Line #90 YMMV/TheGodfather


1	!!For the movies and novel:
2
3	* AdaptationDisplacement: The original novel by Mario Puzo is less well-known to modern audiences than the films. The way that the films are titled ''Mario Puzo's The Godfather'' were actually an attempt by Creator/FrancisFordCoppola to avert this.
4	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
5	** There's a [[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=205771 fairly popular]] [[https://www.quora.com/The-Godfather-Part-II-1974-movie/Why-did-Michael-send-Rocco-not-just-a-button-man-to-kill-Roth fan theory]] that Rocco was involved in Roth's plot against Michael in ''Part II''. While there's little textual evidence for it, it would explain Rocco's failure to foil the assassination attempt or to bring the shooters in alive. It would also explain why Michael would order, and he would readily accept, a borderline suicide mission to kill Roth later in the film as a chance at atonement with Michael.
6	** When [[spoiler: Fredo]] is about to be assassinated, he is heard saying Hail Marys. Is this an allusion to his "fishing tip" to Anthony earlier in the film, or does he know he's about to die?
7	** Michael is still shown to be rather forgiving toward [[spoiler:Fredo]] in ''Part 2'', telling him that they are [[spoiler: still brothers]] and telling Tom Hagen that he feels [[spoiler: Fredo was misled]]. However, after listening to his rant in the boathouse, Michael instantly disowns him and prepares to order his death. Did Michael plan on killing him from the start and just feign forgiveness so he could draw information out and question him? Or did he genuinely want to reconcile and only considered killing him after realizing that [[spoiler:Fredo's]] insecurities were both petty and a continuing threat?
8	*** Another interpretation here is that, after Kay revaled she induced a miscarriage on herself as an extremely petty way to force Michael to accept divorce, Pentangeli is revealed to be alive and about to rat Michael out and his mother just died, Michael wasn't exactly thinking straight anymore. He went full The Paranoiac with WithUsOrAgainstUs mode, and executed every threat to himself and the family, real or imagined, with extreme prejudice. It was only after the deed [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he stopped to think about what he'd done]].
9	** While Sonny's BigBrotherInstinct is well-established, ''Part II'' reveals through a flashback that he introduced Connie to Carlo and pushed them towards one another. With that in mind, his violent anger towards Carlo for being such a shitty husband could also be motivated by [[ItsAllMyFault a sense of self-blame.]]
10	** When the door is shut on Kay at the conclusion of the first movie, does it symbolize her being shut out of his Mafia life, or ''him'' being shut out of the normal life he'd hoped to build with her? Note that that moment is seen from ''his'' perspective.
11	* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail:
12	** Paramount had no expectations for the film, despite it being based on a bestseller. Creator/FrancisFordCoppola was hired only for his Italian origins; the studio gave him limited funds and complained about every decision of his. It became the highest-grossing movie ever upon release, and is frequently on "best of all time" lists.
13	** Creator/AlPacino recalled that one day, he and Creator/DianeKeaton thought it was going to be the worst movie ever made and pondered what to with their careers.
14	* AwardSnub:
15	** This might seem churlish in light of the fact that the first two movies each won UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Picture and numerous other Oscars besides (though Coppola lost Best Director for the first one to Creator/BobFosse for ''Film/{{Cabaret}}'', he won for the second one), but amazingly enough, Gordon Willis' seminal camerawork in the first two movies wasn't even ''nominated''. Think about that.
16	** Creator/AlPacino's performances as Michael Corleone in ''Part I'' and ''Part II'' (especially the latter) are considered to be among the best performances in film history. Yet, he received no Oscar for either one. He was even nominated in the wrong category (as Supporting Actor) for ''Part I'' when he was obviously the main character.
17	** Three actors were nominated for ''Part II'', but John Cazale wasn't among them, even with Fredo taking on an emotional crux in the latter portions of the film. Cazale deserves special mention; during his sadly short lifetime that got cut by lung cancer at the age of 42, he appeared in five movies, all of which were at least nominated for Best Picture (he also appeared in StockFootage for a flashback scene in ''Part III'', which was also nominated). No other actor can claim every role he made was in a Best Picture nominee. Nowadays it's often agreed he was the most deserving of the supporting men second only to the category's winner Robert De Niro, and even then some go so far as to say Cazale was even more deserving than him.
18	** Music/NinoRota's music for the first film was disqualified by the Oscars after it was found out that its Love Theme used similar music from a previous film Rota had scored. And yet bafflingly, Rota would later win for ''Part II'' even though it too had previously used music. One could assume that it was because ''Part II'' also had its own original music in addition to the reused music. In that case, one could argue that the first film's score should have also won since it also had original music in addition to the reused music.
19	** Many believe that Creator/DianeKeaton should've been nominated for her expanded and heartbreaking role in the sequel, either alongside or for some in place of the film's actual nominee Talia Shire.
20	* BaseBreakingCharacter: Some fans hate Fredo for being such a weak, incompetent, pathetic character who betrays Michael in the Part II. At the same time, many consider him one of the series' best characters ''because'' of his many weaknesses and insecurity, which result in a highly sympathetic but very extremely flawed man who is responsible for some of the films' best drama.
21	* BetterOnDVD: Coppola's director's cut of ''Part III'', which he retitled ''The Godfather Coda - The Death of Michael Corleone'', is generally seen as an improvement over the previous (theatrical) version, specially when it comes to its pace.
22	* CatharsisFactor: Even considering it's his StartOfDarkness, it's still satisfying to see Michael blow away Sollozzo and [=McCluskey=] in the diner.
23	* CommonKnowledge: A minor example: Creator/RichardMatheson is often said to be one of the Senators in ''Part II'' (even [=IMDB=] listed him for a time), but he's uncredited on the film, Matheson himself denied appearing in the film, and there's no evidence beyond it being repeated ad nauseum. It's likely that the rumor started because of the presence of Creator/RogerCorman and ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' producer Buck Houghton in those scenes, both of whom collaborated with Matheson on different projects.
