Sequels are a way of life in Hollywood, and they’ve been around in some fashion since the dawn of cinema. But in 1974, it just wasn’t common for an Oscar-winner for Best Picture to have a sequel two years later that won the same prize ..
. and more. Fifty years ago this month, The Godfather Part II changed the game for the industry and arguably surpassed The Godfather itself.
While many of The Godfather Part II ‘s contemporary films — like The Towering Inferno — have faded from pop culture, this movie continues to influence every crime epic that came after it. It set the bar so high for a sequel that not even The Godfather Part III could come anywhere close to this film’s heights. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Godfather Part II , we’ll examine what makes the film resonate and determine whether it’s the greatest sequel ever made.
The dual narratives are both compelling Director Francis Ford Coppola ( Megalopolis ) and The Godfather novelist Mario Puzo co-wrote the screenplay for The Godfather Part II , which effectively serves as both a prequel and a sequel to the first film. In the early years of the 20th century, young Vito Corleone ( Robert De Niro ) struggles to find his place as an Italian immigrant living in America. The narrative, starting in 1958, follows Vito’s son, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), as he settles into his role as the Don of the Corleone crime family.
The film intercuts between these two stories as we see how Vito slowly built h.
