The Godfather

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SS69

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I finally got around to watching the whole movie last night for the first time. Wow. What a gratuitous unmitigated piece of crap. This movie was so goddamn boring. THREE HOURS! They took three hours to say what could have been said in less than one. The acting was decent, that was about it. The script was horrible. It had no emotional development whatsoever. I felt nothing for these people. The most important thing a movie can do is tie the audience to the characters with some sort of emotion, be it hate, love, whatever. I felt nothing. No drama, no climax. Every scene of this movie was predictable. I saw around every corner. I am somewhat partial to the genre of mafia movies, and yes i consider mafia movies their own genre. This was bad. The script was thin, it was weak. It did not keep me interested. Not only did I know every thing that was going to happen, I didnt have the interest to stick around and see it. The only reason I watched the whole thing was so my comments would be justifiable. I've seen bad movies before and blew it off. The only reason I'm bagging this one so much is because it's revered as one of the greatest movies, if not the greatest, of all time. I've seen a lot of movies. A LOT. And this is one of the worst, if not the worst, movie I've ever seen.
 
Um. I think I'll just say that I disagree with you and leave it at that. Because I happen to think that it IS one of the greatest films of all time.
 
Wow...this is like...the world against you...but it's ok though.

Ironically, most pure Italians wouldn't appreciate The Godfather as everyone else, because we know what mafia is really about and how it started.

The Godfather is great IMO not because of the murder and power but the real value of family in the whole movie. Family is the main point of the movie if you didn't get it SS69.

There's a lot more to the Godfather than just having a good plot or good acting. It teaches you about life too....

I'll leave it at that.



Ciao!
 
Let me just say from the outset that I simply do not agree with you at all, the Godfather is a classic piece of film-making and most importantly storytelling.

I do however have to pick up on a few points you have made

SS69
THREE HOURS! They took three hours to say what could have been said in less than one.
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And had they taken one hour to say it the film would have been ruined; simply turned into a series of pointless and threadbare gunfights and slayings. This comment (for me) is on par with the people who moan that 'Man on Fire' and 'The Deer Hunter' have too much talking in them and that the films should just have the action bits in them.


SS69
The acting was decent, that was about it. The script was horrible. It had no emotional development whatsoever. I felt nothing for these people. The most important thing a movie can do is tie the audience to the characters with some sort of emotion, be it hate, love, whatever. I felt nothing. No drama, no climax.
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Well no one can force a reaction on you, but I strongly suspect that you may be in a rather small minority here. Its also potentially at odds with the comments above about the film being too long. A huge amount of time in The Godfather is spent building the relationships between the family, particularly the relationship between Michael (Al Pacino) and his father. The struggle he undergoes to avoid joining the family business and the realisation that he has little choice if his family is to survive.

Sorry but to condemn The Godfather for a poor script and a lack of emotional development is quite frankly amazing to me, if you would not mind could you give me an example of a film that you believe did this well?



SS69
Every scene of this movie was predictable. I saw around every corner. I am somewhat partial to the genre of mafia movies, and yes i consider mafia movies their own genre.
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Not a huge surprise given that just about every gangster/mafia film since 1972 has ripped the film off to a huge degree. The Godfather is only predictable because you've seen these films the 'wrong' way around. I first saw the Godfather over 20 years ago and for me its every other gangster/mafia film that's predictable.




SS69
The only reason I'm bagging this one so much is because it's revered as one of the greatest movies, if not the greatest, of all time. I've seen a lot of movies. A LOT. And this is one of the worst, if not the worst, movie I've ever seen.
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In that case I can only conclude that you've been lucky enough in life to avoid a simply huge number of very, very bad movies.

As a start I suggest you give the following a go

Battlefield Earth
Shanghai Surprise

The list could go on and on, but it is rather interesting to note that The Godfather is still the number one rated film on IMDB.


Regards

Scaff
 
I agree with everything Scaff said here, The Godfarther is a masterpiece on film. Like Scaff said, you only found it to be predictable because you've seen so many other later mafia films first. The fact it's three hours long has nothing to do with it being a good or bad movie, in fact I generally find that longer films benefit by being able to portion more time to the character development. Like Scaff said, Man On fire is a great example of where plenty of people loved it, but then some people complained that nothing really happened until about 50 minuets in. Good, thoes first 50 minuets were what made me care about the characters.
 
Perhaps you're a victim of seeing too many movies which have tried desperately (and for the most part fallen short) to imitate The Godfather since its release.