24	* CompleteMonster: [[AmbitionIsEvil Don Emilio Barzini]] is initially an ally to the Corleone family. In truth [[TheChessmaster the architect]] of their downfall, Barzini is [[TheManBehindTheMan the secret backer]] of drug dealer Virgil Sollozzo and Don Philip Tattaglia. Trying to have Vito Corleone murdered before initiating the death of Luca Brasi, Barzini masterminds the resulting [[MobWar gang war]], with many dead on both sides. Barzini attempts to kill Michael Corleone, instead murdering his young wife in Italy, while having Carlo Rizzi viciously beat his wife Connie to lure her brother Sonny Corleone to his death. Using a peace talk to strip Vito of his remaining power, [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Barzini]] intends for drugs to be distributed to minority neighborhoods, before deciding to have the new Don, Michael, killed and then eliminating the rest of the family.
25	* ContestedSequel: '''''Part III''', big-time''. Opinions range from "absolutely terrible" to "not terrible, but not as good in comparison to the two masterpieces that preceded it". Some people contend that ''Part III'' would be a great movie, if not for Sofia Coppola's performance (though in all fairness she was a last-minute replacement for Creator/WinonaRyder) as Michael's daughter. It would have also been nice to have Robert Duvall back as Tom Hagen. There are some who consider it just as good as the first 2; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKda5wqspOA this video essay]] makes an argument for how the third film works if seen as the epilogue to the first two, as Coppola and Puzo originally intended.
26	* CriticalBacklash: ''Part III'' got decent, above average reviews, and while a ContestedSequel among fans of the franchise, is generally seen by critics as still a good film, only held back as much as it is because of the first two films being such a ToughActToFollow. Despite this, there are still many people who outright hate the film and flat-out call it bad. Because of this, the film's fans are '''very''' quick to defend the movie and get '''enraged''' when anyone part of the film's sizable hatedom insults it and implies that even on its own it would still be a bad film in general. This applies especially to the [[BetterOnDVD director's cut]].
27	* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: As long as you don't look too closely, the mob life looks ''very attractive'' when you can live it like Michael and Fredo and the rest. Even all the shady stuff - killings, fights, wife abuse, prostitution, drugs, animal cruelty, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking double parking]] - seems so appealing. Not to mention that many real-life mobsters loved the movies.
28	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
29	** Tom Hagen is a relatively minor character whose backstory is barely even touched upon in the films, and yet he still manages to be a fan-favorite for being the consigliere of the Corleone family, being one of the most logical and having a lot of common sense.
30	** The other crime bosses of the Five Families have quite a bit of fans even though they barely get any screentime or development.
31	** Luca Brasi is only in the first film for a few minutes, and has less than five minutes of screentime. He's also very popular, and in the first video game, was featured prominently as a sort of mentor. Al Neri is also popular despite saying virtually nothing in the first two films.
32	** Apollonia, Michael's doomed first wife, has quite a following on websites such as Tumblr or Pinterest even though she does not get that much screen time and very little dialogue.
33	* EvenBetterSequel: ''Part II'' vs. the original. The original film won 3 Oscars while the sequel won 6, including Best Director for Coppola. No other sequel has ever come close to that accomplishment and esteem[[note]]''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' comes close with ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing The Return of the King'' winning 11 Oscars but that was widely seen and acknowledged as a ConsolationAward for the full series[[/note]].
34	* EvilIsCool:
35	** Don Vito is such a cool character that many real-life mobsters changed their methods of operations after the film came out to emulate his [[NobleDemon code of honour.]] His origin story in ''Part II'' is just one SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome after another, culminating in his murder of [[spoiler:Don Ciccio]].
36	--->[[PreMortemOneLiner My name is Vito Andolini, and this is for you!]]
37	** Michael Corleone fits this trope every bit as well as his father, as demonstrated when [[spoiler:he has his troops wipe out the heads of all the Five Families during the church ceremony near the end of ''Part I'' while [[ChurchgoingVillain he himself promises, in the name of his godson, to renounce the Devil and his works]] and becomes a literal godfather to his nephew (whose father [[{{Irony}} is soon to join the ranks of those Michael is having killed]])]]. Or just listen to this quote from ''Part II'':
38	--->If there's one thing that's certain in this world, if there's one thing history has taught us, it is that you can kill anybody.
39	* FanPreferredCutContent: Creator/JamesCaan was angry that scenes giving Sonny more depth (such as his reaction to his father's shooting) were cut from the film. He confronted Robert Evans at the premiere and yelled at him, "Hey, you cut my whole fuckin' part out". Caan claimed that forty-five minutes of his character were cut.
40	* FandomRivalry:
41	** This movie's fandom has one with ''Film/TheDarkKnight's'', and now, ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption's'', over which movie deserves to be #1 on IMDB's Top 250 movies of all time list, see ''Shawshank'''s YMMV page for full details.
42	** Fans of Scorsese's gangster films ''Film/MeanStreets'' and especially, ''Film/GoodFellas'' tend to insist that the latter is more realistic, more truthful and less sentimental than ''Film/TheGodfather'', and expect people to debate which is the better "gangster" film. Note that this is only among fans, Scorsese and Coppola are themselves good friends and Coppola even cast Catherine Scorsese, Martin's mother who would often cameo in her son's films (and shared a famous scene in ''Film/GoodFellas'') in ''Part III''.
43	* {{Fanon}}: There's a belief that Don Altobello, Eli Wallach's character in ''Part III'', is the ''consigliere'' sitting behind Philip Tattaglia at the meeting of the Commission in ''Part I'', since it's stated that Altobello was ''consigliere'' to the Tattaglias before he took over their holdings at some point before ''Part III''. However it's considered unlikely because Tattaglia would probably not want to employ someone so close to the Corleones.
44	* FanonDiscontinuity: The first and second films are regarded as some of the best films ever created. The third one, on the other hand... see ContestedSequel above.
