Vito Corleone (Brando) is the aging don of the Corleone Mafia Family. His youngest son Michael (Pacino) has returned from WWII just in time to see the wedding of Connie Corleone (Michael's sister) to Carlo Rizzi. All of Michael's family is involved with the Mafia, but Michael just wants to live a normal life. The Don's eldest son is the hothead Santino (Caan) who want to expand the business quickly. Drug dealer Virgil Sollozzo is looking for Mafia Families to offer him protection in exchange for a profit of the drug money. He approaches Don Corleone about it, but, much against the advice of the Don's lawyer Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), the Don is morally against the use of drugs, and turns down the offer. This does not please Sollozzo, who has the Don shot down by some of his hit men. The Don barely survives, which leads his son Michael to begin a violent mob war against Sollozzo and tears the Corleone family apart.

The pacing of this crime drama makes for a welcome change from the frenetic 'mockney' gangster films or 'urban' crime movies which boast little more than fast editing and bombastic soundtracks. Coppola allows the story to unfold whilst enveloping the viewer into this world of respect and loyalty. It is a film which has been mimicked and aped many times since with the performances and specific scenes going into cinematic folklore.

Brando is perfectly cast as the Don, who despite the passing years still dominates the room when he enters. The mumbling delivery of his lines only adds to the menace and he gives a great version of the caring father who is beginning to look back on his life. Robert Duvall and James caan also sparkle on screen, with one using brains and the other preferring brute force to assist their father. The real standout though is Al Pacino who in my opinion has never bettered this performance as the young war hero returning to the family home but trying to resist the family business. The don favours Michael to take over, but he shows little interest. He is mild and meek in dealing with crime and insists to his girlfriend (Keaton) that this is not the life for him. However once the don is shot, Pacino turns Michael into a no nonsense head of the family who deals with things his own way. He never defaults into the over-familiar shouty pouting that we have seen from the actor in recent years, instead it is a controlled and measured masterclass in subtle nuances to maximum effect.

The final scene with Pacino completely consuming the duties of The Don as Keaton watches on is both fitting and moving... even if it was inevitable from early on. A lot of praise must go to Coppola for giving us a lean film (despite the 3 hour runtime) which is detailed without ever being uneccesarily opulent. He may have lost his way in recent years, but his films from the Seventies give him a genuine shot at being the most important and influential American filmmaker of all time.

Everything about The Godfather is of the highest order. The music from Nino Rota is an additional character throughout adding so much to the action on screen. The violence appears to be poetic almost in delivery managing to be frightening without being gratuitous. Having read all the glowing reviews myself and still waited this long to see it, i'd just like to add my to cents worth to anyone who hasn't seen this yet... go watch it now!