Lexmark3200
08-17-2004, 11:05 PM
"The Best Mob Movie....Ever" exclaims Roger Ebert about this mafia opus released in the early '90s; from the moment I saw GoodFellas, I was hooked....this has been, and always will be, one of my absolute favorite films, and growing up and living RIGHT NEAR and NEXT TO where the real events of this story took place in New York, the film is even MORE real to me. It is STILL just about the MOST quotable film of all time, and me and my friends still fire off lines from it to each other.
I have owned the VHS version of GoodFellas for YEARS now, refusing to purchase the DVD because the original release of this film was a travesty for Warner Bros in my opinion due to the fact that it was launched early in the DVD's maturity, and the DVD had to be FLIPPED OVER in the middle of watching it for lack of dual layer technology back then. Not only that, the transfer was lackluster at best and there were no extras on this culturally important piece of cinema from Marty Scorcese. I just knew that if I held out long enough there would be a better edition of this film.....and it has finally arrived, MUCH earlier than expected in fact.
So, how does it stack up? Well, I read many reviews of this new two disc GoodFellas Special Edition online, and most of them said that even though this is supposed to be an all-new Digital Transfer, the picture still didnt look all that great as in comparison to the old disc....I DID NOT find this to be true at all, folks. Even my girlfriend, who is a MASSIVE GoodFellas buff, and who bought the original release of this DVD as her VERY FIRST DVD when she got a DVD player years ago, noticed that right off the bat, the picture quality of this new edition looks so much better than the older version....this seems to be the best GoodFellas is going to look, folks, and there is not a blemish or speck of dirt anywhere on the print....there is one scene, however, where something happens and I dont know why Warner didnt clean this up.....there is a part when De Niro and Paul Sorvino are talking to Ray Liotta's character about needing to go back to his wife, Lorraine Bracco, and there is a weird vertical line that is running down the picture....I dont know what it is, but it is there and it was some kind of authoring error when they were doing the DVD, I think. Other than that, this edition of GoodFellas I think is going to be the best until HD-DVD arrives....maybe even DURING that period, as well. Some of the end scenes get a slight bit grainy, but this looks fine for a film from 1991 or so.
The audio, on the other hand, is, I believe a carryover from the old version of GoodFellas, and this seems to be a bad trend of Warner's....they did it with the recent Lost Boys Special Edition, too, and it seems to be a hint of cost cutting at the studio. Anyway, this was supposed to be a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, but you really couldnt tell....it may as well be mono because everything comes from the center position, save for some classic rock songs that get the stereo spread and OCCASIONAL surround moments, such as loud flashing cameras during a wedding scene; otherwise, audio is center-located for the length of the film. But, dialogue is clear, and most noteworthy is Ray Liotta's narration throughout the film as Henry Hill.....his voice is booming and loud and can be heard over everything else going on in the scenes; seems the engineers pumped up this audio track and had Liotta's voice the dominating force on the track. It is a nice touch because his narration is what carries the film. Just dont expect much audio-wise going into GoodFellas on this DVD, and you wont be that dissapointed.
The extras is where this Special Edition really shines, though....the first disc contains the feature film in 1:85:1 widescreen plus two commentary tracks; one is with Scorcese and the real-life Henry Hill I believe, the other with Henry Hill and the FBI agent who hunted him....nice touch. The second disc contains a plethora of behind the scenes information about this awesome film, and although I have only watched one of these features so far, it was awesome.....I cannot wait to watch the others.
The biggest let down of this entire package, believe it or not, is not the sound nor the video quality nor the extras.....it is the PACKAGING itself.....why Warner opted for such a boring package for this film I will never understand. The cover art is the SAME from the original snapper case edition, the basic poster art, which is okay but stale....the least they could have done is given us some kind of big slip case box, like Escape From New York and Predator are in, and had the pictures of Pesci, De Niro and Liotta raised off the cover......this thing is boring. Just a simple two-disc snapper case and NOTHING inside....no chapter booklet, no pamphlet explaining anything about the film, NOTHING. This is uncalled for, especially considering the fan base this film has. The same cheap method was used on The Lost Boys Special Edition. Shame on you, Warner.
