Goodfellas
Three decades of life in the mafia.
Henry Hill's rise and unraveling inside the mob, told with the speed and swagger of the life itself.
- Director
- Martin Scorsese
- Signature
- Drama · Violence · Darkness
- Worldwide
- $47M
Who's in it
Cast
The billed ensemble, with character names. Open any performer for their Nutevio filmography.
The Nutevio profile
Movie DNA
How Goodfellas actually feels to watch, measured on the twelve traits our editors track across every Nutevio title.
Perfect if you enjoyed
Story overview
What It's About
Spoiler-free. Read the analysis below for the full argument.
Henry Hill's rise and unraveling inside the mob, told with the speed and swagger of the life itself.
Nutevio Editorial Analysis
Why Goodfellas works
Scorsese films organised crime as a lifestyle brochure and then lets the reader keep reading past the good part. For ninety minutes it is the most seductive film ever made about belonging; for the last forty it is a nervous breakdown shot on a helicopter schedule.
The Copacabana Steadicam shot is famous for craft reasons, but its purpose is seduction: it makes the audience feel what Karen feels, that this world simply opens for you.
Thelma Schoonmaker's editing is the performance. Freeze frames, jump cuts, narration that interrupts itself — the grammar accelerates exactly as Henry's control disintegrates.
The final shot of Henry in a bathrobe, complaining about spaghetti with ketchup, is Scorsese's punchline and his verdict: the punishment for this life is having to live an ordinary one.
By The Nutevio Editors
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
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Why We Recommend It
Why It's Ranked
Goodfellas appears in 4 Nutevio collections. Here is the argument behind each placement.
- Top 100 Crime Movies Ranked #2
Ranked #2 because the most influential piece of crime filmmaking since the 1970s.
Thirty years of mob life at a sprint.
- Top 250 Movies of All Time Ranked #3
Ranked #3 because its formal energy rewired an entire generation of crime cinema.
Appetite filmed at full speed.
- Crime Movies Ranked #5
Ranked #5 because rated 9.3 by the Nutevio editors — one of the strongest crime titles in the catalogue.
Henry Hill's rise and unraveling inside the mob, told with the speed and swagger of the life itself.
- Drama Movies Ranked #7
Ranked #7 because rated 9.3 by the Nutevio editors — one of the strongest drama titles in the catalogue.
Henry Hill's rise and unraveling inside the mob, told with the speed and swagger of the life itself.
The record
Awards
2 wins · 6 nominations
One Oscar for Joe Pesci and a permanent place in the crime canon.
Academy Awards
1 win · 6 nominations
- WinnerAcademy Award for Best Director
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
1 win
- WinnerNational Board of Review: Top Ten Films
The numbers
Box Office & Release
Goodfellas returned 1.9× its budget worldwide.
- Budget
- $25M
- Opening weekend
- —
- Domestic gross
- —
- International gross
- —
- Worldwide gross
- $47M
- Release date
- Sep 21, 1990
- Runtime
- 2h 25m
- MPAA rating
- R
- Language
- Italian, English
- Country
- United States of America
Figures from the verified production record. Fields we cannot source are left blank rather than estimated.
Watch
Official Trailer
How it was made
Behind The Scenes
Production facts, technique and the decisions that shaped what ended up on screen.
The Copa shot
The three-minute Steadicam entrance through the Copacabana kitchen took eight takes in a single night.
Pesci improvised 'funny how'
The scene grew out of a real exchange Pesci had witnessed as a young man in a Bronx restaurant.
In their words
Iconic Quotes
“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”
“Funny how? Like I'm a clown? I amuse you?”
