The Godfather Part II (1974)

The first Godfather makes Michael's movement towards power chillingly clear. Part II places that progress beside Vito's earlier rise, so apparent family continuity starts to look like a widening moral gulf. Robert De Niro's watchfulness and Al Pacino's growing stillness give the comparison life. Longer and less immediately welcoming, it earns the edge through the way its two stories change each other's meaning. See the original first.