The greatest landmark on American cinema.

Rating: 10/10 (5 October 2001)

The Godfather is great. For almost thirty years now audiences have been captivated and intrigued by the Corleone family. And no other mafia movie has ever come as close to being this good. The story is just amazing and the directing by Francis Ford Coppola is nothing less than spectacular. Coppola has taken the concept of organized crime in America, something that was once looked down upon, and has built a cult following around it, with Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as their leading figures. And I don't think any single film has produced as many memorable scenes as The Godfather. Who could ever forget Marlon Brando, as Vito Corleone, buying those oranges on that fateful day? Or James Caan, as Sonny Corleone, getting massacred by the barrage of machine-gun bullets? And lines that will forever be repeated by fans like, "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." The bottom line is that The Godfather has changed the way we look and judge films. It has made cool what is sinful, crime a family value, and dynamic characters the modern-day icons of several generations of storytelling in film. Alongside all the revolutionary pictures of all time, The Godfather earns it place at the very top. Whether it is the #3 greatest film by the American Film Institute, #1 by IMDb, or #2 by me, this movie should very well be agreed by all to be a landmark in American film history.