The Godfather: Part III (1990)

In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don Michael Corleone seeks to vow for his sins while taking a young protégé under his wing.

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers:

Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola

Stars:

Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire

Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Al Pacino	...	Don Michael Corleone
Diane Keaton	...	Kay Adams Michelson
Talia Shire	...	Connie Corleone Rizzi
Andy Garcia	...	Vincent Mancini
Eli Wallach	...	Don Altobello
Joe Mantegna	...	Joey Zasa
George Hamilton	...	B.J. Harrison
Bridget Fonda	...	Grace Hamilton
Sofia Coppola	...	Mary Corleone
Raf Vallone	...	Cardinal Lamberto
Franc D'Ambrosio	...	Anthony Vito Corleone
Donal Donnelly	...	Archbishop Gilday
Richard Bright	...	Al Neri
Helmut Berger	...	Frederick Keinszig
Don Novello	...	Dominic Abbandando

Storyline

In the final instalment of the Godfather Trilogy, an aging Don Michael Corleone seeks to legitimize his crime family's interests and remove himself from the violent underworld but is kept back by the ambitions of the young. While he attempts to link the Corleone's finances with the Vatican, Michael must deal with the machinations of a hungrier gangster seeking to upset the existing Mafioso order and a young protoge's love affair with his daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

gangster | mafia don | vatican | mafia | revenge | 

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Taglines:

All the power on earth can't change destiny.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian German Latin

Release Date:

25 December 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mario Puzo's The Godfather: Part III

Filming Locations:

Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$54,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$66,676,062 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Zoetrope Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

162 min 169 min (video)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paramount tried to go ahead with the film for many years without Francis Ford Coppola who had refused to make another sequel. About twelve scripts were written. Most of the scripts included the Corleone family being led by Michael's son Anthony, battling the CIA, Castro's Cuban government, or South American drug cartels. A 1978 draft by Mario Puzo dealt with Anthony Corleone being recruited by the CIA to assassinate a Latin American dictator. Dean Riesner also wrote a draft based on Puzo's ideas. Drafts were also written by Paramount producers Michael Eisner and Don Simpson. The film was scheduled for a Christmas 1980 release date. These scripts were discarded when Coppola decided to work on the script with Puzo. But Coppola eventually abandoned the project. Puzo wrote another script in 1986 with producer Nicholas Gage that featured Sonny Corleone's illegitimate son Vincent Mancini while showing the early life of the young Sonny Corleone. Paramount considered directors Martin Scorsese, Sidney Lumet, 'Costa-Gavras', Alan J. Pakula, Robert Benton, Michael Cimino and Michael Mann. At one point they were even close to signing Sylvester Stallone to direct and star in the film.

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Goofs

After the shootout at the opera house, Vincent goes up the stairs, then he is back down at the bottom and then at the top again, all within a matter of seconds.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Michael Corleone: [voiceover] My dear children: It is now better than several years since I moved to New York, and I haven't seen you as much as I would like to. I hope you will come to the ceremony of papal honors given for my charitable work. The only wealth in this world is children; more than all the money, power on earth, you are my treasure.

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Crazy Credits

"Dedicated to Charlie Bluhdorn who inspired it."

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Connections

Referenced in The Office: Michael's Last Dundies (2011)

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Soundtracks

"MIRACLE MAN"
Written and Performed by Elvis Costello
Courtesy of CBS Records

User Reviews

Most movies are overrated in IMDb, but this one is underrated

This movie is Rated a 7.2 here by IMDb voters; I feel it should be rated higher. Perhaps a 7.9, which might move it into the top 250 of all, and perhaps it deserves that.

The ending of this movie is sterling, of the highest quality. Pacino really lets rip.

The other actors? Sofia Coppola is, as others have pointed out, not all that great. Talia Shire? She was never that good, and she does an "OK" job here. Both of those actresses got into movies via their relative, Francis Ford Coppola, who directed this film. Nepotism....it shows. How Talia Shire ever got as much work as she has, I will never know....

Keaton is held back a bit in this movie, perhaps so as not to overshadow Pacino. Not one of her best performances.

Andy Garcia? I am not all that big a fan. I think his performance here is overrated a little bit. He is a ham. And Pacino is, too. But he has something Garcia will never have.

But many other rather good roles for a lot of great character actors, who perform well. Those character actors, along with Pacino, are the heart of this movie. That, and a very good script and production values and direction. Seamless direction!

A high quality film. Almost as good a script as parts 1 and 2.

I give it a 7.9.