29 of 29 people found this review helpful. Re-released twice more since its original release, the film grossed between $48–88 million worldwide. This home viewing release, under the title The Godfather Trilogy 1901–1980, had a total run time of 583 minutes (9 hours, 43 minutes), not including the set's bonus documentary by Jeff Werner on the making of the films, "The Godfather Family: A Look Inside". In his commentary, he said this resulted in a shoot that ran very smoothly despite multiple locations and two narratives running parallel within one film. You broke my heart. Coppola created The Godfather Saga expressly for American television in a 1975 release that combined The Godfather and The Godfather Part II with unused footage from those two films in a chronological telling that toned down the violent, sexual, and profane material for its NBC debut on November 18, 1977. Take the cannoli.” from The Godfather. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. [citation needed], Among the actors depicting Senators in the hearing committee are film producer/director Roger Corman, writer/producer William Bowers, producer Phil Feldman, and actor Peter Donat. In 1958, during his son's First Communion party at Lake Tahoe, Michael has a series of meetings in his role as the don of the Corleone crime family. Characters are strangled to death and die in car explosions. (1974). “Leave the gun. For the video game, see. Releases: "DVD review: 'The Godfather Collection'". You broke my heart." It looks more like Godfather II,” Millar says over Zoom, while sitting in front of a bookshelf full of graphic novels. DVD Spin Doctor. Check out our editors' picks for the best movies and shows coming this month. But it's not simple to create a world so morally ambiguous, to introduce unforgettable characters, and to keep viewers fully cognizant of a plot so dense. [28][29] While its cinematography and acting were immediately acclaimed, many criticized it as overly slow-paced and convoluted. [30] Gene Siskel gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, writing that it was at times "as beautiful, as harrowing, and as exciting as the original. [45] On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 96% approval rating based on 113 reviews, with an average rating of 9.70/10. In fact, 'The Godfather, Part II' may be the second best gangster movie ever made. [16] Charles Bluhdorn, whose Gulf+Western conglomerate owned Paramount, felt strongly about developing the Dominican Republic as a movie-making site. The Godfather Part II premiered in New York City on December 12, 1974, and was released in the United States on December 20, 1974. The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? [17], Unlike with the first film, Coppola was given near-complete control over production. Some have deemed it superior to The Godfather. The game is based on the 1974 film The Godfather Part II, and is a sequel to the 2006 game The Godfather, which was based on the 1972 film of the same name. The critics ranked it at No. Coppola spent an entire night rewriting it before giving it to Pacino for his review. Vincent agrees. The Godfather in Sicily", "Godfather: Coppola Restoration", September 23, "The 'Godfather Part II' Sequel Syndrome", "The Godfather, Part II Movie Review (1974)", "The Godfather and The Godfather Part II", "Sight & Sound 2002 Directors' Greatest Films poll", "Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll 2002 – The Critics' Top Ten Films", "Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll 2002 – The Directors' Top Ten Films", "TV Guide's 50 Greatest Movies On TV/Video", "The 150 Greatest Performances Of All Time", "47th Academy Awards Winners: Best Picture", "Critic's Notebook: Can 'Harry Potter' ever capture Oscar magic? Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. He and business partner, Tommasino, are admitted to Don Ciccio's compound, ostensibly to ask for Ciccio's blessing on their olive oil business. [15], The Godfather Part II was shot between October 1, 1973 and June 19, 1974. When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence. View production, box office, & company info. The film intercuts between events some time after The Godfather and the early life of Vito Corleone. It is the second installment in The Godfather trilogy. The Godfather: Part II doesn't make anything look easy the way The Godfather did. Part II of the Godfather series was divided up into two parts. But the director prevailed, and the film's success began the common practice of numbered sequels. The DVD also held a Corleone family tree, a "Godfather" timeline, and footage of the Academy Award acceptance speeches.[21]. The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from the screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo, starring Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Talia Shire, Morgana King, John Cazale, Mariana Hill, and Lee Strasberg. However, in Sicily, where the fa… The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba. It is now regarded as one of the greatest performances in film history. He loses his job due to the interference of a local don, Fanucci; Clemenza invites Vito to take part in a burglary unwittingly. [51] The Godfather and The Godfather Part II remain the only original/sequel combination both to win Best Picture. Roth is forced to return to the United States after being refused asylum and entry to Israel. [10], Coppola offered James Cagney a part in the film, but he refused. Coppola and the editors returned to the cutting room to change the film's narrative structure, but could not complete the work in time, leaving the final scenes poorly timed at the opening.