The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather is a 1972 drama movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola, with a running time of 2h 55m. It stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan.
New York, the years after the war. Vito Corleone runs his crime family with old-country ceremony, weighing every favor and grudge before he grants it. His youngest son Michael, a decorated veteran, wants no part of the business. Francis Ford Coppola adapts Mario Puzo's novel with Marlon Brando as the aging don and Al Pacino as the son slowly drawn back into a world of loyalty, betrayal, and blood. The film keeps the pace of a family saga, patient and watchful, tracking how power passes from one generation to the next across shadowed rooms and Sicilian light.
Quick answers
What is The Godfather about?
New York, the years after the war. Vito Corleone runs his crime family with old-country ceremony, weighing every favor and grudge before he grants it. His youngest son Michael, a decorated veteran, wants no part of the business. Francis Ford Coppola adapts Mario Puzo's novel with Marlon Brando as the aging don and Al Pacino as the son slowly drawn back into a world of loyalty, betrayal, and blood. The film keeps the pace of a family saga, patient and watchful, tracking how power passes from one generation to the next across shadowed rooms and Sicilian light.
When was The Godfather released?
The Godfather was released on 14 March 1972.
How long is The Godfather?
The Godfather runs 2h 55m.
Who made The Godfather?
The Godfather was directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Where can I watch The Godfather?
The Godfather is available on DirecTV On Demand, Paramount Plus, Paramount+ (Via Amazon Prime), YouTube TV, fuboTV and Pluto TV.
Where to watch The Godfather
Stream: DirecTV On Demand, Paramount Plus, Paramount+ (Via Amazon Prime), YouTube TV, fuboTV
Watch free: Pluto TV
Rent: Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango at Home, FlixFling, Google Play, Spectrum On Demand
Buy: Fandango at Home, Google Play
Cast
- Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone
- Al Pacino as Michael Corleone
- James Caan as Sonny Corleone
- Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen
- Richard S. Castellano as Clemenza
- Diane Keaton as Kay Adams
- Talia Shire as Connie Corleone Rizzi
- Gianni Russo as Carlo Rizzi
- Sterling Hayden as Captain McCluskey
- John Marley as Jack Woltz
- Richard Conte as Barzini
- Al Lettieri as Sollozzo
Similar movies
Explore The Godfather guides
The Godfather in our writing
- Companion guide: Mafia & Organized Crime
- Companion guide: Villains & Great Antagonists
A few thoughts on The Godfather
Puzo's source novel The Godfather fills in the family history the film only glances at, and shades in characters the screen keeps at arm's length. For a sprawling saga of outlaw loyalty and kin bound together by violence, Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 earns the comparison and tracks the same slow corruption of a decent man. On television, The Sopranos carries clear Corleone DNA into suburban New Jersey.
Crime families building empires on loyalty and blood
The Godfather set the template for the American crime saga, and GoodFellas, Casino and The Irishman keep tracing that same world from ambitious rise to lonely reckoning. The Sopranos moves the ritual into a New Jersey backyard, A Bronx Tale and The Alto Knights study the neighborhoods that produce these men, and Mafia: Definitive Edition puts you inside the chain of command yourself.
Sweeping historical epics about power and downfall
The Godfather stages Michael Corleone's rise as a kind of historical tragedy, and Gladiator, Braveheart and Apocalypse Now share that same scale, men swallowed by empires, wars and codes of honor larger than themselves. House of Gucci trades armies for a fashion dynasty but keeps the same slow unraveling of a family destroyed by its own ambition and pride.
Men who turn violent to protect what is theirs
Michael Corleone's transformation from reluctant son to ruthless boss is echoed by lone men pushed past their limits elsewhere in the catalog. The American and Max Payne follow professionals cornered by their own past, A Walk Among the Tombstones and Death Wish turn ordinary grief into violent resolve, and Absolute Power and Shaft watch capable men navigate institutions built on corruption.