Did The Godfather Part 3 Deserve All the Criticism? 

Is it possible for you guys to imagine Madonna as Mary Corleone?

Not paying Robert Duval was the first the biggest mistake. It’s difficult to accept the third movie as part of the trilogy. This story is no way near as good as one & two.

The actor that actually bothered me the most in Part 3 was Pacino. I think he phoned it in. It didn't even feel like he was playing the same character as the first two movies.

having a B-list actor famous for tanning replacing ROBERT DUVALL as the Consigliere was glaring.

I read in another comment in a Godfather III video that despite the film being set in 1979, it doesn’t look or feel like it. It feels just like the year it was released (1990). Whereas the first two films surely didn’t feel like the 70s, but felt like the time period in which they were set.

I have always believed that if the Godfather Part 3 wasn't a Godfather film but a different Mafia movie, then I think it would be remembered more positively.

She didn't mess up the godfather 3 she did exactly what she was supposed to do,she was innocence personified in the godfather world something that was rarely seen in the saga.

Sofia like her father is a better director than an actress. However, Part 3 was doomed to fail simply because it was unnecessary.

Coppola thought his daughter's acting was so bad, he had her shot lol.

IMO Sofia's acting was perfectly adequate to the role. Another actress could have probably done a better job, but Sofia did not fall short of the role's requirements by any stretch of the imagination.

I definitely enjoyed Godfather 3. She wasn't terrible at all. I just didn't like her wanting her cousin in the movie. That incest story turned me off

I finally watched the trilogy a week ago and I thought Sofia was fine in part 3. As far as Pacino's different acting style, I think back back to the scene where Micheal was asking his elderly mother what his father felt deep in his heart. He was scared that if he became too cold and too stoic that it would end up harming the family. Then Micheal took a step further into the darkness by having Fredo killed which he reeled back from and spent the rest of his life looking for redemption

This installment had no mention of any of Sonny’s other children or of any of Connie’s children which could have been an interesting plot line between them and Vincent, the exclusion of Robert Duval was a terrible idea

I remember when all the critics focused on the haircut of Pacino...I was like ..." Come on, people! "

They needed Robert Duvall and yet moved forward without him. Rebecca Schaeffer, who was a Jewish girl, I think would’ve been excellent in the role of Mary. They say she was very excited about being up for that part, too. So sad she was killed around that time.

Sofia wasn't the first think that came to my mind when I think about this movie. Plot holes and unexplainable changes in characters behaviour is they key of the failure. 1 and 2 were masterpieces and fun to watch, the pacing and the dialogues of the characters in the 3, not so much.

The hit scene was unforgivable. Hit set pieces were the core of the previous two films, and this one was just ridiculous. The scene in Raw Deal where Arnie drove circles in the cement factory shooting out the window of his car was more credible. The Vatican Bank stuff (which was based on the Gladio scandal) should have been the focus, not Vincent and Mary.

Al Pacino was fantastic as usual in this film. And his crying scene is so convincing

“I’m Enzo the baker.” Terrible writing

I thought Sophia Coppola did a decent job as Mary Corleone. I doubt Winona Ryder could have done all that much better. Part 3 was not as good as the other 2 but it was still an excellent movie. JMHO.

Andy Garcia was great in this

I thought the movie was excellent. Every scene was captivating and flowed nicely. Sofia Coppola wasn't an anchor or underwhelming. She was beautiful and had great chemistry with Andy Garcia and pulled off the nieve daughter. I can't imagine the movie without her. C'mon, Nicolas Cage wouldn't have been better than Andy Garcia. Everyone had aged nicely, even though 20 years had passed in the storyline. Yes, I would have preferred Duvall or George Hamilton, but Duvall wanted a salary comencerate to Al Pacino. I thought the entire movie was as entertaining as I and II. The only thing that was poorly done was the end, with Micheal falling over from his chair as an old man. I would have shot a slow-motion collage of various characters with a retired Michael and Kay just a few years older holding hands on a terrace over looking the Scillian countryside.

One flaw? Michael's haircut (plus AP didn't look like Michael anymore), the entire cast, the script, and everything else. The ending reminded me of Laugh In's Arte Johnson character...laughable.

I thought Sophia did a great job; I thought she fit perfectly into the part. I know she came off as awkward and even gangly but that’s how I saw Michael’s daughter. I never understood all the hate poured onto her.

