Throughout my life, I knew the movies existed, and knew they were supposed to be excellent, but never had the chance to sit down and watch them until I was 18. I was about to graduate high school and I decided now is as good a time as any to see these movies.

So I went to Blockbuster and rented the pre-re-release versions of them. These were the OLD VHS tapes. I guess they had been around since the mid 1980’s. To my surprise, they worked fine.

I watched the first one with my girlfriend, now wife, and we liked it, but we agreed that it wasn’t the end-all be- all movie that it had been cracked up to be.

A few days later, I rented Part II and watched it one night. I fell asleep half way through for maybe 5-10 minutes, and then woke up wanting to turn it off because I was tired - not because I was bored. I never did and watched the rest with my jaw agape.

I was really enjoying the movies by now. Watching Part II enhanced my understanding of Part I and actually made me appreciate it more. While watching Part II, I realized that this was something really special.

So needless to say - I was really eager to rent Part III. Sure it wasn’t as good as the first - but there is something to be said of watching these movies back to back to back like I did. By the end of Part III I was an emotional wreck. I had lived and died with this family over the course of 3-4 nights and I really felt it when the end of Part III came about. Man I was on pins and needles. I had no clue what was going to happen.

After the movie was over I think I cried or the rest of the night. It wasn’t really a movie where you could identify with the characters to the point where you felt their pain, but it was just a moving and epic experience. My wife still makes fun of me, saying I was weeping like a baby, but it was something to experience.

They immediately became my favorite movies. And surprisingly, the movies were re-released a few months later and I was able to see the original on the big screen. Amazing.

I got the VHS set for my b-day and when the DVD’s came out, bought them the day they were released.

Watching these movies for the first time will be something I will never forget. It’s right up there with the Ravens winning the Super Bowl and graduating high school and college.

I’m not kidding.

Anyone else have a story about watching these movies for the first time?

Well, I too, have always heard of the movies, and how good they were suppose to be, but never got around to watching them.

It just so happened that one day, no one was home, and I was exteremely bored. I picked the first movie I saw and popped it in the VCR. The movie just so happened to be The Godfather. I was mezmorized. The movie was done, and I rewinded it and watched it over again, right there and then. Needless to say I have no life, the fact that I have the time to do this is amazing. Well it ended, and I learned so much more the second time (I seem to learn more each time I eatch it, and I have watched it quite a few times since then). I went to put the movie back, when what did I see? The Godfather 2 was right there. I didn't even know there was a second movie so I was ecstatic to see the movie. I rushed to put the movie in and I was very intrigued the whole way through, just as the first one.

By the time it had ended, it was 3 in the morning, and I had to be in work in like 3 hours. As much as I didn't want to, I fell asleep, the minute it was over.

Well, the minute I came home from work, I popped it in the VCR and watched it intentively, learning more with every watch.

Now after that, I watched the movies occasionally and I was also was captured by mocies like Goodfellas, and Casino (along with many otehrs). One day, I was online and I was bored. I looked up GF fan sites and I came upon some attempted at a webpage and as little information as it had, it did have one fact that I found very exciting. There was a third movie.

I watched the movie, and noticed some faults, but I was still mezmorized. Of course, I watched it yet again. Just not too long ago, I demanded I have the DVDs and that I got.

I studied the movies over and over and searched many websites. I learned a lot. I thought I was The Godfather God-but then I found this site. This is site is full of geniuses(sp?), but I learned a whole lot more about The Godfather from this site.

Well that is my extremely broing dedication to that once, boring night when I chose The Godfather....by accident.

I found both of your Godfather experiences very interesting. As an older generation fan I never considered what it must be like to see them now for the first time and then watch all three in a row. Mind Blowing! I was 22 years old when I saw The Godfather when it was first released in the theatres. Such a totally different experience from what you relate (btw, there are several threads about first time viewing and viewing the original realease). Then of course I saw GF2 in 1974. And now having seen GF and GF2 countless times; GF3 not countless times, I really wonder what I would have thought if I saw them the way you two did. Great posts, thanks.

