The Godfather I (DVD)

Francis Ford Coppola's classic Gangster movie is a film that contains; what I consider to be, the greatest opening in cinematic history. It's not the kind of big action sequence that would open something like a Bond film, nor is it a traditional gangster movie prologue where the main character narrates for you. No, the opening of The Godfather is much more memorable and more unique than that. It sees a man, a man who will seemingly become unimportant to the story as it progresses, and with a slow pan out from his eyes he utters the words, "I believe in America..." As the scene progresses it becomes ...  Read the complete review

Often mentioned among the greatest films of all time, 'The Godfather' brings us an intimate look at a Mafia crime family. Americans have always had a romantic fascination with organized crime and this film takes us inside `the family' like never before. The screenplay by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola is nearly flawless. The dialogue is engaging and emotional and the pace never lets up. The story is mesmerising. The characters are so carefully and intimately developed that we can't help but get emotionally involved with them. Though the violence is graphic and disturbing, it is never random or gratuitous and always has a direct link to a ...  Read the complete review

note: also appears on The Student Room and Flixster Frequently hailed as one of the best films of all time, The Godfather is a searing crime drama adapted from Mario Puzo's 1969 novel of the same name. This film, directed by legendary director Francis Ford Coppola, is a masterclass of the crime genre, and wrestlers with Martin Scorsese's masterful Goodfellas as the title of the greatest crime film ever made. The film depicts the Corleone family, a crime family, helmed by Don Corleone (Marlon Brando), who has four grown kids, Michael (Al Pacino), Sonny (James Caan), Fredo (John Cazale), and Connie (Talia Shire). He also has a helping hand from lawyer ...  Read the complete review

This review was written by myself, here: http://www.empireonline.com/forum/tm.asp?m=2422814&mpage=1&key= Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather completely changed the face of cinema. Perhaps the very first blockbuster, it singlehandedly gave executives the idea to increase the price of cinema tickets due to queues and queues of folk interested in seeing The Godfather through word of mouth appraisals. Casual film viewers, however, were not the only people impressed by it. It has appeared in many top films lists of critics and acquired four Oscars, including Best Picture (though that doesn't mean much). It is almost impossible to ...  Read the complete review

The Godfather is just as difficult for me to review as a writer as it was for me to watch as a movie lover. I have wrestled with my thoughts on numerous occasions, trying to decide the best way of beginning this review, in an attempt to do any possible justice to a true masterpiece of cinema, which has stood the test of time, nearly forty years later. Truth be told: you require a strong level of patience for films like The Godfather. I'll admit, that when I first watched it I fell asleep mid-way through. This wasn't because I found it boring; rather, its complex, interconnected stories were far too stimulative for my young mind to handle, and it completely ...  Read the complete review