10 Great Movies That Prove Blockbusters Don't Have To Be Dumb

3. The Godfather

It's difficult to imagine a gangster movie as detailed, complex and talkative - not to mention nearly three hours long - performing as well if released today as The Godfather did on its release in 1972. From a $6 million budget it went on to gross nearly $300 million worldwide, putting it up there with some of the biggest hitters of all time. The Godfather, adapted from Mario Puzo's epic novel about the Mafia by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, might not have been the first gangster movie to take hold of the public's imagination (James Cagney had carved a niche in this field decades before), but it's certainly one of the most intelligent, weaving the intricate machinations of its gangster protagonists and antagonists into a carefully unfolding insight into the criminal underworld. It's a superior film to its nearest contemporaries in every respect - you only have to watch Gangster Squad or the music video-esque Cockney gangster movies by Guy Ritchie to see just how far removed from such masterpieces filmmakers have fallen in the years since.