I have owned the VHS version of GoodFellas for YEARS now, refusing to purchase the DVD because the original release of this film was a travesty for Warner Bros in my opinion due to the fact that it was launched early in the DVD's maturity, and the DVD had to be FLIPPED OVER in the middle of watching it for lack of dual layer technology back then. Not only that, the transfer was lackluster at best and there were no extras on this culturally important piece of cinema from Marty Scorcese. I just knew that if I held out long enough there would be a better edition of this film.....and it has finally arrived, MUCH earlier than expected in fact.
So, how does it stack up? Well, I read many reviews of this new two disc GoodFellas Special Edition online, and most of them said that even though this is supposed to be an all-new Digital Transfer, the picture still didnt look all that great as in comparison to the old disc....I DID NOT find this to be true at all, folks. Even my girlfriend, who is a MASSIVE GoodFellas buff, and who bought the original release of this DVD as her VERY FIRST DVD when she got a DVD player years ago, noticed that right off the bat, the picture quality of this new edition looks so much better than the older version....this seems to be the best GoodFellas is going to look, folks, and there is not a blemish or speck of dirt anywhere on the print....there is one scene, however, where something happens and I dont know why Warner didnt clean this up.....there is a part when De Niro and Paul Sorvino are talking to Ray Liotta's character about needing to go back to his wife, Lorraine Bracco, and there is a weird vertical line that is running down the picture....I dont know what it is, but it is there and it was some kind of authoring error when they were doing the DVD, I think. Other than that, this edition of GoodFellas I think is going to be the best until HD-DVD arrives....maybe even DURING that period, as well. Some of the end scenes get a slight bit grainy, but this looks fine for a film from 1991 or so.
The audio, on the other hand, is, I believe a carryover from the old version of GoodFellas, and this seems to be a bad trend of Warner's....they did it with the recent Lost Boys Special Edition, too, and it seems to be a hint of cost cutting at the studio. Anyway, this was supposed to be a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, but you really couldnt tell....it may as well be mono because everything comes from the center position, save for some classic rock songs that get the stereo spread and OCCASIONAL surround moments, such as loud flashing cameras during a wedding scene; otherwise, audio is center-located for the length of the film. But, dialogue is clear, and most noteworthy is Ray Liotta's narration throughout the film as Henry Hill.....his voice is booming and loud and can be heard over everything else going on in the scenes; seems the engineers pumped up this audio track and had Liotta's voice the dominating force on the track. It is a nice touch because his narration is what carries the film. Just dont expect much audio-wise going into GoodFellas on this DVD, and you wont be that dissapointed.
The extras is where this Special Edition really shines, though....the first disc contains the feature film in 1:85:1 widescreen plus two commentary tracks; one is with Scorcese and the real-life Henry Hill I believe, the other with Henry Hill and the FBI agent who hunted him....nice touch. The second disc contains a plethora of behind the scenes information about this awesome film, and although I have only watched one of these features so far, it was awesome.....I cannot wait to watch the others.
The biggest let down of this entire package, believe it or not, is not the sound nor the video quality nor the extras.....it is the PACKAGING itself.....why Warner opted for such a boring package for this film I will never understand. The cover art is the SAME from the original snapper case edition, the basic poster art, which is okay but stale....the least they could have done is given us some kind of big slip case box, like Escape From New York and Predator are in, and had the pictures of Pesci, De Niro and Liotta raised off the cover......this thing is boring. Just a simple two-disc snapper case and NOTHING inside....no chapter booklet, no pamphlet explaining anything about the film, NOTHING. This is uncalled for, especially considering the fan base this film has. The same cheap method was used on The Lost Boys Special Edition. Shame on you, Warner.