4. Goodfellas (1990)

A film contained on many critics top 10 lists, Goodfellas is without a doubt my favourite gangster film and gives a truer account of the mafia life than The Godfather achieved. This isn't to say that the Godfather is a lesser film, on the contrary its a cinema classic, however Martin Scorsese's masterful work here conjures up so much more excitement for the audience.

As with most of his great films Scorsese casts Robert Deniro as one of his main characters, the two becoming more than simple muses but a true team whom through their collaborations create pure gold. Real life mobster Henry Hill's rise from childhood up through the ranks of the Italian family and his subsequent fall from grace are accounted here with style, humour and grace. It must also be said that actor Ray Liotta gives the performance of his career in the film and it's one the reasons Goodfellas dragged me in to begin with. This, along with the casting of Joe Pesci, represents an ensemble cast of lengendary actors that Scorsese is now able to create with great ease thanks to his high class reputation. It's interesting to note that, in this film and in many other classic gangster films like it, there are quite a few minor cast members present whom would later go on to be a part of the mafia television show The Sopranos.

Despite Goodfellas being almost two and a half hours long it never feels anywhere near that long due its rapid fire pace as if we skimming through images of Henry's life with his narration guiding us the whole way. It's the most entertaining film I've ever seen because of its pace and the energy of the voice over and I think any viewer would find it hard once they start watching the film to stop it at any point. It has just the right balance of dramatic and humourous moments of which there are many and once again like all Scorsese films we are not asked to sympathise with these criminals but to simply enjoy there company for the duration of the film and that we certainly do. Along the way we are given bursts of violence, drug deals, genre defining tracking shots, freeze frames and a cool soundtrack, all of which adds up to a true classic of the art form which has not only been talked about and often emulated since its release but will continue to do so for decades to come. Goodfellas almost made me wanna be a gangster, but then Scorsese's ending whacked that fantasy off the face of the earth.

Here's the classic tracking shot from Goodfellas...