Will continue to withstand the test of time

Rating: Null/10 (22 March 2003)

This has to be, without a doubt, the greatest film ever made. It is pure entertainment and master film-making. Despite its length it maintains interest throughout and, by the end, you're wanting more. POSSIBLE SPOILER! Marlon Brando (Don Corleone) deservedly won the Oscar, with his fine performance. However, because he is absent from a majority of the film, it is the superb support from Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall (who all got Oscar nominations) that really keeps the film at an A-class standard. END OF POSSIBLE SPOILER! The direction of Francis Ford Coppola is practically without fault and so is his writing, also contributed by the author of the novel, Mario Puzo. This is the gangster film that has inspired so many others (including Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" and, on TV, "The Sopranos"). The music and cinematography are outstanding and even the costumes are great. All in all, you can't find a fault with this film. All the elements work and it is just so satisfying. People who think it's over-rated are just fools who couldn't recognize great filmmaking if it hit them in the face.
It is hard, however, to judge whether part II is better or not, but one thing for sure is that it's as good as part I and better than part III. If you haven't seen this film then I suggest you rent it or buy it immediately because you really don't know what you are missing. Francis Ford Coppola once said that at the end of the day nobody knows anything about what is a good movie or a bad movie, unless it stands the test of time and that's how you know what's great. So true and certainly in this case for The Godfather, because it has and will continue to stand the test of time.