As Ray Liotta’s character, Henry Hill, tells us at the beginning of “Goodfellas,” he’s always wanted to be a gangster. But Hill, a long-time member of the Mafia, eventually turned to the government, squealing on everyone he knew in exchange for no prison time and a life in the witness protection program.

But what a life he led: full of booze, drugs, women, fast cars, nice suits and hip nightclubs. There’s the occasional deadbeat who had to be whacked, but, for the most part, Hill explains, the Mafia was mostly about making as much money off as little work as possible.

“Goodfellas” is unique in that it gives us the point of view of someone working himself up the mob hierarchy, exposing every little dirty detail along the way. Whereas “The Godfather” was the story of the upper reaches of Mafia lifestyle, “Goodfellas” shows us what it was like for the foot soldiers, the wiseguys who dealt with all the hands-on work that had to be done.

Now released in a 2-disc special edition DVD, the movie looks great. Since the film is only 14 years old, it wasn’t too hard to get a good transfer out of the source materials. Every color is clean and each shot looks crisp.

The second disc is full of different documentaries that delve into various aspects of the film. Though it is interesting to see how the movie came together, too much time is spent praising the director Scorcese, although he probably deserves it.

Despite the fact that many elements in “Goodfellas” were probably dramatized, it still stands as one of the best movies that show the true inner workings of the Mafia.

— Keith DuCharme