So sorry this video took me so long to post, I had a hell of a time trying to get this video uploaded with no issues so I very much appreciate your patience!
Hey. Just to let you know that, talking all the way through a movie, is not such a good reaction. You will get more subs if you chat a lot less. Cheers
actually, shelby, in today's high-tech surveilence world, the way Paulie and the Cosa Nostra operated was tactically smart..Even now, Cosa Nostra members avoid credit cards, the internet and use disposable phones...if they an't track ya or record ya, they can't get the evidence to bust ya!
The second-to-last image of Pesci firing the gun at the audience is an homage to the last scene in "The Great Train Robbery" from 1903. It was among the first movies to last longer than 20 minutes. When audiences of the time saw that pistol firing at them, they thought they were being fired at. Scorsese loves making homages to classic cinema.
.....and he's dressed like a 1930s Warner Brothers gangster, which is what first "glamorized" the gangster. So it's an homage to the outlaw in cinema, which goes to it's very beginnings, and to the Warner Brothers gangster movies.
I always wondered what that shot was about also until I went to special screening of Goodfellas. I arrived about a half hour early and the great train robbery was being shown & when that ending happened I realized right away it was a homage.
Yes, and Scorsese's father also appeared in the film as Vinny, one of the two gangsters escorting Tommy to his death, and the one who answers the phone when Jimmy calls to find out if Tommy was made yet. "He's gone! There's nothing we could do and that's that!"
The direction and editing is genius. You really feel the different moods of the film, the seduction of the mob life and Karen, the tenseness of Tommy's mood swings, you feel the paranoia and everything falling apart. You feel the fear of Karen and Henry fearing for their lives from Jimmy etc.
Fun fact: Paul found out about the killing of Batts sooner than Henry thought he might,but he told the Gambino crew after he found out Tommy tried to sleep with Karen...Paul had been sleeping with Karen since Henry went to jail. This is what the writers left out but can be found in " The Real Goodfella ".
I first watched Goodfellas when I was 15 in around 1992 . There had never been a movie quite like it, it was one of those movies you watched like 10 or 20 times . Anyhow it's a special movie and brings back many memories of a time of growing up in the 90s with friends and using quotes from the movie. Just a great f...g movie. Top 3 of all time in my books.
That life has serious consequences and after hearing all the stories of people getting murdered for the slightest infraction makes working 9-5 a much better deal
I know a couple of guys who are in street gangs. Feeling like you belong is definitely a big part of it. One guy was going to county jail and I asked him if he was worried about it and he said no. He said that there are always other guys from his gang in there and when he got in he'd immediately connect with them. He told me someone like me would need to worry if went to jail because I wouldn't know anyone in there and that would make me a victim. Another guy bragged about not being able to go into a certain neighborhood with the rest of us because he'd be killed if he was caught there. His gang was at war with the gang from there, but we could go there because we were 'nobodies'. Nobody(in gangs) cared about us. On one hand that's kind of a bizarre thing to be proud of but on the other hand it's understandable.
Yes, he was a US Attorney. I had the pleasure of working for him when he moved to private practice. A brilliant attorney, and also a very down-to-earth guy. He was in a few other things too, most notably Kiss of Death with David Caruso and Samuel L. Jackson.
Scorsese got three more amazing performances from Pesci - The Irishman (2019), Casino (1995) and the legitimately outstanding Raging Bull (1980) which I would contend is the greatest sports drama ever made.
I just hate it that The Irishman isn't going the "real story" route as much as Goodfellas and Casino did, instead it paints a picture of Sheeran of something that he wasn't.
So about the final scene, that’s Scorsese doing a nod to an old silent film called the great train robbery, which was basically a shot of an old cowboy shooting at the camera. He just refilmed it with pesci as a gangster. In context to the scene, I think it’s either kinda saying like the guy next door who you’d never expect lived a crazy life as a gangster, or it’s saying that as a kid he had this unrealistic outlook as a glamorous criminal and it got him nowhere, his friends all died, betrayed him, and he had to betray them back to survive. Another great shot in the film I never hear anyone talk about is when Karen gets scared and runs away from jimmy, the camera pans up and you see the sign “one way” and “don’t walk” pointing right at the door she was about to walk through.
At 5:25 you suggested the mobsters have a team meeting ... Paulie probably didn't want to do it cause of a major mob arrest that occurred in 1957 in Apalachin, NY. Up to that point, J. Edgar Hoover refused to publicly admit the existence of organized crime. The Apalachin bust was performed by local cops ... snd since the Feds had nothing to do with it, that embarrassed Hoover Big Time and he setup a special Organized Crime task force.
The Federal agent that's talking to Henry and Karen about Wtness Protection... he is not an actor. He's the actual Federal agent that put them into Wtness Protection. Years ago, a special DVD came out where he and the Real Henry Hill did a commentary track together.
Isn't that scene of Pesci shooting into camera just Henry flashing back to the 'good old days'? That's how I always read it. As others have mentioned, the shot itself is based on that famous Great Train Robbery shot, but considering Henry's whole narration for that scene, I think it's just about Henry reminiscing and romanticising the life he led.
@@freaklives I did read your whole comment, you're the one that said "but considering Henry's narration for that scene, I think it's just about..." which clearly states what you meant!!!
