The Best Movie Of Each Year From 1925-2025

36. 1990 - Goodfellas

Goodfellas Opening Scene Ray Liotta
Warner Bros.

Honourable Mentions: The Hunt for Red October, Misery, Total Recall

Martin Scorsese had long established himself as one of the finest filmmakers of the 20th century by the time 1990 rolled around, having before that point directed the likes of Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, and Raging Bull, so it could be seen as the mother of all flexes when he delivered what many consider to be his greatest work so far into his career - a feat he has a habit of repeating every few years.

Adapted from the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, which told the story of real-life Mafia enforcer-turned-informant Henry Hill, Goodfellas was Scorsese's first true crime epic - a saga that shifted between the various incarnations of America's post-war self and the greed and violence that remained a mainstay throughout. Technically marvellous and immaculately drawn, Goodfellas boasted an ensemble of Godfather-level proportions, matching regular Scorsese collaborator Robert DeNiro with the likes of Paul Sorvino, Ray Liotta, and a never scarier Joe Pesci, as well as a tremendous Lorraine Bracco.

Not only is it an immaculately realised adaptation, but also the perfect post-script to the end of a decade - and an era.

 
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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.