italian, so seeing one of their close friends making it meant a lot. As soon as the doors open, Tommy catches on quickly that this isn't a ceremony to celebrate his moving up in the mob world; it's his execution.
In a blink of an eye and a bullet to the head, it's all over. Jimmy eagerly calls the bosses to find out how things went but gets the bad news that Tommy's gone instead. He cries and kicks in the phone booth. In the show Better Call Saul, they pay homage to that reactionary behavior when Saul Goodman does similarly after a bad phone call with Kim Wexler. After Tommy's death, things once again change rapidly for the remaining members of the mafia.
2 Jimmy Takes Matters Into His Own Hands as Members Grew Less Cautious
In a Chilling Montage, Jimmy Goes on a Whacking Spree
After many run-ins with the FBI, Jimmy didn't want to take any more chances. He insisted that the remaining members of their crime organization be as careful as possible so that the FBI wouldn't catch onto any further crimes. Of course, people still bought their fancy cars and clothing, disobeying his request. Out of ruthless caution, Jimmy decides to whack numerous members of the crime family.
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The montage kicks off with the infamous Cadillac discovered in a parking lot by some children, with two corpses propped up inside. There were corpses dumped in garbage trucks. The FBI eventually found a frozen Frankie Carbone, who Henry said took two days to thaw out before an autopsy. The scene is haunting and provides even more paranoia for Henry and Karen at the end of Goodfellas.
1 Karen Fears She’s Going to Get Whacked by Jimmy
Whether Jimmy Was Going to Whack Her or Not Is up for Debate
In a scene laced with paranoia, suspicion, and confusion, Jimmy tells Karen that there are some dresses she can have. She goes to get them upstairs, clearly familiar with this space from before. However, Jimmy quickly points out that the dresses are a little ways down in the warehouse. He wishes her well, and she begins to walk down the long street. Her intuition is telling her something doesn't feel right as she goes further down the long block. He keeps telling her to go further and further, but she eventually gets spooked and says she's in a hurry.
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Karen rushes back home to Henry in tears because of the fear she had just experienced. This was one of the last straws for Karen and Henry. Whether or not Jimmy planned on killing them, it didn't matter. Their fears were only growing, both with the FBI getting closer and Jimmy playing a murderous game of clean-up. This scene provides a haunting uneasiness between characters that once seemed like family to one another.
Martin Scorsese initially garnered attention in the cinema world with his film Mean Streets, providing a change in Hollywood. Every film succeeding in his filmography only demonstrated that Scorsese had upped his game. He released Taxi Driver and Hollywood never looked back. The era Scorsese ushered in felt like a change from the old guards to the new, ushering in an era called New Hollywood.
Within the New Hollywood, Scorsese brought a viewpoint of the mafia unseen so far. He set the precedent for anything mafia-related to follow. For a movie that's over two hours long, Goodfellas operates with such veracity and speed, engaging the audience at every moment. Goodfellas stands the test of time as a classic and no mob movie will ever come close to its greatness.
Goodfellas
R
Crime
The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.
- Director
- Martin Scorsese
- Release Date
- September 21, 1990
- Studio
- Cast
- Robert De Niro , Ray Liotta , Joe Pesci , Lorraine Bracco
- Writers
- Nicholas Pileggi , Martin Scorsese
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Production Company
- Warner Bros.