I just saw the “Godfather” (no. 1). I am convinced that this is the greatest American movie. Every time I see it, I get more out of it. However, I think that the movie still has a few flaws-the meeting of Michael with the police captain and Tataglia (in which Michael shoots them both) seems ridiculous-no Mafia kingpin would ever go to such a meeting without a perdonal bodyguard. Anyway, does ANYBODY know the name of the piece of piano music, that is being played while the Corleone-tataglia gang war rages? (this is following Michael’s escape toSicily? This was a great scene-while hoods are being blown away all over NYC, this guy is pounding out a sentimental bit of music on an upright piano! So please let me know what this little ditty is…perhaps"music to murder by"?
Entirely possible. I’ve always tended to think so, although I’m sure there are some “Citizen Kane” fanatics in the house who still insist on that being the greatest american movie.
There’s much to be said for “Part II”, as well. I think the two together are pretty unbeatable. (And I’d love to see them edited together NOT for television. The one long version edited together was done so for television, so while stuff was added, stuff was also removed.)
But, these days, I must confess that “American Beauty” has pushed “Godfather” aside in my all time list. It took almost 30 years for another movie to do it, and that one was it.
stoid
no clue on the piano music
Certainly a popular choice. It is also the number one rated movie on the IMDB’s list.
I didn’t find that scene too unrealistic, because they searched Michael, and had the meeting at a secret location that they had checked out ahead of time. I think they felt that there was no reason for bodyguards if they knew the guy was unarmed.
Well, the many users of the Internet Movie Database have voted it the top-rated film of all time, so the movie’s probably got something going for it, at least.
Interestingly, The Shawshank Redemption was voted #2, right behind it.
The Shawshank Redemption is #2? Is somebody cooking the books over at the IMDB?
I’m not saying it’s a bad film, but there are many more films of higher quality. I suppose it has some sort of hold on IMDB’s demographic.
My friend converted me into a big Godfather fan. She owns “The Epic” which is the edited version which shows the two films into chronological order. There isn’t that much removed in the VHS edition. Certainly no violence, language, or nudity is trimmed out. There are a couple of extra scenes added. You get to see Fabrizzio (sp?), the Sicilian who sold out Michael and killed his wife in Part I, get killed. He arranges it at the party scene that is in the beginning of Part II.
There is also a scene where you see Tom Hagan promoted to consigliere when Genco, Vito’s former consigliere, passes away.
i just scrolled down that IMDB list and i didn’t see MIDNIGHT COWBOY, one of the best ever
and shawshank redemption??? isn’t that the movie where the hero was gang raped and brutalized over a period of time yet was never affected at all by it? (very realistic)
and a bunch of white prisoners in the 50’s dressed in 30’s costumes and looked up to a black man named red?
and where the hero escapes thru human waste and then enters a bank in the wardens stolen suit which fits perfectly even though the hero is 6 inches taller than the warden? (and the smell from the escape was gone from the suit)
yeah that was a brilliant film all right
that piece of shit and the honors it received and everyone who liked it pisses me off more than i can express here-michael medved was the only other human on the planet who i have ever heard say anything bad about that ridiculous waste of time-but then he goes and gives “remember the titans” , another mediocre film his top rating
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I saw most of this movie again yesterday on AMC, and remember the scene you’re talking about.
At the time of this scene, Michael wasn’t yet a “mafia kingpin”. He had been kept at a remove from much of the family business prior to that point. In fact, Hagen says prior to that scene when Michael goes out that he’ll be safe since Sollozzo “knows Michael is a civilian.” This is probably the reason why they wanted the meeting with Michael in the first place, instead of Hagen or the volatile Sonny.
It’s a great movie,and a worthy choice for consideration as the greatest American movie so far, and Part II is just as great. Can’t wait for the DVDs.
Pity about the third one, though. It could have been so much better.
I think Part II is a better movie that Part I, because the themes it successfully covers are just much more complex. Michael’s relationships with his wife, children, brothers, etc. It’s also the greatest American tragedy on film. Michael becomes everything he originally despised, and loses everything that matters to him, including his own humanity.
