While there’s nothing overtly terrible to complain out, the picture reliably lacks sharpness and color consistency, with blooming visible in a fair number of scenes. Grain is heavy, although that’s almost certainly how Scorsese intended it, but with the lack of sharpness, it seems more oppressive. Blacks are deep and consistent, and most scenes with a high key light look just fine, but mid-range lighting scenes can seem kind of muddled.
Similarly, the audio mix suffers from the disc’s early origin, as Warner simply supplied it with a lossy Dolby 5.1 mix — the same that’s on the DVD. Sound clarity is fine, but fails to deliver the oomph one expects from a Blu-ray — and this is a film that would certainly benefit from a lossless track.
Special Features
The only thing truly new about this release is the Blu-ray book packaging, which includes 32 pages of production notes and trivia about the film. Potentially new to Goodfellas owners is the second DVD disc, which includes a very thorough documentary, Public Enemies, on the history of gangster films, along with four Merry Melodies and Looney Tunes cartoons with mob themes. It’s a nice extra, but it’s not new and was previously available in a Warner Gangsters box set.
The supplements included on the Blu-ray disc are obviously the same as the previous Blu-ray, which in turn had ported them over from the DVD special edition. These include two commentary tracks — one with Scorsese, most of the principals and lots of the crew, and one with the real Henry Hill and former FBI agent Edward McDonald. Also included are three featurettes on the making-of, the film’s influence and real-life gangsters, as well as storyboard comparisons and the theatrical trailer.
The Bottom Line
For the most part, this is just a repackaging of previously available material with a Blu-ray that wasn’t that great to begin with. Still, it’s the best way to see Goodfellas at home available. If the gangster film documentary doesn’t appeal to you, stick with the previous Blu-ray.
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