3. The Godfather (1972)
Often thought of as "the greatest movie of all time,"
The Godfather's influence upon society and population culture in general is kind of immeasurable. Francis Ford Coppola somehow took a relatively pulpy novel and transformed it in an epic crime saga that has resonated with movie-goers ever since. The central story is well-known, of course: Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), determined to escape the ties of his Mafia-aligned family, eventually comes to take his place at the top. What ensues is cinema at its greatest.
The Influence? There are perhaps too many nods and winks scattered throughout each and every
GTA game to count them all, though the most obvious parallel here is the series' iconic Leone family, who are based on the Corleone family from
The Godfather. Salvatore Leone is an obvious take on Marlon Brando's Don Corleone. There are several missions that mirror set-pieces and sequences from
The Godfather and its sequels, too, mainly in
GTA III.