At the last scene Henry described why he didnt like the life in witness protection, he felt like a nobody, he didnt even like food anymore because he described spagetti as being tomato ketchup with noodles. Then it flashed back to Tommy firing a gun..that was to symbolize the life that Henry left behind. At least thats how I interpreted it. They took the real Henry Hill out of witness protection early because he kept violating the rules and engaging in illegal activities until they got fed up with it. All the while when he was in witness protection he never gave up the drugs. I saw Henry Hill on the Howard Stern show when he appeared as a guest. He was very drunk. Henry always had an alcohol and drug problem. He said the violence they showed in Goodfellas was very mild compared to what actually happened. He used the word disgusting to describe it. He also mentioned Tommy..the character that Joe Pesci portrayed. Henry described him as being a sick psychopath. He said in one incident he shot someone while walking down the street. Someone who was a total stranger and for no reason at all. This was another reason Tommy got killed because the mob didn't put up with guys who were out of control. I also saw an interview with the District attorney who handled Henrys case. He appeared in the film as himself. He liked Henry and they actually became friends.
The last shot is an homage to one of the earliest movies, "The Great Train Robbery" (1903) which famously ends with the same exact shot, a cowboy shooting directly into the camera. This shocked audiences at the time and the success of that movie (both artistically and financially) was a major breakthrough in early cinema. Here it is here, see for yourself! th-cam.com/video/y3jrB5ANUUY/w-d-xo.html PS: He's also dressed like a 1930s gangster, like James Cagney. So by this he's paying tribute both to outlaws in cinema (being the building block of the entire movie industry) and the old Warner Brothers gangster films of the 30s, putting "Goodfellas" directly in that lineage.
when i was a kid, we were told to play that telephone game or pass the secret around the circle of kids.. they would always say it proved that people make mistakes that end in changed message when it got back to the start.. but i always knew it was really just some jerk off that would change the message on purpose.. because they thought they were a wise guy
Not sure if anybody put this yet, but Tommy's mother was played by Martin Scorsese's actual mother Catherine Scorsese. She used to pop up in some of his movies back in the day.
Awesome! A Gaslight (1944) reference! You're the 2nd person I've ever come across that has seen it. He messed with her mind so bad...another film from1944 is To Have And Have Not, with Bogart and Bacall. If you appreciate old movies and haven't seen it, it's a must see. I like it better than Casablanca.
Not to mention Donnie Brasco starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp, also based on a real life person who infiltrated the mob and practically ended the golden era of American mafia. Those families have never been the same ever since.
Them killing Batts wasn't as instantaneous in real life as what the movie portrayed. Batts was killed about 2 weeks after the shinebox incident. Also, Jimmy Burke (they changed his name in the film) took over all of Batts' loanshark businesses over when Batts went to jail. Now that Batts was home Batts wanted his business back. That's actually what Batts and Conway were talking about in the film when Tommy DeSimone (his name was changed to Tommy DeVito for the film) came up behind Batts to kill him. Naturally, Jimmy didn't want to give the loansharking businesses back.. and that was Jimmy's motivation for participating in the killing of Batts.
Yes! If you like the narration, you gotta watch Casino - sorta a sequel, but not really. A lot of the same actors, based on a true story, just different characters. As for more "gangster" movies, I recommend Scarface with Pacino, Road to Perdition (sp?) with Tom Hanks, and the classic The Untouchables with Costner.
So is Casino next in your journey into the mob theme. It's Scorsese again with De Niro and Joe Pesci. Another brilliant film. I'd like your view on it. PS Donnie Brascoe is one off my favourite films and Al Pacino is awesome in it. Can't wait for you to react/ give us your opinion.
The only mob bosses alive today who got out of the mob life are MICHAEL FRANZESE and SAMMY "THE BULL" GRAVANO. They have their own TH-cam channel where they share the experience in the mob life. You should check them out.
The tracking shots and freeze frames are almost synonymous with Scorsese. Hard to say what's better, this or Casino. Easily 2 of the best films of the 90's. Extra: Tommy's mother is Scorseses actual mother. She's perfect for the role.
Just a reflection on the ironic fate of 60s music icon Donovan's most poetic and enduring songs (Atlantis and Hurdy Gurdy Man, on which John Paul Jones and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin played as studio session musicians) courtesy of cinema. Donovan's lush, sweet and innocuous compositions stand forever juxtaposed against scenes of savage lethal violence in Goodfellas (Billy Batts' murder scene in Henry Hill's bar) and in the chilling Zodiac ( the opening double shooting scene of the young couple in the parked car).
Fun Fact: My Blue Heaven Starring Steve Martin as a mobster in the witness protection program, was also "based" on Henry Hill. Henry hated it. Henry had some taste.
One of the chief differences between The Godfather and Goodfellas is what the director thinks of his characters. Scorsese empathizes and even admires mobsters. Coppola hated them. The Godfather is dripping with contempt for Michael, especially at the end. Scorsese wants you to feel sorry for Henry.
@@jmurdock8303 Yeah I think this is the bigger difference. The Godfather is the mafia’s Lord of the Rings. It’s fantasy and mythology, but with the mob instead of dragons and elves. Goodfellas is a deconstruction of The Godfather’s take on the mob/crime genre. The first act sets up the fantasy of being in the mob. Then it catches up to the night of the opening scene in 1970 and reality begins to hit for the main characters as they face realistic consequences for their actions. Like the drugs they start getting into, there are still highs, but it becomes clear that the tradeoffs aren’t worth it and that you never get to walk away from the criminal life as a winner
See I almost feel like it’s the exact opposite. If I could paraphrase an excellent quote I read, “The Godfather is how the mafia saw itself, whereas Goodfellas is how it actually was”. If any movie is guilty of ‘glorifying’ the mob, it’s The Godfather. It has all the themes that the mob holds in such high regard: honor, loyalty, family, etc. When you think about it, many of the characters in Goodfellas were obviously despicable people, made obvious by their actions on screen, but you’re still seeing the movie from their perspective, so it seems somewhat morally ambiguous. Between roughing up a mailman just doing his job, killing an innocent bartender for simply retaliating to being shot in the foot for god sake, to many other horrific acts the movie barely touched on. The mob really were glorified schoolyard bullies in silk suits….disclaimer: these are still 2 of my favorite movies, not trying to disparage them in any way!!
