Opening

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The Godfather (1972)

tomatometer

100

Average Rating: 9.1/10
Reviews Counted: 77
Fresh: 77 | Rotten: 0

One of Hollywood's greatest critical and commercial successes, The Godfather gets everything right; not only did the movie transcend expectations, it established new benchmarks for American cinema.

100

Average Rating: 8.3/10
Critic Reviews: 18
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 0

One of Hollywood's greatest critical and commercial successes, The Godfather gets everything right; not only did the movie transcend expectations, it established new benchmarks for American cinema.

audience

97

liked it
Average Rating: 4.4/5
User Ratings: 714,865

My Rating

Movie Info

Popularly viewed as one of the best American films ever made, the multi-generational crime saga The Godfather is a touchstone of cinema: one of the most widely imitated, quoted, and lampooned movies of all time. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino star as Vito Corleone and his youngest son, Michael, respectively. It is the late 1940s in New York and Corleone is, in the parlance of organized crime, a "godfather" or "don," the head of a Mafia family. Michael, a free thinker who defied his father by

R,

Drama

Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola

Oct 9, 2001

Paramount Pictures - Official Site External Icon

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All Critics (77) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (77) | Rotten (0) | DVD (35)

To permit us a glimpse at The Mob, with all of its ethnic insularity, is like giving a chronic gambler a chance to wander above the false mirrors that overlook every casino.

January 18, 2013 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Brando's triumph and fascination is less that of an actor of parts than of a star galaxy of myths.

September 24, 2012 Full Review Source: Village Voice
Village Voice
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Traces the arc of this doomed idealism with a beauty that is still fresh.

February 23, 2011 Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly
L.A. Weekly
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Brando made Don Vito something we rarely see in movies: a tragicomic villain-hero, a vulnerable hood.

February 23, 2011 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
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In its blending of new depth with an old genre, it becomes that rarity, a mass entertainment that is also great movie art.

February 23, 2011 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine
TIME Magazine
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As filmmaking and storytelling, 'The Godfather' remains a bravura piece of work, its set pieces, dialogue and performances entrenched cinematic icons.

September 25, 2009 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comments (7)
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's hard to find a moment in the film that isn't great. The Godfather lives up to the term masterpiece.

February 13, 2012 Full Review Source: Time Out Chicago
Time Out Chicago

A defining film in the history of cinema, The Godfather introduced a legendary filmmaker and several acting greats in the telling of an Italian American dynasty undone by the tragic circumstances of their criminal exploits.

August 11, 2011 Full Review Source: Matt's Movie Reviews
Matt's Movie Reviews

This compeling movie of mafia and family life is superb in every department, writing, acting, directing, a highlight of Coppola's career as well as of New American Cinema.

February 27, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

Terrific performances and the perfect brooding atmosphere make it a truly outstanding work.

February 23, 2011 Full Review Source: Sky Movies
Sky Movies

The Godfather films remain so powerful, so ubiquitous, because in the Corleones we see the American Dream -- and in turn, ourselves.

February 11, 2011 Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

The classic tale of a Mafia family. Not for kids.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comments (5)
Common Sense Media

With all due respect to this 1972 classic, Vizzini was right: Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.

April 21, 2010 Full Review Source: MovieCrypt.com
MovieCrypt.com

A measured, deathly serious epic.

September 25, 2009 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | Comments (2)
Guardian [UK]

The greatest gangster film ever made.

September 25, 2009 Full Review Source: Total Film
Total Film

Like a favored method of Mafia influence, "The Godfather" is an offer no audience can refuse.

May 3, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | Comment (1)
ColeSmithey.com

With the themes of family and loyalty, this film is a must see for any movie fan.

October 8, 2008 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | Comments (4)
7M Pictures

Coppola offers a rich and layered look at family and does so with an incredible cast and a meticulous amount of detail.

October 6, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Views

Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 classic, The Godfather, is to gangster films what Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments was to super spectaculars.

September 17, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
Movie Metropolis

...it's the stellar cast's career-best work that ultimately assures the viewer's interest even through the film's less-than-enthralling stretches.

July 31, 2008 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comments (2)
Reel Film Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Godfather

UPDATED REVIEW OF THE TRILOGY:

As far as great trilogies go, it's a close second to Sergio Leone's "Dollars" trilogy.

Stay tuned at themoviefreakblog.com for the full review.
June 29, 2011
spielberg00

Super Reviewer

The son of a Mafia boss returns from the war and following an attempt on his father's life becomes more and more embroiled in the shadowy world of organised crime. Francis Ford Coppola's classic gangster saga is the story of a criminal dynasty headed by Marlon Brando in one of his most iconic roles. Coppola's direction is deceptively simple in that he uses no gimmicks or stylistic tricks; he merely allows the story to unfold and lets the superb cast do their thing. Brando's mumbling family and loyalty obsessed don has since become part of popular culture folklore (along with the classic score) and all other accompanying performances are top notch, from James Caan's hot headed Santino to Robert Duval's purely business orientated adviser. But this film is really the story of Michael's transition from honest war hero to shadowy underworld figure, played by Al Pacino in his finest role. The pivotal scene in which his newborn godson is baptised while Michael himself, the newborn "Godfather", is baptised in blood is an all time great. This is the birth of the modern gangster film and with the possible exception of Goodfellas, it is still to be surpassed.
November 4, 2006
garyX
xGary Xx

Super Reviewer

    1. Don Vito Corleone: A friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults.
    – Submitted by Lars P (2 months ago)
    1. Don Vito Corleone: Revenge is a dish best served cold
    – Submitted by Ankita S (3 months ago)
    1. Don Vito Corleone: You talk about vengeance. Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you? Or my boy to me?
    – Submitted by KANYE E (3 months ago)
    1. Michael Corleone: Well, when Johnny was first starting out, he was signed to a personal services contract with this big-band leader. And as his career got better and better, he wanted to get out of it. But the band leader wouldn't let him. Now, Johnny is my father's godson. So my father went to see this bandleader and offered him $10,000 to let Johnny go, but the bandleader said no. So the next day, my father went back, only this time with Luca Brasi. Within an hour, he had a signed release for a certified check of $1000.
    2. Kay Adams: How did he do that?
    3. Michael Corleone: My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
    4. Kay Adams: What was that?
    5. Michael Corleone: Luca Brasi held a gun to his head, and my father assured him that either his brains or his signature would be on the contract. Thats a true story.
    – Submitted by Sam B (4 months ago)
    1. Don Vito Corleone: I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.
    – Submitted by Dutch E (6 months ago)
    1. Sollozzo: I am sorry. What happened to your father was business. I have much respect for your father. But your father, his thinking is old-fashioned. You must understand why I had to do that. Now let's work through where we go from here.
    – Submitted by Hunter F (7 months ago)
View all quotes (108)

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