[19]. Sequels can never be the same. 30 by directors. Unsurprisingly, there's constant violence. The presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson, the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal and other historical events unfold from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, whose only desire is to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart. Partially based on Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather, the film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, presenting parallel dramas: one picks up the 1958 story of Michael Corleone Use the HTML below. When Vito is heard at the door, all but Michael leave the room to greet him. Michael's mother dies, and Michael moves to wrap up loose ends. Following the success of the first film, Paramount Pictures began developing a follow-up to the film, with much of the same cast and crew returning. Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency. In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis. Vito, along with his family, visits Sicily for the first time since emigrating. The Godfather II Act like a mobster to command respect, intimidating and extorting business owners and rival families with devastating new attacks and executions. ‘Jupiter’s Legacy': How ‘The Godfather Part II’ Inspired the Netflix Adaptation, No vote-split here: Daniel Kaluuya is the latest Best Supporting Actor champ to defeat a co-star, Daniel Kaluuya is one of the youngest Best Supporting Actor winners in Oscar history, Top 100 Movies as Rated by Women on IMDb in 2016, The Top 200 Movies as Rated by Women on IMDb in 2018, 26 of the Greatest Movies According to Director David Fincher, AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: Little Orange Nathan Lanes. Our editors have rounded up their most anticipated horror movies of the year. Vito's partners, Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio, suggest paying him, but Vito insists Fanucci will accept a smaller payment if they make him "an offer he don't refuse". [52] Along with The Lord of the Rings, The Godfather Trilogy shares the distinction that all of its installments were nominated for Best Picture; additionally, The Godfather Part II and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King are the only sequels to win Best Picture. Principal photography began in October 1973 and wrapped up in June 1974. Pentangeli slits his wrists in his bathtub. Second, it deals with his son Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) moving his money into legitimate businesses. Where did the character Frankie "Five Angels" Pentangeli come from? Vito's criminal conduct attracts the attention of Fanucci, who extorts him. Keith Loh . Paramount was initially opposed because they believed the audience would not be interested in an addition to a story they had already seen. Michael orders his bodyguard to kill Ola and Roth, but the bodyguard is killed by the police as he is attempting to assassinate Roth with a pillow in his hospital bed. That night, Michael leaves Nevada after surviving an assassination attempt at his home. [6] The Godfather Part III, the final installment in the trilogy, was released in 1990. The Godfather DVD Collection was released on October 9, 2001 in a package[20] that contained all three films—each with a commentary track by Coppola—and a bonus disc that featured a 73-minute documentary from 1991 entitled The Godfather Family: A Look Inside and other miscellany about the film: the additional scenes originally contained in The Godfather Saga; Francis Coppola's Notebook (a look inside a notebook the director kept with him at all times during the production of the film); rehearsal footage; a promotional featurette from 1971; and video segments on Gordon Willis's cinematography, Nino Rota's and Carmine Coppola's music, the director, the locations and Mario Puzo's screenplays. Michael suspects Roth planned the assassination, but feigns ignorance when they meet. There are slight differences between the repurposed extras on the DVD and Blu-ray Disc sets, with the HD box having more content. Michael sends for Pentangeli's brother from Sicily, resulting in Pentangeli renouncing his previous statement; the hearing dissolves in an uproar. Vito becomes a respected and successful member of the community and is approached for help by a widow who is being evicted. Al Neri, acting on Michael's orders, kills Fredo. – Nominated, This page was last edited on 11 May 2021, at 19:49. now we hop back and forth from father to son in a comparable parody and the story line unfolds with devastating effect in both eras,this sequel is more than that it is a stand alone crime family story and one of the best ever made. Gazzo.[14]. After the widow's landlord learns of Vito's reputation, he agrees to let the widow stay on very favorable terms. Michael becomes reluctant after reconsidering the viability of the ongoing Cuban Revolution. 4)[38][39][40] On the 2012 list by the same magazine the film was ranked at No. Most popular community and official content for the past week. "[8], Coppola, in his director's commentary on The Godfather Part II, mentioned that the scenes depicting the Senate committee interrogation of Michael Corleone and Frank Pentangeli are based on the Joseph Valachi federal hearings and that Pentangeli is like a Valachi figure. Michael announces that, in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor, he has left college and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, leaving Sonny furious, Tom incredulous, and Fredo the only supportive brother. Godfather II to get Premium Upgrade Packs. "[31] A mildly positive Roger Ebert awarded three stars out of four[32] and wrote that the flashbacks "give Coppola the greatest difficulty in maintaining his pace and narrative force. It received negative reviews and sold poorly, leading Electronic Arts to cancel plans for a game based on The Godfather Part III. July 2007. Mar 30, 2009. Many critics compare it