Hey, nice topic and welcome DeathByClotheshanger!

Well as for me, I am a fairly big movie dude, I really enjoy well made and thought out movies with deep levels of meaning. I find this is when the genre is at it's best. I can't stand the quality of movies which are generally available. It's at a point now that my girlfriend and I can walk into a video store (The are like 3 around my pad), look around for 1/2 an hour and walk out without renting anything. DId you know that the average movie is made for the intellect of a grade 6?

I decided to rent the movie with my girlfriend and we sat threw the first one. I was instantly drawn into the world, the whole, feel the story the dialogue, the characters, the drama. It was quite total. By the end of the first one, I was completly hooked. I think later the next day we rented the second one, this one we sorta *COUGH*... missed part of it... and I ended up watching it from the second DVD on and by the end of the second one, I felt so dark as MC must have, very powerful stuff, like at the end of GF I.

I saw GF III sometime later. I think what I truly enjoy about the GF is it's a completly intelligent tale, with no shortcuts taken or measures to tone it down. It's completly emotional and deals with themes that are not only universal, but are deep and relatable by everyone. There is a duality that exists in the GF trilogy, the universal nature of the themes and stories are not deminished by the originality inherent in the story or the film making. The GF trilogy was truly groundbreaking stuff and still is often imitated, but never duplicated.

I enjoyed your posts. I would love to share the GF with my kids, because I really believe it is a classic story. I am waiting just a little longer because of the gore and violence, but someday soon I look forward to enjoying the whole series as if it were brand new through the eyes of my children.

This is one of the best things about having kids

One thing I noticed about this movie while watching it, was that it was two era's of movie making crashing into one another.

Here you had the golden era, which could span from the 1900's to the 1960's with much attention paid to script and acting. And then you have the modern era with less censorship when it comes to violence, language, and sex.

The Godfather was a meshing of these two era's for me, which made the movie even more enjoyable. I don't think the Godfather could have been made as well as it was in any other decade. It needed to be made in the early 70's.

The same can be said of the second, but not the third, which was shot totally in the modern era and probably suffered a bit from that.

Death...., very true observation about the change in movie making. At the end of the 60's the censorship was relaxing on language, nudity and violence and moviemakers were "pushing the envelope." Films like The Graduate and The Pawnbroker showed a woman's breast. That was major. Midnight Cowboy was rated X when it was first released circa 1969. There was nudity, rape, homosexuality, and basically the seamy side of NY street life. When the Godfather was released, the barriers had been broken and the Godfather fit right in. GF could never have been made in the early 60s they way it was filmed.

The film industry has unfortunately seen a drop in quality films over the past few years. There are a few great ones that make it in (Gangs of New York, LOTR trilogy), but for every great one that makes it through the cracks, there's a hundred more Vin Diesel films. The Chronicles of Riddick doesn't look half as bad as A Man Apart, but it just goes to show what the "people" want to see nowadays. I don't blame the studios for this, they make the films that today's basic age demographic are interested in seeing. That's where the money is. Blame America's pre-pubescent teenagers for it. They wanna see movies with Lindsey Lohan and the like. And with the quality of films coming out of Hollywood today, I really feel that making a fourth Godfather would be a big mistake. If anyone could do it though, it's FFC, but sadly, it'd be without the guidance of Mario Puzo, R.I.P.

It's all supply and demand... and I'm sure there was some crap being released around the time of The Godfather... heck the disaster movie genre started not too long after that. Effects of that genre are still evident today.

However, there are still a lot of "intellegent" films around today. I just watched Mystic River last night and it was excellent. So was 21 Grams. Titanic and LOTR movies transcend all boundries, drawing in people from all age groups, races, sex, whatever - and they were excellent movies, and won Academy Awards.

Hollywood is making more movies these days and it just so happens that a lot of it is silly crap. And they are also going through a creativity lapse with all the freaking remakes and comic books adaptions...

But I am willing to bet that the percentage of of crap produced hasn't changed much over the years.

I feel that movies tend to very moralistically driven, we have a good guy and a bad guy. One side wins in the end, the other loses and the hero gets the girl, blah blah blah blah blah.