We need to remember that Coppola wrote this script just after his son died in an accident for which he blames himself. I believe that had a lot to do with his creative choices in GF3. He was punishing himself through Michael and let Anthony, the artist just like Coppola’s sons, get away safely. I believe it was one way for him to process his fresh grief. Coppola’s perspective and worldview changed after the tragedy and he projected that onto Michael in part 3. Coppola is still resentful and regrets making the movie where his adult son was working behind the camera. He was killed when he took a break. He is open about how his son’s tragedy inspired him to do GF3. The character of Mary was based on Sophia itself, way before casting happened. Coincidentally, none of the actresses that were cast/nearly cast as Mary worked out. It’s only natural that Coppola was tempted to cast Sophia. What makes this weird is the incest plot written with Mary and according to Coppola, their culture does have some cousin marriages or romance and so that was sort of normalised. He has seen this in his own extended family apparently. Great video btw! Hopefully we can see more GF3 centric content in your channel. Very flawed but a lot to discuss.

The Bankers + Church being the antagonists for Michael somewhat made sense. GF1 had gangsters as the villains to overcome. GF2 had the government as the scariest foe Michael has gone against. GF3 has Michael Corleone up against the most powerful elites of the world, bankers and top religious organizations. That being said, they could have cut out the Italy portion. Felt more like a side quest than anything. Same with Joey Zasa and Don Altobello.... they needed only one, not both.

It would have been so much better if Winona Ryder wasn’t making so many movies at the same time and she would’ve played Mary. Also, not having Robert Duvall back as Tom Hagan was a travesty. He made the first two what they were as the level-headed voice of reason in the shady world they were in.

I feel like it deserves all the criticism. The acting wasn’t even close to the other movies. What bothered me the most is the relationship between the first cousins, that would NEVER play out in a real Italian family. Weirdly Sophia’s acting didn’t bother me. She played innocent.

Yeah , the critics were very harsh when Godfather 3 first came out, but check out the story of how G3 came about & you'll appreciate how well the movie was.

Well, I remember when Godfather 3 came out and I really didn't like it. I saw Robert Duvall complain that they refused to pay him what he felt that he was worth. I also felt that too many scenes were too similar to the first movie. When the DVDs came out decades later I refused to buy the 3 movies bundled together and contrived to separately buy 1 and 2. When Trump was president in 2017 the famous "Q" posts would repeatedly reference Godfather 3. This caused me to watch it again after so many years. You know what? I thought that it was brilliant. Obviously the movie had not changed but I had become 30 years older myself and was no longer so young. Michael Corleone himself had mellowed and was no longer so ruthless like in 2 where he killed his own brother who had always been weak and who had really let himself become played by Hyman Roth who was as clever an operator as Satan himself. Michael forced the other guy to commit suicide after he also was played by Roth. When Michael had Roth killed Robert Duvall asked him, "Are we going to kill everyone?" Michael replied, "No, only our enemies." In truth his brother and the guy who committed suicide were not really enemies, they were merely pawns in the game between Michael and Roth. Michael also fiercely rejected Diane Keaton for basically being so afraid of who he had become that she had obtained a secret abortion of his unborn son. In 3 he forgave her. I thought that Sophia was incredibly gorgeous. I liked her. Godfather 1 was almost all about NYC. Godfather 2 was mostly about Nevada and Cuba and NYC was mostly flashbacks. Godfather 3 emphasized Italy and Sicily. The Corleones had come full circle. WLR

Godfather 3 was like bad fan fiction from someone that only superficially watched 1&2. Like they said what if sonny had a kid with his mistress and he's hot headed just like Sonny. What if Tom had a son that was a cardinal. What if Michael became more light hearted and comedic from all the 100s of millions he's accumulated. What if the Vatican is a corrupted entity. Also what if Connie became a cold hearted makiavellian after her second divorce. In the end it betrayed everything that made godfather 1&2 classics which is making it about the responsibility toward family. Especially for the fact that Sonny and Tom had a bunch of legitimate kids. Like what happened to them???

Godfather III needs to be seen. It has its' own good qualities and does offer an end to the story. The death of Mary Coroleone and Michael's reaction is so memorable and heart crushing. Sofia's portrail is more subtle; a 2nd generation Italian-American that loves her family, but is more American, perhaps distracted by other interests other than the business or the family. Anyway, this movie has good music and other good attributes. Yet, maybe AL😢 Pacino carried the movie.

"My coat! It's my lucky coat! It's my lucky coat!”

