# Are there literally people who think Goodfellas is as good as The Godfather **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271 "2011-04-13T20:20:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/41 "2011-04-14T16:02:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Goodfellas is a great movie. > > The Godfather is one of the three or four greatest movies ever made, and Goodfellas isn’t. I agree with you completely. I’d also note, however, that a big PART of what makes “Goodfellas” compelling is that its portrayal of the Mafia is so utterly at odds with what we saw in “The Godfather.” A revisionist Western, like Sam Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch” or Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven,” wouldn’t make such a great impression on us if we hadn’t already seen and absorbed so many brilliant old-fashioned Hollywood Westerns. In the same way, if “The Godfather” had never been made, “Goodfellas” would lose much of its power. It worked in large measure BECAUSE “The Godfather” had romanticized Mob life, and Scorsese was giving us a taste of the real thing (which was far meaner, dirtier and uglier). ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/42 "2011-04-14T16:14:15Z")
[Peter Griffin chimes in](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S9WyYaO7mQ). ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/43 "2011-04-14T16:18:00Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Goodfellas is a better film than the Godfather, its not even close. Everybody knows this. Don’t ever take sides against the family again. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/44 "2011-04-14T16:57:16Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > [Peter Griffin chimes in](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S9WyYaO7mQ). 🙂 One of my favorite Family Guy skits. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/45 "2011-04-14T17:34:44Z")
I agree with everything everyone said about liking Goodfellas better. I CANNOT stand listening to Marlon Brando speak. Not.at.all. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/46 "2011-04-14T18:18:46Z")
When I first saw The Godfather (it happened to be playing in a local theater here last year), I thought there was no way it could live up to the hype. Even if it was really good, I didn’t think it could live up to its reputation as being so very great. But I saw it, as I felt I had to see it since it was such a classic, and I loved it. Then the next week I watched Godfather II and I loved it too. I thought it was just as good, if not better, than the first. Al Pacino’s performance was my favorite, and I liked that in Part II it starts with Michael already being established. I didn’t really start to like the first one until Michael made the decision to get into the business and then there is no turning back. So I still think Al Pacino’s performance in both films is one of the best I’ve ever seen. I don’t even remember the first time I watched Goodfellas, but it was on TCM, and although it was late at night I didn’t go to sleep because I wanted to finish it. I did like it, I liked it very much. But it just didn’t have the same feel to me as The Godfather. I can’t explain why I like things; I just do. I tried to watch The Godfather a second time and found it more boring this time and harder to get through. I can never re-capture the magic feeling I got from the first time I watched it. Goodfellas, while good, didn’t have the same effect on me. So I will admit that Goodfellas is a more fun movie to watch, and that is important to me, but it’s not the only criterion. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/47 "2011-04-14T18:18:54Z")
> [@MilTan](#): > > Can we all at least agree that it’s ridiculous that _Shawshank Redemption_ is above either of them? Absolutely NOT. It’s one of my favorites. I love both \*\*The Godfather \*\*and **Goodfellas**. **The Godfather** was an epic story of a crime family. **Goodfellas** was factual account (at least, according to Henry Hill) of one gangster’s rise and fall. If I had to pick, I would probably go with **Goodfellas**. But I don’t have to 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/48 "2011-04-15T11:32:14Z")
BigT writes: \> I think the question was rhetorical, and he just wanted people to explain why \> some people seem to believe that. A rhetorical question is a question asked without expecting any sort of answer: > **[Rhetorical question](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetorical_question)** > > A rhetorical question is a question asked for a purpose other than to obtain the information the question asks, using the rhetoric speech: in many cases it may be intended to start a discourse, or as a means of displaying or emphasize the speaker's or author's opinion on a topic. > A simple example is the question "Can't you do anything right?" This question, when posed, is intended not to ask about the listener's ability but rather to insinuate the listener's lack of ability. > A rhetorical questi... It is not a question like the one in the OP whose real answer is trivial (“Yes, there is someone somewhere who thinks _Goodfellas_ is as good as _The Godfather_.”), so that instead of answering it, people who hear it will reinterpret it as meaning something else that makes sense (“Why do you think _Goodfellas_ is as good as _The Godfather_?”). ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/49 "2011-04-15T11:52:23Z")
