20 Movies That Prove That The 1970s Was The Best Decade For Film

2. The Godfather/The Godfather: Part II

'An offer you can't refuse' It sounds clichéd to talk about how The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II are two of the greatest films of all time, but there's no getting around it. They just are and it's as simple as that. Francis Ford Coppola was on a hell of a roll in the 1970s, directing classics like The Conversation and Apocalypse Now, but the first two Godfather films stand as his greatest achievement. The story of Michael Corleone's rise to power in the Corleone crime family is an epic tale of betrayal, power and murder that could have only been made this well in the 1970s. Based on Mario Puzzo's best-selling novel of the same name, the film was a smash hit at the box-office, making $285m well above its $7m budget. But Coppola had to fight to get his vision up on screen, with executives determined to remove Al Pacino (whom they referred to as "that midget") from the film. Coppola stuck to his guns and Pacino stayed in the film. The result was one of the best performances in film history (although Pacino would have to wait twenty years to receive an Academy Award). The Godfather has many exceptional performances, not least of which is Marlon Brando's cotton-mouthed Don Corleone. The Godfather: Part II defies convention as being one of the only sequels in film history that people claim is better than the first. The Godfather Parts I and II are films to be studied and savoured. They are masterclasses in filmmaking and storytelling. Shame about the third one, eh?