10 Gangster Movies You Must See Before You Die
2. The Godfather Saga
The daddy of them all, Francis Ford Coppola’s mafia odyssey changed the face of American cinema. Making the names of Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton and more, and (briefly) revitalising the iconic career of Marlon Brando, these are three of the most important movies ever made.
Yes, three – while the saga’s finale is a great step down from the first two, it’s an important piece of the puzzle, with memorable moments (“just when I thought I was out…”) and a sizzling performance from Andy Garcia.
The meat of the matter is the first two movies, of course, and it’s a toss-up which you prefer. The first is stately and classical, the second complex and hard edged, but the two define ‘70s filmmaking, where the director was king and the budgets went to movies like these, rather than franchises and sequels upon sequels.
The Godfather trilogy has aged like fine Italian wine, and the movies are every bit as impressive and entertaining now as they were when they busted blocks and ushered in the auteur era. Worth every bit of their reputation.