If you’ve never seen “Goodfellas,” it’s probably best you stop what you’re doing and watch Martin Scorsese’s seminal mob flick now. The film is only one of the best mob movies you need to see immediately, and alongside “The Godfather” occupies a hallowed space within the genre. Luckily, for those that are somehow uninitiated, “Goodfellas” is now streaming over on MAX, where it’s managing to prove its worth as an undisputed classic all over again.
Based on the book “Wiseguy” by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-write “Goodfellas” with Scorsese, the film tells the story of Henry Hill, a Brooklyn kid whose dreams of joining the mob are fulfilled after Robert DeNiro’s Jimmy Conway takes him under his wing. Spanning three decades, the movie is a sweeping look at the life of a gangster, depicting all the glamor that comes with it while also not shying away from the brutality and morally vacuous nature of it all.
It’s hard to imagine the history of mob movies without “Goodfellas,” which debuted all the way back in 1990. While Scorsese previously made several films within the genre, and has made several since — most recently with the funny, melancholy masterwork that was 2019’s “The Irishman” — “Goodfellas” remains the best of them. That’s saying a lot for a filmography that also includes “Mean Streets,” “Casino,” and “The Departed.” With that in mind, the film’s modern day streaming success shouldn’t really be all that surprising.
Goodfellas proves its enduring appeal on MAX
“Goodfellas” became available to stream on MAX on November 1, 2024, and it seems even a film as well-established as Martin Scorcese’s mob classic can rack up streams almost 35 years after it first debuted. According to FlixPatrol, as of November 3, 2024, “Goodfellas” was the number seven most-watched film on MAX in the United States. The movie then slipped to number eight as of November 4, but remains in the top 10 at the time of writing. In order to fight its way to the top, however, the film will have to contend with the might of another bonafide classic from the same era, with “Jurassic Park” currently occupying the number four spot in the U.S. Otherwise, it seems viewers have wasted no time in getting into the festive spirit post-Halloween, with “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” charting at number five and “Elf” at number two.
Meanwhile, M. Night Shyamalan’s silly, self-aware thriller “Trap” is in the number one spot, so Henry Hill and his gang certainly have their work cut out if they want to make it to the top. They’ve done it before, of course, but with dire consequences for all involved. The streaming equivalent of ending up dead or in jail is, I suppose, becoming lost amid the tide of content once again, or worse, being stricken from the streaming record altogether by that most merciless of kingpins: Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. With that in mind, it might be worth reacquainting yourself with Henry Hill and co. before him and his crew get whacked from MAX.
