The Godfather Trilogy

The Cat

Question for beginners: Do you like the Godfather trilogy? I personally love it!

Question for advanced fans: Which is the best one of the three? I think third is the weakest, but still worth watching. It is only weak compared to the two previous ones, but hey, that's cinema at its best (apart from Bond movies, of course )! But I can't decide between I and II! What do you think?

superado

I like the 1st one best. I also read the book and noticed how some plot elements were drastically altered to allow for some of the 2nd and all of the 3rd film installments to "happen."

As a student of Judeo-Christian scripture, i.e, the Bible, particularly the Old Testament book, 1st Kings, there are parallels in the passing of the monarchy between David to Solomon, and Don Vito to Michael Corleone. Like the end of all the movies, some of David's enemies were from the inside, and because he lacked resolve or was bound by an oath of sorts, he did not deal with them judiciously, and went even as far to obligate his son and heir, Solomon to do the same. However, after David died, just like when Don Corleone passed on, Solomon used shrewd means to nullify his oath and had David's enemies killed, and Michael Coreleone did the exact same thing. In both instances, the son had his brother killed, as well as the father's once trusted yet trecherous advisor. I found it striking how Solomon had these killings dispatched in quick succession, just like the execution montage that ended each Godfather film. I've always thought this to be either a great coincidence, or that it was intentional on Mario Puzo's part.

Don Corleone: Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter's wedding day. -Priceless! )

Don Corleone: I have a sentimental weakness for my children and I spoil them as you can see. They talk when they should listen.

Don Corleone: But I'm a superstitious man. And if some unlucky accident should befall him...if he should get shot in the head by a police officer, or if he should hang himself in his jail cell, or if he's struck by a bolt of lightning, then I'm going to blame some of the people in this room. And that I do not forgive. But that aside, let me say that I swear, on the souls of my grandchildren, that I will not be the one who will break the peace we have made here today.

SPECTRENumber1

I LOVE the Godfather Trilogy!!! My favorite would have to be Part 2 because it explained the rise of the corleone's and Michael was fully in charge.

Sir Hillary Bray

Well, I would rate I and II as among the greatest films ever made. The first chronicles Michael's coming of age from the "straight and narrow" son to his father's successor. The second shows his evolution into an absolute monster.

III was not very good. It was made because Coppola needed the money, and he made two poor tactical decisions:
1 - Casting his daughter in the central role.
2 - Making it seem like the Corleone's actually influenced a real-life event such as the death of John Paul I. In the other two films, the Corleone's were a backdrop to such events, such as Castro's revolution and the rise of gambling in Nevada.

All in all, though, there are very few films outside the Bond series that I have a limitless appetite to watch, and I and II are two of them.

Ostromite

The Godfather is my all time favorite movie, and I like it better than the sequel because it had Marlon Brando doing his greatest performance of his carerr, in my opinion. Part III was great, but it simply pales in comparison to its flawless predecessors.

superado

I agree with the consensus about "III," though I wish they would've given Robert Duvall an offer he couldn't refuse.

Lady Rose

Godfather 1 & 2 are two of the greatest films.I enjoyed 3,but it was not in the same class as the others,which was a shame as I did think Andy Garcia was very good...like a mixture of Sonny and Michael.As stated Sofia was a distaster,she's obviously better suited to directing than acting and I agree to have the Corleons involved in real events didn't work either.

Godfather 1 is probably my favourite.To watch the transistion of Micheal was just genius on Al Pacino's part and the ending in at the christening was astounding.
All the actors were just perfectly cast,James Caan,Robert Duval and of course Marlon Brando.The
only one I didn't like was Diane Keaton,she just didn't do it for me as Kay.I never felt sorry for her or understood her.As a chracter I just cant take to her and that is after countless viewings.

Godfather 2 is also great.I love the whole Micheal/Fredo story.Brilliant again.

If you haven't read the book I would advise anyone to as it is also great.Believe it or not you can get even deeper into the characters.

krlea008

I have to agree that the first Godfather installment is the best. It happens to be my favorite movie. The third one, I have no desire to see because my favorite Tom Hagen does not make an appearance

0064

Well, I revived this thread so I can add some stuff to it. Personally, I just became interested in the movies after playing the gmae on PC. I personally think that the 1st is the best. It was ranked as the best movie ever in several places (with the GF II being not far behind) and it is very well done. It captures the spirit of the book very well. In addition the characters are very good. Overall, I find Fredo to be the most interesting character as he always is doind something weird and he is the odd-brother out. Anyways, which character is the most interesting to everyone???

osmir007

The Cat wrote:

But I can't decide between I and II! What do you think?

