A good movie, however not worthy of its top ranking

Rating: 1/10 (10 April 2002)

When a prestige movie is made, utmost attention is given to detail, grandeur, style, and above all, popularity. Godfather was a movie made to honor the great work of Mario Puzo, who wrote a novel that brought true attention to the human side of the gangster/mobster. Capolla knew that he had embarked on a great mission when he set out to perform the unthinkable: to show the world that the leaders in crime have souls, and that they are certainly not invincible. This movie was what it was meant to be, a prestige movie, it took very few risks, and was filmed to simply document the lives of its characters.
I found the Godfather to be a very well done movie. In fact, I enjoyed this movie so much that I have watched it on many occasions. This movie serves as a soap opera of the gangster world to me, and it tells its story very well. However, I do not believe that any film of this character should be given such a high accord in the Top 100 ranking. The highest position on the rating scale should be given to a movie that fulfills the requirements of a movie to the tee. The godfather does not do this as precisely as other movies.
People go to see movies simply to be displaced from their ordinary lives. To be transported to another world, life, place, or perspective. The godfather does a very feeble attempt at fulfilling this essential requirement. Not at one moment in this movie does the audience become disconnected with themselves. There is not a single instance where the actions on the screen become real, and where the world in which the audience is watching from fades away. To those of us who believe in the true excellence of movies, the Godfather does not rate anywhere near the `best movie of all time'.
Movies such as Moulin Rouge, Citizen Kane, Requiem for a Dream, the Matrix, Casablanca, Momento, and even (depending on the viewer) Gladiator, all grasp the viewer by their hair, and thrust them into another world, if for only a few seconds. The movie watching experience is topped by this disconnection from the real world. It leaves us in a feeling of awe, and shows us that the movie we just watched was more than just a movie, but a journey into the minds of the characters on the screen, and in some unique cases, a journey into the great depths of our own minds. With this sort of depth and greatness, these types of movies should be all in the top 10.
This unique greatness is not easily achieved. In order to capture the audience in such a thrilling way, a great deal of effort must be spend meticulously building up the pace and timing of the movie. The climax should be the point where the viewer has already been captured into the movie, and should thus create a `climatic experience', thus blowing the viewer away. The Godfather has none of these elements perfected to such a state that they encapsulate the viewing public to a degree worthy of its ranking.
So it is therefore obvious that The Godfather does not reach the greatness of a few other better movies, and so it is not deserving of its top ranking. If it were up to me, I would move the Godfather down to 5 or 6, and leave room the real screen gems to be appreciated.
This movie gets a rating of 9 out of 10