@@Knapptime95 I rather agree with this. I think the claim that most of these movies "glorify" the Mafia, organized crime, or gangsters in general are presuming the filmmakers are saying these are good people or even great lives they had. The lifestyle might be *glamorized* such as here in Goodfellas or by Henry the *character*. But the film clearly portrays Henry as not a balanced or well-adjusted individual. Henry never commits a murder (iirc), nevermind a senseless one. Tommy's clearly the psycho in that regard, and Jimmy's at most 1-2 steps removed. BUT.. Henry's a loyal and willing accomplice and accessory to their killings. Henry exhibits no real empathy for most innocents and very little for even his own wife. He views the world in terms of people with power and those without (schmucks) and is drive primarily by fear and greed. Henry's only camaraderie is to his 2 'friends', the only ones he has, until it dawns on him one of them, Tommy, is so unstable, which leads to his gruesome fate, and the other, Jimmy, eventually turns on him and plots to have him killed to protect himself. If anything, I'd say Goodfellas is a great morality tale: Being in a gang *seems* like it's being on top of the world. Money. Power. Women. Yet all throughout the film, it shows to the audience the increasing damage and misery it spreads to anyone caught up and involved in it, from the lowest up to the top-level bosses, until the entire power structure comes crumbling down (which was very reminiscent of how the power of organized crime declined by the time this film was made in the early '90s, at least to us in the public as more takedowns of large crime families occurred). Henry "escapes" by turning states, on all all those figures he trusted most and considered his true family. The audience is allowed to decide whether or not these people's lives are desirable or the highs Henry describes the first half of his life are worth his fate of having to "live like everyone else, a schmuck" in the end. But the movie clearly shows all these figures either meet gruesome ends like Tommy's or were brought down like Jimmy and Paulie. Henry himself, the least murderous, yet also plainly amoral, gets to live out his later life in witsec, but his final words suggest he doesn't get what he wants either.
@@Knapptime95 In some ways, the Godfather series engenders more empathy, perhaps most in the first movie, for Michael and then Vito in II, than I think Goodfellas does for Henry (which was based on the non-fiction book by the actual Henry Hill). Coppola has said the Godfather isn't a movie about gangsters so much as it is about family, and, in that framing, we can empathize with their decisions, at least in their earlier lives. Vito was almost born into it, lost his entire family in Sicily to it, and criminals (or would-bes) abused him and others in the community he lived in. And, during those decades of the 1920s, law enforcement being weak, corrupt, or absent probably made protection from other criminals one of the few practical options available to people living in those times, and this grew or blended into protection racketeering. By the 1940s, Michael doesn't want anything to do with.. that shadow from his family. But then it nearly takes his father and himself, with the police not only not helping but being complicit in it, then does take his oldest brother, then his wife. Although, on a large enough scale across I, II, and III, we also see a similar pattern (in the megastructure of the story as we do in Goodfellas), that there's a cycle of darkness, tragedy, and loss in the Corleone family, because Michael and Vito are responding to corrupt, vicious, and evil figures trying to preemptively harm them: Sollozzo, McCluskey, Barzini, Don Ciccio, Fanucci, Roth, etc., there's a greater sense of relatability to Michael and Vito and their decisions. They're not Good People but they're reacting to and protecting their loved ones against Much Worse People. At least, Vito does.. and Michael seems to start out doing so as well until, by the end of the first movie, he was suddenly the very thing he said he didn't want to become, and possibly worse.
44:03 oh my god. now i know where this meme came from. i saw an oversimplified video about the american civil war and abraham lincoln said the same thing.
Fun fact : to get the key to the baggage room for the Lufthansa heist, they got the security guard drunk one night and got him a hooker and while he was preoccupied they stole his keys and got copies made. 👍
You need to learn more about Goodfellas or know one of them. I grew up in the Chicago Area and my brother worked with one of the members of Al Capones mob. He was one of the nicest guys I ever met, but just never cross him or talk bad about him!
The Nora Ephron written Steve Martin comedy "My Blue Heaven" is about the life of a mob informant living in the suburbs as part of the witness protection program. th-cam.com/video/zuvLo2FB85U/w-d-xo.html Nora Ephron was married to Nicholas Pileggi who co-wrote the screenplay for Good Fellas based on his book "Wise Guy". Ephron and Pileggi both based their works on some of the same notes and interviews with Henry Hill.
Great reaction, Shelby. By the way, the kid Spider who was killed by Pesci because he mouthed off in the club was played by Michael Imperioli, who later played Christopher Moltisanti in the hit TV mob series The Sopranos. Maybe Goodfellas was his audition.
The very last part of the movie when Joe Pesci is shooting at the camera....thats from an early 1900's cowboy movie...where they show the guy with a bushy mustache shoot into the camera...google it
I sometimes get this film confused with 'Casino'. Back in 1968. before he went into acting.....Joe Pesci was the frontman for some group & you can hear their album by looking up...'Little Joe Sure Can Sing'.
