The Godfather: Part III

I was the most worried about the last Godfather. After all, continuing the story so many years later is unusual and raises some concerns. A huge time shift in the story, the ageing of the main characters, and so forth. However, my fears were unjustified because the script is tightened to the last detail and doesn't lose any of the atmosphere of the previous films, but it pushes the plot all the way to 1978. Al Pacino is brilliant again as Don Michael, and Andy Garcia is great in the supporting role. The breathtaking Corleone saga comes to an end, and all we have left are the memories. (08/10/2006)

I finally got to the third part of this trilogy, which I kept postponing due to its incredible length. But that's behind me now, and I'm quite disappointed with the last installment. It's like the aging of Don Vito Corleone portrayed by Marlon Brando, but now with a fairly charismatic and also wonderfully disturbed Al Pacino. There are also quite similar scenes to those in the first film, so at times, it seems recycled. I'm not disappointed, I just wasn't as captivated by the film as I was by the previous two. (28/04/2014)

The third Godfather wasn’t as impressive as the first two. The heavy atmosphere was gone, Michael Corleone, now in his older age, gave the film a tired look. The film's extreme length felt overwhelming this time, the few bright moments got almost lost in it. A large part of the film bored me, and I was only pleased with the revelation that even mafia organizations are absolutely no match for the Vatican, and that Francis Ford Coppola understood exactly what kind of film he was making and made it a family business. (19/07/2017)

A fitting end to an iconic mafia saga. There’s really nothing to criticize here. The story is incredibly powerful, and maybe it’s a good thing that Francis Ford Coppola took his time with this third installment. The conclusion feels like something out of a dream — epic in every sense, right down to the opera. (19/12/2021)

"Real power can't be given. It must be taken." Is returning to the subject matter sixteen years later just flogging a dead horse? No, not at all. Although The Godfather III can’t equal its predecessors, it is still so much better than most other movie productions that it is impossible to give it less than a full set of stars. And the closing half hour is the best passage of the entire trilogy. A marvelous (and again unforgettable) ending to this family saga. (15/01/2007)