favorably with the original – although it is rarely ranked higher on lists of "greatest" films. The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mob, covering his relationship with his wife Karen Hill and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito in the Italian-American crime syndicate. In Washington, D.C., a Senate committee on organized crime is investigating the Corleone family. In 1917, having settled in New York, he marries and has a son, whom he names Santino ("Sonny"), with his wife. What did you think? On returning to Nevada, Fredo tells Michael that he felt resentful for being disregarded. Parents need to know that The Godfather is the classic, genre-defining Mafia movie in which Marlon Brando plays the titular character facing grave threats from rival families. This film is the first sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Godfather: Part II subtitles. "[36], The Godfather Part II was featured on Sight & Sound's Director's list of the ten greatest films of all time in 1992 (ranked at No. IGN Montage: Executions. On, or soon after December 7, 1941, the Corleones gather in their dining room to surprise Vito on his birthday. The story of Michael, told chronologically and without the other material, would have had really substantial impact, but Coppola prevents our complete involvement by breaking the tension." This encyclopedic database contains information on all sorts of subjects within the The Godfather universe, ranging from "in-universe" articles such as characters, locations, and organizations to pages on the cast, crew, and authors who helped to build the franchise. The Godfather Wiki was created to become the biggest online resource for all information regarding The Godfather franchise. An organized crime dynasty's aging patriarch transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son. He claims to be ignorant of the plot on Michael's life and informs Michael that the Senate lawyer is on Roth's payroll. The Godfather II Ships to Retailers. The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards at the 47th Academy Awards and became the first sequel to win for Best Picture. [citation needed] Coppola then rewrote the scene that same day. [23], The Godfather Part II did not surpass the original film commercially, but in the United States and Canada it grossed $47.5 million. The most telling advantage The Godfather has over its sequel is a timeless and iconic cast. 1974 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, "The Godfather II" redirects here. They are included on Disc 5 of the DVD box set (five discs). The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba. ", The Godfather Papers and Other Confessions, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Godfather_Part_II&oldid=1022664016, Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award-winning performance, Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award, Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award, Films whose director won the Best Directing Academy Award, Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award, Films with screenplays by Francis Ford Coppola, United States National Film Registry films, Articles with self-published sources from January 2018, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2018, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." The cross-cutting between Vito and Michael's parallel stories were judged too frequent, not allowing enough time to leave a lasting impression on the audience. Pentangeli agrees to testify against Michael, who he believes had double-crossed him, and is placed under witness protection. At a street fair, Vincent and his accomplices murder Zasa and his bodyguards. [citation needed], Several actors from the first film did not return for the sequel. It grossed between $48–88 million worldwide on a $13 million budget. Sources disagree on the amount grossed by the film. Roth, Michael, and several of their partners travel to Havana to discuss their future Cuban business prospects under the cooperative government of Fulgencio Batista. [9], The film's original budget was $6 million but costs increased to over $11 million, with Variety's review claiming it was over $15 million. In 1981, Paramount released the Godfather Epic boxed set, which also told the story of the first two films in chronological order, again with additional scenes, but not redacted for broadcast sensibilities. “The Godfather: Part II” then becomes a film that everyone who values movies at all should see. Two actors who appear in the film played different character roles in other Godfather films: Carmine Caridi, who plays Carmine Rosato, also went on to play crime boss Albert Volpe in The Godfather Part III; Frank Sivero, who plays a young Genco Abbandando, appears as a bystander in The Godfather scene in which Sonny beats up Carlo for abusing Connie. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. Partially based on Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather, the film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, presenting parallel dramas: one picks up the 1958 story of Michael Corleone (Pacino), the new Don of the Corleone family, protecting the family business in the aftermath of an attempt on his life; the prequel covers the journey of his father, Vito Corleone (De Niro), from his Sicilian childhood to the founding of his family enterprise in New York City. It goes much deeper than "The Godfather… (?) A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O. Troy Donahue, in a small role as Connie's boyfriend, plays a character named Merle Johnson, which was his birth name. Yet, later at the party, Kay mentions to Michael that 7 years ago he promised the family would be completely legitimate. Was this review helpful to you? 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