HCR Rates The Movies #10: THE GODFATHER

[DTM]

So, our next film, Classic or Crud, Hit or Miss, what say you ALL?

Our next film open for discussion, and ultimately an Overall RATING by you all:

THE GODFATHER
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Let the discussions flow. Likes, dislikes, classic film or overhyped trash, and DONT FORGET to place an Overall Rating when youre done.

Its easy, just give a Rating from 1 (Jaws 4:The Revenge) to 10 (Jaws), and thats it. Course I'd love to have you all give reasons as to why you feel it deserves this Overall Rating, and more than encourage discussions with us all about them.

So, what say you all?

Next Film: ??????

[Inbetweener]

Well this is a 10. Absolutely.

Even on my relatively stiff interval scale, the Godfather is a 10.0. Essentially a 100 out of 100. It's an amazing and timeless masterpiece of a film...I don't believe it to be overrated in the least.

Absolutely beautiful screenplay writing and unmatched character depth in a very good sized cast of characters. In addition, the overall performances of this ensemble cast go down as the best ever. It's hard for me to say "in my opinion" here either. The Godfather is the greatest film ever made and declaring it this way helps hit that point home even further and displays my willingness to contend this point with anyone.

Michael Corleone is a unique character in that he is a villain who we engage with so directly, that we literal forget he is villain altogether until he does something really krappy...like blatantly lie to his wife's face about killing his brother in law. The film is about Michael's downward spiral and the second film further makes the parrallel's with his father and the third puts him in the position his father was in when he saw Michael fall in the first Godfather, an old man who did what he could for his family and now realizes that delicate and tragic balance between love/respect and cold-blooded authority. No other film I can think of fools into identifying with such a dark character other than perhaps Eastwood's Unforgiven. The Godfather is special in may other ways too but it would take even more rambling to make these points.

That's that...I watch this and part II every single year around this time, so expressing this really helps to gear up for it.

[EmperorNorton]

I read the book first and was extremely disappointed.

The movie is absolutely great, though. From me it gets a 9 (I have trouble giving a 10 to any movie that doesn't have Christina Ricci).

[Wyldstaar]

10

This fantastic film has so many things going for it, how could it get anything but a ten? To begin with, it a great movie all by itself. It's also chock full of truely quoteable lines. Finally, it's highly inspirational. Even if you're not a ruthless mob boss, there are few situations in life that don't have an answer to be had in either The Godfather, or part II.

[hail_eris]

While great, this movie is traditionally the one cited when an example is needed for a sequel that's better than the original (the other obvious one being Empire Strikes Back). The brilliance of Godfather II (and the unintentional comedy of Godfather III), however, can't detract from the excellence of the first one. Great performances, brilliant use of music, and an unflinching look at the brutality of organized crime are just a few of the reasons why this is film is a fixture in critics' all-time top 10 lists. The editing in the baptism montage alone (most notably, the "Moe Greene's eye" scene) places The Godfather a league apart from other films of its day. While I'm also reluctant to give any film a perfect score, I'm totally comfortable giving this a solid 9.5.

[DTM]

Well Hail, like yourself, and Im sure so many others here, Im quite reluctant to give a Perfect 10 to any film, BUT that doesnt mean I never do so, or that there has to be only one single film thats a 10 in my mind. And Ive gotta say, for a guy who loves his Sci Fi/Horror/Action/Adventures films, this Drama is about as perfect as they come, and it would be an insult to it to NOT give it a Perfect 10. (and personally I enjoyed the First GF more than its sequel) :)

The story, the pacing, the acting, the lines, the music, ALL about as close to movie Perfection as you can get in my book. And at 3 hours no less, you feel after watching this that you were part of the family, spending years as one of them, yet still doesnt feel like a 3 hour picture. Youll cheer, youll cry, you heart will pulse wildly and then crash down the next minute.

One of the best films I have ever seen, and probably TIED with Empire Strike Back as my personal #2 favorite film EVER.

There is a reason this is a Classic in every sense of the word, and this was also the first of MANY such Classic films the 70s produced so much of. While giving a Perfect 10 is Very Select with me, I cant help but treat this film as it deserves.

