[basalt]

maybe the only time ever where the sequel might be better than the original....Godfather part 2 is a very good film, the flash back sequences to the young Vito make it a masterpiece. Just a stunning re-creation of that era.....

[chajin]

When Kurosawa made his list of 100 best movies, Part II was on the list but the original wasn’t.

[Dr. Sivana]

maybe the only time ever where the sequel might be better than the original

I think most people would consider "Rambo" better than "First Blood" and "Road Warrior" better than "Mad Max" and "Star Trek II Wrath of Khan" better than "Star Trek: The Motion Picture".

Of course, BOTH GF movies are several levels above all those flicks. I have to give the nod to the original Godfather because you cannot really get GF II without having seen the original first. I saw Godfather for the first time as a grown man on the big screen for the 25th anniversary. I knew nothing about the story. In fact, I had no idea what was going to happen in the meeting with Sollozzo and McCluskey because as far as I knew, "The Godfather" was all about Vito, not Michael. Puzo and Copolla pulled the old trick employed by Dickens in "Martin Chuzzlewit" and "Dombey and Sons" where the title character can be two different people. It works very, very well.

[MoochPooch]

Godfather part 2 is a very good film, the flash back sequences to the young Vito make it a masterpiece. Just a stunning re-creation of that era.....

GFII seemed more like a morality play than GFI, which glamorized the Mafia. GFII really shows their internal decay -- Michael forced to live in isolation, his siblings in broken marriages, his wife leaving him, etc.

Crime does pay, but at a cost.