A film that will stand up to time

Rating: 10/10 (2 July 2003)

When you think of the top 25 films of all time, they have one thing in common. You could have seen them when they first came out or your children's children can be viewing them, and they will still give the same long lasting impression. They may encourage you/your children to get into film or entertainment, they make you think. They keep you talking well after you've seen the film not once, not twice, but for a long time. There is always something new you're discovering about it, each time you speak of it. The Godfather is one of those rare films.
I was too young to see it once it came out, but I read alot of movie magazines at the time about it as well as grabbing a copy of the Mario Puzio book. My first full length view of "The Godfather" was on...yep, you guessed it, the "Z" channel in Los Angeles in the 1980's. It grabbed me and never let go.
The Godfather has everything in it that a movie going public would like to see, and the rare thing is -- it's all in one movie.
It deals with family, the relationship of sons and their placement IN a family, it has violence -- that's for sure, mystery, romance, corruption, suspense. It has a story, surprises. The costumes are wonderful, the scenery and sets are wonderful.
This was 1972 and NOTHING like this was put together/filmed at the time. The early 70's gave alot of film makers chances, some good, some spectacular -- and most of all a legend for future film makers and entertainers to look at, hold in esteem and copy (which is the best form of flattery.)
Don't get me wrong, there are many 'gangster-type' films out there that kick-butt (thanks to James Cagney, Edward G. and a host of others) , but this one...flowed. It really isn't all about the violence, but legacies, how violence begats violence and a look inside a "family" maternal and extended and what they would do to survive. The rivalries between "families". This is why "The Godfather" ranks in the top 7 of the best movies of all time among the majority.
Francis Ford Coppola, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Cann, Robert DuVall and an ecclectic, well cast group of actors and actresses and Production crew brought this to life. Regardless of how YOU may feel personally about the "portrayal" of the ethnicity of the characters, this film MAKES you wonder, makes you feel, makes you angry, makes you cry, makes you respond.
The Godfather is one of the best films ever made.