I liked it fine...mostly due to Joe Pesci's performance. (I remember walking out of the theater after seeing it the first time, and predicting to my friend right there that he'd win an Oscar for that.) Once Pesci's character has 'exited', the movie definitely loses some life, but is still compelling right to the end.

As for making any comparison to either of The Godfather films....the thought never crossed my mind. Why would anyone do such a thing???

I will say though, that Goodfellas 'on its own' is a far better film than 'The Godfather, Part III'. Unlike GFIII, it doesn't need two previous installments pull material from and lean upon. AND unlike GFIII, it doesn't need the lame excuse some give it that 'although not as good as the first two, it's still a great movie in its own right'.

Apple