You could make the case for either movie being one of the greatest of all time. If you put them together and treat them as one cinematic opus, I think it’s easily the greatest American film treatment so far.
Yeah, but you can’t. Because you can’t really understand the journey without the original movie. Which is why you are right about the combined films. I think that the combined films make up the single greatest film of all time.
(But I still think that “American Beauty” definitely ranks. Amazing, amazing film.)
stoid
Check out Birth of a Nation. Ignore the rampant racism and just sit back and watch the greatest milestone in cinematic history. Compare it to other films made in the next twenty years after it. It stands way beyond anything else made before 1939. Even after GWTW and TWOO came along, it was still incredibly impressive. Every movie made since owes a great deal to it. D. W. Griffith invented virtually every tecnique used in narrative filmmaking. It always amazes me to see this film and realize that it is eighty-six years old. This movie was already five years old when my grandmother was born.
Anyone who cannot get past the extreme racism and see the incredible technical excellence in this film is a bleeding-heart, knee-jerking, closed-minded, bookburning socialist. Art is not always pretty.
Not sure about the book, but the hero is never raped in the film. His resistance to the rape gets him beaten to a bloody pulp…
No, Red explains that they got to him in the narration.
yes its a great movie but you should read the book also having never seen both of them it sounds like they made the book in almost 2 seperate parts
although they did come out with a sequel book also
you know its funny but there was a theory that the godfather wasnt based on the new york mafia but rather the chicago syndicate in general?
and if you studied mafia history you can pick out who the characters are generally based on
like the frank sinatra character … ect
but read the book its great
I loved The Godfather, read the book and have nothing but praise for the film. It is one of the greatest films, but not THE Greatest.
I’m no fanatic but I still believe Citizen Kane is and may always be the greatest American film.
Here is why:
Citizen Kane had a major impact on films that still exists today.
Citizen Kane was an innovative film using new camera angles and editing style that are still being used to this day.
The story itself was full and rich lacking any plotholes or convienent ommisions. It;s a shame most movies have not adopted that thouroughness (mind you Godfather has this quality to which is why it is great)
Also, just because you may know what Rosebud is, it does not take anything away from it.
Not to sound ethnocentric or rhetorical, but why stop at greatest American movie? What non-American movie kicks its ass?
The Third Man IMHO Alphagene.
Regarding the “Michael kills Sollozzo” scene, in the book the Corleones receive a hostage as guarantee of Michael’s safety. IIRC the hostage is seen arriving in the film. Plus what others have said: he is a non-combatant, the tame cop pats him down and the car does a U-turn on the bridge to avoid being followed.
Jeffrey Wells, the film writer for Reel.com, recently made a case, with feedback from his readers and director Kevin Smith, that “Kane” should, as one reader put it, “have its jersey retired.” Its place in filmmaking history is so firmly established that it places itself beyond eligibility for “Greatest Films” lists or anything of that nature.
“I just saw the Godfather (no. 1). I am convinced that this is the greatest American movie.”
—Ummm, I think you need to see more movies. How familiar are you with pre-1940 films? The works of Griffith, Hitchcock, Sturgis, De Mille (the early, silent stuff), as well as the silent and early talkie comedies? Yeah, “Godfather” is good and maybe one of the better American films, but to say it’s “The Best,” you have to have seen ALL the others.
[P.S. I think “Citizen Kane” is greatly over-rated. “Magnificent Ambersons” is a much better Welles film]
I’ve always been partial to Akira Kurosawa’s Ran. Maybe it doesn’t count because it is basically a Japanese treatment of King Lear but what a treatment it is!
IMHO one of the best films ever from a great director. Better than The Godfather? Hmmmm…debatable. They’re both great but unless Ran loses points for originality (being a spin on King Lear) then I think Ran might pull ahead in this race.
As I’m sure some folks have seen, a SDMB Movie Club has spawned over in MPSIMS a few weeks ago. We’re watching the American Film Institute’s top 100 movies in order, one per week. Tomorrow’s scheduled movie is The Godfather. (Good timing, eh?)
As this thread now seems to be more of a discussion on what should be the greatest movie rather than the merits of The Godfather, I offer a link to the SDMB Movie Club’s thread on this movie.