Agent Spalko
Guest
Apocalypse Now is better than GF.
The Godfather
- Thread starter Gustav
- Start date
MaxPhactor23
New member
I’ve still not seen the Godfather. I know…blasphemy. I’ve never been itching to see it either. Gangster movies aren’t especially my thing. I’m only into gangsters when they’re particularly colorful and have a guy in spandex and a cape beating them to a pulp. The real world mobster stuff I’ll pass on.
MaxPhactor23
New member
Oops! Double Post. My bad.
sandiegojones
New member
The Godfather is clearly considered one of the top 5 best films ever made. It has great writing, directing, music and began some great careers. It also helped usher in a new wave of filmmakers in the 70's.
There's different categories of films. The Godfather is a genre film, although it's more about family than a gangster film. That's what set it apart, plus at the time gangster films were silly with actors like Jimmy Cagney. The Godfather had realism.
I consider the 5 best films to be:
Vertigo
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Godfather
Chinatown
Lawrence of Arabia
It's hard to say which is really #1, but I wouldn't argue with anyone who thought one deserved to be #1 over another. It's subjective.
Casablanca, On the Waterfront, Star Wars, The Deer Hunter and more are also really great films.
I also think the age of the viewer is a factor. I wouldn't expect a 14 year old to respond to it like a 25-30 year old would. A young person likely wouldn't have seen as many movies or had similar life experiences so their point of reference is skewed.
There's different categories of films. The Godfather is a genre film, although it's more about family than a gangster film. That's what set it apart, plus at the time gangster films were silly with actors like Jimmy Cagney. The Godfather had realism.
I consider the 5 best films to be:
Vertigo
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Godfather
Chinatown
Lawrence of Arabia
It's hard to say which is really #1, but I wouldn't argue with anyone who thought one deserved to be #1 over another. It's subjective.
Casablanca, On the Waterfront, Star Wars, The Deer Hunter and more are also really great films.
I also think the age of the viewer is a factor. I wouldn't expect a 14 year old to respond to it like a 25-30 year old would. A young person likely wouldn't have seen as many movies or had similar life experiences so their point of reference is skewed.
featofstrength
Member
i love the godfather...but it does tend to get long and a lil boring in spots
agentsands77 said:
Okay, just making sure I'm not wasting my time.
agentsands77 said:
That's pretty much what I did except I left off the last one because if you haven't seen it, you can't have an opinion so I prefer those people just don't vote. I hate how imdb's polls give people the option to vote "I have no interest in this movie". If you have no interest, why vote? Voting "I haven't seen it" goes along those lines, though not quite as pointless.
sandiegojones said:
At the time? James Cagney's last gangster film was more than twenty years before The Godfather. And what's this "gangster films were silly with actors like Jimmy Cagney" stuff? You make it sound like Cagney is some sort of a clown. Gangster films of Cagney's era were exploitive, but they weren't silly. And you don't think The French Connection had realism?
Another thing I keep hearing about The Godfather is "the most influencial film of all time". Come on. The Matrix was twice as influencial on scifi and action films as The Godfather was on drama and crime films.
sandiegojones
New member
He's also an uncredited screenwriter. He wrote the original draft and John Milius did the final draft.The Man said:Your idol Mr. Lucas was once tapped to direct Apocalypse...
sandiegojones
New member
What are you, 12? THE MATRIX? That film was a flash in the pan. Sure, the first was good and for a few years everyone tried to copy it's effects, but it's not nearly as influential and it's sequels are not even as good as the SW prequels.Gustav said:
I spent 4 years of my life in film school and 3 more in the business. I've seen thousands of films. The typical gangster film was a Cagney film or Howard Hughes' "Scarface" with Paul Muny. There weren't a lot of gangster films in the 50's and 60's because films became more geared toward religious epics and Doris Day films, hence the 20 year gap you mention. The Godfather was a popular book, and stared some of the greatest actors of all time. When it was released the only name was Brando, but you cannot deny that since then Pacino, Duvall and Diane Keaton have become big stars.
Plus, the Godfather is as much a family drama as it is a gangster film. One of the things that set it apart was its graphic and realistic violence for it's time. Now video games are more violent but then this was as gritty as you get.
Like some, I think GF part II is just as good if not better, but I always give the nod to the original. Same as The Empire Strikes Back with Star Wars.
agentsands77
New member
It's interesting. I don't rightly know what to make of it.The Man said:
sandiegojones said:
That's right, pretentiously write me off as a twelve year old because I like The Matrix. Action movies would just not be the same if The Matrix were never made and you can't deny that. These days action movies at least try not to appear as shallow as they were back in the 80s to mid 90s, though admittedly it is usually just a front. That isn't to say a shallow action movie isn't just as important as The Godfather. And don't pretend Copppola made the gangster film jump straight from White Heat to The Godfather. Movies in other genres had gradually been getting more and more sophisticated. It was 20 years later, of course he wasn't going to use the same techniques they did back then.
