The Godfather Part II (1974) is one of the best sequel's out there! Following the story right from the first film! I love this film as much a is love the first one. Drawing on strong performances by Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola's continuation of Mario Puzo's Mafia saga set new standards for sequels that have yet to be matched or broken.

Francis Ford Coppola's legendary continuation and sequel to his landmark 1972 film, The Godfather, parallels the young Vito Corleone's rise with his son Michael's spiritual fall, deepening The Godfather's depiction of the dark side of the American dream. In the early 1900s, the child Vito flees his Sicilian village for America after the local Mafia kills his family. Vito (Robert De Niro) struggles to make a living, legally or illegally, for his wife and growing brood in Little Italy, killing the local Black Hand Fanucci (Gastone Moschin) after he demands his customary cut of the tyro's business. With Fanucci gone, Vito's communal stature grows, but it is his family (past and present) who matters most to him -- a familial legacy then upended by Michael's (Al Pacino) business expansion in the 1950s. Now based in Lake Tahoe, Michael conspires to make inroads in Las Vegas and Havana pleasure industries by any means necessary. As he realizes that allies like Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) are trying to kill him, the increasingly paranoid Michael also discovers that his ambition has crippled his marriage to Kay (Diane Keaton) and turned his brother, Fredo (John Cazale), against him. Barely escaping a federal indictment, Michael turns his attention to dealing with his enemies, completing his own corruption.

The Godfather Part II presents two parallel story lines. One involves Mafia chief Michael Corleone in 1958/1959 after the events of the first movie; the other is a series of flashbacks following his father, Vito Corleone from 1917 to 1925, from his youth in Sicily (1901) to the founding of the Corleone family in New York. Al Pacino as Michael Corleone did do a strong lead and a wonderful perfect job he acted in this film superb and strong. Robert De Niro as young Vito Corleone did a brilliant performance I have ever saw. He played an Italian immigrate superb and brilliant, there isn't any connection that he is American at all, his ascent is gone. It is like he was born an Italian by birth.

I love this film Because you get both sides of the story, because you're able to see where De Niro's coming from, just seeing those guys in the movie. Again, I think there's something that, when a sequel can hit it right, to keep pushing, instead of, "Let's capitalize on what we did the first time." And for me, maybe one the first movies where I felt like, "Ooh, we're getting a backstory." That, to me, was really thrilling. And just to see those guys, that young and hungry. That's it, that is the right thing there. Coppola is at the top of his form in both films.Simply as a story, the Michael scenes in "The Godfather: Part II" engage our emotions. I admire the way Coppola and his co-writer Mario Puzo require us to think along with Michael as he handles delicate decisions involving Hyman Roth (Strasberg), the boss of Miami; Fredo (Cazale), his older brother, and the shooting of Sonny (James Caan). Who has done what? Why? Michael floats various narratives past various principals, misleading them all, or nearly. It's like a game of blindfolded chess; he has to envision the moves without seeing them.

But finally it is all about Michael. Even the attack on the night of his son's first communion party is on his bedroom, not our bedroom. His wife, Kay (Keaton), leaves him, and his focus does not waver: He will keep his son. Tom Hagen (Duvall), the most trusted confidant of father and son, considered a brother, is finally even suspected. In Michael's life, paranoia is a useful defense mechanism.Coppola shows Michael breaking down under the pressure. We remember that he was once a proud war hero, a successful college student, building a legitimate lifestyle. But on their wedding day, Kay first began to fully realize what an all-controlling cocoon the Corleone clan was. There would always be things she could not be told about, could not be trusted with. Finally Michael has no one to tell or trust except his elderly mother (Morgana King). Michael's desperation in that intense conversation explains everything about the film's final shot.

The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York is portrayed while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on his crime syndicate stretching from Lake Tahoe, Nevada to pre-revolution 1958 Cuba The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Partially based on Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather, the film is both sequel and prequel to The Godfather, presenting parallel crime dramas.

The most memorable best epic Francis Ford Coppola's classic masterpiece sequel ever, the film stunned everything for brilliance to superb acting. I love this film to death, I love it!!!!!

Score: Bad-Ass Seal Of Approval Studio: Paramount Pictures Starring: Al Pacino,Robert Duvall,Diane Keaton,Robert De Niro, Talia Shire, Morgana King, John Cazale, Marianna Hill, Lee Strasberg Director: Screenplay: Francis Ford Coppola, Mario Puzo Producer: Francis Ford Coppola Rated: R Running Time: 3 Hrs. 22 Mins. Budget: $57.300.000 Box Office: $57.300.000