Although I did prefer The Godfather to The Godfather Part II, which I did think was a little over-hyped.
 
It's not the lack of action or the amount of talking. I understood the message the movie was trying to convey. I just dont think it was done well. Casino is another three hour mafia movie that did a lot of talking. More than The Godfather, and I think it was a much better film. Blow, not necessarily a mafia movie but give George Jung a NY sicilian accent and you pretty much get mafia drug trafficing. A lot of talking, much more entertaining. I felt for this guy. The bad guy you root for. Goodfellas; great film, all talk. Donnie Brasco. Not the greatest of the above mentioned, but still a great mafia movie. Crazy you say? Blasphemous? I dont know. I just think The Godfather is overrated. I love the concept, hell doesnt 2 and 3 take it all the way to the 80's? I like the Idea. I just thought it was a weak script, and I didnt care for it.
 
speedy_samurai
It insists upon itself.
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I was thinking exactly the same thing...

(Did no one else get the reference?)

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SS69, all I can say is "God have mercy upon your soul." Lets put it this way, I can't think of too many people who haven't seen the movie, much less not liked it. Simply put, it is a cinematic masterpiece that continues to influence film today, and will probably live on as the second greatest film of the 20th century (that title still belongs to Citizen Kane).

...But let me guess, you liked Scarface better than The Godfather? If that is the case, I most certainly feel bad for you...
 
Allow me to be the first to agree with you YSSMAN that Scarface is completely overrated. It's long, tedious at times, and has only a couple of worthwhile scenes (including the shootout at the end, of course).
 
SS69
It's not the lack of action or the amount of talking. I understood the message the movie was trying to convey. I just dont think it was done well. Casino is another three hour mafia movie that did a lot of talking. More than The Godfather, and I think it was a much better film. Blow, not necessarily a mafia movie but give George Jung a NY sicilian accent and you pretty much get mafia drug trafficing. A lot of talking, much more entertaining. I felt for this guy. The bad guy you root for. Goodfellas; great film, all talk. Donnie Brasco. Not the greatest of the above mentioned, but still a great mafia movie. Crazy you say? Blasphemous? I dont know. I just think The Godfather is overrated. I love the concept, hell doesnt 2 and 3 take it all the way to the 80's? I like the Idea. I just thought it was a weak script, and I didnt care for it.
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You recognize that ALL of the movies your mentioned were either patterned after or directly inspired by The Godfather, correct?

Also, saying something is bad and saying you don't like it are two different things. I just want to be clear, you didn't like it, right?
 
SS69
That's the most stupid response I have ever heard in my life.
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Well, let me put it in other words.

Aerosmith is a semi-legendary rock band that's still out there. I recognize that they are good, they sell records, they can even make you a sandwich. I, however, don't like 99.9% of their work.

I think they are good, I just don't like them. :), just think of it the other way around; it doesn't sound so stupid to me.

Now, in YOUR case, you probably didn't like the Godfather and you thought it was bad, that's fine. It's just basing more or less on your movie taste, is how we can tell why you don't think The Godfather was a good movie.

Unfortunately, I don't want to add more of what's been said...I don't think I'd ever finish.

Have a nice day :)
 
SS69
That's the most stupid response I have ever heard in my life.
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Because you didn't comprehend it?

Seriously, Il Padrino put it very well.

So again, do you think it's really bad or do you just not like it?
 
The Godfather is a Classic. Rottentomatoes.com's meter shows 100% approval rating from the Critics, 95% from the members. Those are some of the highest numbers I've ever seen on that site.

SS69, I do your respect your opinion of this movie. If you don't like it, you don't like it. Funny YSSMAN should mention Citizen Kane, because yes, it is considered the greatest film by many(Rottentomatoes rating of 100%/93%), but I don't like it. I guess we are in the same boat.
 
YSSMAN
Simply put, it is a cinematic masterpiece that continues to influence film today, and will probably live on as the second greatest film of the 20th century (that title still belongs to Citizen Kane).
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Don't you mean Seven Samurai is the greatest film of the 20th century. ;) We all make mistakes...
 
the seven samuri was good but to be honest, i like the magnificent seven better. also like the only other japanese one i've seen better too, Yojimbo? i think it was? the one where the one samuri plays the two family's/gangs whatever against each other in the small town.

back on topic...
i liked the godfather and couldn't disagree more with the first guy. i think it is definitly one of the best movies i have ever seen. i am not as good as explaining my reasons for that as Scaff, i think he said it all anyway 👍
i'm just going to leave it at that or i'd probably start name calling :sly:
 

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