Part I and Part II are about life and family and the American Dream. But Part III is basically about Part I and II. The movie constantly pays tribute to the previous movies--that is, it pays tribute to itself. The scene where Michael's son sings to the famous Godfather theme. The scene where Vincent plays with an orange just like Michael in Part II. The parade music when Vincent kills Joey Zasa is the same music from when Vito killed Don Fanucci. Vincent flirts with girls in the opening reception like his father Sonny screwed a maid of honor at the wedding that opened the first movie. And of course the climactic scene is a series of coordinated assassinations exactly like in the first movie. And Michael quietly drops dead in a courtyard as Vito dropped dead in an orchard. Part III is obsessed with doing everything just like the previous movies. Its subject matter is the Godfather franchise, not life. This doesn't mean Part III is a bad movie. But it means it cannot be a great movie like Parts I and II.

the studio executives gave coppola an offer he couldnt refuse

Let’s be real here. Some people are gonna like something. Some people aren’t. But Godfather three was right with the theme of the other two godfathers. And I personally liked it. And we’re still talking about it and we’re still watching it. So it must be a value. Exactly. How did you think it should’ve ended?

Sofia is competent in the part. Andy, on the other hand, looks more the part than is the part. As for the rest, it all comes down to a scrit that's not on the level of I and II. Part III is more like a tv series than cinema.

Part III is a masterpiece in its own right. So tired of opinionated moviebuffs who whine about the littlest thing they can find but hype the dumbest talentless movies that has cred. A movie isn't it's script or an actor's performance that you may or may not understand, it's pointless picking it apart like that. A movie is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

What you have in Godfather 3 is actually two short movies. The first is about the tensions between now-old mobsters who came up in the 40s and 50s and the “youngsters” like Joey Zaza and (to an extent) Vincent. The second is about Michael’s efforts to “go legit” through Immobilare and the Vatican Bank. The two just don’t mesh well…

Unfortunate for Sofia, her dad really should’ve known better. Reminded me of a TV movie or soap scene at times her acting was so poor never mind trying to portray incestuous romance. She has other talents of course. Andy Garcias character is ridiculous as is Joe Fasa(?). This nobody, over a short time frame gains trust of Michael and is going to inherit all the power? 😆 What was with the guy making horse sounds? Then there’s the insane assassin scene where the guy pretends to be dead, the bodyguard lowers his weapon then gets stabbed. WTF. Al Pacino had become the comic book version of Al Pacino and he was dialling it in. The time stretch was too much from The first movies.

Godfather Part III is a better movie than just about anything I've seen in the last few years.

Yes, this movie deserves all the criticism. And even more than that.

Andy Garcia was great in this. To me at least.

If you buy the trilogy on bluray, you get 2 great movies and a coaster for your drink

Pacino’s HU-WA performance always takes me out of this one. No Tom was bad. The catholic church plot is confusing (and frankly boring). Mantegna, while I like him, just doesn’t feel right in this one.

Thank you for making the excellent point regarding Sofia Coppola portraying a character who was awkard, innocent, and incredibly put of her depth. The hate that woman gets for this movie is *shameful*.

Al Pacino in this film is like watching someone do a really bad Al Pacino impression. “Woahh God...Hoo Haa!!”

the Big Flaw was the absence of Tom Hagen who would have played a big part in the Vatican Dealings, in the original script Hagen was supposed to be the last brother to die in a bloody way.

I loved the trilogy but personally felt the third film was more emotional for me...Sofia was perfect in this film...totally beautiful and so innocent of any previous experience..Andy made it real...you can't portray a forbidden love without feeling the truth of the emotion...her death and Al Pacinos silent scream summed up the whole trilogy for me...loved it all ❤

Calling it a failure is revisionist history. It's not a bad movie, much less a terrible movie. It's a good movie that isn't great because of certain flaws. It was well received on release. it is the retrospective perception of the film that has described it as a failure, probably cause gangster films have become violence porn.

Godfather 3 was my least favorite of the trilogy but I never thought it was a bad movie

It's in there somewhere?? The feel of the other two, but it's a chore to watch sadly.

I have tried numerous times and I still can't get through more than 15 minutes without being bored or embarrassed. Andy Garcia was the only good thing in the movie.

I will write this One in English. Hell to all my Sicilian American Brothers and Sisters and The Native Sicilians in Sicily. Well here is my feelings on these movies so called depicting us The Sicilians. Well seeing all of these non Sicilians playing The part of a Sicilian still to this day makes very angry. And seeing this Cuban ( Oh please ) playing the part of a Sicilian. Well it almost made lose my religion. Yes indeed. And seeing Sophia Coppola kissing that Cubano. Well I will just keep my mouth shut on that one. I am an American, yes. But I believe very strongly that my blood is still Sicilian ( on both sides ). Although I was born in The United States ( Washington D.C. ). I still believe in The old Sicilian traditions and The honor, respect and loyalty of my Ancestry still means alot to me. And if you are not One of us, you can not become One of us. And that includes playing the part of One of us. Now please let me know what all of you think about these Three movies and what I mentioned. Thank you and God Bless.