My Rating - 10 / 10

[EmperorNorton]

So, did anybody besides me read the book?

[Wyldstaar]

So, did anybody besides me read the book?

Not yet, but it's on my list to read before I die. It's a rather large list, so it may be a while before I get around to it. Your own assessment certainly doesn't make be want to move it up on the list.

[EmperorNorton]

Not yet, but it's on my list to read before I die. It's a rather large list, so it may be a while before I get around to it. Your own assessment certainly doesn't make be want to move it up on the list.

Well, I'd wish you to die before you have to read it, but that'd sound so aggressive, while it would be intended to sound purely cynical.

The story is well known from the movie and it is good, but in my opinion it was written very badly. I'm not sure if the translation is to blame for that, though.

[Gentlegamer]

Truly the definition of a classic: 10

[Inbetweener]

So, did anybody besides me read the book?

I read the book about a year or so ago...other than Luca Brazi's character it really doesn't compare. It's a good read for more background on the story, but that's about it.

[DTM]

Current HCR Member Rating:

THE GODFATHER - 9.75 / 10

[dj_sha]

Truly the definition of a classic: 10



So what exactly makes it a classic? What makes it so perfect other than what the back of the DVD box labels it? Sorry if this seems rude, but these threads seem pointless if comments and critiques are given in this form.

[Wyldstaar]

So what exactly makes it a classic? What makes it so perfect other than what the back of the DVD box labels it? Sorry if this seems rude, but these threads seem pointless if comments and critiques are given in this form.

That's because you're too lazy to go to the trouble of reading all of the posts instead of just the last few. Lots of other posters to this thread (myself included) posted specific reasons for why they gave the film the rating they did. Most of the reasons that have been given in this thread are not the sorts which make their way onto the backs of DVD boxes either. Many posters don't bother stating why they give the rating they do when there are so many others who've come before them who have already given the same reasons they agree with.

and if you were really sorry about seeming rude, you would have found another way to say it.

[DTM]

So what exactly makes it a classic? What makes it so perfect other than what the back of the DVD box labels it? Sorry if this seems rude, but these threads seem pointless if comments and critiques are given in this form.


If threads like this seem pointless, and youre not satisfied with some of the other members posts, you could always post an opinion here yourself, show us how its all done.

[Rokk_Krinn]

This is one of those films that I think I'm not supposed to like. I'm Italian-American and sometimes the stereotypes that came out of the "Godfather" for my ethnic group does get to be a bit much - I've actually had girlfriends' fathers ask me to sit down and watch the movie with them so they can "understand my culture better". So, I should be annoyed with this movie but I'm not - I've probably watched it more times than anyone should but I've never gotten tired of it. Like DTM,I also prefer this over the sequel.

Watching Michael's fall as he struggles against the family heritage is epic in the same sense that "Paradise Lost" catches the fall of Lucifer. Here is someone that starts out as the epitome of "great and good" and proceeds to be shaped not just by outside factors but their own internal flaws into a powerfully evil force. Forget Anakin turning into Vader - this is a true portrayal of how good intentions truely do lead you to Hell and how once you get there you embrace it. Who can't watch the final scene and not think about how far Michael has fallen from the man we first saw at the beginning of the film?

Vote: 10

[DTM]

Current HCR Member Rating:

THE GODFATHER - 9.79 / 10

[NotYou]

Films with wise guys and mob types just rub me up the wrong way.
The best thing about them is when karma comes back to bite you in the ###, and
Joe Pesci gets beat to death with a spade.
This film was so well made that you don't even need to see Joe Pesci get beaten
to death, and it is at the top of it's genre, but it simply isn't my favourite genre.
8.75 (and that is being generous...My first instinct was 8)

[DTM]

Current HCRMember Rating:

THE GODFATHER - 9.66 / 10

Looks like its neck and neck with The Muppet Movie for the #1 spot here. :)

[Esper3k]

I'll toss in a 10 for the Godfather. The first time I watched the movie, I was just amazed by the story and the music. Just the mix of quiet atmosphere with raw brutality is great. I'm also one of the fans who liked the first movie more than the vaunted second movie (although the second movie was great, too).

[d_knight7]

8/10, best of the 3.

