old_codger
I've just watched DVDs of the trilogy recently. The first two films are brilliant, there's hardly anything to detract from them as masterpieces (considered opinion).
The third? Well, it's a very poor relation (sorry to disrespect the family) to the first two but as a film on its own, it's a decent watch. Simple facts for me though are - the story is too far down the line from part 2, plus, it isn't as well made a flick or well told a story. And maybe I missed it but the lack of Robert Duvall in it does spoil it. I also think Andy Garcia is not a credible actor or character in the film, and I remember being pretty pissed off when the film first came out that Francis Ford Copola's daughter was in the flick, supposedly as a bit of quality totty.
The film goes on too long as well. One of the many beauties of Godfather I and II is that there's hardly a minute throughout either story where a scene is wasted or not necessary - the Deleted scenes in the bonus DVDs sort of proves that, as they shouldn't have been cut but kept in. With Part 3 there's a lot of material that doesn't add to the story or take it further. But as i say, I reckon it's a decent flick on its own.
fulmine
Clacker wroteNo 2 wins it for me. De Niro is brilliant as the young Corleone.
Here, here. Two is a great piece of film-making. I hardly ever watch it these days, just so I can save it. I like it because I hardly ever notice the direction, no fancy tricks... brilliant acting, great story. "Michael, why are the drapes open?"
l.q.navarro.
1 + 2 Inseperable, both amongst the finest films ever made. 3 is pretty poor actually thought Garcia was ok think he was a good actor <internal affairs>. Very lousy script didn't help, + some ludicrously unbeleivable scenes, that assasination with the spectacles being one of them, I could go on.
Sofia Coppola dire. Apparantly Winona Ryder was supposed to take that part, but was taken ill just before filming started, not sure that was great casting either. Agree about Duvall OC. His absence took a lot out of proceedings. he must have had a butchers at the script + thought fuck this.
"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in" Didn't one of the charactars in The Sopranos used to keep saying that?
fulmine
l.q.navarro. wrote"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in" Didn't one of the charactars in The Sopranos used to keep saying that?
Silvio
follow
i've never seen 3 and i dont want to
1 & 2 are perfection, they stand alone but together the sum is greater than the two parts or whatveer that saying is.
think i would have to go with 2 if forced.
de niro magnificent.
Blue_Lou_Boyle
I refuse to choose. 1 has that great scene where Michael says to his pop "I'm with you now" which is fucking brilliant - it also has Simonetta Stefanelli's tits in it so you can't mark it lower than G2
7nation_army
Deffo 2. But only by a cats cock hair.
3 was so dissapointing and about 10 years too late
spacecadetdave
2. Then 1. 3 I turned off half way through and went to the pub instead.
john_charles_is_god
Two.
By a nose.
three shouldn't be allowed.
De Niro in two is unsurpassable.
oneallanclarke
Well worth checking out is 'The Godfather, The Epic'. Basically, it's I and II recut in chronolgical order, with loads and loads of extra scenes. Not available on DVD, though, just VHS
As for III, I remember taking the day off to see it when it opened and sitting in the cinema appalled at how bad it was. Sophia Coppola in for Winona Ryder,, the helicopter attack, supertanned George Hamilton as the consiligieri cos the producers wouldn't give pay Robert Duvall the same as Pacino, completely wasting Eli Wallach etc etc
Bod
Number 2 for me, the characters become really strong in this film many memorable moments in there too. A close second is number one, i remember seeing the third at the cinema when it came out and i really cannot remember a lot about it, apart from Pacino,s voice he can hardly speak, sounded like he had been smoking 40 B & H for forty years!
old_codger
Respect to all choices, it's a silly ask isn't it, trying to pick between 1 and 2 - it's like Sophie's Choice but maybe not as serious :lol:
Anyway, another little question I've often asked myself - not aloud - is CAN a sequel be really be better than the first film? it's a silly question i admit it, but the point is that the sequel wouldn't exist without the original. Specifically that was always one of my points made about Alien being better tahn Aliens.
Anyway, sod all that rambling, I prefer Godfather 1 because it has the restaurant scene, it has James Caan in and it has Brando in. Fecking magnificent both films, but 1 for me is even more magnificent.
G3 doesn't even get the 'set pieces' right, the murders, it was like Coppola had forgotten one of his main skills in setting up scenes and the punch and impact to them. I didn't actually mind the story as such but its delivery is poor, and whoever said it was made 10 years too late has a good point. I think the story is a few years too late as well, there are too many new characters in it, who you don't give a damn about. I quite liked the idea of Michael casting his mind back to killing Fredo, but even that loses its point (of Michael being alone and unloved and looking for repentance).
Shame on me though, i quite liked the helicopter scene!
Young_Marxist_at_Tescos
By now, Godfather II might not be the only sequel to win an Oscar, but it was the first.
7nation_army
Travolta was pencilled in to play the part of Vincent in the early Eighties when Coppola still knew what he was doing behind the camera. Its a shame really that could have been interesting. He's made some stinkers since then as well -'Dracula', Peggy sue got married'.
old_codger
7nation army wroteTravolta was pencilled in to play the part of Vincent in the early Eighties when Coppola still knew what he was doing behind the camera. Its a shame really that could have been interesting. He's made some stinkers since then as well -'Dracula', Peggy sue got married'.
Dracula was disappointing but some good bits, I thought.
I liked Peggy Sue Got Married, even with Cage in it.
abig
7nation army wroteHe's made some stinkers since then as well -'Dracula', Peggy sue got married'.
Rumble Fish, The Outsiders and Tucker were decent ,as was the much maligned Gardens of Stone.
GD No 1 for me.
7nation_army
abig wrote7nation army wroteHe's made some stinkers since then as well -'Dracula', Peggy sue got married'.
Rumble Fish, The Outsiders and Tucker were decent ,as was the much maligned Gardens of Stone.
Agreed, some cracking fillums there but all were made in the eighties, twenty years without a good film to his name is a long time. Saw Dracula at the cinema , Keanu Reeves attempt at an english accent had me and the missus in stitches .
abig
I went for a meal with someone in a west end restaurant a few years back who shelled out £450 on a bottle of Coppola's wine.
old_codger
Clacker wroteWhat About French connection 2 vs French Connection 1?
(Or have we already done that?)
Anyways, FC2 wins for me, though both great.
*Adopts Popeye Doyle belligerent-but-principled scowl*
Start the Thread man!
*having recently purchased the double DVD of FC, OC gets ready to watch the films and plans to disagree with Clacker*
mightycolorado
Sat outside the bar in Sicily where scenes were filmed (same village has the church where they were married) a few years ago. A beer and a wine cost about a quid (Tenner plus eksewhere). Inside they had a couple of signed photos on the wall otherwise it can;t have changed since medieval times. Nobody else apart from us. Anywhere else in Europe there would have been a shop selling T-shirts. baseballcaps etc and full to busting. Probably my most enjoyable beer of all time.