How does Goodfellas compare to The Godfather?
 

I saw The Godfather, but I haven't seen Goodfellas. I heard from friends and read reviews that Goodfellas is one of the best mob movies ever. Some people even told me they like it better than The Godfather. And thats pretty big because The Godfather was amazing! But are they even the the same type of film? How do they compare?

I prefer GoodFellas to The Godfather, but while both center on the Mafia, they're also quite different in many ways.

First off is style. Coppola's is a slow and Operatic arc, espcially in the original 1972 film not even taking into account parts II or III. The characters are archtypal, and the story is essentially about family as much as it is about the Mafia itself. The real draw of the film, the thing that makes it timeless, is not really Sonny graphically getting shot at a tollbooth, but the pain of Vito Corleone on hearing the news. It's the anxiety of a father wanting his children to do better than he did, and the uneasy inevitibility of a son following in his father's footsteps. All that kind of stuff. That's what is at the core of The Godfather.

GoodFellas aims to strip the romance and timlessness of that myth Coppola's film cemented by showing the struggles and dumb luck of a mid-level Mobster who is not a revered member of a real or even exteded family, but a cog in a bigger machine that is driven by money and fear. There is dark humor, there is a kind of comaraderie to a point, but ultimately you can't trust anybody, and the little boy who as far back as he can remember wanted to be a gangster - the kind of gangster perhaps best personified in The Godfather, learns the hard way that no such honorable notion exists. Scorsese tells his tale kinetically, letting us feel the high of the highs like being treated like a big shot at The Copacabana, and the lows of the lows like a drug-hazed day of being persued by real and imagined law enforcement agents closing in.


Those are some of the basic differences. Ulitmately, like most things, it'll just come down to a matter of taste. I love both films, but I'd pick GoodFellas over The Godfather every day of the week.


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If you're contemplating a "blind buy" of the new GoodFellas S.E. that streets next week, I say unreservedly go for it. No matter which you prefer in the long run, GoodFellas is a great film from a great filmmaker.

I love both movies equally :yup:

I prefer The Godfather. Usually, i would like to avoid comparing these two movies and enjoy them each seperately, but if this is about deciding which one is better.....
I don't think you will ever come across a person who doesn't like Goodfellas. It is one of the most enjoyable films to watch and entertains with such ease that it is on the same par as a hollywood action movie. After watching the 2.5 hours of it you'll wonder where all the time went. Undoubtedly it is a great film, worthy of the title 'classic masterpeice'. Although the biggest problem i have found with it is that it just isn't rewatchable enough.
As a person that has spent numerous hours watching Goodfellas(or Scorsese films for that matter), i find that even Casino is easier to watch in multiple viewings. I have watched Goodfellas probably only about 8 times but if i was to watch it more than once a year these days i would lose interest quickly. You seem to absorb every aspect of the film too quickly in your first viewings and that doesnt leave much for the other times.
On contrary, i have watched The Godfather about 12 times and always feel an inate addiction to watch the film after every month or two, and every time i always experience a new feeling or perceive something differently. Both of the movies are timeless and in the end it boils down to the age old question, "If you were stranded on a deserted island and were given the choice of watching Goodfellas or The Godfather for the rest of your days, which would you pick?"
I would pick The Godfather.

If there is a movie that even compares to The Godfather, and some people even say is better, it's a movie defintely worth checking out. I guess Goodfellas is one of those films.

I myself Prefer goodfellas. I prefered the plot, there was more action. And I like the fact how it didnt center around a MASSIVE group of people.That and I prefer the directorial style better.As Holden said, Coppola is much slower..

I also love both films, but prefer the direction and pacing of Goodfellas to that of The Godfather. The Godfather is the second best mob flick in my mind....

I agree wholeheartedly. Also, I assume that this thread is comparing Godfather I and Goodfellas, but I would choose Godfather part II over part I anyday.

I think maybe it all has to do with my love of De Niro.

Well I guess this thread can be about Goodfellas compared to both Part I and II of The Godfather. Like the Godfather (part I and II), Goodfellas is a mob movie, but I just wanted to know if the movies were similiar, how they differ in the style, pace, etc. And ultimately, which was the better film.

i love Goodfellas but Godfather was a better film.

Also love Goodfellas. Some great, great scenes and great characters. But to me the Godfather is a better movie.

I watched Goodfellas for the first time and it is a classic! It's one of my favorite movies now along with The Godfather. De Niro, Liotta, Pesci and the others were fantastic, probably just as good as in The Godfather with Brando, Pacino, Duvall, etc.

The version that is available now SUCKS!!!

Warner Home Video makes lame DVD's; no extras, a cheap cardboard case, and what is completely unforgivable is, HALF OF GOODFELLAS IS ON ONE SIDE OF THE DVD!!!

That's right, you half to flip it over in the middle of the movie!!!

The idiot who designed this must have developed the 8-track tape!!!

What??? Flip the DVD over? It's a two disk special edition. One disc is the movie and the other disc is the extras.

I'm talking about the original version.

When the special edition is released, the version I have is going to the pawn shop.

Its just been released :)

I'm a Goodfellas guy, its just more to my liking.

I see. You said the version that is available now. Well the new version is available now.

i love both films but most days i would choose to watch Goodfellas instead of the Godfather. the pace of goodfellas makes it more rewatchable than the Godfather.

When I first viewed The Godfather, I thought it was an amazing film, but truthfully, I didn't think the film was that "great" and wondered why so many people loved it so. It wasn't until my second viewing that I appreciated it much more and loved it much more. BUT, Goodfellas affected me in a much different way. My first viewing of the film was amazing. I wish I could view it for the first time again. I was in awe while watching the film, and yes, I did think it was a much better film than all of Coppola's The Godfather films. So yes, I prefer Goodfellas both as a ganster film and as a film itself.