Goodfellas vs. Casino

[Robb Stark]

I know we have some Scorsese fans on the Boards, and these are two of his classics. Which do you prefer?

I saw Casino first, and it's always had a special place for me. I think it's one of the greatest studies in power contemporary film has produced. The acting, across the board, is just fantastic and it's a Scorsese movie to its core. I love Goodfellas, and the premise between the two is remarkably similar, but I have to give the slight edge to Casino.

 

[Living Dead Boy]

Ah! I come back to the boards and I find this gem of a thread! 🙂 Two of my favorite movies ever, so hard to choose....well, actually, no it's not. I prefer Goodfellas by a landslide. It's my favorite movie of all time. Even though you are right, Casino is a master study of power, and it's brilliantly executed in every way, I've always sort of felt that Casino was basically Goodfellas 2.0. That's not to diminish the greatness of the film, but Goodfellas just hits every single mark perfectly. It's the only film that I can watch again and again and again and never get tired of it. I have it on DVD, but that wouldn't stop me from watching it on TV. I know every single line, and I swear I want to be Joe Pesci when I grow up. 😛 It's just cinematic gold.

 

[JCoatsworth]

Tough choice. I haven't watched these two movies in a while. I'd have to watch them again to decide, although last time I watched them I thought Casino was slightly better.
Both of them have awesome Pesci scenes though. I love the "funny guy" scene in Goodfellas and the scene in Casino where Joe Pesci stabs a guy with a pen. Despite him being a pretty small guy, Joe Pesci's characters are incredibly intimidating.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_DwZfyXAXI"]Funny Guy[/ame]

Classic.

 

[sk]

I should probably rewatch Casino before I say anything... but I absolutely loved Goodfellas. It's a movie I remember.
Can't really say the same about Casino. So at least it didn't make the same impression on me at the first watch.

/SK

 

[NY State of Mind]

Both Classics but Goodfellas is better imo

 

[Robb Stark]

[MENTION=11693]Living Dead Boy[/MENTION], [MENTION=10438]JCoatsworth[/MENTION],

When I designed this thread, I literally had you two in mind for who would like it. Lo and behold, you're the first two posters. Awesome lol.

To JCoatsworth, there were two scenes in Casino that I really recognized when I saw it the other day. The first was the pen scene you were talking about, and how much it says about the character of Nicky Santoro. At the same time, in one of the final scenes in the movie...

SPOILERS AHEAD:

...he's on the floor whimpering, exactly like the guy he stabbed with the pen. I found that really interesting, that measure of power I brought up.

 

[Marisa]

This is so tough! I think Goodfellas will probably always be my favorite. Casino is really close. Has great actors and some pretty memorable scenes. I think Goodfellas just holds more of a special place to me. It may be my favorite out of anything gangster. Although I am watching The Sopranos properly finally so we will see.