Such blandness in movie making is what makes great movies like the GF stand out. Above everything is a great story that deals with protagonists and antagonists who are both pretty much capable of the same actions. There is no heavy duty moralizing of absolute good and evil. All the characters are criminals, just one side tends to be more honorable than the other side, but at the end of the day each of these men are ready to make tough decisions which are literally a matter of life or death in their world. These decision are tough, but have to be made and have to be lived with.

Wow, these threads are an eye opener for me. I can't imagine someone not seeing a movie until they were 18. I remember the first movie I saw when I was 4 years old some 55 years ago. It was "The Best Years Of Our Lives" in 1948. True! I remember seeing it with my grandmother. I dont remember all the details at the time, but I know it was the movie, because I remember Harold Russel playing the sailor with the hooks for hands. After that I was hooked (no pun intended) and spent most weekends in the movies.

Without going into a long diseration, like I sometimes can. I really miss the movie of days gone by. Back then you had actors instead of movie stars, and movies survived on the talent of the actors and not the special effects.

Last week, myself and 9 friends spent a week at the Jersey shore. None of them had ever seen The Godfather, so I brought my DVD collection to show them what great movies they are. At various times through out the week, we managed to watch them. To my surprise, they all really liked the trilogy.

As for me, I was like 7 or 8. My oldest brother showed it to me. Kinda irresponsible of him, he's 9 years older.

I was introducted to the Godfather via the Sopranos. Like many of you, I was bored one weekend and picked it up because I am a fan of sequels, prequels, and series.

I was so impressed with the level of storytelling, the changes of pace, and the detail Coppola put into the story instead of rushing it along. Part II keeps me guessing to this day with the Pantangeli storyline and what moves Roth made. Hated Part III until I realized Coppola was telling a long story instead of expecting him to re-tell the same story.

I guess the best part of being introduced to it was how easy it was to watch, yet how hard it was to "master". The details really mattered when I first saw it, and now as well.

On that note, I have a very boring job and my co-workers and I actually tape the audio from movies to listen to at work. I know it sounds weird, but Coppola even did a great job with the actors voices matching their characters. With no visual to see, its interesting to listen to how commanding Vito is, how weak Fredo is, and how calm Michael is in any situation. Compared to other movies we "listen" to, well, there is no comparison!

I saw GF1 when it was first released in the theater, I think I was 11. A little heavy for a kid, but I was fascinated. The first I knew of Pt.II, my family had just moved to Tahoe City, and in the fall there were cars running around town with small signs in the windows that said, "Now filming-Godfather II. Paramount Pictures" When the movie was released, we all went down to Reno to watch it, still have a couple of souvineer programs. I had read the script already, so I knew what to expect to some degree. Saw pt. III on video, I had a hard time building myself up to watch it. I've only seen it once, I'll have to watch it again.

It's so great to read everyone's first time experience at watching one of the greatest movies/trilogies ever. I always knew about the movie ~ I actually bought the music cd first. I had one of those cd memberships where you buy 1 and get like 12 free - so I got the cd. Loved it. The music was kinda creepy and powerful yet suprisingly relaxing and beautiful. Someone gave my dad the box set for Christmas years ago (VHS) and he never opened it. When I moved into my own home I took it. I listen to the cd every Saturday when I clean the house and one day said, why don't I actually watch the movie? I did - only part I & II. I was hooked. What really got me was the "family" theme - I'm all about family. Of course the mob story is very fascinating and Michael is too hot for words. I think like 3 months later I watched part III - but I can't appreciate it as much as the two previous chapters. I was happy to watch it with my husband and thrilled that I could talk to someone about it. Then I found this site. I'm really happy to come on hear and learn more about this movie from great people like yourselves and glad to see I'm not the only one into this movie.

Ever hear of ADD?

dragon is that wise crack for me? grrrrr

I think one thing that fascinates me with this trilogy is that everyone remebers the first time they saw these movies.