“I’m going my own way ……music” 😭 I closed my Netflix app

Godfathers I & ll were Cinematic Masterpieces. Godfather 3 was not Godfather lll. The real problem was Al Pacino's hair! lol

Oh come on. Don't we all want to live to our 90s and then fall to our death and have puppies licking on us? 😂🤣😅

I can't speak for anyone else, but I went into the Godfather films circa 2007 knowing nothing about them. I watched the first two with no issues. When I got to part 3, having no idea who the actress portraying Mary was, I thought "This girl is terrible", The performance was distractingly bad. A few years later when I delved into the films and learned that she was the director's daughter, the whole thing made a little more sense. For me she was not a scapegoat; she was the person who gave the worst performance (by far) in the entire trilogy. Just something to consider from a person who did not go into the movies with any preconceived notions whatsoever.

To go ahead without Duvall ie Tom, replacing him with Sophia Coppola and then giving her an incestuous relationship really ruined this movie

I dont think Michael was cool and calm in Godfather 2. He was ruthless but calculated since he was in the news, and got worse towards the end. He became grouchy and short.

Coppola and Puzo's script wan't anywhere near the masterful Oscar-winning quality of Parts 1 and 2. It was a convoluted story, breaking off into multiple subplots and its pace slowed to a crawl at times with scenes over-loaded by too much dialogue. Pacino was terrific, but the character of Vincent and Andy Garcia's dynamic performance may have been movie's high point. The absence of Robert Duval as Tom Hagen left a glaring void while Sofia Coppola goes without saying.

Paramount tried to ruin the first one they succeeded in part 3

The movie is good by itself. The problem is that his prequels are the greatest movies in the history of cinema.

I'm still waiting for an apology for this movie.

I have no idea why people didn't like Sofia Coppola. I thought she personified innocence perfectly. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

Sophia was the least of the problems with this movie......but she was bad. It's not that people were disappointed that it wasn't Winona Ryder. Most of the audience would have had no idea that Winona dropped out at the last minute. There's a lot of things to talk about, but for me Pacino's performance was not at all reminiscent of Michael Corleone. Also, a lot of the other actors like Andy Garcia, Talia Shire, and Joe Mantegna came off too broad and a little corny. The plot was interesting but kind of a mess. They rushed the movie, they should have paid Robert Duvall, and they should have brought in a real actress to play Mary. Bad decisions have consequences. It is what it is.

How to fix Godfather 3: Kill Mary at the very beginning. That's it.

It misses Tom Hagen. That alone stops it from being a 10/10 (GF) or 9.8/10 (GF II). III is an 8 to 8.5/10 which means it falls short. He was forced to quickly edit it together when it's clear the Michael/Archbishop scene was the opener, establishing where Michael is at this point in his life, finally going legit?, as was his desire in I & II. It gives you the Vatican plot details etc.

The reconciliation between Michael and Kay rang untrue. Michael may have tolerated Kay coming to Sicily but he never would have explained his decisions when they were married😮

Godfather 3 wasn't bad in anyway. I liked it all the way till the end. The end didn't justify the awesome trilogy. Godfather 2 had the most awesome ending and by Godfather 2 the story ended. Godfather 3 felt totally unnecessary as a story itself. Although Micheal feeling remorse for the sins he done is good. It's totally not necessary & the ending sucks.

There were other actresses who were available that Coppola didn’t want, including Laura Giacomo. The whole mess was certainly not Sophia‘s fault, but her father‘s fault. He basically set her up to fail.

Too many years passed since part I and II, I'm actually surprised that the 3rd one didn't got canceled after this many problems.

I eventually think Sophia was the only good thing in this movie: fresh and spontaneous, as Pacino, Duvall, Caan and Cazale were in the first. Crappola biggest flaw was that he couldn't find a good actor to play Vince, if that had happen the movie would have been a huge success.

LETS BE REAL NO TOM HAGEN WAS THE PROBLEM

I thought she did a great job.

The thing I hated about this movie is the way Michael let Kay walk all over him...

To be honest I thought Sophia's acting was quite serviceable and I always thought she was pretty I don't know why people give her such a hard time, as she was supposed to act like a very young woman who is innocent and naive, and that's exactly how she acted. I don't think Winona Ryder would have been a good choice. I don't know if she's Italian or not, but I don't think she looks as Italian as Sofia Coppola. And Madonna was too old.