45	* FightSceneFailure: When Sonny beats down Carlo, one of his punches very obviously misses by a mile, but comes with an impact sound effect and reaction. Ironically, Creator/JamesCaan really did injure Gianni Russo during the filming of this scene.
46	* FirstInstallmentWins: Culturally. While ''The Godfather II'' is considered a masterpiece and as good, and by some to be the better film, ''Part I'' still remains the more iconic and better known of the two films. This is mainly because Marlon Brando's Vito Corleone is the single most iconic character of the franchise and he's only present (in modern times) in the first film, with most of his screen-time happening in the early acts of that first movie, being the DecoyProtagonist before Michael takes over. As such that remains the most well-known and well-remembered part of the entire series at least among the general public and most of the parodies around this series.
47	* FountainOfMemes: As one of the most iconic characters and performances in all of cinema, Vito Corleone has been parodied or referenced in one shape or form, with almost every line of dialogue uttered by him being quoted even to this very day.
48	* FranchiseOriginalSin: Has [[FranchiseOriginalSin/TheGodfather its own page]] now.
49	* GeniusBonus:
50	** The establishing shot of the meeting between Vito and the heads of the other five families shows that it is being held in the Federal Reserve.
51	** ''Part III'' features Pope John Paul I, who infamously died after only a month in office, as a major supporting character, and portrays his death as due to poisoning by his own subordinates to stop him from revealing that the Vatican Bank was in bed with the mob. This was actually a popular conspiracy theory in real life during the period the film is set, and one of the pieces of "evidence" used to support it was the sudden suicide of a senior bank official shortly afterward, which is also referenced in the film. The mainstream consensus is that it really was just a random heart attack.
52	* GenreTurningPoint: This was one of the most groundbreaking and important movies in American history:
53	** Until ''Film/TheGodfather'', gangster pictures and crime movies were seen as disposable genre movies, and famous stars who started their careers in popular gangster films such as Creator/HumphreyBogart and Creator/JamesCagney won critical acclaim, in their day and age, for their non-genre performances[[note]]James Cagney for instance won his only Oscar for the musical biopic ''Film/YankeeDoodleDandy'', Bogart who started playing gangsters, then played detectives in many FilmNoir, eventually won an Oscar for ''Film/TheAfricanQueen'' where he played an ordinary seaman[[/note]]. Yet after Coppola's film, an instant-classic and commercial powerhouse, gangster movies and crime dramas was raised in profile and esteem and started getting bigger budgets and more elaborate production design than ever before.
54	** It also did this for Italian-American and ethnic Americans in general. Before ''Film/TheGodfather'', Italian-Americans were usually considered {{Funny Foreigner}}s in Hollywood movies and the general look of Hollywood was fairly [=WASPy=]. While films feature Italian-Americans and other hyphenated immigrant Americans did exist before, it was usually seen as a niche film. ''Film/TheGodfather'' brought the immigrant experience to the mainstream, and its critical, sympathetic and down-to-earth portrayal of Italian Americans, while ironically catering to TheMafia stereotype, broke all the cliches with American audiences identifying with Michael Corleone to the same extent they once identified with [[Film/GoneWithTheWind Scarlett O'Hara]].
55	* HilariousInHindsight:
56	** Bank robber John Wojtowicz had seen the film the same day as his famous hostage situation, and said it was an inspiration for some of his tactics. Creator/AlPacino would go on to play him in the film adaptation of the event, ''Film/DogDayAfternoon'', with John Cazale as his accomplice.
57	** Creator/BrunoKirby's casting as young Pete Clemenza in ''Part II'' becomes this after his casting, years later, in ''Film/TheFreshman1990'' where he plays Marlon Brando's son - with Brando's character a dead ringer for Vito Corleone.
58	** When Vito goes to buy oranges before being shot, a poster for an upcoming boxing match featuring RealLife boxer Jake [=LaMotta=] is visible next to the fruit cart. Eight years after ''The Godfather'', Coppola's close friend Creator/MartinScorsese went on to direct a [[Film/RagingBull highly successful biopic]] about [=LaMotta=], where he was portrayed by [[Creator/RobertDeNiro the same actor]] who portrayed a young Vito.
59	** The Corleone family's opposition to the dealing drugs becomes this when after the legalization of marijuana in California and other states, Francis Ford Coppola being a well-known vintner opened [[https://www.maxim.com/entertainment/growers-series-by-francis-ford-coppola-2018-11 a side business dealing luxury marijuana]].
60	** A year after the first film, Creator/DianeKeaton appeared in ''Film/{{Sleeper}}'', where she takes Creator/MarlonBrando's role in a spoof of ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire''.
61	** Dominic Chianese played Johnny Ola in ''Part II''. He's best known for playing Uncle Junior in ''Series/TheSopranos'', which often referenced the movies.
62	** How can Michael reject Satan when he is [[Film/TheDevilsAdvocate Satan]]?
63	** When Tessio is revealed as one of the traitors in the Corleone family and is about to be led away to his execution, he begs Corleone lawyer and advisor to "let him off the hook". Years later, [[Creator/AbeVigoda Tessio's actor]] would become even more famous as a ''Series/BarneyMiller'' character known as "Fish".
64	* HypeBacklash: Because so many people consider it to be '''the''' greatest movie of all time, it's inevitable that some people will walk away from it wondering what the big deal is.
65	* InformedWrongness: Michael's purge of his enemies at the end of ''Part I'' is intended to show how far he has fallen from the honourable young man he was at the start of the movie. However, given that ThePurge he orchestrates is to prevent his own family being wiped out by a conspiracy between multiple crime families, and includes his sister's abusive husband who deliberately led Sonny into a fatal trap, his methods can seem like reasonable (if extreme) steps to protect his loved ones.
66	* ItWasHisSled:
67	** ''Part I'': [[spoiler: Sonny, Apollonia, Moe, and Carlo]] all die, [[spoiler: Barzini]] is the [[BigBad main villain]], Michael has [[spoiler: the heads of the other four families]] killed.
