I was introduced to this film in my early 20's. My friends were all hanging out at a friend's apartment before going out. The friend who lived in the apartment expressed a desire not to go out and I felt the same, so I suggested we could just hang out and watch a movie. He said that sounded great. Once everyone left, we had to choose what to watch from his DVD collection. I asked him what his favorite movie was and he pointed to Goodfellas, so I said, OK, let's watch that. I hadn't seen it before because I'd heard it was violent and I avoided violence in films when I was younger.

The film blew me away. I can't think of many other films that are this consistently exciting and engaging at this length. There's truly not a dull moment. Also, the film looks and sounds great every second of its runtime.

Watching it again 7 years later, and after also watching 5 more of Scorsese's films, I wondered if I would be less blown away, now knowing what to expect. I wasn't. I was just as drawn into this meticulously detailed and exciting world. I had the same feeling that I had the first time - like that of being drawn into a really great book so that your surroundings recede and you feel a part of it all.

I did notice some details that I missed the first time around. I noticed how Scorsese moves the camera constantly to capture as much of the environment as possible. I noticed that the storytelling is a big improvement on past gangster films like The Godfather in that female characters have an actual voice (and a voiceover) and some complexity to them, instead of just being foils for the gangsters. I also noticed that 40 year old actors are playing 21-year-old men, but they're so good (especially Joe Pesci!), who cares?

It does feel dated in a way though. Scorcese seems to constantly be trying to shock the viewer with violent set pieces and tableau. They are beautiful, but compared to all the screen violence to come in the 90s with Tarantino and future Scorcese films like Casino and The Departed, it seems sort of commonplace and pointless. Also, not unlike a rollercoaster, after an enthralling experience, we're left sort of back at the beginning at the end of the ride. It doesn't seem to add up to much, as our main character is wrapping up his monologue. "It's fun to be bad, until it isn't" is about the only message I can discern. But it's still such a fun ride.