[.ca] The Godfather

Amazon.com essential video:
Generally acknowledged as a bona fide classic, this Francis Ford Coppola film is one of those rare experiences that feels perfectly right from beginning to end--almost as if everyone involved had been born to participate in it. Based on Mario Puzo's bestselling novel about a Mafia dynasty, Coppola's Godfather extracted and enhanced the most universal themes of immigrant experience in America: the plotting-out of hopes and dreams for one's successors, the raising of children to carry on the good work, etc. In the midst of generational strife during the Vietnam years, the film somehow struck a chord with a nation fascinated by the metamorphosis of a rebellious son (Al Pacino) into the keeper of his father's dream. Marlon Brando played against Puzo's own conception of patriarch Vito Corleone, and time has certainly proven the actor correct. The rest of the cast, particularly James Caan, John Cazale, and Robert Duvall as the rest of Vito's male brood--all coping with how to take the mantle of responsibility from their father--is seamless and wonderful. --Tom Keogh Francis Ford Coppola's epic masterpiece features Marlon Brando in his Oscar®-winning role as the patriarch of the Corleone family. Director Coppola paints a chilling portrait of the Sicilian clan's rise and near fall from power in America, masterfully balancing the story between the Corleone's family life and the ugly crime business in which they are engaged. Based on Mario Puzo's best-selling novel and featuring career-making performances by Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall, this searing and brilliant film garnered ten Academy Award® nominations, and won three including Best Picture of 1972. DVD Features: * Commentary by Director Francis Ford Coppola * Widescreen Version Enhanced For 16:9 TVs * Dolby Digital: English 5.1 Surround; French Mono * English Subtitles

Amazon.com Essential Video:
Generally acknowledged as a bona fide classic, this Francis Ford Coppola film is one of those rare experiences that feels perfectly right from beginning to end--almost as if everyone involved had been born to participate in it. Based on Mario Puzo's bestselling novel about a Mafia dynasty, Coppola's Godfather extracted and enhanced the most universal themes of immigrant experience in America: the plotting-out of hopes and dreams for one's successors, the raising of children to carry on the good work, etc. In the midst of generational strife during the Vietnam years, the film somehow struck a chord with a nation fascinated by the metamorphosis of a rebellious son (Al Pacino) into the keeper of his father's dream. Marlon Brando played against Puzo's own conception of patriarch Vito Corleone, and time has certainly proven the actor correct. The rest of the cast, particularly James Caan, John Cazale, and Robert Duvall as the rest of Vito's male brood--all coping with how to take the mantle of responsibility from their father--is seamless and wonderful. --Tom Keogh

Okay, but not great. Poor DVD Transfer.:
I have just viewed this movie for the first time, and for the life of me, I don't know what all the hype has been about. The acting is at most, mediocre (with some roles just downright poorly acted). The plot seems to come and go throughout the movie, and the violence is by today's standards very cheesy. I also kept wondering how Marlon Brando's character became so tied to this movie, as his role seemed very minor. I give it three stars because, I'm sure when this movie was originally released, it was "Epic", but it just hasn't stood the test of time. Some of the scenes are well acted, but are overshadowed by lack of plot and some particularly bad acting as well. Aside from the movie itself, Francis Ford Coppola should be embarrassed about the quality of this DVD transfer. It has several flaws (scratches, flickering, low lighting, etc.) and really looks bad on a large screen television. Perhaps he should let George Lucas have a go at a Special Edition version of his movie to "clean it up" and bring it up to date (Whatsa Heesa Deesa Meesa?) - of course I'm joking.

LOUSY TRANSFER OF A CLASSIC:
I can only add my voice to the many who were disappointed by the DVD transfer. How can you mess up one of the best movies of the last half century? Looks very grainy in some indoor scenes...in fact, some scenes looked like they were filmed with an old, cheap video camera. That said, the story, acting, editing and music are just about perfect. The only thing that rings false is the carelessness the family exhibits after Don Corleone's attack. They act a bit like amateurs. This begs for a DO-OVER (maybe they're waiting for another anniversary year to roll around to release a definitive edition). I refuse to buy the box set as it includes the inferior Part 3. Hopefully, when they release Part 2, they pay more attention to the quality of the transfer.

A victim of its own success:
I think that if I was born fifteen to twenty years earlier and saw the Godfather when it first in theatres, I would have loved it. As it is, though, it enjoyed so much success that by the time I saw it in college in 2001, it had become cliche. This in conjunction with a lot of hype from its fan base destined it to be at least somewhat disappointing. The Godfather is an extremely heavy movie, and un-buoyed by its originality, some parts of the movie come within a hair's breadth of cheesiness for its over-intensity. Thankfully, this is countered by masterful acting, which it *does* have in abundance, keeping it on the right side of believability. I'd recommend that everyone should see the movie at least once; you might be more able to look past the cliches enough, or perhaps not as exposed to them, so that it retains some of its original flavor. Even if not, it is a significant enough cultural contibution that it's worth seeing, even if it just to see the initial context from which those cliches originated.

A little over-hyped, but quite well done.:
For years my friends have told me how great this movie was. I hear the cliche "Make him an offer he can't refuse" used time after time. So what do I do, I overlook this movie until now. I must be honest, its a great movie, but it did not blow me out of the water. The acting was quality, and the plot was well layed out. However, I am not a fan of sitting through a 3 hour or so movie. It has to be attention gripping, and this one did not. Kind of long in parts, not enough action/murder/blood. What can I say, I enjoy a lot of blood and violence. I certainly will never consider this THE greatest movie ever made. It is a classic, but not THE classic.

"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.":
I never saw the movie before because I have no interest in "the Mob", New York, or gang politics. It took Brando's death, plus all the great reviews here and the #1 ranking at IMDB to prompt me to get this movie to add to 400 movies I have. The only thing I knew about it going in was there was a horse head in a bed, and Brando mumbled and played with a cat. The movie has a long list of big name actors including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall, and was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It seems to be filmed rather darkly with muted colors, though many posts here complain about the transfer. I had big expectations for this movie, but at the one-hour mark I was so bored I turned it off. Later I started over with the commentary, which was a bit more interesting. I took a nap in the middle, then came back to finish this 3-hour exercise in tedium. Mostly OK acting. Good photography. Famous theme. I liked 2 lines of dialog, but that's about it.