The Godfather (1972)
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.
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.
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Average Rating: 4.4/5
User Ratings: 714,865
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
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Cast
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Marlon Brando
Don Vito Corleone -
Al Pacino
Michael Corleone -
James Caan
Sonny Corleone -
John Cazale
Fredo Corleone -
Robert Duvall
Tom Hagen -
Diane Keaton
Kay Adams -
Sterling Hayden
McCluskey -
Richard Conte
Barzini -
Talia Shire
Connie Corleone -
Al Lettieri
Sollozzo -
Al Martino
Johnny Fontane -
Lenny Montana
Luca Brasi -
Rudy Bond
Cuneo -
Richard Bright
Neri -
Richard S. Castellan...
Clemenza -
Franco Citti
Calo -
Corrado Gaipa
Don Tommasino -
Tony Giorgio
Bruno Tattaglia -
Julie Gregg
Sandra Corleone -
Angelo Infanti
Fabrizio -
Morgana King
Mama Corleone -
Jeannie Linero
Lucy Mancini -
John Marley
Jack Woltz -
John Martino
Paulie Gatto -
Victor Rendina
Phillip Tattaglia -
Alex Rocco
Moe Greene -
Gianni Russo
Carlo Rizzi -
Vito Scotti
Nazorine -
Joe Spinell
Willy Cicci (uncredi... -
Simonetta Stefanelli
Apollonia -
Saro Urzì
Vitelli -
Abe Vigoda
Tessio -
Carmine Coppola
Piano Player (uncred... -
Sofia Coppola
Baby (uncredited) -
Tere Livrano
Theresa Hagen -
Salvatore Corsitto
Bonasera -
Ardell Sheridan
Mrs. Clemenza
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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.
Top CriticBrando's triumph and fascination is less that of an actor of parts than of a star galaxy of myths.
Traces the arc of this doomed idealism with a beauty that is still fresh.
Brando made Don Vito something we rarely see in movies: a tragicomic villain-hero, a vulnerable hood.
In its blending of new depth with an old genre, it becomes that rarity, a mass entertainment that is also great movie art.
As filmmaking and storytelling, 'The Godfather' remains a bravura piece of work, its set pieces, dialogue and performances entrenched cinematic icons.
It's hard to find a moment in the film that isn't great. The Godfather lives up to the term masterpiece.
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.
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.
Terrific performances and the perfect brooding atmosphere make it a truly outstanding work.
The Godfather films remain so powerful, so ubiquitous, because in the Corleones we see the American Dream -- and in turn, ourselves.
The classic tale of a Mafia family. Not for kids.
With all due respect to this 1972 classic, Vizzini was right: Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.
A measured, deathly serious epic.
The greatest gangster film ever made.
Like a favored method of Mafia influence, "The Godfather" is an offer no audience can refuse.
With the themes of family and loyalty, this film is a must see for any movie fan.
Coppola offers a rich and layered look at family and does so with an incredible cast and a meticulous amount of detail.
Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 classic, The Godfather, is to gangster films what Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments was to super spectaculars.
...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.
Audience Reviews for The Godfather
Super Reviewer
Movies Like The Godfather
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- Don Vito Corleone: A friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults.
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- Don Vito Corleone: Revenge is a dish best served cold
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- Don Vito Corleone: You talk about vengeance. Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you? Or my boy to me?
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- 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.
- Kay Adams: How did he do that?
- Michael Corleone: My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
- Kay Adams: What was that?
- 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.
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- Don Vito Corleone: I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.
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- 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.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Best film ever? | 6 days ago | 34 |
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Foreign Titles
- Der Pate (DE)
- The Godfather (UK)
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.