The Godfather Part II

Dir: Francis Ford Coppola, 1974 (10*)

Best Picture (AA)

AFI Top 100

That rarest of films: a sequel better than the original. This film both continues the original and also precedes it in history with brilliant sequences of a young Corleone in both Italy and America, played by Oscar-winning Robert De Niro speaking Italian. The film loses Brando, but introduces acting professor Lee Strasbourg in a terrific Oscar-nominated part as rival don Hyman Roth, and brings the characters of Al Pacino as new Don, Michael, and John Cazale (as brother Alfredo) to full development. This is a truly riveting story, and a near perfect epic film. The two were put together and re-edited for an 8-hr tv miniseries by Coppola, called "The Godfather Saga", very much worth seeing. 8 Oscars