68	** ''Part II'': [[spoiler: Fredo]] betrays Michael, Kaye has [[spoiler: an abortion (not a miscarriage)]], Michael has [[spoiler: Fredo]] killed.
69	** ''Part III'': [[spoiler: Don Altobello]] is the traitor, Vinny kills [[spoiler: Joey Zaza]], [[spoiler: Mary]] dies at the end.
70	* MagnificentBastard:
71	** ''Part I'':
72	*** [[FamilyValuesVillain Vito Corleone]], the Godfather himself, is the charismatic head of the [[Characters/TheGodfatherCorleoneFamily Corleone family]] who [[RagsToRiches started the crime family from nothing]]. After being bullied in his youth by the supposed mafioso Don Fanucci, Vito soon outplayed and disposed of him, becoming a "treasured friend" to the neighborhood who traded favor for favor. Even in his old age, Vito is the true strength of the Corleone family, who holds most of New York's judges and politicians in his pocket. When he is gunned down by the assassins of Virgil Sollozzo, Vito later returns after his eldest son's death, but uses a peace summit to determine who the true mastermind of the war was before making plans so his son Michael will wipe out all the enemies of the family, even after Vito's death. An iconic who defined TheDon, Vito misses little chance to show why he is the most talented and powerful Don in the nation.
73	*** [[TheBigGuy Peter Clemenza]] was a founding member of the Corleone family and remains one of its ''caporegimes''. A [[UndyingLoyalty staunch loyalist]] to Vito Corleone, Clemenza is a veteran soldier and killer with a fondness for the garotte. Upon being informed his protege Paulie Gato is a traitor, Clemenza [[LuredIntoATrap lures him into a trap]] to be executed and later arranges for a planted gun so Michael Corleone can kill Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo and a corrupt police captain. Clemenza is the one to trap and ambush the Stracci family heads in an elevator, as well as the executioner of the treacherous Carlo Rizzi.
74	** ''Part II'': [[TranquilFury Hyman Roth]], seeking revenge for his protege and friend Moe Greene at Michael's hands, has Michael's brother Fredo manipulated into giving his men a chance to murder Michael. Also manipulating a situation in New York through his proxies the Rosato Brothers, Roth has them attempt to murder Michael's New York caporegime, Frank Pentangelli, while making him think it was Michael's doing. Roth then uses Frank's survival to get him to turn witness for the State, even buying out the members of the Senate's investigative committee so Michael will be personally indicted. [[SoftSpokenSadist Soft spoken and relaxed]], Roth hides an [[WolfInSheepsClothing utterly devious mind]], seeking personal revenge under the guise of everything being "strictly business" and comes closest to bringing Michael down.
75	* MemeticMutation: Many phrases and Mafia tropes originate from these movies, to the point that people who haven't seen the movie don't even realize that they're referencing a specific movie. Some examples:
76	** The line "an offer he can't refuse," as well as "the day of my daughter's wedding", "may your first child be a masculine child," and "leave the gun. Take the cannoli" have become so common many don't even realize they're referencing a movie.
77	** "Look how they massacred my boy". This is usually used in response to an example of {{Sequelitis}}, SeasonalRot, AdaptationDecay or TheyChangedItNowItSucks.
78	** You X but you do it without respect.
79	** The horse's head scene is ripe for parody.
80	** The first known use of the phrase "badabing!", and many more.
81	** Vito and Michael's final conversation between each other.
82	** ''Part II'' has the "I don't want to know you or what you do" speech.
83	** Michael giving Fredo the KissOfDeath, as well as "I knew it was you, you broke my heart" is universally parodied.
84	** Willie Cicci's "The Family had a lot of buffers!" is frequently applied to real-life business or political scandals.
85	** "Michael, we're bigger than US Steel" gets quoted often to describe [[FridgeHorror the scope of corruption]] in business, in politics, in the world.
86	** From the third movie, "Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in."
87	** Related to "You don't X with respect" above, the "You found paradise in America" speech has become popular to quote on social media in response to being asked about a controversial topic.
88	** They gave him an offer he refused. (Creator/MarlonBrando turned down his Oscar for Best Actor.)
89	** "While this was going on, [[MemeticMolester Fredo was banging cocktail waitresses two at a time.]]" - In reference to Moe Greene's quote.
90	** "I talked to Barzini."
91	** Jack Woltz's "A man in my position can't afford to be made to look ridiculous!". Pairs well with footage of men in important positions looking ridiculous.
92	** From WesternAnimation/{{Family Guy}}: "I did not care for The Godfather."
93	* MisaimedFandom: More than a few people have, when discussing the film, referred to Michael as the ultimate Badass. Smart, powerful, decisive, etc. While he is undeniably all of those things, that is not the point of his character arc. His story is a tragedy. Real-life mobsters are huge fans of the trilogy.
94	* MoralEventHorizon:
95	** It's kinda hard to place one in a movie where TheMafia is involved, but [[spoiler:what happens to that poor horse in ''Part I'' is unforgettably horrific...]] and it's done by the respective ''good guys''. [[spoiler:It's almost forgivable because the horse's owner, Jack Woltz, is revealed as a pedophile using his position as film producer to seduce young women and sexually molesting a twelve-year-old child actress during Tom Hagen's visit.]] Of course [[spoiler: it still wasn't the poor horse's fault]]. It's telling that it happens after two cases where the people the Don helped, one was horribly wronged and mistreated by the authorities while the other is seeking under the table help in doing a respectable thing, as if the film wanted to subvert the audiences impression of the Don as avenging angel and pillar of the community.
