MovieChat Forums > The Godfather (1972) Discussion > Finally saw for the first time

Finally saw for the first time

posted 7 months ago by Dionysus481 (144)
3 replies | jump to latest

I finally saw this for the first time (I'm 42), and was captivated for the first 2 hours. I have a little trouble sitting still and giving full attention to movies in general, let alone really long movies, but really liked this movie and was glued. (When I watch the sequels, I'll make sure not to start watching at midnight though lol).
Anyway, while I was watching this, I got a bit of a Scarface and The Outsiders vibe, these being 2 of my favorite movies. Then I realized at the end it was directed by the same director as The Outsiders. I thought this was really cool, and also kind of previewed Pacino's role in Scarface, let alone Godfather 2 (which I will watch next).

[–] strntz (12225) 7 months ago

The Godfather II is a worthy sequel in a universe full of often bad sequels - if you liked The Godfather, you'll like the deuce.

It's quite long, so a two part session might be a good plan, especially if you're already tired going in.

[–] Dionysus481 (144) 7 months ago

Yea, I've heard only great things about the sequel. I started watching this one at midnight 2 nights ago as that's when it was on one of my movie channels, and got through the first hour and a half, and decided to call it it a night when Michael went away.
Last night I finished it (again starting at midnight to get the same vibe), rewatched the first hour, then skipped to the 2nd half so I could be in bed by 2:30.
Glad I rewatched the first hour. I picked up things I missed the first time, as it usually takes a couple of rewatchings for me to get the gist of things.

[–] Tabbycat (878) 5 months ago

II is not as good as the original.
The Vito backstory scenes in Sicily are compelling, but the whole thing with Hyman Roth isn’t really.
Plus it’s nearly a half hour longer.

3 is a big step down. Pacino is nearly a self-caricature (“It vas not vat I VANTED!”)
The story of the new corporate Corleone structure and the corrupt Catholic church isn’t very interesting or credible and seems to belong in a different film series.
I don’t really care for it.