Fun facts about Goodfellas 1. When they were going around the bar they introduced Michael Franzese and he is still alive and haves a youtube channel and another fun fact about him when he first watched this movie in the theaters he was with his wife and when they introduced him he said "come on honey we gotta go" cause he was shocked and surprised that he was in the movie 2. Tommy Desimone's body has never been found and no one knows where his body is and it's rumored that John Gotti killed him 3. The cop that was talking to Henry is the real cop that talked to the real Henry Hill 4. Paulie had an affair with Karen and Tommy tried to rape her 5. That guy billy batts was actually friends with John Gotti and he died a few weeks after he was released from prison 6. Tommy was sad that he had to kill Stacks Edwards 7. Spider's sister talked to Henry asking him where is her brother buried 8. Henry had a hard time in school when he was young 9. Henry tried to leave the mob he couldn't because after the death of Billy Batts he would be killed 10. The cop that tasted the coke was a real CIA agent 11. Henry Hill died in 2012 he's been dead for almost 10 years 12. Robert De Niro talked to the real Jimmy Conaway when he was in prison
Difference between this and the Godfather is if course when it was made but also the status of the protagonists. The head of a 'family' vs the bottom of a family.
Apparently the real life Jimmy Conway died 1996, so I am guessing he never got out, atleast alive. His corpse sure, but not the conscious person known as Jimmy Conway. Edit: I guess I'm not the only one with the secret power of Google search.
Ever heard or seen the movie " kill the Irish men" it's also a good one to watch, base on a real person and real events that happened in the 1970s, a must watch flick.
All I know is the shot of Tommy shooting at the camera/us towards the very end is a homage to the final shot of the silent film The Great Train Robbery where a character did the same thing. Scorsese is a huge film buff who loves to give nods to shots of his favorite films. That also being an old film with criminal activity. I'm not sure if it's anything more than that. Before I learned that fact I always just looked at it as a quick reminiscing Henry had of the violent life he used to be in. Or maybe it still is and it was a perfect time to use the homage.
![Watching 'Casino' (1995) for the FIRST TIME! | Movie Commentary & Reaction [REUPLOAD]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/yzF7ew4e5Po/mqdefault.jpg)
![Watching 'Casino' (1995) for the FIRST TIME! | Movie Commentary & Reaction [REUPLOAD]](/img/tr.png)
So sorry this video took me so long to post, I had a hell of a time trying to get this video uploaded with no issues so I very much appreciate your patience!
Hey. Just to let you know that, talking all the way through a movie, is not such a good reaction. You will get more subs if you chat a lot less. Cheers
actually, shelby, in today's high-tech surveilence world, the way Paulie and the Cosa Nostra operated was tactically smart..Even now, Cosa Nostra members avoid credit cards, the internet and use disposable phones...if they an't track ya or record ya, they can't get the evidence to bust ya!
@@alonzocoyethea6148 that’s fair!
You gotta be full Italian to be made
Green is your color.
You’re so prepared and knowledgable with your reactions! Plus observant! Top notch channel! ✨
The second-to-last image of Pesci firing the gun at the audience is an homage to the last scene in "The Great Train Robbery" from 1903. It was among the first movies to last longer than 20 minutes. When audiences of the time saw that pistol firing at them, they thought they were being fired at. Scorsese loves making homages to classic cinema.
.....and he's dressed like a 1930s Warner Brothers gangster, which is what first "glamorized" the gangster. So it's an homage to the outlaw in cinema, which goes to it's very beginnings, and to the Warner Brothers gangster movies.
@@TTM9691 Great catch - I never really noticed what he was wearing.
And the parody of that film was the first film parody.
I always wondered what that shot was about also until I went to special screening of Goodfellas. I arrived about a half hour early and the great train robbery was being shown & when that ending happened I realized right away it was a homage.
Untouchables in 88 did a parody of the baby down the steps
*Henry was asked how he felt when he found out Tommy was killed. His response: “relieved”*
To be fair he did try to r@pe his wife.
“I didn’t wanna get blood on your floor” is about basically saying “sorry for getting you involved”
Just in case it hasn't been said already, the woman who plays Tommy's mother is Martin Scorsese's mother in real life.
Yes, and Scorsese's father also appeared in the film as Vinny, one of the two gangsters escorting Tommy to his death, and the one who answers the phone when Jimmy calls to find out if Tommy was made yet. "He's gone! There's nothing we could do and that's that!"
I like how the pace of his narration picks up as the drugs and paranoia escalate.
The direction and editing is genius. You really feel the different moods of the film, the seduction of the mob life and Karen, the tenseness of Tommy's mood swings, you feel the paranoia and everything falling apart. You feel the fear of Karen and Henry fearing for their lives from Jimmy etc.
Fun fact: Paul found out about the killing of Batts sooner than Henry thought he might,but he told the Gambino crew after he found out Tommy tried to sleep with Karen...Paul had been sleeping with Karen since Henry went to jail. This is what the writers left out but can be found in " The Real Goodfella ".
Fun fact: the lady who played Tommy’s mother was actually Martin Scorsese’s mother. Her and his father have appeared in a few of his films
Yes May they both Rip
"I hate these abusive relationships."
Who woulda thought a lifetime of violence, thievery and adultery would lead some people to be a bit insensitive?
I first watched Goodfellas when I was 15 in around 1992 . There had never been a movie quite like it, it was one of those movies you watched like 10 or 20 times . Anyhow it's a special movie and brings back many memories of a time of growing up in the 90s with friends and using quotes from the movie. Just a great f...g movie. Top 3 of all time in my books.
I can never get over the fact that Henry is ratting out Jimmy because he was afraid Jimmy would have him whacked because he might rat out Jimmy
Really is funny how that all worked right? Jimmy ended up causing the very thing he feared
He knew Jimmy had a history of killing off potential witnesses so he knew the best thing for him was to cooperate to get into witness protection.
