Every Martin Scorsese Gangster Movie: Ranked From Worst To Best

In Goodfellas we are placed in the position of a young man hypnotised by the alluring life of a gangster. The over-stylised aesthetic allows us to see things through the wide-eyed ‘anything is possible’ mentality of a child in order to understand why someone would take such a path. If crime was shown in the realist way it is shown in Taxi Driver or Mean Streets, we wouldn’t believe it would captivate and ultimately consume Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill.

Unlike in Mean Streets, Henry is able to escape the inevitable collapse of his world before it’s too late. Our gangster here does not die, but forced to live out the rest of his days as an average Joe, a fate that you would be convinced from his narration is worse than death.

Dangerously entertaining and endlessly quotable, Goodfellas was Scorsese once again helping audiences understand people that would otherwise be difficult to relate to. Scorsese doesn’t make films about people we all know and love. He makes them about the people on the fringes of society, yet makes them feel accessible and important by putting us in their point of view.

This is Scorsese's masterpiece in a genre he has become the grandmaster in. Here's to hoping The Irishman continues his untouchable gangster movie legacy!