Even something like Star Wars doesn't register with people as much. For me, SW was just a part of my childhood. I remember bits and pieces here and there, but as for sitting down and understanding what was going on, heck I was probably 15 by then and had already seen the movies hundreds of times.

But with the Godfather, there was one time. I was 17, and ready for the responsibility that comes along with watching movies of this level of relevance. I knew nothing about them before and knew everything about them after.

That can't be said about many movies these days.

I'm obssesed with mafia/gangster movies/tv shows.-

the first time i saw the GF was on tv many years ago, i've heard of the movie, and i was always curious about it, and since i was in love with Goodfellas, i had to see it, it was kind of long, but it was a wonderful experience, then i saw the second one and it was one hell of a ride, the music, the flashbacks, the acting, everything. then i saw the thir one, it was o.k, sofia coppola's acting ruined it for me, but the storyline was incredible...

Oh, I remember Star Wars very well. I was in college when SW (Ep. 4- ANH) came out, and it was as far ahead of all previous sci-fi movies as the GF was ahead of crime dramas.

They're actually somewhat similar - Lucas was obviously influenced by FFC and Puzo in terms of a multi-layered story line, writing a multi-generational family saga, fathers having to redeem/be redeemed by their sons, etc.

Of course Star Wars was always highly influenced by special effects, etc., which the GF series never was. GF was much more about the script and story lines.

They're also pretty similar in that each series had an epic, critically acclaimed opening episode, which was then followed up by a well-received sequel (or in the case of SW, two), and then, after a gap of more than 15 years, the creator decided to go back and continue the series - with a sequel (prequel in the case of SW) which was much more technically advanced, but a critical bust in comparison to its predecessors.

But they each have appeal in their own way.

I've been into Puzo for quite some time (hey, I even like Earthquake) but just recently introduced my wife to the "Family" 0ver the course of two weekends. She loved Part 1, (although she thought it suffered slightly in comparison to Goodfellas, which we'd watched the night before). But by the half-way point of Part 2, she was completely enthralled. The next weekend, we watched Part 3, and we were both in tears at the movie's conclusion. She was floored, and I was firmer than ever in my conviction that Part 3 is a completly worthy conclusion to the Corleone saga. Beautiful, beautiful stuff.

Yeah there is definitely something happening during Part II the first time you see it. I remember watching it and liking it and actually falling asleep mid-way through. Then for some reason I woke up after about 5 minutes and kept my eyes glued to the screen for the rest of the movie.

I think the viewer sees that these movies are bigger and deeper than they initially thought mid-way through Part II.

I remember that feeling....

And Part III gets a bad wrap. People here say it all the time. Sure it has flaws but is an awesome and powerful conclusion to a great trilogy.

I was down with the flu one weekend and I was 18. My parents were outta town and it was just me and my brother who I really didnt get along with at all. But he was trying to be nice since I was sick, and he asked me what movies I wanted to watch while I was sick.

I told him I'd heard the Godfather was excellent and wanted to watch it. So he rented Godfather, and II. I watched one on Friday night, and didnt think it was worth all the hype. So I watched part II and thought it seemed pretty overated.

I watched III a couple of months later hoping it would redeem the first two, and actually I liked it better than the first two for some reason.

Then, about 3 years later, I was at my cousin's place and he had rented the Godfather. We were bored so we watched it and I told him it was just ok. However, I don't know what happened. Something totally clicked and I completely fell in love with the movie watching it the second time. I cant explain it. I couldnt stop thinking about it and I was obsessed. I got home, and then rented part II to see if the same thing happened. And indeed.......the exact same thing. I fell in love with it as well. I dont know why I took to these movies the second time after watching it.

Then I watched III and realized how much the first 2 were better. I then read the book as well. I rented all 3 movies 4-5 more times and watched em before buying em on VHS and then buying em on DVD the first day they were released. Its just strange how I didnt care for them at first, but now they are a major part of my life.

Robert DeNiro, how old are you now? I agree, that you have to take a step back and truly examine it before you can truly appreciate it.

I'm 29, and I watched the movies about a year after III had been released so I guess I was actually about 17 or 18 when I watched em.