That life has serious consequences and after hearing all the stories of people getting murdered for the slightest infraction makes working
9-5 a much better deal
I know a couple of guys who are in street gangs. Feeling like you belong is definitely a big part of it. One guy was going to county jail and I asked him if he was worried about it and he said no. He said that there are always other guys from his gang in there and when he got in he'd immediately connect with them. He told me someone like me would need to worry if went to jail because I wouldn't know anyone in there and that would make me a victim. Another guy bragged about not being able to go into a certain neighborhood with the rest of us because he'd be killed if he was caught there. His gang was at war with the gang from there, but we could go there because we were 'nobodies'. Nobody(in gangs) cared about us. On one hand that's kind of a bizarre thing to be proud of but on the other hand it's understandable.
Fun fact: 35:04 this is the actual FBI agent Edward McDonald playing himself.
Pretty good acting for a non-pro actor, IMO.
Well, they are good actors
Wasn't FBI he was United States Attorney eastern district.
Yes, he was a US Attorney. I had the pleasure of working for him when he moved to private practice. A brilliant attorney, and also a very down-to-earth guy. He was in a few other things too, most notably Kiss of Death with David Caruso and Samuel L. Jackson.
No acting to it. It was just another day at the office.
Scorsese got three more amazing performances from Pesci - The Irishman (2019), Casino (1995) and the legitimately outstanding Raging Bull (1980) which I would contend is the greatest sports drama ever made.
All great movies
I just hate it that The Irishman isn't going the "real story" route as much as Goodfellas and Casino did, instead it paints a picture of Sheeran of something that he wasn't.
Your Italian Mob facts are definitely on point. Spot on research!
So about the final scene, that’s Scorsese doing a nod to an old silent film called the great train robbery, which was basically a shot of an old cowboy shooting at the camera. He just refilmed it with pesci as a gangster. In context to the scene, I think it’s either kinda saying like the guy next door who you’d never expect lived a crazy life as a gangster, or it’s saying that as a kid he had this unrealistic outlook as a glamorous criminal and it got him nowhere, his friends all died, betrayed him, and he had to betray them back to survive. Another great shot in the film I never hear anyone talk about is when Karen gets scared and runs away from jimmy, the camera pans up and you see the sign “one way” and “don’t walk” pointing right at the door she was about to walk through.
I'm gonna explain the homages, explain the homages.
@@patrickflanagan3762 do you remember when mcdonalds ripped that off and had a mascot named eddie the echo?
At 5:25 you suggested the mobsters have a team meeting ... Paulie probably didn't want to do it cause of a major mob arrest that occurred in 1957 in Apalachin, NY. Up to that point, J. Edgar Hoover refused to publicly admit the existence of organized crime. The Apalachin bust was performed by local cops ... snd since the Feds had nothing to do with it, that embarrassed Hoover Big Time and he setup a special Organized Crime task force.
The Federal agent that's talking to Henry and Karen about Wtness Protection... he is not an actor. He's the actual Federal agent that put them into Wtness Protection. Years ago, a special DVD came out where he and the Real Henry Hill did a commentary track together.
21:27
The real Tommy DeSimone had even less respect for life, rumors were that he’d kill civilians to test out a new gun.
😂😂😂😂
Isn't that scene of Pesci shooting into camera just Henry flashing back to the 'good old days'? That's how I always read it. As others have mentioned, the shot itself is based on that famous Great Train Robbery shot, but considering Henry's whole narration for that scene, I think it's just about Henry reminiscing and romanticising the life he led.
You know, I never thought of it that way…huh….interesting theory, well done, friend.
No your wrong it's not just about that, it's Scorsese paying homage to The Great Train Robbery and early gangster films as he's said many times!!!!!!!
@@HonRevPTB maybe read the full post before commenting.
@@freaklives I did read your whole comment, you're the one that said "but considering Henry's narration for that scene, I think it's just about..." which clearly states what you meant!!!
@@HonRevPTB That is what the SCENE is about, it's only the SHOT that's a homage to The Great Train Robbery.
"You're gonna kill him? Maybe just give him a little smacky smacky."
Me: Oh he's gonna give him a little smacky smacky alright.
The old guy making the sauce in prison was Scorsese father.
At the last scene Henry described why he didnt like the life in witness protection, he felt like a nobody, he didnt even like food anymore because he described spagetti as being tomato ketchup with noodles.
Then it flashed back to Tommy firing a gun..that was to symbolize the life that Henry left behind.
At least thats how I interpreted it.
They took the real Henry Hill out of witness protection early because he kept violating the rules and engaging in illegal activities until they got fed up with it.
All the while when he was in witness protection he never gave up the drugs.
I saw Henry Hill on the Howard Stern show when he appeared as a guest. He was very drunk. Henry always had an alcohol and drug problem. He said the violence they showed in Goodfellas was very mild compared to what actually happened. He used the word disgusting to describe it.
He also mentioned Tommy..the character that Joe Pesci portrayed.
Henry described him as being a sick psychopath. He said in one incident he shot someone while walking down the street.
Someone who was a total stranger and for no reason at all.
This was another reason Tommy got killed because the mob didn't put up with guys who were out of control.
I also saw an interview with the District attorney who handled Henrys case. He appeared in the film as himself. He liked Henry and they actually became friends.
That food/family analogy was really stunning.😯I've watched this movie so many times and I've never picked up on that before!👍
The last shot is an homage to one of the earliest movies, "The Great Train Robbery" (1903) which famously ends with the same exact shot, a cowboy shooting directly into the camera. This shocked audiences at the time and the success of that movie (both artistically and financially) was a major breakthrough in early cinema. Here it is here, see for yourself! th-cam.com/video/y3jrB5ANUUY/w-d-xo.html PS: He's also dressed like a 1930s gangster, like James Cagney. So by this he's paying tribute both to outlaws in cinema (being the building block of the entire movie industry) and the old Warner Brothers gangster films of the 30s, putting "Goodfellas" directly in that lineage.
when i was a kid, we were told to play that telephone game or pass the secret around the circle of kids.. they would always say it proved that people make mistakes that end in changed message when it got back to the start.. but i always knew it was really just some jerk off that would change the message on purpose.. because they thought they were a wise guy
I love Shelby so much, she's effortlessly hilarious...❤😂...X
"Ok. So he got shot in the foot. Is that a big deal 🤷🏾♀️?" 🤦🏽♀️🤣🤣🤣
Not sure if anybody put this yet, but Tommy's mother was played by Martin Scorsese's actual mother Catherine Scorsese. She used to pop up in some of his movies back in the day.