It won the Oscar for best picture for christ sakes

I literally knew nothing about this actress when I watched this movie. In fact, until this point, I didn't even know her name or the history of her getting the part. I knew nothing about her or her circumstances, and yet the entire time I was watching the movie I continuously thought "Oh my god this girl has absolutely no business being an actress, she's killing this movie". It had nothing to do with any of these other factors you mentioned and a lot of other people probably had a similar experience. Her performance is just objectively bad, and so is the movie.

the incest angle got me thinking... did Al Pacino know about the angle as didn't he also have one in Scarface with his sister?

One flaw? Al Pacino played Al Pacino instead of Micheal Corleone!!!!

Pacino is playing micheal anymore. He is simply Pacino. He smiles too much , he is too emotional. Aside from the hand over the eyes , Micheal doesn’t exist

They should have killed Robert Duvall in the opening scene if they didn’t want to pay him, it would have set a good pacing for Micheal’s character

I enjoy watching it but it doesn’t feel like Michael. Find it hard to bridge that gap in his character development between 2&3

in the italian dub, coppola is saved by her dub. the voice actress, eleonora de angelis, is a veteran

The Vatican backstory could have worked. But it was not as well known as it should have been, I mean John Paul I did die like 6 months or less into his papacy. And the Vatican bank scandal was reported at the time. But the movie made an assumption that the audience would follow along. And. I also think Al Pacino played Michael down too far. This was Michael's life goal and he was too down to see it through. Connie frankly should get more credit in this storyline. Sofia was youthful and beautiful and reminiscent of Apolonia from the original. GF3 needed a rewrite or 2, Robert Duvall and a better budget.

I believed that The Godfather III deserves the criticism. The only reason for this movie to exist is because Francis Ford Coppola needed money due to his studios box office failures and Paramount desperate for money. Funny that the critics who bashed the second movie at that time gave more sympathy to the third one.

I still enjoyed this movie still. I thought SC was nowhere near the train wreck everyone made out, she was ok in my book.

I would love too see a mini series, based on the Book. " Family Corleone " The rise of the Corleone family. THAT I think would be worth the time and trouble.

Coppola should not have caved to Paramount’s demands

So what you're saying is it was all Winona Ryder's fault.

I always thought Sophia Copolla did a good job. And anyone who saw her as unattractive is plain nuts.

Part 3 is honestly my favorite entry of the trilogy. I've watched it so many more times than Pt 1 & 2.. granted there are a bunch of scenes I simply don't watch because they just ruin the movie, but the good parts are really good

Godfather pt 3 is "bad" in the sense that 2010 is considered "bad". In reality they are both not bad movies, but they are later sequels to some of the most perfect movies ever made. I believe that The Godfather pt III is still one of the best mobster movies out there, much of it is just more generic and the script isn't that good as the first two. Only Goodfellas might be a movie in this genre I might put between I, II and III, but still it's better than most of what is put out. I think the third movie is one that was needed to close Michaels story. We can always think how it might have been better(Robert Duvall being part of it, Mary being played by someone else or disregarding that weird conspiracy about the pope) but it is still a solid film. If the first two are five star films, this is "only" a four star film.

While this is news to me that Sophia had to come in the film suddenly, does not change the fact she still cannot act to this day. Mind you, I do agree the weak ass script is 90% of what's wrong with the movie.

I’m maybe the only one saying it okay 3 is the worst but still a masterpiece if this movie was dropped in these days it would blow off in the cinema, the 90s had one of the toughest competition and high standards after godfather 1 & 2. I know Pacino’s Michael is very diff and isn’t badass like he used to be and is way out of his prime mentality and physicality But remember he is older and wiser and is scared to lose his family and wants to go clean he even regret many things and go to the priest to confess all his previous sins, he wanted to be like his father but it didn’t turn out like he wanted to, I think as Michael got older he got more human, when you are young sometimes you don’t think Adrenalin kicks in and you go with instincts but they maybe explained it poorly! What I have a problem with and big problem is the insect romance it’s so fkn weird I cringed why did they think it’s a good idea to portray it in this movie it don’t fit the godfather style, it was more about their romance than actual mafia and main man Michael, but that is my view not perfect but if it would come out now it would be a masterpiece for sure so it’s a an okay movie compared to other 2s and ending one of the best and emotional, it’s underrated not many talk about Michael’s ending! It’s so realistic, in mob life it don’t end happy at all and in those times you can’t just walk out of that life easily especially if you are a Don it’s a big target, I recently watched all three too. So I dropped like a review on the third 😅

Garcia was also a bad actor in that movie

Am I the only person who liked Sophia Coppola's rendition as Mary?

I thought Sophia was Amazing.

I only watched this for the first time a few weeks ago i think she made a believable rich , naive air headed teenager the problem was the story it felt like doing too much on a small budget it felt elongated in beginning an then rushed at half point all the way through