96	** And more specifically, the first case was an offscreen example, with two men attempting to rape Bonasera's daughter and brutalising her for resisting, to the point that her jaw was broken and her face was irreparably damaged. After this, nobody blames either Bonasera or Don Vito for repaying the favour. And the second case was an offscreen example of Vito pulling strings so that an Italian POW can get a green card so that he can marry the girl he honorably courted. Vito asked money for this favor, some of which likely was used to bribe officials, but the audience can sympathize with a man wishing that his protege and prospective son-in-law be able to remain in the country to be with the one he loves.
97	** Captain Mark [=McCluskey=] is as dirty as they come and on Sollozo's payroll, so it comes as no surprise that he easily crosses and becomes an accomplice to Don Vito's attempted murder and that he uses unwarranted violence against an (at this point) undeserving Michael. It does drive home though, that many supposedly respected authority figures are every bit as vile as the criminals they claim to hunt.
98	** ''Part II'''s MoralEventHorizon is much clearer [[spoiler:where Michael has his own brother Fredo killed for unwittingly betraying Michael to Hyman Roth. Even when it's become obvious that there was no need for the killing at this point, and even he seems to understand this at the end of the movie, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone when it's too late]].]] It's so painful that ''Part III'' [[spoiler:can be viewed as Michael's attempt to [[TheAtoner atone]] for the sin of fratricide by seeking salvation allying with the Catholic Church.]] For some it's even earlier than that when he has [[spoiler:[[BadBoss one of his own prostitutes killed]]]] just to have some dirt on a {{Jerkass}} Senator. Up until that point the Corleone family only targeted gangsters or other combatants, and generally tried to avoid violence, especially against civilians.
99	** In the same film, Kay deliberately crosses this in Michael's eyes by [[spoiler: aborting his to-be son]], to ensure he couldn't forgive her and wouldn't stop her from leaving him. It's pretty ballsy considering what he's had done to people that cross him - possibly, the only reason he left her alone was his traditional values forbidding him from hurting his family. In the Winegardner sequels, Kay [[spoiler: upbraids Michael for killing the family physician Jules Segal (who is absent from the films but a supporting character in Puzo's novel) simply because Michael ''thought'' Segal was the one who performed the abortion]].
100	** Carlo viciously beating Connie [[spoiler:in order to draw Sonny out and have him killed.]] Which was an only slightly more ambitious reason than the usual of beating her for nothin'. This leads to Mike [[spoiler:openly lying about sparing Carlo for info on his enemies only to have him brutally strangled mere minutes later. Notably this has consequences for Michael's relations. Did Carlo deserve it? Absolutely. But the lie, combined with becoming Carlo's son's godfather ''that day'' and neglecting how it would wreck Connie's (by all accounts already messed up) life, shows how ruthless Michael has become, even if this was one of the most justified executions in the film. It's topped off by lying straight to his own wife's face about it.]]
101	* {{Narm}}: The trilogy, as good as it is, isn't without its moments.
102	** Michael's meeting with Moe Greene had the latter go on a rant about the former family's waning power over New York and the Five Families. It is threatening at first, but when Moe says ''"I talked to Barzini"'', his voice deepens to the point where it sounds like [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]].
103	** The helicopter attack in '''Part III''' feels like it belongs to a ''Die Hard'' or ''James Bond'' movie. Apart from the generally incredulous premise of post-Apalachin mobsters holding a summit in a glamorous hotel in the middle of NYC with no one asking questions, the attack itself is so brazen that it stretches the suspension of disbelief -- these people are supposed to be part of a clandestine criminal subculture, after all.
104	* NeverLiveItDown: The notion that Music/FrankSinatra used the mob to get his role in ''Film/FromHereToEternity'' (that he got his UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for) is not based on any evidence from RealLife, but this book and movie. Incidentally Sinatra claimed he would have played Vito had Coppola asked him, and was originally cast as Altobello (who was later played by the man Sinatra replaced in ''Eternity'', Creator/EliWallach).
105	* OlderThanTheyThink:
106	** A family-drama about an Italian-American family, whose Patriarch is a "legitimate businessman" with mob ties, who wants his young son to be TheOneWhoMadeItOut and whose elder brothers compete for their father's approval and legacy. The film we are discussing is Creator/JosephLMankiewicz's ''House of Strangers''. Incidentally, Richard Conte (the actor who played Barzini in ''Part I'') plays the hero in this film, and in his day was considered the first major Italian-American actor.
107	** Likewise, the film's portrayal of the Mafia and Little Italy in ''Part II'' was also preceded by Richard Wilson's ''Pay or Die'' a 1960 film with Creator/ErnestBorgnine as the Italian-American police officer Joe Petrosino, who became a martyr when he was killed by the Mob. Coppola also cited several Italian films which inspired him, such as Francesco Rosi's ''Salvatore Giuliano'', Alberto Lattuada's ''Mafioso'' among others, which inspired him, especially for the Sicilian sections.
108	** Much of the plot also resembles Martin Ritt's ''The Brotherhood'' (1968) with Creator/KirkDouglas, about a mobster's war hero son (Alex Cord) returning home and joining the family business, a subplot about a congressional investigation into organized crime, and several scenes set in Sicily. However, that movie's story mainly focuses on the fraternal dispute between Douglas and Cord over control of their family than ''The Godfather'''s more expansive plot and ensemble cast. These similarities may not be a coincidence; Mario Puzo believed that Paramount (which produced both movies) stole plot elements from an early draft of ''The Godfather'' novel without attribution.
109	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: On account of being so ubiquitous in popular culture and influential, it's often lost how radical and innovative the film was when it came out:
110	** Until ''The Godfather'' there were many crime movies, many great films, that more or less covered the themes it did, but this was the first mainstream commercial film to fully embrace the perspective of a VillainProtagonist who remains sympathetic despite being and remaining a criminal who goes unpunished legally. It was the first film to fully take advantage of the end of the moral censorship of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode, after all even ''Film/BonnieAndClyde'' ended (for historical reasons) with the charming villain protagonists dead. The sequels also subvert many of the old crime movie tropes, such as RedemptionQuest, the cops and the government trying to end the mob (they actually go into business together) and even the ''Film/AngelsWithDirtyFaces'' concept of a priest reforming a criminal in ''The Godfather Part III'', while also deconstructing and even mocking the idea of Italian-Americans needing to be a model minority from the [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASP]] establishment (who are shown in the film to be just as corrupt and not in any way morally superior), that was featured in the original ''Film/{{Scarface 1932}}''.