Awesome! A Gaslight (1944) reference! You're the 2nd person I've ever come across that has seen it. He messed with her mind so bad...another film from1944 is To Have And Have Not, with Bogart and Bacall. If you appreciate old movies and haven't seen it, it's a must see. I like it better than Casablanca.
Another great film. Hate and love at the same time the grittiness of how evil some of the characters are like Pesci and Deniro.
I'd add Carlito's Way(1993) with Al Pacino & Sean Penn by Brian DePalma.
Best movie ever , it's my fav movie ever
Not to mention Donnie Brasco starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp, also based on a real life person who infiltrated the mob and practically ended the golden era of American mafia. Those families have never been the same ever since.
26:29
Supposably this was the line DeSimone didn’t want to cross because Stacks was a childhood friend.
Your reaction to Spider getting shot was priceless
Them killing Batts wasn't as instantaneous in real life as what the movie portrayed. Batts was killed about 2 weeks after the shinebox incident. Also, Jimmy Burke (they changed his name in the film) took over all of Batts' loanshark businesses over when Batts went to jail. Now that Batts was home Batts wanted his business back. That's actually what Batts and Conway were talking about in the film when Tommy DeSimone (his name was changed to Tommy DeVito for the film) came up behind Batts to kill him. Naturally, Jimmy didn't want to give the loansharking businesses back.. and that was Jimmy's motivation for participating in the killing of Batts.
Looking forward to your 'Casino' reaction!
Yes! If you like the narration, you gotta watch Casino - sorta a sequel, but not really. A lot of the same actors, based on a true story, just different characters. As for more "gangster" movies, I recommend Scarface with Pacino, Road to Perdition (sp?) with Tom Hanks, and the classic The Untouchables with Costner.
You will cry! Joe.......well....he ....is a funny guy
So is Casino next in your journey into the mob theme. It's Scorsese again with De Niro and Joe Pesci. Another brilliant film. I'd like your view on it.
PS Donnie Brascoe is one off my favourite films and Al Pacino is awesome in it. Can't wait for you to react/ give us your opinion.
Casino is Scorsese's masterpiece imo.
@@thaistomp I love Casino but to put it above Goodfellas just seems wrong
The Departed
The only mob bosses alive today who got out of the mob life are MICHAEL FRANZESE and SAMMY "THE BULL" GRAVANO. They have their own TH-cam channel where they share the experience in the mob life. You should check them out.
16:59 That old lady is Martin Scorsese's (the movie's director) mom. They ad-libbed the entire scene.
Even though Paulie didn't get the messages first hand. I am sure the message guys strived for accuracy, who wanted to screw up that job ?
Jimmy Burke, the real Jimmy Conway, was so good at making money that he was considered a kind of unofficial honorary capo even though he was Irish.
@Google Wack Actually he was. Read the book the movie is based on or his entry in the Mafia Wiki.
@Google Wack An other sources, yes. It's ok. You can be wrong on the internet and the world won't end.
@Google Wack Um... he was the mastermind of the Lufthansa heist. Goodfellas was not the first movie he was portrayed in.
Henry didn't care about ratting out Paulie bc he was sleeping with KAREN !!!! Yep
Henry Hill has been on Howard Stern a few times ,(it's on TH-cam) once 'spiders' mom called wanting to know where her son was buried.
whaaaaaaaaat?! Forreal?!?
I thought it was spiders sister that called
The tracking shots and freeze frames are almost synonymous with Scorsese. Hard to say what's better, this or Casino. Easily 2 of the best films of the 90's. Extra: Tommy's mother is Scorseses actual mother. She's perfect for the role.
R.I.P Ray Liotta
Just a reflection on the ironic fate of 60s music icon Donovan's most poetic and enduring songs (Atlantis and Hurdy Gurdy Man, on which John Paul Jones and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin played as studio session musicians) courtesy of cinema. Donovan's lush, sweet and innocuous compositions stand forever juxtaposed against scenes of savage lethal violence in Goodfellas (Billy Batts' murder scene in Henry Hill's bar) and in the chilling Zodiac ( the opening double shooting scene of the young couple in the parked car).
I'm addicted to Shelby's vids....hilarious...X
Wow...I never thought anybody could screw up a masterpiece but you have managed to do it. You interpretation and reaction is inane.
Preach! That was terrible. She should stick to Pesci's crappy comedies
Goodfellas is one of my favorite mob movies. I’ve seen this I’m sure over 50 times.
If his father was Italian then there was a possibility that he could become a made man, but not with his mom.
And thats true...!!! In réalité IS Irish man...
Henry’s mother was Sicilian. His father was Irish.
O think this is the first reaction I’ve seen of someone who knew the history. +1 subscriber
The real Henry Hill Jr lived in North Platte Nebraska and wrote The Wise Guy Cookbook in 2002.
I have every line in My Cousin Vinny memorized! It's incredible
6 tinea was the charm lol
" Spyder ", played by a young Michael Imperioli, who would go on to play Christopher, in ' the Sopranos.'
16:17
“I did my fucking time. I got fucking mouths to feed.”
