mr kablammo -

You too need to watch the movies.

They are much more about family relationships than they are about glorifying organized crime.

Anyway, they (the first two) are among the finest films that have ever been made. Not IMHO. It's just the way it is.

But just I and II, right?

Doc -

I think the third one is a good film but not up there with I and II.



It's like having Sally from next door (who is really very cute) compete with Grace Kelly and Liz Taylor.

1 & 2 are must see.

Skip 3.

I'm not a "going out to the movies guy." My wife and I last went to a movie theater to see Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World in the very early 2000s.

I realize we aren't really hurting those libs out in Hollywood, but it makes us feel better.

But the Godfather movies, made a couple-three decades earlier, came out at a different time in my attitude, at least.

I went to the movie theater probably a couple of times a month and I still remember the first time I saw the original.Brando, Pacino, Caan and Duvall were really fantastic and made their characters seem so real. Probably, for me, it was the best movie I'd ever seen and I love the old John Wayne, Randolph Scott, George O'Brien (If you never heard of him, he was a real man's man) and, of course, Hoppy movies. But none of them, IMO, is in the same class as the original Godfather.

The rest of the Godfather movies-ehhhh, I can live without ever seeing them again.

BTW, I saw the original again, a few months ago and I was surprised to see, that, for me, the movie was not at all dated, IMO, though it was made in 1972. If you've never seen the movie, you ought to give it a shot.

Bob  

This message has been edited. Last edited by: straightshooter1,

I think The Godfather is one of those movies that really should be seen on a big screen in the dark with out any interruption. 2nd best choice it to take the time at home to sequester yourself and watch it with out interruption. Long time ago I had tapped into local cable and came home and turned the TV on and Lawrence of Arabia was just starting... I watched the entire movie standing in front of the TV....

I think I and II are, together, the best movie to come out of Hollywood, ever. They are not very realistic portrayals of the mafia. ("Goodfellas" and "Mean Streets" are much more so.) Coppola said he was not thinking of the mafia so much as the rise of corporate America. ("It's not personal, it's just business.)

It’s all about 1 and 2. The greatest movies of all time. Number 3 is a bullshit movie about nothing related to the Mario Puzzo story. No comparison to Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or any other stupid trilogy.

The Godfather is not a gangster movie. It’s a movie about life. Shit that people don’t think is important anymore. Family, loyalty, business, leadership, politics, revenge, etc. If you can’t learn something watching The Godfather you’re brain dead.

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

I wish I hadn't seen them. What a joy it would be to sit back on a rainy day a binge I & II. Well actually, they hold up pretty well to rewatching which I've done several times over the years.

They are not as glitzy as some of our current crop of movies (good thing me thinks) but great stores told with flair. Go for it man.

The Godfather: Part II is a rare thing- it is a film which equals or exceeds the original film. It's longer than The Godfather and with its flashback structure, seems to be a denser and more complex film than the first. The DeNiro scenes are fabulous and I only wish there were more of them. Part II is every bit as essential viewing as the original film.

Everyone rags on The Godfather: Part III. This is undertsandable because of the natural comparison to the first two films. Still, taken on balance, I'm glad this film was made. It was the only film of the trilogy that I had the opportunity to see as a first-run theatrical release. It was good to see Michael Corleone again and the film did bring closure to the saga, tragic though it was.
It was also good to hear Michael Corleone confess to the murder of his own brother. During confession, he says "I killed my mother's son. I killed my father's son." It's a powerful line which no one seems to remember. Without this film, we would not know of his atonement.
Remember- Coppola wanted to call this film "The Death of Michael Corleone". If the film had been released under that title, might we be able to separate it a bit more from the first two films and take it on its own merits? Think about it.

quote:

Originally posted by NavyGuy:
I wish I hadn't seen them. What a joy it would be to sit back on a rainy day a binge I & II.

I had the opportunity to facilitate this for a younger movie buff.

You can read my remarks on this and my disappointment with digital projection (as well as the sound mix for the film) here.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
I've not seen The Godfather

Any of them.

Discuss.

Go watch. End of discussion.

Gustopher, it's Sunday afternoon... Where you at on this project?

Notice the oranges yet? Ehh, we'll save that for the second time you watch it.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Everyone rags on The Godfather: Part III. This is undertsandable because of the natural comparison to the first two films. Still, taken on balance, I'm glad this film was made.