111	** People today, who are used to graphic violence in film and television, may not appreciate just how [[BloodierAndGorier shockingly violent]] this film was in 1972, thanks to the aforementioned abolishment of the Hays Code and a more general relaxation of social attitudes to graphic violence in the media. BloodlessCarnage and PrettyLittleHeadshots was the norm for many crime movies until this movie came along, which features some of the most gruesome killings ever put to celluloid even today. [[spoiler:The scene where Michael shoots a man in the head in a restaurant is particularly notable for showing bystanders splattered with the man's blood and brains, as is the infamous horse's head scene, which is ''still'' referenced in media today as a ShockingMoment symbolising the cruelty and efficiency of the Mafia.]]
112	** Fans of Creator/MartinScorsese's gangster films as well as ''Series/TheSopranos'' sometimes attack ''Film/TheGodfather'' for having a too romantic view of the mob and sentimentalizing TheMafia. At the time Coppola made the film, romanticizing the mob was the radical thing to do, since all gangster films before it had been too {{Anvilicious}} and painted gangsters as one-dimensional thugs with no personalities. To radically break from the tropes that existed before, Coppola and Puzo, went to the opposite end and overlaid the style (with Coppola even comparing it to an opera). The after films by Scorsese and others that followed were more realistic in emphasizing the violence and sociopathy [[TakeAThirdOption of the mob life but they also sought]] to make them three-dimensional relatable characters the way ''The Godfather'' did, which does at times make ''The Godfather'' take on the crime family and genre feel a little off, mixed as it is with EpicMovie and old-fashioned Hollywood touches.
113	* OneSceneWonder: Moe Greene has precisely two scenes (one consisting of him [[spoiler: being shot in the eye]]) yet manages to be among the first film's most memorable characters.
114	* OutOfTheGhetto:
115	** This was the first gangster movie to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It also ranks among the very few crime dramas to ever win the top award: ''Film/TheFrenchConnection'' won the year before, ''Film/TheSting'' won shortly after, ''The Godfather Part II'' won later, and after that one had to wait until ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' and most recently ''Film/TheDeparted'' before a crime movie was considered "worthy" of the award.
116	** Likewise, Creator/MarlonBrando became the first actor to win an Oscar (albeit his second one) for starring in a gangster film (at least it was considered as such before release). And it's also the only franchise in film history to win two best picture awards.
117	* ParanoiaFuel:
118	** Woltz has this realisation in the novel after that (in)famous scene, recognizing that if The Mafia could sneak onto his grounds and do the deed they did... In the sequel novels written by Mark Winegardner, when Tom Hagen is obligated to pay Woltz a visit several years later, he finds that much of the tasteful statuary and landscaping on the property have been removed and replaced in favor of greater visibility and security, giving the house a stark, almost fortress-like feel.
119	** The sheer amount of people that betray the Corleones is staggering: [[spoiler: Paulie, Fabrizio, Carlo, Tessio, Fredo, Hyman Roth, Pentangeli, Willi Cicci, and Don Altobello]] to name a few. It breeds so much mistrust in Michael that by the end of ''Part II'', Michael trusts no one and it's kind of hard to blame him.
120	* PeripheryDemographic: As with ''Film/{{Scarface\|1983}}'', the film became popular in the hip-hop community, though out of MisaimedFandom.
121	* ReplacementScrappy: B.J. Harrison in ''Part III''. Besides being a stand-in for Tom Hagen, he [[FlatCharacter doesn't have a discernible personality of his own]] beyond "officious lawyer."
122	* RetroactiveRecognition:
123	** The singer at the New Years Eve party in ''Part II'' is Ivonne Coll, now well-known as Alba in ''Series/JaneTheVirgin''.
124	** Creator/DannyAiello plays one of the Rosato Brothers in ''Part II''.
125	** Also in ''Part II'', Creator/HarryDeanStanton is one of the FBI guys guarding Frank Pentangeli when he's a witness for the Senate against Michael.
126	** Furthermore, Dominic Chianese (Uncle Junior in ''Series/TheSopranos'') plays Johnny Ola.
127	** One of the children in ''Part III'' is Creator/JessicaDiCicco, a voice actress known for more recent works such as ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' (Flame Princess), ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' (Lynn Jr and Lucy, that show would even go on to have a ShoutOut to the horse head scene involving the former character from the first film in Season 1's "Sound of Silence"), ''VideoGame/ResonanceOfFate'' (Leanne) and ''Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks'' (Yukika Saegusa).
128	* TheScrappy: Mary Corleone. Creator/SofiaCoppola's performance as Mary in the third film is hated by nearly all. Compounding the issue is the apparent nepotism of her casting. She was actually cast only because Winona Ryder backed out at the last minute and there was no time to get another actress. [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap Sofia fared MUCH better as a film director.]]
129	* {{Sequelitis}}: ''Part III''. Coppola felt the Corleone saga was finished with the second and only made the movie [[MoneyDearBoy due to financial issues]], hence the movie coming out sixteen years after the last film. As opposed to the universally beloved originals, the third's reception is... [[ContestedSequel mixed]], to say the least. Coppola later referred to the series as "two films and an epilogue", and retitled his director's cut of the third film ''The Godfather Coda'' to reflect his dismissal of it.
130	* SignatureScene:
131	** The opening scene, where Don Vito Corleone talks with the undertaker, Amerigo Bonasera, about how friendship, respect and etiquette works in the Sicilian mob, is one of the most often referenced and parodied scenes from the films. Nine out of ten depictions of Don Corleone will also be directly based on the way he looks in this scene, dressed in a wedding suit with a rose in his lapel and with his eyes almost completely covered in shadow, and often [[RightHandCat holding a cat]].
