What can I say? One of the truly great films. (SPOLIERS)

Rating: Null/10 (25 November 2004)

After posting my thoughts on part II, I decided to give equal time here. Part of why GII was such a terrible movie is because this was such a great one.
Coppolla does his best work when he is under career threatening pressure, and perhaps this was it. Here you see what happens when his ego doesn't get in the way, and when that happens you can see his technical genius.
Brando gives the best performance, and one of the great performances of all time by any actor in film. James Caan was perfect. Enough said. The restaurant scene with Al Pacino and Sterling Hayden is indelibly etched on my brain as the most chilling experience I've had in a motion picture. Bravo.
The set, the camera work, the music, the writing, the dialogue, all work cohesively. The hospital scene is an excellent example of creating tension. Quite honestly, I didn't think Coppolla was capable of such Hitchcockian style direction.
If you haven't seen it, you have something to look forward to. There are few movies that I would recommend more than this one.