That's the same with me but, I have to say part 2 is better!
Cause :
-The beginning of part 2
-Vito Corleone as young Immigrant
-Robert de Niro

Part 2 goes deep in the parts of part 1 we did not see in part 1 itself.

If it was one movie it would have been the best movie ever!
They could have make it a 5 hour long movie : like the masterpiece Gone with the wind

Luke

Hey, I ran into this. Thought you guys might appreciate it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9lnq-am15E

Kinda funny. Captures the spirit of the film, eh? )

0064

Very cool...I like the fact that my man, Bruno Tattaglia is in there. Cold blooded assasin...

TonyDP

The first Godfather is one of my all time favorite movies. It has so many memorable lines and scenes and it is brilliantly edited. I love the way Coppola juxtaposes the baptism (one of the most significant and holy events for a Catholic family) with the murder of the mob bosses. Just brilliant and the best of the three as far as I'm concerned.

Godfather II is also brilliant but somewhat less of an entertaining film for me as the Cuba section sometimes drags on. Again, I love the juxtapositions, watching Vito Corleone rise to power as Michael slowly destroys everything and everyone he holds dear. The sections with young Vito Corleone (especially the murder of Fanucci) are priceless, some of my favorite film moments ever.

Godfather III is OK at best. You see flashes of the old Coppola brilliance, but the story's basic premise (Michael looking for redemption) is IMHO deeply flawed. Right or wrong, Michael always felt he was doing what was best for the family. Even if he never admitted his mistakes (except maybe during those final moments in part II when he's all alone and clearly haunted by the ghosts of all those he had killed) he always thought he was doing the right thing. Part III makes him question this belief. That diminishes him and the movie never recovers from there. Still, there are some great scenes: the murder of Zaza, and the opera at the end and the subsequent tragedy.

Lyle Dark-008

The Cat wrote:

Question for beginners: Do you like the Godfather trilogy? I personally love it!

Question for advanced fans: Which is the best one of the three? I think third is the weakest, but still worth watching. It is only weak compared to the two previous ones, but hey, that's cinema at its best (apart from Bond movies, of course )! But I can't decide between I and II! What do you think?

I borrowed the trilogy from a family member. I love the series! XD I also have the Godfather Game.

Napoleon Plural

Producer Robert Evans makes the claim in his book The Kid Stays In The Picture (and probably the film, too) that he heavily reedited much of The Godfather films he was involved in, in particular the second one I think, which had way too much time spent on the wedding... of course, Coppola 'forgets' to thank Evans for that when he made his Oscar speech...

Of course, Evans may have had a taste for self-aggrandisment and bigging up his contribution, looking at the reception of Part III however, and you do start to wonder.

It's a bit like when Dennis Potter flogged his last masterpieces to both the Beeb and Channel 4, and they were both duds! Apparently, The Singing Detective had been heavily reedited at script level by the producer...

Mewtwo3090

Godfather's awesome!!! The third was awful, but the second was ok. The best one is the first one. . As for the books... well, I never read them, but I'm sure their ok.

0064

The book is really good. I read it before I saw the movies and it was great. One of the classic novels of our time...

Barry Nelson

Godfather I is the best of the three, wonderfully acted and entertaining film. Godfather II is also good, I especially enjoyed the scene where Michael is reciting the prayers during a christening, while murders that he ordered are taking place.

Godfather III was a disaster, Sofia was awful and all the Vatican stuff boring.

Jones

I prefer the first one, hands down, no question. The third was the weakest to me, but James Caan's appearance in the first one made movie history. God I love those movies. Hey, is it rute that they are making a forth one?

0064

Naaaah, it doesn't look like they are making another for quite a while if ever. After Puzo dies, the people just kind of stopped...

Dan Same

I might make a longer post in the future, but for now, I will just say that I ABSOLUTELY ADORE the Godfather films. Part 1 is my all-time favorite film while part 2 is my all-time second favorite film. There is nothing bad I can say about the first 2 Godfather films. I simply love them to death!!