132	** The scene where Jack Woltz awakes puzzled at finding blood in his bed, before he discovers, much to his horror, that the blood is from the cut-off head of his prized racehorse, Khartoum, placed in his bed while he was sleeping. [[TheScream He starts screaming as the scene switches to a shot of the exterior of his manor]]. This is perhaps the second most referenced sequence from the first film.
133	** The Baptism scene, where Michael proves that he is even more cunning and ruthless than his father, by having his men eliminating all the family's enemies in one fell swoop. Through a montage of assassinations, interspliced with Michael calmly reciting the baptismal vows as he stands as Godfather at his nephew's baptism, is probably the third most referenced scene from the original.
134	** When it comes the second film, the scene where Michael gives [[spoiler:Fredo]] the KissOfDeath, and tells him, "I know it was you [[spoiler:Fredo]]. You broke my heart. ''You broke my heart!''" is the most referenced one.
135	* SpecialEffectsFailure: When Sonny beats the bejesus of out of Carlo for hitting Connie, the third and ''especially'' fourth punch do '''not''' connect (with the fourth actually hitting '''thin air'''), and Carlo '''still''' hilariously reacts as if he's been hit full force respectively in the right-ribs and left jaw.
136	* ToughActToFollow: ''Part III'' is not an awful film by any stretch and is pretty decent on its own. Unfortunately, when you're coming after two of the most well-regarded and iconic movies ''of all time'', "pretty decent" falls far short of the mark.
137	* TrappedByMountainLions: There's a quite lengthy subplot in the original novel about one of Sonny's mistresses who goes out to Hollywood, becomes friends with Johnny Fontane, and eventually falls in love with a plastic surgeon who [[{{Narm}} performs reconstructive surgery on her vagina]] and then marries her. Creator/FrancisFordCoppola later said he was so disturbed by this portion of the book that it almost put him off filming it. ''Part III'' ignores this entirely by introducing Vincent, who is the same mistress's son (the book makes a point of saying Sonny never knocked her up before he was killed). This subplot ties into a bizarre string of borderline poetic passages going to great lengths to romanticize Sonny having an abnormally large penis (to go with his girlfriend's abnormally large vagina), with descriptions such as "Sonny's cock is so large prostitutes charge him double!" and "Sonny's cock is so large his wife's glad he's having affairs!" Understandably, this was cut from the film as well, although in the background of the wedding scene, you can see an allusion being made to it.
138	* ValuesDissonance: ''All over the place''. It's a movie about an Italian American family in the 1940's-1950's.
139	** Vito and Carmela's non-interference in Connie's abusive marriage. When Connie tries seeking her mother's help, her mother dismisses her by saying she needs to be a better wife, citing the fact that she never gave Vito a reason to hit her. She even rebukes Sonny for sticking up for Connie at Sunday dinner. Vito on the other hand is outraged by Carlo's treatment of her, but feels that it wouldn't be right for him to interfere, and also rebukes Sonny in a deleted scene when he's about to interject in an argument Connie and Carlo are having.
140	*** The book goes into a bit more detail, in that Vito feels that he is in an impossible situation with Carlo as he feels that Carlo is intimidated by him. However, he has men assigned to Carlo's bookkeeping operation that report to him daily. It is also hinted that his non-interference is in part his silent punishment of Connie for making such a bad choice for her husband.
141	** No one bats an eye at the fact that Apollonia is a ''teenager'' when marrying an ''adult'' Michael. Similarly, a lot of emphasis is put on her virginity in the novel, as Michael can only court Apollonia in the presence of her family. While the movie version never specifies her age, the actress playing Apollonia was only 16 during filming. Yes, she was ''sixteen'' when she filmed an intimacy scene with the adult Al Pacino, which featured her topless. Definitely something Hollywood could only get away with doing in 1972 or before.
142	* VindicatedByHistory: ''The Godfather Part II'' was released to mixed reviews, with some critics feeling that the flashbacks to Vito's rise to power hampered the flow of the movie. It's since become thought of as one of the greatest sequels ever made (if not ''the'' greatest), with a lot of praise going to Vito's flashbacks and the way they compare and contrast with Michael's story.
143	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Some of the movies' broader and social commentary about American society, the interplay between capitalism and crime and how the Mafia as depicted by Puzo and Coppola parallels the government is certainly intentional. Some of the more ''specific'' commentary is more open to interpretation. The second film features a scathing depiction of American involvement in pre-Castro Cuba, which is either a fictionalization of well-attested historical fact or a commentary on American foreign investments and overseas actions generally. Many contemporary critics felt that the Senate hearings in ''Part II'' were meant to invoke the then-recent Watergate scandal, though modern viewers might not think so considering a) they were loosely based on the RealLife hearings about organized crime, b) how ubiquitous the HauledBeforeASenateSubcommittee trope has become since the film's release.
144	* TheWoobie:
145	** Fredo. Oh, Fredo.
146	*** In the first film at least he's clearly one in-universe as well. When he filled in for Paulie as Vito's bodyguard the two assassins completely ignore him even though he's armed (for a second until he pathetically fumbles the gun). Under the "rules" he was not a civilian and they'd have been perfectly justified in shooting him. However while killing Vito was business, killing Fredo would've likely been seen as murdering a helpless innocent man and would've been unforgivable making the business hit on Vito pointless.
147	*** In the novel, Sollozzo tells Hagen that his men left Fredo alone specifically because the (attempted) hit on the Don was "only business" and Sollozzo didn't want more bloodshed. Basically, it was a weird kind of goodwill gesture.