By the way, do you like any films that aren't on AFI's top 100? I'm only asking because everything you've said so far - in defense of The Godfather and about other films you like - leads me to believe you're one of those people who only likes movies you're told to like.
sandiegojones
New member
I am a bit snooty about films. When you study something for a long time you tend to be more critical, although I don't spew hate. I love Indy 4 because I understand the point wasn't to make high art, but have fun. Raiders was the same although it was made so well and was so fresh at the time that it became art.
I like a lot of stuff not on the list, but that list does have a lot of films that I consider to be great. I gave you my top 5. Vertigo is my #1 favorite for many reasons (obsession, San Francisco, Spanish missions, great music, etc.) and I've been surprised to see it jump from #56 on AFI's list to the top 10 in just a few years, but I think it's certainly deserving. Some films take a while to get their due respect.
I do have some guilty pleasures but that's different altogether. There's art, and then there's just movies. Some of my other favorites are Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, The Lady Eve, The Empire Strikes Back, City Lights, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Departed, Rocky, Die Hard, Rear Window, Reservior Dogs, Apocalypse Now, Robocop, Master and Commander, ET, Jaws, Alien, 12 Monkeys, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and Lord of the Rings. My biggest guilty pleasures are probably Evil Dead 2, Nacho Libre, Blast From the Past and the SW prequels.
To knock my favorites because they're on some "greatest" lists is silly. There's a reson those films are on the list, but I'll be the first to say that Citizen Kane should not be #1. A lot of times people's politics determine what they consider great and it effects that AFI list too.
As far as the Matrix is concerned I think Die hard and Raiders are better action films and the actual plot is almost identical to Dark City which I also like better than the Matrix. The Matrix is cool no doubt, I saw it opening day at Mann's Chinese with a celebrity crowd which made the experience all the better for me, but I don't consider it art.
You mention the sophistication of genre film. The Godfather is the pinacle of the gangster film. It had real drama and the sophistication you mentioned. Scorsese has made some good and maybe more realistic films since then, but The Godfather is an epic family tragedy!
Everybody's tastes are different, but generally GF is considered a masterpiece.
I like a lot of stuff not on the list, but that list does have a lot of films that I consider to be great. I gave you my top 5. Vertigo is my #1 favorite for many reasons (obsession, San Francisco, Spanish missions, great music, etc.) and I've been surprised to see it jump from #56 on AFI's list to the top 10 in just a few years, but I think it's certainly deserving. Some films take a while to get their due respect.
I do have some guilty pleasures but that's different altogether. There's art, and then there's just movies. Some of my other favorites are Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, The Lady Eve, The Empire Strikes Back, City Lights, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Departed, Rocky, Die Hard, Rear Window, Reservior Dogs, Apocalypse Now, Robocop, Master and Commander, ET, Jaws, Alien, 12 Monkeys, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and Lord of the Rings. My biggest guilty pleasures are probably Evil Dead 2, Nacho Libre, Blast From the Past and the SW prequels.
To knock my favorites because they're on some "greatest" lists is silly. There's a reson those films are on the list, but I'll be the first to say that Citizen Kane should not be #1. A lot of times people's politics determine what they consider great and it effects that AFI list too.
As far as the Matrix is concerned I think Die hard and Raiders are better action films and the actual plot is almost identical to Dark City which I also like better than the Matrix. The Matrix is cool no doubt, I saw it opening day at Mann's Chinese with a celebrity crowd which made the experience all the better for me, but I don't consider it art.
You mention the sophistication of genre film. The Godfather is the pinacle of the gangster film. It had real drama and the sophistication you mentioned. Scorsese has made some good and maybe more realistic films since then, but The Godfather is an epic family tragedy!
Everybody's tastes are different, but generally GF is considered a masterpiece.
agentsands77
New member
It depends which action films you're talking about. The Matrix-style actioner had a big heyday for a bit, but I don't think it's had any lasting influence.Gustav said:
The Man
Well-known member
agentsands77 said:
Though the blame ultimately lies with the rip-off merchants, The Matrix led to a tsunami of 'flo-mo' imitation action scenes in other movies - so much so that the eventual sequels themselves felt like parodies of the original. People had seen in ad infinitum. Very tiresome...