The 1991 Academy Awards

Hollywood loves an epic. That's the argument being made for Gladiator. It's reasoning that worked for several Oscar winners, like The English Patient, Titanic and Ben Hur. It's an argument that won the Best Picture award for Dances With Wolves, Kevin Costner's 1991 sermon/film on the post-Civil War Western frontier.

It's not hard to argue in favor of Dances With Wolves — more than just a vanity project, it featured lush, award-winning cinematography, a well-written script about an oft-ignored subject and a real performance from its usually wooden star.

That said, 1991's much better epic got royally screwed.

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Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese's adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi's "Wiseguy," tells of the rise and fall of gangster-turned-informant Henry Hill. Hill idolized the mobsters in his neighborhood because they had everything his working-class family did not — beautiful cars, nice clothes and, most of all, a sense of importance. But he learns in his 30-year career with the Mafia that it's not all fast cars, pretty women and the good life. At some point, either the feds, angry mobsters or death — or some combination thereof — will get you.

Ray Liotta turns in a beautifully realized performance as Hill, as does Lorraine Bracco as the nice Jewish girl he marries and drags into this mess. Joe Pesci, Robert DeNiro and Paul Sorvino all turn in top-notch performances, working with Bracco and Liotta to create a truly great ensemble picture.

Scorsese's camerawork (courtesy cinematographer Michael Ballhaus) has rarely been better and the script contains nary a false moment. Thelma Schoonmaker (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) once again proves that she's one of the best editors out there. All of these elements add up to make a powerful, excellent film that can never be watched too many times.

And yet those aren't what pushes Goodfellas over the top — these very same factors (script, acting, cinematography) contribute to Dances With Wolves' excellence.

What sets Goodfellas apart, and ultimately what makes its loss so painful, is that deep inside what appears to be a biopic is a morality tale about the importance of family. Hill's undoing comes not as a result of mistakes he made working for the mob, but because he chooses drugs, mistresses and crime over his wife and kids.

Dances With Wolves is also a morality tale, but at its heart, that's all it is, filled with finger-pointing and sermonizing. Goodfellas, however, is much more subtle with its point. Unlike Costner, Scorsese makes Hill's life story the film's touchstone, focusing on the importance of a good story and not just the film's message.

To be honest, which would you rather watch? Which film still sticks with you now, 10 years later? The answer, easily, is Goodfellas and for that reason, its producers should have brought home a little gold man.