GoodFellas 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

GoodFellas 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 10, 2022

Note: Collectors who value beautiful packaging and non-disc swag as much as whatever technical merits are in store had better start clearing some significant new shelf room for this impressive new series being distributed by The Film Vault. What's perhaps also going to be exciting for physical media buffs is that this new collection is being curated from both the Warner Brothers Discovery and Universal catalogs, which hopefully will increase the opportunities for appealing choices.

For its second release, The Film Vault sticks with a Warner Brothers catalog title, Martin Scorsese's widely admired 1990 masterpiece GoodFellas. While the film itself is an undisputed classic, in this particular instance, Warner Brothers' own 4K release was met with some considerable controversy (what else is new in the wild and wooly world of home theater aficionados?), and that may make this choice a bit on the risky side for The Film Vault, something that is probably only exacerbated by the fact that this release includes an older 1080 release as well with VC-1 encoded video and only lossy Dolby Digital audio, rather than the better 25th Anniversary Version.

As with The Film Vault's release of Blade Runner 4K, this new package basically replicates (replicants?) Warner Brothers' own release of both their 4K version and their previously released 1080 version, for better or worse. Those who have been regular readers of my reviews, especially reviews where I'm revisiting a film that has had a prior Blu-ray reviewed by someone other than yours truly, know that my regular mantra has been "different reviewers means different opinions," and, boy, is that ever the case with this release. There have been a number of 1080 reviews posted, some of them very early in the site's history and frankly not ones I would recommend spending time reading. There have been two fairly divergent 4K reviews posted here, and I highly recommend those interested in some fascinating background to head over to Michael Reuben's GoodFellas 4K Blu-ray review (which in turn points to his GoodFellas Blu-ray review of the superior 25th Anniversary edition) for Michael's assessment of the film and, perhaps just as importantly, the technical merits of the 4K presentation. After you're done with that, you'd do well to then read Randy Miller III's GoodFellas 4K Blu-ray review, which has another very worthwhile technical asssessment which is decidedly different from Michael's. Making this a somewhat more problematic release overall is that The Film Vault, probably due to licensing issues with Warner, has included the way old 1080 presentation that Ken Brown reviewed in 2010, so those with truly intrepid spirits are encouraged to read Ken's writing as well, once again for both Ken's thoughts on the film but also his assessment of the less than spectacular technical merits.

GoodFellas 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are (unfortunately) sourced from the older 1080 version The Film Vault has included in this release.

GoodFellas is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of The Film Vault with a 2160p transfer in 1.78:1. If the "reading assignments" I gave you above have been completed, you may be feeling a bit storm tossed, if not tossed into the trunk of a car. Cutting to the chase, I'll say that I echo some of Michael's concerns about balance and contrast while also probably coming down closer to Randy's overall assessment of the image. I have long stated that I am not always a fan of how shot on film productions tend to look in the increased resolution of 4K, and that's once again the case with this release. Grain is really chunky looking a lot of the time, often tinged with yellow, and thick enough that it can definitely mask fine detail, especially in the many dark sequences. That said, I personally feels there's a noticeable uptick in general detail levels, if inconsistently, and HDR has at least marginally helped some of those deficits in the darkest moments.

GoodFellas 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Luckily, there's been much less debate about the excellence of the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that is included on the 4K UHD disc. Surround activity is fulsome, and there's some especially forceful midrange and low end. Dialogue, effects and score are all presented without any issues. Optional subtitles in a variety of languages are available.

GoodFellas 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

On Disc Supplements

4K UHD Disc

• Cast and Crew Commentary features director Martin Scorsese, producers Irwin Winkler and Barbara DeFina, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, writer Nicholas Pileggi, and actors Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, and Frank Vincent.


• Cop and Crook Commentary features "bad guy" Henry Hill and FBI agent Edward McDonald.

1080 Disc (for more information on the featurettes, consult Ken's review linked to above)

• Made Men: The Goodfellas Legacy (SD; 13:33)


• The Workaday Gangster (SD; 7:58)


• Paper is Cheaper than Film (SD; 4:27)


• Getting Made (SD; 29:36)


• Theatrical Trailer (SD; 1:28)


• Cast and Crew Commentary features director Martin Scorsese, producers Irwin Winkler and Barbara DeFina, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, writer Nicholas Pileggi, and actors Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, and Frank Vincent.


• Cop and Crook Commentary features "bad guy" Henry Hill and FBI agent Edward McDonald.

Packaging and Non Disc Swag

The Film Vault is obviously gearing these releases toward serious collectors, in terms of offering a unified appearance and the same sort of non disc supplements included in each package. The outer box is approximately 9" high by 7 1/8" wide by 1 5/8" deep. The box has an acetate O-ring slipcover branded with both the film title and The Film Vault's logo as well as numbering. This rigid clamshell box is emblazoned with newly commissioned key art and itself features a kind of cool magnetic clasp that opens to disclose a whole host of goodies. A CD sized digipack (in its own slipcover) holds both the 1080 and 2160 discs, there is a rather beautiful if possibly useless exclusive individually numbered crystal display plaque (again with the film's title), eight collectible art cards (on glossy cardstock) with film facts, with the cards enclosed in another branded envelope. I've uploaded a picture of the packaging under the appropriate tab on the main review interface.

GoodFellas 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There may be debate about the video quality of the 4K release, but there should be no major argument that this is a gorgeously packaged release, even if there is probably also going to be no argument that The Film Vault's decision (perhaps forced) to include a shoddy 1080 presentation may damper enthusiasm somewhat. With caveats duly noted, Recommended.