Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Based on the novel "Wiseguy, Life in a Mafia Family" by Nicholas Pileggi, GoodFellas follows the life of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who started as a gofer for the Mob and advanced through the ranks (although he could never become a "made man" based upon his heritage).

In 1992, "Sight and Sound Magazine" ranked the film as the 4th best in the previous 25 years, although it didn't win Best Picture in 1990 (Dances With Wolves won). As time has gone on I think Scorsese got screwed because this is one of the best films to come out of Hollywood in the past 40 years with outstanding performances by Liotta, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, and Lorraine Bracco.

This is the fifth release of this movie on optical disc (the second on Blu-ray) and all five have the same flaw at the 01:16:00 mark of the film—a vertical black line in the middle of the print that shows for about 10 seconds. Unfortunately, Warner didn't order a new master for the film and the VC-1 presentation is the same one found on previous HD releases (both HD DVD and Blu-ray). That one flaw aside, the overall look of the film is quite disappointing. Black crush hides any shadow delineation and detail is soft with smeared flesh tones. A film of this pedigree deserves much better.

Regrettably, Warner didn't update the audio for this new release and we're left with a paltry Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Dialog is firmly rooted in the center channel except when the narration from Henry and Karen Hill emanates from all five channels and envelops the room. The rest of the track is relatively front-heavy with some minor ambience coming from the surround speakers.

Disc based supplements include three documentaries with the cast and crew, two commentaries (one with cast and crew and the second with Henry Hill), a storyboard comparison, and a theatrical trailer. An additional bonus DVD includes the documentary "Public Enemies: The Golden Age of Gangster Film" and some gangster themed cartoons from Merrie Melodies and Loony Tunes.

If you own the previous Blu-ray edition, there's no need to upgrade unless you want the new packaging and the bonus DVD because there's no difference in audio and video quality. If you've yet to pick it up this edition is worthy of a purchase but I wish Warner would have gone back to the drawing board and given us a new video encode and lossless audio.

Email any comments or questions!

Release Date: February 16, 2010
Studio: Warner

Movie: 10/10
Picture: 6/10
Sound: 5/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Belkin PF60 power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics