A Classic That Almost Wasn't

Rating: Null/10 (8 August 2001)

There is no praise I can make that has not yet been said here, except that after having read the book in a single sitting I was enraptured by this film. There is no flaw in any frame. The period detail is beautiful and atmospheric, the tension between the actors in preparation for the violent conflicts is contagious, and the intensity of the performances pulls the viewer right into the characters' world. It is easy to understand how the characters in THE SOPRANOS fall in love with this film and want to see themselves in it.
Few films are as loyal to its source material as this one, and simultaneously become the stuff of legends. THE GODFATHER has as many casting legends about it as GONE WITH THE WIND, which is appropriate, as this has been called the GWTW of the 70s.
We must give special praise to Francis Ford Coppola for refusing to cave in to studio pressure to cast Ryan O'Neal or Robert Redford as Michael. While that would have brought people to the box office, none of them would want to see this film again and the video version would be in the bargain bin, never to be re-released. Al Pacino IS Michael Corleone; no one else could have done this character nearly as well.
Because this integrity is all but gone, this may be one of the last classics of American film.