Jimmy Bond

I love The Godfather. I think all three of them are some of the best movies of all time (the first two some of the very best). Now, I would've prefered if Tom Hagen was in PART III and also, if the third film was called TRAGEDY OF MICHAEL CORLEONE, which is more akin to Coppola's original title for the film, which was DEATH OF MICHAEL CORLEONE.

The reason for that, is because, in Coppola's own words, parts I and II are essentially one movie. The story of The Godfather is these two movies. PART III is not the story of the Godfather, or rather, to make my point clear, is not the story of Michael becoming and stableizing himself as The Godfather. The Godfather story is simple: Its Michael Corleone's descent into darkness, and as a side story, its Vito's rise and parallel nature with his son's personal fall. The story ends with Michael sitting, older, in Lake Tahoe, contemplating on the promise he never kept: Not to be involved in the business.

PART III, is that character's attempt, for redemption, which is not the same point with the other two. Here, it has been some time. Here, Michael wants to truly repent for what he has done, and tries to reclaim the conscience that he, willingly, lost when he became Don. He tries to repent, with the ultimate price being his own daughter's death...

One could say, that parts I and II are one movie, and PART III is essentially the sequel, with a new story. Yet it all ties together to the greater tragedy, of Michael Corleone.

Also, excellent points by all members, particularly superado's. Nice metaphor on Solomon. Very nice, indeed.

What a great movie!

0064

Ugh..Michael Corleone...I hate that man. He is my least favorite character in all of the movies. Why couldn't he have left Tom as consigliere?

Jimmy Bond

Because he was valuable, and when he replaced him, he meant to change things for the Family, and these changed might've resulted to his death. And how useful could a dead man be? No useful, at all.

Anywho, he needed Tom to take the Family into cleaner directions... In PART III, its easy to assume that he, along with Tom, started a cleasing process in which Michael sold the casinos and all business having to do with gambling or other illegal activities.

Pierce_Brosnan

The Godfather trilogy is great (though not nearly as good as James Bond 007 of course)!
My favorite is the first, it is the most classic of the 3.

Lyle Dark-008

How true.

Jimmy Bond

I'd argue that the second is classic, too.. Rememmber, we met Bobby DeNiro in that one! Sure, Mean Streets was made by then, but PART II really brought up the real acting talent of the curious Robert DeNiro.

highhopes

I and II are the best and pretty equal -- both classics. II is a little deeper and casts a wider net, but you have to have seen I to appreciate it. It's a true sequel that advances and -- in my view -- brings perfect closure to the arc of the story. That's why III was such a disaster. It was completely unnecessary. IMHO, It turned "The Godfather" into one of those "Halloween" movies where the killer keeps coming back one false ending after another. Here's why: One of the finest pieces of acting I have ever seen is the conclusion of II, with Michael sitting alone on a bench in the yard, lost in thought: Fredo dead, Kay and the kids gone, Tom Hagen banished to Vegas. The way Pacino suddenly shifts his body in his seat after the flashback to the birthday party, when Michael was still an innocent college kid, is just brilliant. You just know he's had a tinge of doubt, like a chill down his spine, about the direction his life has taken. This was early Pacino, when subtlety was the hallmark of his acting, instead of chewing up the scenery as it is now. Pacino did in that couple seconds of screen time what it took nearly three hours of Part III to do, less successfully: show that Michael Corleone had lost everything.

Jimmy Bond

PART II was not the third part of the Godfather story, for me... Rather, if this makes sense, PART III was the second chapter of Michael Corleone. Thats why I would've prefered if they had DEATH or, better, TRAGEDY OF MICHAEL CORLEONE as a title. It would've distiguished that film's true nature... NOT a continuance of the story, but rather, a climax to Michael's story.

Georgiboy

Sorry to resurrect this old thread but I absolutely love The Godfather with all my soul. Part 1 is the best film of all time IMO with Part 2 right behind it. Part 3 was okay but definitely not in the same category as Part 1 and 2. Pacino's performance as Michael is his best IMO. Brando was magnificent as the Godfather as well. Great great movies.{[]

Sweepy the Cat

This takes a lot of balls to say but I've never been a big fan of The Godfather. (I love Goodfellas though)