Do you consider GoodFellas one of the GOATs?

Ask yourself this: If you take the cool crime element out of Goodfellas, would you still like the film?

Goodfellas is great, The Godfather is great but...

Once Upon a Time in America is greater!

I enjoyed it when I saw it many years ago but no gangster film to me is THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME, it's the kind of movie that any gangster wannabe/arsehole say's is the best just because it's about gangsters and violence and they get off on it and watch it over and over again and then go out and bully people in real life.. but no little else about other great movies (not about gangsters) I'm sick of hearing about it's overinflated presence in cinema just like the godfather series.. like the only good films that exist are all about Italian gangsters, **** off out of here

I like Liotta, but not when there is way too much of him in a movie, especially one with a cast of much better actors. That could be the difference for me between GOAT and just very good. Too much Liotta.

Ehhh... Whaaat

If you take the cool sci-fi elements out of Star Wars, would you still like the film?

The hell is that for a thing to say.

(on a serious note, I think I know what you mean but it's not really a theory that can hold up...)

Hey, fuhgeddaboudit!

MM, that really is what people say about sci-fi...'If you can take the science out of it and still like the characters and the story line then you have a good movie.'

Haven't you heard that before?

That reminds me, I still haven't seen Jupiter Ascending.

Spare yourself, and don't watch it.

I can't comment, never seen Goodfellas.

I don't think it's anything special or anything particularly interesting, but it stood the test of time in cultural Zeitgeist so it clearly resonated with many people. It's not a film I'd ever go back and watch again, but that's just me.

No, but that's not to say it's not a great movie. The narrative arc of the main character falls a bit flat for me, though the overall film is still solid. In it's own genre though, I would still put Godfather 1&2, Casino, The Departed, and Road to Perdition ahead of it.

I agree with this order, but I don't think any of them come close to being among the greatest of all time.

There's entertaining movies, and then there's art.

What people say this? They sound like second-rate professors who haven't really thought through what they're saying. There may be some cases where that's true, it's pretty silly most of the time. In Goodfellas you can't separate the crime element from the story or the characters. There would be no story and no characters. Anyhow, I enjoy hanging out with the characters in Goodfellas, and it doesn't matter what I would think of them in real life. In the world of the film, I like hanging out with them.

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I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

Thanks for replying for me, Kaplan, these are exactly my thoughts.

I see what you could mean by stripping down a movie to its bare bones and see if it still holds up without all the flashy parts and accessories. But on long term, it's just not a theory or method that will hold up against all that many films. It's an interesting theory, but it's not really strong enough.

One question remains. Would they enjoy hanging out with you, or would you get shot in the foot and then popped?

Um...if you take out the genre or subgenre, there's no movie...the hell kind of question is that?

Yes, and all three of those are art.

I understand. If each person who loves the film way too much, in their head removes the overall appeal of the very original but senseless, over-glorified and gratuitous violence and crime, are the main characters really that great and that original? For me, no. Have you guys seen Liotta's movie resume, weak at best.

If it is GOAT worthy, it really should have won at least one oscar related to the whole film in general, not just a well deserved nod for Joe Pesci, which is what the movie actually is, a great Pesci performance.

You cannot judge a movie by its Oscars. Some of the greatest movies of all time got beaten by movies that were complete crap. Also, Pesci did win that Oscar, he didn't just get a nod. Also, do some research and you'll discover the Oscars are completely arbitrary.