The Godfather Trilogy Official Appreciation and Discussion thread!

[DACrowe]

I don't remember liking Dracula much, i remember finding it very messy and weird.

It is a mess. A beautiful, glorious mess.

As a narrative it is all over the place, and the dippy reincarnation love story that was added (from my understanding not as Coppola's choice, but he didn't have the power to say no) not only flies against everything else in they movie and its source material, it drags down the pacing in the middle of the film.

All that said, it is a stunning bit of stagecraft with truly hypnotic, dreamlike states created by the intense visuals. It is really like an erotic nightmare a Victorian would suffer. And the costumes, score, the Vaudeville special effects that looked eerie in a modern color Hollywood movie, and just everything about it was engrossing. Even the acting outside of the terrible Keanu Reeves was both hammy but really, really entertaining. Oldman is fantastic in the movie.

 

[Lord]

Rewatched a bit of that film, the gothic style's realy good, but what i realy don't like is the ending, felt abrupt, which is something i felt Godfather Part III a bit too, it could have been much better handled, but if you're story is realy long, i prefer a long epilogue like the one in Lord of the rings than one that closes everything in a single minute.

I fear some of the best hypnotic parts in the film also made it a bit more forgetable for me, as if a dream you slowly forget as the day goes by, probably need to fully rewatch it one day along with the Mary Shelley's Frankenstein film.

Back to The Godfather, this is a great retrospective:

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I guess i prefered Scarface to The Godfather, but Part II is my favorite gangster film, it's a slower burn than the other ones, but i think it pays off. The first 2 form a great double feature, so i have a question, does the disapointment of Part III leave you feeling the story to be incomplete?

 

[Gort Baringa]

I would put The Untouchables right up toward the top with Godfather I & II.

Also, Jean Reno in The Professional is pretty exceptional.

 

[antonydelfini]

My top 6 gangster movies:
Goodfellas
The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
Once Upon A Time in America
Miller's Crossing
Pulp Fiction

 

[Prison Mike]

Goodfellas is probably my favorite mob movie.

 

[Lencho01]

So, I got around to watching these films after never seeing them before and only knowing about them as far as pop culture goes (including the dislike of the third one).

For the most part I agree with how most people seem to view them. I'm not surprised to hear about they thought of going that route of Tom Hagen and Michael just becoming so evil. Sure would've been more interesting to see.

I don't agree with the hate Sofia Coppola seemingly gets for her role. She seemed fine to me. But, what was up with that plot? And they kept reminding you over and over that Mary and Vincent were cousins. Seriously, WTF?

 

[Wildcard]

Just recently got into these films & they are amazing...all the references & previous discussions surrounding them now make sense. I've observed them all in great detail & I'd say I love them all, even part III. It's not as great as the first two but still a very entertaining piece, imo. Part II is my favorite, though, and likely the greatest movie of all time.

Michael Corleone, from what I can see, remains the most complicated, enthralling & interesting character we've ever seen. Truly brilliant writing, direction & acting.

 

[Octoberist]

I think Sofia took me out of Part 3 constantly.

 

[spider-neil]

Part II
Part I

Can't be arsed to watch Part III.
Godfather I did nothing for me. I thought Part II was brilliant. Bear in mind I don't usually like or watch gangster movies but seeing as the movies are called 'the best movies ever' I felt I had to check them out. My favourite ever gangster movie is The Untouchables.

 

[Wildcard]

I think Sofia took me out of Part 3 constantly.

I didn't mind her too much but I can certainly see why you & others feel that way. It's funny, though...because while Sofia was more than lackluster as Mary, Andy Garcia was nothing but superb as Vincent. It was especially interesting to see him mature from hothead to level-headed Don of the family...it was kind of like seeing what would've happened to Sonny if he actually paid attention to Vito like Vincent paid attention to Michael.

 

[The Endless]

I think Godfather III is still a good gangster film. It's just no where near the same level as the first 2. And yea Garcia really is fantastic.

 

[LostSon88]

He really did a great job. I totally bought him as Sonny's son...

 

[Octoberist]

What detracts some fans (ME) from liking the third one is the lack of Robert Duvall. Also, Pacino has entered his Cocaine O-HA STAGE, cementing it with 'Scent of a Woman'. He..jUST.....(slams table) became a different sort of AC..TOOOOR.

 

[LostSon88]

I will say that the original vision for III sounded genius with the premise being Tom turning on Michael.

 

[Wildcard]

^ Glad that didn't happen because Tom is the one character who I feel should always remain loyal to the family. But I definitely feel that he should've been in the movie.

And I completely disagree about Pacino in part III but to each their own.

 

[ThePhantasm]

I think it could've been done. And it wouldn't have been Hagen betraying Michael, it would've been Michael coming full circle and turning into a villain, because that is what the first two films are really about; Michael's transformation. The Godfather III, Michael vs. Hagen would've essentially been Michael vs his father. It wouldn't have been Tom Hagen betraying Michael. It would've been Hagen desperately trying to carry on Don Corleone's legacy in light of Michael's madness and that leading to an inevitable power struggle.

**** you I'm about to cry that sounds so awesome

If only Paramount would have paid Duvall what he deserved as the second lead, rather than trying to cheat him.

 

[LostSon88]

^ Glad that didn't happen because Tom is the one character who I feel should always remain loyal to the family. But I definitely feel that he should've been in the movie.

I believe that's exactly what the conflict would've been between them. It would've been Tom trying to preserve the Corleone legacy in the face of Michael who at this point has gone so far off the deep end since Part II.

Again, it would've been genius.

 

[ThePhantasm]

Yeah, its Michael whose not really that loyal to the family. He's ruined both of his families - his birth family and his family with Kay.

At the end of the day Michael's just as vengeful as Sonny, he's just colder and more calculating about it.

 

[LostSon88]

But at the same token, I did like the angle they rolled with as a 2nd option by having Michael desperately seeking redemption only for his sins to finally come back to bite him with Mary's death at the end of III.

 

[Schlosser85]

Mary's death is a great Shakespearean tragedy kind of ending.

It's a great irony. She is the one pure, innocent thing Michael has ever done, and in the end, she is killed because of him.

 

[The Shape]

Mary's death is a great Shakespearean tragedy kind of ending.

It's a great irony. She is the one pure, innocent thing Michael has ever done, and in the end, she is killed because of him.

Yeah, I liked that. There's a lot of good in Godfather III, but the bad is more glaring. I think the entire movie would have been elevated and more well received had Sofia Coppola not played Michael's daughter. She was so terrible, to the point that it was distracting and took away from other good aspects of the film.

The Godfather Part II is perfect and one of the greatest films every made.

 

[LostSon88]

As I understand, Winona Rider was supposed to play Mary but she bowed out at the last minute, correct?

Because, yeah Sofia Coppola was terrible.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Tom followed Vito's example more closely than any of the other Corleone kids.

 

[Schlosser85]

Tom followed Vito's example more closely than any of the other Corleone kids.

Did anyone else feel like Michael had this underlying resentment of Tom? In Part 2 he goes out of his way to alienate him.

 

[LostSon88]

Not until the end though. In the beginning of Part II after the attempt on his life, he told Tom that he was planning to make him head of the family. He even called him his brother which Tom confided that that was one of his aspirations, to have Michael see him as a brother.

Then as more **** went down and Michael started to lose it, his attitude towards Tom changed...as it did with everyone else.