History YMMV / Goodfellas

* AwardSnub: Goodfellas, Scorsese, and Braco lost to ''DancesWithWolves'', KevinCostner, and Whoopi Goldberg for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. In hindsight, ''Goodfellas'' is considered Scorsese's MagnumOpus. On the other hand, Joe Pesci not only got a fully deserved Oscar for Best Supporting, he didn't even expect to win and gave one of the shortest and most modest speeches in Academy history ("This is a great priledge. Thank you.")

* WhatAnIdiot: [[spoiler: Henry's capo, Paulie, wants to put a hit on him at the end because he is worried Henry'll squeal to the cops. It's the realization that he has a hit on him that makes Henry squeal in the first place.]]

* WhatAnIdiot: [[spoiler: His bosses want to put a hit on Henry at the end because they are worried he'll squeal to the cops. It's the realization that he has a hit on him that makes Henry squeal.]]

* AlasPoorVillain: Billy Batts. At least he gets one of the most famous mob deaths in history.
** [[spoiler:Tommy, when he realizes too late he's gotta answer for what he did to Billy Batts...]]

* AwardSnub: Goodfellas, Scorsese, and Braco lost to ''DancesWithWolves'', KevinCostner, and Whoopi Goldberg for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. In hindsight, ''Goodfellas'' is considered Scorsese's MagnumOpus.
** On the other hand, Joe Pesci not only got a fully deserved Oscar for Best Supporting, he didn't even expect to win and gave one of the shortest and most modest speeches in Academy history ("This is a great priledge. Thank you.")

* AwesomeMusic: Pretty much the whole soundtrack, or at the very least, all the classic rock.

* {{Complete Monster}}s: You watch this movie, you'll think twice about so much as pissing in the urinal next to a gangster. (But you'd be quite happy to let them cook you dinner.)
** Once again, the movie actually manages to downplay the monstrosity of most of the gangsters, especially Tommy and Jimmy. Go look their real life counterpoints up and cringe.

----

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Henry's confrontation of the guy that groped Karen.
--> Guy: "What do you want, fucker?"
--> Henry: *immediately beats him in the face with a gun about fifteen times* I swear on my mother if you touch her again you're ''dead!''" * hits him again*
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: The aforementioned violence, obviously. Also, when Henry gives Karen a huge wad of shopping money, and she immediately drops to her knees, and his response is, "Oh, okay..."
** You mean Crowning Moment of Funny like I'm a crowning moment of clown, I'm a crowning moment to ''amuse you''?
*** "I almost had him!"
*** "You really ''are'' a funny guy!"
** Jimmy and Henry are in Morrie's wig shop, trying to get back some money they lent him while a commercial he made (apparently with said money) is playing on a continuous loop boasting about how his wigs never come off. While Henry pleads with the poor guy, Jimmy stands back and quietly watches the commercial, slowly getting more and more pissed off. Finally he explodes and begins to strangle Morrie with the telephone cord.... causing his wig to fall off. Henry bursts out laughing.
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Pretty much the whole soundtrack, or at the very least, all the classic rock.
** The part where Jimmy is seen smoking at the bar while Sunshine of Your Love by Cream plays. Pure badass.
** The way the instrumental coda to ''Layla'' is used during the montage [[spoiler:revealing the fate of everyone involved in the Lufthansa heist]].
** Film critics point to the mix of songs during Henry Hill's worst day - ''Jump Into The Fire,'' and ''Mannish Boy'' in particular - as the best use of period soundtrack ''ever''.
* DownerEnding: On the one hand, most of the main characters end up dead or in prison. On the other hand, [[VillainProtagonist they were almost all murderers]].
* [[HeyItsThatGuy Hey It's That Guy!]]:
** [[TheWire Senator Clay Davis]] appears briefly as a doctor taking care of Henry's brother.
** [[SaW Jigsaw]] is Jimmy Conway's parole officer.
** [[TheDeparted Billy's cousin Sean]] is Henry's brother
** [[RepoTheGeneticOpera Rotti Largo is a mob boss?]] That explains so much!
** [[TheSopranos Christopher]] is shot by Tommy.Big Mistake on Tommy's part
** [[TheSopranos Dr Melfi]] likes the Gangster lifestyle more than She admitted
** Tommy murders [[TheSopranos Phil Leotardo]]
** [[GrandTheftAutoViceCity Henry Hill eventually went down south and conquered Vice City.]]
* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: The montage of [[spoiler:the fates of those involved in the Lufthansa heist]]. Especially how they're revealed in slow motion.
** The scene where we see what happens to these gangsters when they go to prison: they live like kings. The prisons have been reformed quite a bit since then, but even a prison system one tenth as corruptable as then one presented in the film lets career-complete-monsters off sickeningly lightly.
** The scene where Jimmy starts thinking about whacking Morty. He just sits there smoking but then music goes up and you know he's up to no good.
* TheLoad: Most of the trouble the main characters get into is because Tommy would shoot anybody for so much as looking at him funny.

** The scene where we see what happens to these gangsters when they go to prison: they live like kings. The prisons have been reformed quite a bit since then, but even a prison system one tenth as corruptable as then one presented in the film lets career-complete-monsters off sickeningly lightly.

* MoralEventHorizon: Jimmy crosses this when He has His conspirators in the heist murdered rather than share money with Them.Tommy completely obliterates it when He kills spider

** Note that despite the WhatAnIdiot aspect, this really happened on several occasions.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: The aforementioned violence, obviously. Also, when Henry gives Karen a huge wad of shopping money, and she immediately [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean drops to her knees]], and his response is, "Oh, okay..."

* AwardSnub: Goodfellas and Scorsese lost to ''DancesWithWolves'' and KevinCostner for Best Picture and Best Director. In hindsight, ''Goodfellas'' is considered Scorsese's MagnumOpus.

* {{Complete Monster}}s: You watch this movie, you'll think twice about so much as pissing in the urinal next to a gangster. (But you'd be quite happy to let them cook you dinner.

* {{Complete Monster}}s: You watch this movie, you'll think twice about so much as pissing in the urinal next to a gangster, but you'd be quite happy to let them cook you dinner.

* {{Complete Monster}}s: You watch this movie, you'll think twice about so much as pissing in the urinal next to a gangster.
** But you'd be quite happy to let them cook you dinner.

--> Henry: * immediately beats him in the face with a gun about fifteen times* I swear on my mother if you touch her again you're ''dead!''" * hits him again*

* {{Wangst}}: Having watched Henry become a major player in the Mafia, act as an accomplice in several major crimes (including murder and a major armed robbery), become a drug dealer, abuse his wife and eventually rat out all his friends and colleagues, it's hard to feel too sorry for him at the end when he whines about the fact that, now that he's in Witness Protection, he's no longer a bigshot.