148	** Apollonia. She was a young Sicilian wife who was happy to start her new life with Michael and make babies. Despite this, she still wanted to embrace new ideas of independence like a modern woman, which ultimately [[spoiler:led to her death. As she was trying to impress Michael with learning how to drive, she turns on the car, which ignited a car bomb that killed her. But the worst part about it? The car bomb wasn't intended for her; it was intended for Michael, by the hands of Fabrizio who even specifically asked if she would be in there before planting the bomb. So really her death was a combination of things: being in the wrong place at the wrong time, marrying the wrong man, and wanting nothing more than a family while also embracing modern independent values.]]
149	** Vito's Mother. Her husband and older son are both murdered by a man who seems both ruthless and petty. When she goes to him to beg for the life of her other son he flat out tells her that he's going to die. She then makes a heroic sacrifice to give him a chance for survival.
150	** Carmela (Vito's wife) in the novel. It mentions how, after Sonny's assassination, none of her beloved sons were there for her: Sonny was dead, Fredo was semi-exiled to Nevada, and Michael was in hiding in Sicily. And her only daughter was married to an abusive brute.
151	** Michael’s son Anthony. [[spoiler:He was playing with his Grandpa when Vito has his fatal heart attack (although he was likely too young to remember that). He was getting ready to go fishing with his sweet uncle Fredo but was called away by his father just moments before his uncle “drowned.” Then he’s present when his little sister is killed by a stray bullet meant for his father.]]
152	----
153	!!For the games:
154
155	* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: Your allies' pitching in with firepower can get annoying if you're trying for certain execution styles. Some other times, all you want is to run away without escalating a situation, but they just have to open fire...
156	* AntiClimaxBoss:
157	** While bosses may wear body armour and wield heavy firepower, a single BoomHeadshot will end them every time.
158	** This tends to be the case ''a lot'' in the second game. Unlike the first game, where murdering a boss are actual full-on levels, the enemy Dons of ''II'' can be just as randomly and easily killed as any of their soldiers. If you're not careful, you're likely to be denied a final confrontation with them if they die by someone else's hand or you just never cross their path at all when you destroy the compounds.
159	* DemonicSpiders:
160	** Damn Tommy gun and shotgun mobsters will tear you a new one for a lot of the game if you're not careful. And if an enemy with a magnum gets the drop on you, may God have mercy.
161	** Mobsters with trench-coats. They take more hits to take them down.
162	** The Barzinis (color green) are the toughest family in the game. They have powerful weapons (including street sweeper shotguns) and many wear trench-coats, which as mentioned above means it takes more shots to take them down. Unless your stats are high, don't even try to take on a Barzini business below the rank of Capo.
163	* DesignatedLoveInterest: Frankie Malone in the first game. Aldo rescues her from some hoods, there are one or two quick cutscenes of the two showing mild romantic interest, then suddenly they're treated as an inseparable couple, being given an apartment together, etc. This may be somewhat justified, as it would be difficult to show a romance story in a crime/action focused game.
164	* GoddamnBats: The Tattaglias (tan), easily the weakest family in the game. Even those with trench-coats are easy to take out.
165	* ItsEasySoItSucks: A charge often leveled at the sequel. Players often didn't bother with the "hunting the rival family's made men" side quests because the benefit was negligible when it came time to take down the family compound. EliteMooks, up to and almost including the family Don, were almost indistinguishable from ordinary buttonmen.
166	* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: The cinematic of getting promoted to Don of the Corleones in the first game. That epic KubrickStare, that epic variation on the Godfather theme... it can send ''chills'' down a man's spine! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zexcWVUwZdo See for yourselves.]]
167	* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: Neither will win awards, but they are still solid and fun sandbox games.
168	* PlayerPunch: It seems like nearly everyone you know ends up getting killed by other mobsters, or betraying you and then getting killed by you. [[spoiler:Luca Brasi, Paulie Gatto, Frankie, Sonny, Monk, Tessio, and Jaggy Jovino (and Sergeant Ferreira in the Wii version)]]. YMMV because you never see these characters outside of missions anyway, so it's hard to get attached to them. Still, you gotta give the game some credit for trying.
169	* PortingDisaster:
170	** The Windows version of the first game devolved to this as it became apparent that the game crashes whenever it tries to play an FMV on Windows Vista onwards, which was released ''months'' after the game's release. For a time the only workaround would be to delete or rename the Movies folder, until prominent video game modder and programmer Silent released a [[https://cookieplmonster.github.io/mods/godfather/#silentpatch fan-made patch]] to fix the issue, which was caused by an obscure [=DirectDraw=] feature that was dropped in newer operating systems.
171	** The [=PlayStation=] Portable version does away with the open world. The game now has a level-based gameplay that kills the flow of the console experience.
172	* ThatOneAchievement: The first game rewards you for killing an enemy by every method the game keeps track of. By far the most difficult is "Traffic Accident". This requires you to grab an enemy and then throw them so they are hit and killed by a moving car. First, this requires you to find an enemy (preferably alone and not armed with a gun) near a trafficked street, then injure them enough that the collision will kill them, while you are at the mercy of the RandomNumberGod whether there will be passing cars spawned on the street. Getting the enemy hit by the car requires precise placement and timing. Throw them too early or from too far, they will hit the ground next to the car. Too late, they will hit the side of the car, which the game treats the same as if you throw them against a wall. Either of the previous instances will also injure and likely to kill the enemy in their weakened state and require you to start over.
173	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
174	** While badass, the Don and Don of NYC cutscenes that effectively end the game are fairly lackluster. While all of the promotion scenes up to that point have extensive involvement with the other characters in the game showing their reaction and adoration for the player, all the characters of note effectively vanish after the Underboss promotion and in the cutscenes the characters that do appear don't say anything. It would have been interesting to get some context by showing the players how the process of promoting an underboss to Don and ruling over New York City actually plays out.
175	** In the sequel, whilst Carmine Rosato receives a proper, if somewhat lacklustre, end, Tony Rosato is only encountered during the attack on his compound and can even then be missed if you just mow down all your enemies in the assault. Considering that both brothers' actors were still alive and active at the time, it seems like a missed opportunity not to have included them more.

Context YMMV / TheGodfather