III was an OK film, if judged by its own merits. And it was good to see an ending to the Corleone saga. But the film seemed doomed to fail from the start. Coppola made the film desperate for money, due to his string of box office bombs during the 80s, a poor position to be in when starting a high profile gig as III. Chasing away Duvall because of salary beefs, and losing Winona Ryder (replaced by Sophia), did not help things. Sophia, the obvious scapegoat, was not my main disappointment with the film; the casting of Andy Garcia, IMO,was just horrible. Apocalypse Now was perhaps the last gasp out of Coppola, perhaps losing more than just his sanity in the jungle.

Yeah, everybody who busts on Sofia Coppola for her performnce in TGF III needs to do a bit of research on how she came to play this role. She stepped up on very short notice at the behest of her father. You want to criticize her performance in this film, then look to her father. Frankly, I don't think she did bad at all. Yes, Winona Ryder would have done a far better job, and Ryder looks more like what a child of an Italian and someone whose heritage is Northern European would look like, but she couldn't or didn't- for reasons listed below- play the role.
As my dear ol' dad would say- shit in one hand and wish in other, and see which one fills up the fastest.

From IMDB:

Winona Ryder's departure of the film created a major fuss on set and in the media. Ryder did actually arrive on set to perform the part of Mary Corleone, but ultimately backed out. She arrived on set in Rome, two days after completing work on Mermaids (1990) in Massachusetts, but passed out immediately in her hotel room upon arrival, and was eventually examined with over-exhaustion. Following her departure of the film, several headlines were created about the exit, either claiming that she was pregnant, that she had a nervous breakdown, that drugs were involved, that her then-boyfriend Johnny Depp was having an affair and making her crazy, or that Depp talked her out of doing the film so that she could appear in Edward Scissorhands (1990). On-set, Ryder's replacement of the untested Sofia Coppola was a divisive choice among the cast of the film, and more than one name player reportedly threatened to quit the movie.

So, complain about Sofia Coppola, but put the facts into perspective. She was not a professional actress, and I think what she did was brave.

quote:

Originally posted by CPD SIG:
Notice the oranges yet?

Made me not want to eat an orange for a long time. Hell, I didn’t want to be in the same room as an orange.

I know there are quite a few notable, important, highly regarded movies that I’ve never seen. Not sure what your objective was in posting that you’ve not seen The Godfather, my advice would be to go see Father Lorello, then go forth and sin no more.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
Any of them.

Discuss.

I too have not seen them. I'd like to.

I'm somewhat in the same boat. While I've seen all the Godfather movies, I'm starting to think I'm the only person on the planet that has never seen any of the Star Wars movies.

Pacino was so deeply into his increasingly evil character, that about midway through the filming of II he had to be hospitalized for nervous exhaustion for two weeks.

Michael Corleone is constantly churning inside with suspicion, anger, and revenge. Notice when he talks with the senator at the beginning of the movie, he is outwardly calm and cool. But look at the back of the chair he is sitting in. It is practically vibrating. At the end of the movie, when he is talking with Fredo at Lake Tahoe, again, calm and collected-- but look at his left foot. He needs cold compresses for his eyes. In the scene with Fredo at the end, he presses his fingers against the cold glass of the picture window and then presses his fingertips against his eyes.

There are inspired works of art, and Godfather I and II are inspired. Some energy takes over the creative work that is bigger than the individual artists themselves. The ancient Greeks credited "the muses" who spoke through the poets and playwrights. The English Romantic poets described themselves as "wind harps," that "the wind" of creative forces in the universe caused to resonate and make music. Something "takes over."

In Godfather II, Coppola allowed the actors to improvise a lot of the dialog. He was trusting the creative energy that he knew was there. And they improvised some of the best lines, including--PD-- "Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

Another example of improv, this from Coppola himself: One of my favorite scenes is the Signore Roberto scene, when he goes to Don Vito's office-- now realizing who Don Vito is. ("The renta staysa lika before!")

When he tries to leave, happy to be getting out alive, he can't open the lock on the door! It was all improvised. Coppola had one of the actors secretly put a carpet tack into the lock, knowing that the actor (Leopoldo Trieste) who played Don Roberto (brilliantly!) would go with it all, remaining in character all the while. The Laurel and Hardy type music in the background is perfect, so perfect that for all the innumerable times I've watched the movie, it makes me grin with delight every time.