The Godfather, Part II (1974)

Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

I first saw The Godfather after I graduated college. I'd always heard about the movie, but I didn't really know anything about the Mafia and wasn't really interested. But, after having heard the hype for years, I finally caved in and watched it.

I was blown away by Al Pacino's portrayal of Michael Corleone, the son of a powerful Mafioso. Michael reluctantly gets involved in "the family business" after another family comes after the Corleones.

Well, after having been so thoroughly impressed by The Godfather (seriously, lived up to all the hype, and I heard a LOT of hype), I started hearing some people say that they liked the sequel even more than the original (the general consensus is that Godfather III was hands-down the worst of the trilogy).

Imagine my delight to find that it was on cable last week! Hooray!!

On top of continuing Michael's story, the film also flashes back to the life of a young Vito Corleone, the original Godfather of the Corleone family (played by Marlon Brando in the original and Robert De Niro here -- ossom!!).

I thought Coppola did a great job of telling two stories and drawing the parallels between Michael and his father. The scene at the end where the family is talking about the attack at Pearl Harbor brought tears to my eyes. Man, what a scene.

Did anyone else out there enjoy this film?