Movie Series Review - The Godfather

A few years ago, I went on a flight to Australia via an A380 Qantas airplane and one of the best things about the flight, was that I can watch a lot of films on it using a screen in front of me. So I browsed through the list of films available and came across the Godfather. A film that has been a very influential film in the industry and one where as the famous quote goes, you just simply can't refuse to watch it. Now I was able to watch the first two parts of the story on this flight and managed to see the third and final part once I was able to buy the boxset for myself. So I guess you could say the shop gave me an offer I couldn't refuse (yeah I will stop using that line now). So let's talk about it:

Part I

The year is 1945 and the titular Godfather Vito Corleone (played by the late Marlon Brando) is at his daughter's wedding, celebrating the occasion with his family. As things take into effect, we then cut to shortly before Christmas where a drug baron asks Vito for both investment in his narcotics business and protection through his political connections. Vito who is very wary of this deal, declines the offer, but has his enforcer spy on the whole ordeal. This then leads to a series of events that involve gun fights, the fall of Vito and the rise of his youngest son, Michael (played by the great Al Pacino). As the first film in a series of films, it is really good. It's definitely up there as one of the best gangster films of all time and also one of the best films ever made, period. It has some iconic lines, iconic characters and pretty much set the standard for films to come after it. A great film all around. 9/10

Part II

So how can you top a film that's highly regarded as one of the greatest films ever made? Well somehow, director Francis Ford Coppola managed to do just that in what is considered to be something that not many filmmakers are able to do. So following the events of the last film, Michael Corleone (reprised by Al Pacino) is now the new Godfather or Don if you prefer, of  his crime family and the film largely follows him doing his job mainly in the year of 1958 while also picking out points that weren't seen in the first film. And well let's just say that Michael does the job, but it comes at a number of costs that does ask the question if he will survive this ordeal or not. So as I said, it is a great film regarded as one of those sequels that actually feels like a sequel done right. The stakes are higher, the drama is higher and if anything, it may actually be better than the first. I mean yes the line "I have an offer you cannot refuse" may never be topped by anyone, but as far as films go, it is another great film. Can't say anymore than that. 9/10

Part III

So after two great films, it now comes down to this film which Coppola has stated is the epilogue to the series while the story itself was always supposed to be just in two parts. So the year is 1979 and 60 year old Michael Corleone (reprised by Al Pacino) is regretting his ruthless rise to power and has become especially guilt ridden for having his brother killed. For most of the film, he tries to build up a reputation of being a good man, but of course by doing that as well as serving the mafia world once more, can come at a cost and this time, its one he cannot get out of. So I'd say its no surprise that after two great films, we get an OK third instalment which could be better. As a supposedly stand alone story, it doesn't work well enough to do that. Also some of the acting could be better as well as the story telling. Still may not be much, but its still a satisfactory ending to a great series of films, even if its highly regarded as the weakest of the three films. 8/10

So there you have it. As a film series, it is pretty good and up there as one of the best around. But as much as I enjoyed watching them, I just wished it had a better ending to what we got. But despite that, its a very influential series that helped shaped the industry to where it is today and I don't know where it would've gone without it. I'm also aware that there are some video games based on The Godfather as well as the original books so I hope to tackle all of those at some point. But we shall see. 9/10