You Need to Watch Ray Liotta's 'Goodfellas' Helicopter Chase Scene

Screenshot: GANGSTER Factory via YouTube

Legendary actor Ray Liotta died at 67 today, and it made me feel nostalgic for one of the most iconic scenes in film history: the Goodfellas helicopter chase. For those who have never seen it, the 8-minute scene tells the chaotic story of Liotta’s character, mobster Henry Hill, on a particularly out-of-control day. That being said, if you haven’t seen Goodfellas, you really ought too. To me, it’s Martin Scorsese’s best movie, and it’s streaming on HBO Max.

Here’s a couple of YouTube clips that, together, give you the whole chase scene. Why it’s split into two separate videos, I will never know. Regardless, watch them.

The way Liotta portrays a day in the life of an average mid-level mobster is just masterful. The amount of physical acting Liotta does in the scene, the way he conveys drug-induced paranoia, is astonishing. It’s a sin he was never nominated for an Academy Award.

He runs around western Long Island like a man who really has a lot to do, and it’s all from the front seat of his delicious brown Cadillac coupe. Boy oh boy did he have a lot to do. Henry’s gotta pick up his brother at the hospital, drop off some silencers at Robert De Niro’s house and pick up some cocaine. All the while, he’s looking up at a helicopter that is following him around. At one point he’s even joined by his wife, who in my head-cannon is Dr. Melfi before we see her in The Sopranos, to drop off — and partake in — a little bit of that coke. He’s making it all happen while preparing Sunday dinner, because he’s *hand gesture* Italian.

Anyway, sit back and watch this scene, because it really is a beautiful piece of filmmaking and is certainly one of the defining moments of Liotta’s storied career. Rest in peace, Ray.