Yeah, still Scorsese's best, though "Goodfellas" gives it a run for its money. Stylistically unmatched and probably unmatchable -- this movie lives and breathes. It's a long movie because Scorsese has to take his (real-life!) story down to the end, the bitter end, the sad and sorry end. The only movie I prefer to this is "Eraserhead" (I like to laugh). Hmm. For a little while there, some great directors made some great black and white movies.