History YMMV / Goodfellas

* MagnificentBastard: [[TheDon Paul "Paulie" Cicero]] is a charismatic, feared, and respected capo who runs the daily criminal dealings around New York. Using his brother's store and other partners' businesses as a front for his outfit, Paulie runs a tight ship of extortion, embezzlement and burglary, using everything from bribery to murder to keep things under wraps. Paulie stays one step ahead of law enforcement and any rival gangs, facing even prison time with nothing but grace as he continues to rule from behind bars while cooking his fellow inmates delicious meals. Though having a soft spot for some of his minions, Paulie ultimately arranges the murderous Tommy's execution and ousts the drug addict Henry from his organization as a liability, nonetheless paying Henry a hefty sum before turning his back on him.

* GenreTurningPoint: As the TropeCodifier of the mafia genre and '''most''' popular and influential movies ever made in general, even outside the mafia genre, ''Goodfellas'' is a truly {{Troperiffic}} work — nearly every single trope associated with [[TheMafia Mafia]] media is used, [[UrExample created]] or codified at some point in the film. As for the storyline, the film certainly showed the crudest side of how lower-ranking mobsters operate, particularly associates, soldiers and captains. It also gave us a more complex look of how the American Mafia operated in the 70s and early 80s, when the organization started to decline. In fact, this modern look of the American Mafia [[FollowTheLeader was key]] to the development of series such as ''Series/TheSopranos''. As for its cinematography, the film has left a lasting mark on the craft due to its innovative narrative, distinctive visual style, standout performances, and the way it redefines and revitalizes the mafia genre. The influence of ''Goodfellas'' extends beyond the mafia genre, as it has inspired numerous filmmakers and has made a lasting impact on how stories are told in contemporary cinema.

* GenreTurningPoint: As the TropeCodifier of the mafia genre and '''most''' popular and influential movies ever made in general, even outside the mafia genre. ''Goodfellas'' is a truly {{Troperiffic}} work — nearly every single trope associated with [[TheMafia Mafia]] media is used, [[UrExample created]] or codified at some point in the film. As for the storyline, the film certainly showed the crudest side of how lower-ranking mobsters operate, particularly associates, soldiers and captains. It also gave us a more complex look of how the American Mafia operated in the 70s and early 80s, when the organization started to decline. In fact, this modern look of the American Mafia [[FollowTheLeader was key]] to the development of series such as ''Series/TheSopranos''. As for its cinematography, the film has left a lasting mark on the craft due to its innovative narrative, distinctive visual style, standout performances, and the way it redefines and revitalizes the mafia genre. The influence of ''Goodfellas'' extends beyond the mafia genre, as it has inspired numerous filmmakers and has made a lasting impact on how stories are told in contemporary cinema.

* GenreTurningPoint: As one of the defining films of the crime genre and most popular and influential movies ever made in general, ''[=GoodFellas=]'' is a truly {{Troperiffic}} work -- nearly every single trope associated with Mafia media is used, [[UrExample created]] or [[TropeCodifier codified]] at some point in the film. As for the storyline, the film certainly showed the crudest side of how lower-ranking mobsters operate, particularly associates, soldiers and captains. It also gave us a more complex look of how the American Mafia operated in the 70s and early 80s, when the organization started to decline. In fact, this modern look of the American Mafia was key to the development of series such as ''Series/TheSopranos''.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: ''Goodfellas'' is one of the most widely imitated and referenced films of Scorsese's career and indeed in American cinema as a whole, so first-time viewers may find that it seems remarkably familiar. In celebration of the film's 25th anniversary, [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/04/29/goodfellas-is-25-heres-an-incomplete-list-of-all-the-movies-that-have-ripped-it-off/?arc404=true this article]] compiled a list of the various media that drew inspiration of one kind or another from it, including ''Series/TheSopranos'', ''Film/ReservoirDogs'', ''Film/PulpFiction'', ''Film/BoogieNights'' and ''Film/RequiemForADream''.
** This is especially the case when it comes to younger Scorsese recruits discovering the movie for the first time and it being one of the Scorsese films they check out last- it's not uncommon for said fans to [[MagnumOpusDissonance consider this among one of his weaker efforts]]- believe it or not, ''especially'' compared to ''{{Film/Casino}}'', despite there being [[GrowingTheBeard a lot of similarities between the two]] that don't exactly stop at the story.

*** Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts) is one of Paulie Cicero's henchmen in the 1955 scenes.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: During [[spoiler:Stacks's]] BoomHeadshot death, it's possible to see that the massive spray of gore shoots in from offscreen rather than from the character's head, likely fired by some sort of air cannon.

* CatharsisFactor: One cathartic moment is near the movie's end when Henry and Karen talk to a DA agent about going into witness protection. Henry and Karen ask what they can and can't do and try to request some other things, but the agent shuts them down. Throughout the film, Henry and Karen are used to getting whatever they want (whenever they want), but now they're suddenly being told, full stop, "This is it. You have one option. Deal with it."

** When Paulie is being arrested, one of his guys yells, "Why don't you go to Wall Street, get some ''real'' criminals". Cut to 20 years later and Scorsese makes ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'', the SpiritualSuccessor to both this movie and ''Film/{{Casino}}'' and is pretty up front about how Wall Street brokers are all too often just as corrupt as gangsters.

** A blink and you'll miss it appearance from [[Creator/TobinBell Jigsaw]] as Jimmy's parole officer.

** Tommy wants to run a restaurant, much to the displeasure of its owner who tells Tommy that he owes him $7,000. 5 years later in Casino, Joe Pesci's character, Nicky, would run a restaurant, The Leaning Tower, in Vegas and is...[[HiddenDepths surprisingly good at it]].

** [[spoiler:Creator/JoePesci's character kills Creator/FrankVincent's character. In Casino, Vincent's character kills Pesci's character]].

*** Given she was shown arrested along with the rest of them, it looks like she really was just that stupid. Although that also raises the legitimate question of why Henry was trusting her with critical information and tasks anyway. Then again, her arrest may have been a means to maintain her cover.
** Was Jimmy sending Karen to her death or were there really some stolen Dior dresses for her to choose from? Or was Jimmy going through a SanitySlippage and genuinely thought there were dresses there?
*** Jimmy's entire attitude says that she was going to get killed, from not actually walking with her to show her the alleged dresses, to his patronizing tone, to his exaggerated, fake smile.

** Michael Ballhaus' cinematography wasn't nominated.

** Michael Blauhuas' cinematography wasn't nominated.

** "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster".
** "What do ya mean, funny? Let me understand this 'cause, I don't know, maybe it's me, I'm a little fucked up maybe, but I'm funny how? Funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh...I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How the fuck am I funny? What the fuck is so funny about me?".
** "Now go home and get your fucking shinebox".

** A blink and you'll miss it appearance from Creator/TobinBell as Jimmy's parole officer.

** A pre-stardom Creator/SamuelLJackson is Stacks Edwards.

** Also nominated but failing to win was Thelma Schoonmaker for Best Editing. The fast-pace editing of ''[=GoodFellas=]'' was controversial at the time but in hindsight it's considered one of the most expertly edited films of the last 30 years.

** On the other hand, Creator/JoePesci not only got a fully deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, he didn't even expect to win and gave one of the shortest and most modest speeches in Academy history ("It's my privilege. Thank you.")