Goodfellas

Goodfellas (1990)

73 mistakes

(26 votes)

Goodfellas mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Paulie is first introduced the long shot shows him holding his cigar next to his waist. The shot changes to a close up, and he is now holding the cigar up near his chest. (00:03:50)

Lummie

Goodfellas mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Henry is in prison and he comes in to the kitchen with food in a bag, he first passes some bread to Paul. In one shot he picks up 2 jars and a bottle of wine. The next shot he is carrying the same food but suddenly has a loaf of bread in his hands. When the camera angle switches we now see Henry in front of the table about to sit at the table but now has no food in his arms. (01:22:10)

Goodfellas mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Whilst Jimmy is choking Morrie in the wig store the phone suddenly rings and the shot changes. Between shots the way Morrie is standing has all of a sudden changed. Instead of leaning back, he is bent forward. The way he is holding the phone whilst being choked changes as well. (00:38:30)

Lummie

Other mistake: In the scene where Jimmy and Henry try to strangle Maury with the telephone cord, the handset is off the hook, but the telephone still somehow rings.

Continuity mistake: When Henry is in prison, Karen comes to visit him and drop off goods she smuggled in. They begin to argue while Henry is holding his daughter and Karen starts placing all the goods on the table. The camera angle switches to just a view of Henry's hands gathering the goods and if you look carefully, you will notice that BOTH of Henry's hands are collecting the goods. This would be impossible considering he is holding his daughter in one of his arms. Once the goods are collected, Henry is seen holding his daughter again.

Goodfellas mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Ray's girlfriend is showing off her apartment to her two girlfriends they walk down the hall to the bedroom. The camera then changes to them entering the bedroom door and the order of girls has changed.

Goodfellas mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Henry and Jimmy are eating in a diner waiting for word about Tommy being "made". When Jimmy goes outside to make the call to find out, there is a car parked outside the diner, at this point, the car's window is open. When Jimmy starts kicking over the phonebooth and Henry comes outside to join him, the car's window is closed. (01:51:35)

Goodfellas mistake picture

Continuity mistake: After Henry beats up Karen's neighbour with his pistol, he puts the gun in Karen's hand. In the close up the gun is resting in her palm, but in wide shots of Karen and Henry she is holding the gun more by its barrel. (00:40:50)

Lummie

Visible crew/equipment: After Henry pistol-whips his neighbour he goes to Karen's home. She opens a glass door and a boom mike, set lights and crew are reflected on it.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: When Henry is visited in jail by his wife, his daughter turns her face away to the right. From the opposite angle she's in a totally different position and also a toy has appeared in her hand.

Sacha

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Continuity mistake: When Henry has just shown De Niro the guns and he returns to his car, you see him light up a cigarette. When the shot changes the cigarette has vanished. (01:54:45)

Continuity mistake: In the scene when Spider is killed by Tommy, Jimmy is with his arms wide open just the instant before Tommy pulls the trigger. But in the next shot, when Tommy fires the gun, Jimmy is with his arms down.

Visible crew/equipment: When Henry comes out of jail and hugs his wife a boom mike is reflected on the glass of the car door.

Continuity mistake: When Paulie and the others are in prison and preparing dinner, there is a vase on the table where they will eventually eat dinner. The vase is filled with fresh basil at the beginning of this scene but disappears and re-appears throughout the scene.

Goodfellas mistake picture

Continuity mistake: While Henry and Jimmy are beating up the guy in the car, Henry is holding a gun up to the guy's face. A few times during the scene, it changes back and forth from the gun pressed right up against his face to the gun a little away from his face. (01:17:50)

Lummie

Factual error: When Henry and Karen are racing to Karen's mother's house when the helicopter is following them, the driveway Henry pulls up in has a 1982 or newer Pontiac Bonneville, but the scene was supposed to take place in 1980.

Continuity mistake: In the scene near the end, when the FBI agent is explaining the Witness Protection Program to Henry and Karen, the hemline of Karen's dress changes from one shot to the next. First it's down low on her calf, then it's up by her knee, then it's down again, then up, then down again.

Wisteria

Continuity mistake: When Henry comes back from the hospital and is watching the helicopter above, the number of cars behind keeps changing from frame to frame. Sometimes it even looks as if there's just one lane, then two lanes filled with cars, then no cars.

Sacha

Factual error: When Henry Hill is at the hospital, the doctor gives him a 10 mg Valium pill which is brown. In reality, Valium 10 mg is light blue and has a "V" shaped hole in the center of it. The pill appears to be an Ecotrin, which is a coated aspirin tablet.

Audio problem: In the bar scene where Tommy gets enraged at Billy Batts, at one point Billy says "Salute Tommy" but his lips do not move.

Henry Hill: What happened?
Jimmy Conway: They whacked him. They fucking whacked him. I can't fucking believe it.

More quotes from Goodfellas
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: False. Joe Pesci told the anecdote to Scorsese in the earliest stages of the movie. Scorsese asked him to add it during previous script readings and further rehearsals while notes were being taken by crew members. Then it was finally shot following those rehearsals and notes. In this video all the actors involved tell how Scorsese works and even he himself says he rewrote that scene 4 times. Minute 13:04: https://youtu.be/_bbzUZuxEB8.

Sacha

I have actually seen interviews where they admitted it was improvised. The reactions from the other actors was genuine.

lartaker1975

Just submitted a link to a video where they tell how they improvised during rehearsals and then scripted it.

Sacha

More trivia for Goodfellas

Question: In the scene where Tommy believes he is being made, right after he walks into the room you hear him say "Oh no!" right before he is shot. Tommy obviously realizes that he was set up. However, what is it that he sees in the room that tips him off?

Answer: He was expecting a crowded room full of friends congratulating him. Also it was common knowledge among the mafia that being walked into an empty room when you were due to be made meant you were about to be executed, so Tommy likely knew he'd met his end just moments before the shot.

William Bergquist

Answer: A man being 'made' is an event shrouded in ceremony. The top people in the family are there, among others to congratulate the new soldier. Tommy walked into an empty room.

Just as others have pointed out, the film implies Tommy realised something was wrong the moment he walked in and saw the place was empty...no other "made men" there for the ceremony. However, I always wondered why he hadn't caught on to what was happening when he saw there were only a couple vehicles parked out in the driveway.

Answer: Either the fact that the room was empty (being made is a big ceremonial event with many people) or he felt the gun pressed against the back of his head right before they shot him.

Answer: There should have been more people waiting for him.

Answer: Wasn't the floor covered with a plastic sheet? That would have given it away.

Or it was a floor with no carpet (tiled, I believe)...easier to mop up.

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