The Golden Era- review by comparison

Rating: Null/10 (17 April 2000)

The Golden Era of Hollywood in the late sixties and early seventies produced unbelievable work, but there are a handful of films here that set a different standard for masterpiece. Why The Godfather is at the top of them I do not know, but it definitely reaches out and pulls you in that direction. In its company are perhaps only four pictures: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 2001, Midnight Cowboy, and Chinatown. The only actor left out of this realm is De Niro, and if you include Taxi Driver, you have to mention Dog Day Afternoon, A Clockwork Orange, Don't Look Now and Apocalypse Now- all bonafide masterpieces, but missing something in the breath of the first five. (Let's not forget where film here created myths on a par with all the greats of cultures old: Star Wars (and bringing to life the definitive one, Excalibar). Shall we not forget The Graduate? Two words: The Godfather!