Is Goodfellas or Raging Bull more critically acclaimed as a better Scorsese film?

Answer 1

This is a very tricky question. If you want to go by stats alone, It seems as though Goodfellas would win by a nose. Goodfellas was nominated for or won 20 different awards including 6 Oscar nominations (with 1 win for Joe Pesci). Raging Bull, on the other hand, was nominated for or won 12 different awards. However, it did better than Goodfellas at the Oscars racking up 8 nominations and 2 wins (De Niro and flim editing). Technically, more awards were created between the ten years Raging Bull was made and released (1980) and the release of Goodfellas (1990). That's not to say Raging Bull would've been nominated for more awards, but like Goodfellas, it certainly would've had the opportunity to be. The American Film Institute put out a list of "the 100 greatest movies of all-time". This list has been heavily critized because of its exclusion of non-American films. However, with a few exceptions, most critics believe that the list gets it mostly right in its selection of American films. AFI ranks Raging Bull at #24 and Goodfellas squeaks in at number #94. Most other comprehensive "greats" lists also rank Raging Bull ahead of Goodfellas. From a more philosophical standpoint, most critics would agree that Raging Bull cemented Scorcese as one most influential directors of all time. Without Raging Bull, there really is no Goodfellas. Raging Bull also gives us one of film's greatest performances by way of Robert De Niro. Artistically, Scorcese takes more chances with Raging Bull, chances that are not as apparent in Goodfellas. For where Scorcese was in his career and for what it meant to the history of film, most critcs would say Raging Bull is a better film than Goodfellas. Ultimately, they are both great, highly-revered films and will forever be loved by audiences and critics alike.