20 Best Movies Over Three Hours Long
5. The Godfather Part II (1974)
Runtime: 3 hours, 22 minutes
One of the many genius aspects of Francis Ford Coppola's seminal crime drama The Godfather Part II is that it's both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, a narrative device that works wonders to hammer home the film's themes of moral defeat, family, and the lie of the American Dream.
On the one hand, The Godfather Part II is about Al Pacino's Michael, the new don of the Corleone Crime Family, who's desperate to save his empire after an assassination attempt. On the other, it's the story of his late father Vito's founding of the family business after he emigrates to the US.
With commanding, career-defining work from stars Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall and John Cazale, Coppola's sweeping sequel paints a vivid portrait of American crime, family legacy, greed and retribution, as Michael falls ever further into his life of power.
Beautifully shot yet unbearably tense, drenched in a feeling of inescapable foreboding, The Godfather Part II demands unwavering attention right until its haunting final shot.