[torontcollectr]

How much is truth, how much is fiction?
Regardless this film is a cinematic masterpiece.
All-star cast - great performances, action, romance

great lines-

If only they had stopped at 2, or at least killed Sofia Coppola at the start of the pic.

9.5

[deadshot042]

The book is a powerhouse and so is the film. I don't think I can say anything that can't be said.
10/10

[CapAmerica24]

Not much more to add over what's already been said. 9.5 out of 10 for me, and if you liked the GTA video games, rent or buy the Godfather video game....VERY addicting, especially to fans of the movie.

[Antipathy]

Yeah, I think it's pretty obvious I loved this movie.

10/10

[Mieir Link]

I just saw this movie recently, and that was after being told numerous times how I have to see it and how great it is as well as how over rated it is. When I finally did watch it i watched it with an open mind and I really liked it. After watching it for the first time it's hard to really grasp what it is about the movie that pulls you in so much but in rewatching it you realize how greate the cast, music and characterizations are in this movie. So many great characters, obviously the two stars are great with Pacino and Brando, but there are so many other great characters to pull you into the movie, I loved Duvall as Tom Hagen.

I have seen the whole trilogy and I must say that while I've heard that the second one is superior to this one I disagree, to me this is the best movie of the Trilogy and I'll explain why. Family, the first movie is more about the Family and Brando as Vito Corleone is what really holds the family together for me, as good as pacino is there is something about Brando as the Godfather that makes it that much more amazing. In the first one Michael does what he does for his family and we see thats what pulls him in and motivates him and while I get the fall from grace in the second it just doesn't quite match what to original was, to me anyways.

Although I still love the second one, I'd probably give it a 9.5 or 9.75 but for this one I'll agree with many other people and rate it a 10 (probably the only 10 I'll give out, unless my personal fave The Crow shows up in these polls)

[Wyldstaar]

So... You say it's over-rated, yet you've given the film a 10. Do you realize how little sense that makes?

[Mieir Link]

I didn't say it was over rated, I said I'd heard from people how it was both amazing and over rated, but I didn't say I thought it was

[T'Chaka]

From Tarzan: The Phil Collins Experience to this. ;)

The Godfather. 10/10.

Never forget that the seventies were one of Hollywood's Golden Ages!

[DTM]

From Tarzan: The Phil Collins Experience to this. ;)

The Godfather. 10/10.

Never forget that the seventies were one of Hollywood's Golden Ages!


Actually, this was an OLD thread that someone recently resurfaced. :) The new one is Mortal Kombat, starting off our Video Game Feature Films section.

[T'Chaka]

The new one is Mortal Kombat, starting off our Video Game Feature Films section.

Mortal Kombat had a catchy theme song, I guess.



and, oh yeah, it does say #10, not #110. sorry. :p

[DTM]

Its cool, all of these threads are always Open for more ratings, which is why I post the total ratings list at the bottom of every new thread, so others can see whats been done (and what its scored) and choose to look it up and give their opinions if they havent already.

[Drunky]

Can't say much more than what was already said... It's a brilliant movie, the best of the three as far as I'm concerned (however, the second one is excellent too).

9/10

[batfink]

9.5
I really can't add anything else to what already has been said.

I think the turning point for Michael was when Apollonia was killed.

[lensnart]

Obviously I respect this film as a fine piece of work but I have always thought it was a bit overrated. I have seen it a couple of times and it doesn't blow me away like it seems to others. Maybe it's because I am not really a fan of the mafia genre, or crime films in general, but I just don't think this is one of the greatest films of all time. It was good I'll grant you and I was glad to have seen it, but I can think of a lot of films I would rather watch on a rainy afternoon.

8 out of 10

[wintremute]

Wow, I can't believe this movie came out in 1972! That's the year the Dolphins went undefeated!

1972 - over 35 years later and this is STILL a movie to judge all other movies by. A standard was set that has been hard to live up to (kind of like Miller's "Dark Knight Returns" in my opinion). I give it a 9 out of 10.

My wife rates it as a 9 also. Some parts are really difficult to watch because of how intense it is and characters that she likes die...but that's part of what makes the movie so great.

[labria4]

9/10

What great things haven't been said about this film?