He did 20 years in the can, not a word. On top of that he has kids, they have kids.
One of the best ever!! 💯🔥
Spider should have danced over to get Tommy's drink, and Spider was a stuttering prick.
literally everyone's reaction to the first 90 seconds of this movie: 😮
Ohh Shelby you look so beautiful in this reaction, green is my favorite color :) 💛
Oh thank you! It's my favorite as well :)
Fun Fact: My Blue Heaven Starring Steve Martin as a mobster in the witness protection program, was also "based" on Henry Hill. Henry hated it. Henry had some taste.
He had a taste for drugs and alcohol is what many of the documentaries say at least.
That was epic you are incredibly 100
The scene at 9:07 was improved on Joe's part. Great actor
Buffoon! My new favorite word 🤣
One of the chief differences between The Godfather and Goodfellas is what the director thinks of his characters. Scorsese empathizes and even admires mobsters. Coppola hated them. The Godfather is dripping with contempt for Michael, especially at the end. Scorsese wants you to feel sorry for Henry.
I say chief difference is fact and fiction
@@jmurdock8303
Yeah I think this is the bigger difference.
The Godfather is the mafia’s Lord of the Rings. It’s fantasy and mythology, but with the mob instead of dragons and elves.
Goodfellas is a deconstruction of The Godfather’s take on the mob/crime genre. The first act sets up the fantasy of being in the mob. Then it catches up to the night of the opening scene in 1970 and reality begins to hit for the main characters as they face realistic consequences for their actions. Like the drugs they start getting into, there are still highs, but it becomes clear that the tradeoffs aren’t worth it and that you never get to walk away from the criminal life as a winner
See I almost feel like it’s the exact opposite. If I could paraphrase an excellent quote I read, “The Godfather is how the mafia saw itself, whereas Goodfellas is how it actually was”. If any movie is guilty of ‘glorifying’ the mob, it’s The Godfather. It has all the themes that the mob holds in such high regard: honor, loyalty, family, etc. When you think about it, many of the characters in Goodfellas were obviously despicable people, made obvious by their actions on screen, but you’re still seeing the movie from their perspective, so it seems somewhat morally ambiguous. Between roughing up a mailman just doing his job, killing an innocent bartender for simply retaliating to being shot in the foot for god sake, to many other horrific acts the movie barely touched on. The mob really were glorified schoolyard bullies in silk suits….disclaimer: these are still 2 of my favorite movies, not trying to disparage them in any way!!
@@Knapptime95 I rather agree with this. I think the claim that most of these movies "glorify" the Mafia, organized crime, or gangsters in general are presuming the filmmakers are saying these are good people or even great lives they had.
The lifestyle might be *glamorized* such as here in Goodfellas or by Henry the *character*. But the film clearly portrays Henry as not a balanced or well-adjusted individual. Henry never commits a murder (iirc), nevermind a senseless one. Tommy's clearly the psycho in that regard, and Jimmy's at most 1-2 steps removed. BUT.. Henry's a loyal and willing accomplice and accessory to their killings. Henry exhibits no real empathy for most innocents and very little for even his own wife. He views the world in terms of people with power and those without (schmucks) and is drive primarily by fear and greed. Henry's only camaraderie is to his 2 'friends', the only ones he has, until it dawns on him one of them, Tommy, is so unstable, which leads to his gruesome fate, and the other, Jimmy, eventually turns on him and plots to have him killed to protect himself.
If anything, I'd say Goodfellas is a great morality tale: Being in a gang *seems* like it's being on top of the world. Money. Power. Women. Yet all throughout the film, it shows to the audience the increasing damage and misery it spreads to anyone caught up and involved in it, from the lowest up to the top-level bosses, until the entire power structure comes crumbling down (which was very reminiscent of how the power of organized crime declined by the time this film was made in the early '90s, at least to us in the public as more takedowns of large crime families occurred). Henry "escapes" by turning states, on all all those figures he trusted most and considered his true family. The audience is allowed to decide whether or not these people's lives are desirable or the highs Henry describes the first half of his life are worth his fate of having to "live like everyone else, a schmuck" in the end. But the movie clearly shows all these figures either meet gruesome ends like Tommy's or were brought down like Jimmy and Paulie. Henry himself, the least murderous, yet also plainly amoral, gets to live out his later life in witsec, but his final words suggest he doesn't get what he wants either.
@@Knapptime95 In some ways, the Godfather series engenders more empathy, perhaps most in the first movie, for Michael and then Vito in II, than I think Goodfellas does for Henry (which was based on the non-fiction book by the actual Henry Hill).
Coppola has said the Godfather isn't a movie about gangsters so much as it is about family, and, in that framing, we can empathize with their decisions, at least in their earlier lives. Vito was almost born into it, lost his entire family in Sicily to it, and criminals (or would-bes) abused him and others in the community he lived in. And, during those decades of the 1920s, law enforcement being weak, corrupt, or absent probably made protection from other criminals one of the few practical options available to people living in those times, and this grew or blended into protection racketeering. By the 1940s, Michael doesn't want anything to do with.. that shadow from his family. But then it nearly takes his father and himself, with the police not only not helping but being complicit in it, then does take his oldest brother, then his wife.
Although, on a large enough scale across I, II, and III, we also see a similar pattern (in the megastructure of the story as we do in Goodfellas), that there's a cycle of darkness, tragedy, and loss in the Corleone family, because Michael and Vito are responding to corrupt, vicious, and evil figures trying to preemptively harm them: Sollozzo, McCluskey, Barzini, Don Ciccio, Fanucci, Roth, etc., there's a greater sense of relatability to Michael and Vito and their decisions.