Oh well, to put this to bed, last night I watched _Casablanca_. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/50 "2011-04-15T11:55:57Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Mob films that were closely patterned after real events and people didn’t exist prior to The Godfather. Efforts to portray mob activity before that film were either cartoonish or way off the mark. Puzo wrote about the Vegas mob, the Miami mob and the Havana mob, and about real events, such as the Castro revolution that evicted the mob from Cuba: he just used different names, but people like Meyer Lansky, Luciano, et al, were thinly disguised. That these events and people were dramatized is just good movie making, but I didn’t find any of them to be sympathetic characters. > > Goodfellas was just pure entertainment, and I enjoy watching it over Godfather, depending on what mood I’m in. The Godfather was a roman a clef about the history of the mob. Goodfellas was a memoir about the [Lufthansa Heist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufthansa_heist), at the time the largest armed theft ever on US soil, and is more strongly rooted in fact than The Godfather was. (Aside: Robert Crumb’s father-in-law was involved with this crime.) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/51 "2011-04-15T12:40:36Z")
I have to say that I find the love for Goodfellas incredible. I found this movie completely unwatchable. The leads are all incredibly vile characters - and I’m not talking about their nihilism, selfishnes, or general tool-ness. To me, they’re flat one-note quasi-personalities who are given a lot of flash and glamour because the screenwriter couldn’t create a coherent personality (DeNiro being the big exception). At no point was I remotely interested in the leads or their doing or fate much past the big heist, which was marginally interesting. I certainly didn’t find them _human_. I guess I was supposed to feel some sympathy even for the devil, but frankly… no. Now, I don’t have an opinion on the Godfather. Never seen it. I can say I’ve enjoyed many other mobster movies. But not Goodfellas. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/52 "2011-04-15T12:56:41Z")
I don’t beleieve you were supposed to feel sympathy for any of the leads in _Goodfellas_. I certainly didn’t. It was (to me) more like watching a documentary about some kind of particularly repulsive insects. I watch with morbid fascination, not with sympathy. I like Roger Ebert’s description of the movie being about a man who sells his soul, and at the end his only regret is that he has no more soul left to sell. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/53 "2011-04-15T13:01:23Z")
I was just about to reference the same exact Ebert comment nit nails it perfectly. And if the characters in Goodfellas failed to be three dimensional human beings, I’d say the characters in The Godfather were even less well-rounded. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/54 "2011-04-15T14:53:59Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > The Godfather was a roman a clef about the history of the mob. Goodfellas was a memoir about the [Lufthansa Heist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufthansa_heist), at the time the largest armed theft ever on US soil, and is more strongly rooted in fact than The Godfather was. (Aside: Robert Crumb’s father-in-law was involved with this crime.) Both of which I’m aware of. My point was that the characters in **Goodfellas** were more entertaining, and the story line wasn’t nearly as moody as **The Godfather** ’s. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/55 "2011-04-15T15:07:47Z")
Both great movies and I still prefer _The Godfather_ but _Goodfellas_ has lots of elements more appealing to the young - faster pacing; more drugs; way, way better soundtrack and a pretty cool line of humor. I am an old fart and I more recently watched _Goodfellas_ after reading [this](http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201010/goodfellas-making-of-behind-the-scenes-interview-scorsese-deniro) fascinating article about the making of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271/56 "2011-04-15T15:40:11Z")
> [@MilTan](#): > > Can we all at least agree that it’s ridiculous that _Shawshank Redemption_ is above either of them? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-literally-people-who-think-goodfellas-is-as-good-as-the-godfather/578271.md?page=2)