Easily lives up to its reputation as one of the greatest films ever

Rating: 10/10 (17 February 2012)

The Godfather is one of those movies that could be considered perfect or near perfect. It's a perfect ten in just about every category of what makes a great film: Cinematography, story, character development, action sequences, acting, plot twists...this movie is an absolute masterpiece. There's no clichés or corny moments, no annoying, useless characters, and its about as original as it comes in all aspects of story. The Corleone family is both evil and moral, both sympathetic and begging for hatred, both understandable and from another world. Vito Corleone is a ruthless crime boss, but at the same time, has standards and a sense of right and wrong. Michael Corleone goes from being a war hero who claims that he is not his family, to a mafia don more ruthless than his father. Sonny, his older brother, is a loose cannon, but with method to his madness. Every time I watch this movie, I ask myself: How did Coppola and Puzo do it? How can this movie be described as anything except perfect? If I have ANY gripe with The Godfather, at the toll booth, there's no way that somebody could take that many rounds and still not be incapacitated. Yeah, people don't always drop with one round in real life, but fifteen guys opening up on full auto with .45 ACP rounds from a Tommy Gun is going to kill pretty damn quickly! But I'm a gun nut, so that's a nit pick. That, I guess knocks the Godfather down to about a 9.999999999999999999 out of 10!