They're not Good People but they're reacting to and protecting their loved ones against Much Worse People. At least, Vito does.. and Michael seems to start out doing so as well until, by the end of the first movie, he was suddenly the very thing he said he didn't want to become, and possibly worse.
44:03 oh my god. now i know where this meme came from. i saw an oversimplified video about the american civil war and abraham lincoln said the same thing.
Great reaction to this mob movie classic
Fun fact : to get the key to the baggage room for the Lufthansa heist, they got the security guard drunk one night and got him a hooker and while he was preoccupied they stole his keys and got copies made. 👍
You need to learn more about Goodfellas or know one of them. I grew up in the Chicago Area and my brother worked with one of the members of Al Capones mob. He was one of the nicest guys I ever met, but just never cross him or talk bad about him!
The Nora Ephron written Steve Martin comedy "My Blue Heaven" is about the life of a mob informant living in the suburbs as part of the witness protection program. th-cam.com/video/zuvLo2FB85U/w-d-xo.html
Nora Ephron was married to Nicholas Pileggi who co-wrote the screenplay for Good Fellas based on his book "Wise Guy". Ephron and Pileggi both based their works on some of the same notes and interviews with Henry Hill.
9:15 I love how it say funny how
Great reaction, Shelby. By the way, the kid Spider who was killed by Pesci because he mouthed off in the club was played by Michael Imperioli, who later played Christopher Moltisanti in the hit TV mob series The Sopranos. Maybe Goodfellas was his audition.
Never talk back at the audition people even if they shoot you in the foot.
This is my fav mob movie of all time
The very last part of the movie when Joe Pesci is shooting at the camera....thats from an early 1900's cowboy movie...where they show the guy with a bushy mustache shoot into the camera...google it
The final gunshot moment is actually a tribute to this movie from 1903. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Train_Robbery_(1903_film)
I sometimes get this film confused with 'Casino'. Back in 1968. before he went into acting.....Joe Pesci was the frontman for some group & you can hear their album by looking up...'Little Joe Sure Can Sing'.
Gotta do Carlitos way
Classic
Al Pacino and Sean Penn
Fun facts about Goodfellas
1. When they were going around the bar they introduced Michael Franzese and he is still alive and haves a youtube channel and another fun fact about him when he first watched this movie in the theaters he was with his wife and when they introduced him he said "come on honey we gotta go" cause he was shocked and surprised that he was in the movie
2. Tommy Desimone's body has never been found and no one knows where his body is and it's rumored that John Gotti killed him
3. The cop that was talking to Henry is the real cop that talked to the real Henry Hill
4. Paulie had an affair with Karen and Tommy tried to rape her
5. That guy billy batts was actually friends with John Gotti and he died a few weeks after he was released from prison
6. Tommy was sad that he had to kill Stacks Edwards
7. Spider's sister talked to Henry asking him where is her brother buried
8. Henry had a hard time in school when he was young
9. Henry tried to leave the mob he couldn't because after the death of Billy Batts he would be killed
10. The cop that tasted the coke was a real CIA agent
11. Henry Hill died in 2012 he's been dead for almost 10 years
12. Robert De Niro talked to the real Jimmy Conaway when he was in prison
Wow your incredible with colors ! Green eyeshadow and outfit ! Awesome
17:23 you're telling me he carries a blade that long inside his suit ? how tha hell that thing fits in there ?
Now watch 'My Blue Heaven', it is based on the same book but all takes place while in witness relocation. It is a comedy but still...
Henry Hill actually is now dead. He passed away a couple of years ago.
Henry hill was on Howard sturn he was druk the intire time😂😂
Difference between this and the Godfather is if course when it was made but also the status of the protagonists. The head of a 'family' vs the bottom of a family.
Thanks for reacting one of my favorite movies. I was hoping that you could react to the movies A Bronx Tale and Spring Breakers?
You omitted the best part... the critique of his mom’s painting
“One’s facing east and the other’s facing west. So what?”
IF you watch Godfather III I recommend the cut known as "Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone". It's better than the theatrical.
Apparently the real life Jimmy Conway died 1996, so I am guessing he never got out, atleast alive. His corpse sure, but not the conscious person known as Jimmy Conway. Edit: I guess I'm not the only one with the secret power of Google search.
Ever heard or seen the movie " kill the Irish men" it's also a good one to watch, base on a real person and real events that happened in the 1970s, a must watch flick.
Shelby, some suggestions: JAWS, PAPER MOON, ROCKY, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, KILL BILL, RAGING BULL.
2:12 thats funny cause his name is bats
20:22 you react to the movie Gaslight with Ingrid Bergman and Charles boyer.
They did ask the postman nicely.
Paulie face expression at the end of the movie in the courtroom was sad 😔
Lots of good music 🎶
Are you going to watch the sopranos? The therapist is Henry's wife in this.
Its called the Great Train Robbery....it came out in 1903
If you want to hear some good stories, you should watch some videos from Sammy The Bull. He has a TH-cam channel too called our thing podcast.
Like everything with these germs, loyalty is a commodity, it's traded, bought and sold just like any commodity. 👍
At 15:05 why is that lady in the middle having her face painted blue?
All I know is the shot of Tommy shooting at the camera/us towards the very end is a homage to the final shot of the silent film The Great Train Robbery where a character did the same thing. Scorsese is a huge film buff who loves to give nods to shots of his favorite films. That also being an old film with criminal activity. I'm not sure if it's anything more than that. Before I learned that fact I always just looked at it as a quick reminiscing Henry had of the violent life he used to be in. Or maybe it still is and it was a perfect time to use the homage.
Wow. Insightful commentary. Subscribed.
Thank you! And welcome aboard I appreciate it!!