ric in Drizz's Fave Movie Thread wrote:godfather III
have fun (really though i actually do like this movie)
Im always very interested in hearing peoples defense of this film. This is because I want to like it, I really do...but like many I cannot seem to find much redeeming about it.
Perhaps it's time to revisit, but before I do, I'd like to hear from people who really enjoy it.
Obviously, it's not fucking with the first two, but it's still a good movie imo. I do have major issues with the whole cousins in love thing and the Benny Hill ending, however.
Spartan wrote:I do have major issues with the whole cousins in love thing
This is probably my biggest qualm with the movie. I have never understood why this subplot was necessary or made sense. Its the 1970s...why would anybody have to explain why first cousins marrying is not a good look?
and the Benny Hill ending
This is probably the thing I liked most about the movie. Felt like a fitting end from an irony standpoint.
Spartan wrote:I do have major issues with the whole cousins in love thing
This is probably my biggest qualm with the movie. I have never understood why this subplot was necessary or made sense. Its the 1970s...why would anybody have to explain why first cousins marrying is not a good look?
Well, it's kind of necessary to the main plot as it ultimately leads up to the choice Vincent has to make - the woman he loves or taking over the Corleonne empire? Still retarded, just like how his kids would have been if chose the former option.
i think in cultural terms, the cousins marrying thing may not be quite as scandalous in context of old world traditions as it is in modern society
3 is not a terrible movie by any stretch, it just happens to follow on the heels of 2 movies that are easily on the shortlist for goat status. taken on its own terms is a good movie, no worse than some of the more recent entries into the same genre that have a perfectly respectable rep (american gangster for example)
I always thought most of the hate for GIII was because Sofia Coppola can't act for shit.
It still wouldn't be a great movie with someone better though, just a lot less offensive.
If it didn't have "Godfather" in the title, it would be called one of the best mob movies ever. It really is very good, just not when put in the context of the first two -- not only is it totally unnecessary in terms of the overall narrative, but also it just doesn't compare in terms of overall quality. The first two are top ten movies of all time, the third is top ten of that year.
The Ivy League Nigga wrote:If it didn't have "Godfather" in the title, it would be called one of the best mob movies ever. It really is very good, just not when put in the context of the first two -- not only is it totally unnecessary in terms of the overall narrative, but also it just doesn't compare in terms of overall quality. The first two are top ten movies of all time, the third is top ten of that year.
This and what Drizzle said. Its a good movie but not great and if it did not have Godfather in the title or Michael as the lead character it would be looked at in higher esteem. Just too much to live up to. The plot was a little too complicated in places and if Duvall was in the movie like originally planed before money got in the way it probably would have made a lot more sense at least narratively.
i agree with a lot of what has been said and drizzle makes a great point about the exploration between the old and the new that is an undercurrent in the film.
also for somebody who has already seen it and is looking for reasons to revisit; one of the reasons why i like this movie so much is because the cinematography is fantastic. this is a gorgeous movie that doesnt use any of that digital/fake shit. and to tie that in with the script and the way the acting is and the way its shot and the scenes that are in it, its clear that coppola doesnt mind having one of his hands in the vat of the operatic/melodramatic here. i mean thats one of the reasons why the silent scream is so fucking perfect and one of the best movie moments of all time in my opinion (it builds up to it perfectly, if you had that moment in the other movies youd be thinking 'why are we doing this it doesnt make sense'). i mean michael holds a knife to his own throat and asks kay for the order to kill himself as a joke in one of the scenes and i think if youre looking at it like 'connecting dots' you might think its cheesy but just looking at it like its a moment in a melodramatic movie that still manages to maintain the emotional sophistication that is part of what makes the first two so great its a great scene (and its a fucking beautiful scene on the aesthetic level). and albeit some of that sophistication comes from this being Godfather III and its moved forward in time and makes references to the previous two but it still stands on its own to me. let me put it another way; when you watch it; release it from being a godfather movie and i think youll find that you have one fantastic godfather movie. its like its a different drug in the same vein if that makes sense. but another reason why the scream is so awesome is because this movie is so much about michael - i mean his presence is constantly constantly there even when hes across the world from whats going on on screen (which all the movies do really well but i dont think that that is lost here its just that the character is really thrust into the limelight because a lot of what happens in this is a DIRECT result of people submitting to or rebelling against his will)
ps eli wallach is a god
pps and to add in to the operatic thing; the music is fucking awesome. they lay this shit on thick and i LOVE the scene where tony sings that song to michael and co and i cried when i first saw it and pacino is so great about it. but again - if youre insistent on thinking that michael at the end of godfather 2 and michael at the beginning of godfather 3 are the same person in the sense that one was frozen in time and transported decades later, i think youre missing out on a lot of what makes the movie and the script and pacinos performance so brilliant. the focus is just more about the man and the family as human beings and less on the secret world aspect of the godfather franchise. and really the first two have huge enormous doses of the secret world aspect which is awesome but not necessarily appropriate for this film which is still entirely submerged in the secret world
ppps i just remembered. all this stuff happening in sicily is really significant and you feel like these people are part of the secret world which adds to the aesthetic in my opinion. and the thing is is that its fucking real. these people actually are part of the secret in real life. take this for what its worth but when i went to sicily when i was a kid i HAD to go to corleone (4 hour drive both ways). and let me tell you; the place is a ghost town where there are almost no men and the most ostentatious nicest place by far is the cemetary which is full of gravestones that would basically be impossible for the average resident to pay for. we ate gelato in an gelato shop right next to the cemetary. shit seriously felt like a place where dirt is done and the owner/sole employee was an old man who is probably either shook to death or hard as fuck or both
Put it here but anyone hear anything about Godfather and GF2 getting the 3D treatment? Damn I hope that is true that would be about the radiest thing until they colorize Citizen Kane no sarcasm.
What is wrong with adding 3d and colorization? This is a way to bring these movies to a whole new audience. Sorry I am not a snob that thinks only the chosen few should see classic movies colorization and 3d brings new audiences to classic films and I am all for it..
Tommy Bunz wrote:I always thought most of the hate for GIII was because Sofia Coppola can't act for shit
This. She ruins every single scene she's in. perhaps one of the worst actresses in a significant role in a large movie ever or at least that I can think of.
watched Once a upon a Time in America. a good movie. obviously. but it's way overrated. I mean people have this as the greatest mob movie of all time? no fucking way. not in a long shot.
The Godfather 3 is like the Star Wars prequels: it didn't live up to the original movies, had some bad acting and is laden with analogies to real world conpiracy theories.
'I suppose everyone has their own limit, but some things you simply can never stop fighting for.'
