Zack Snyder films have a tendency for this. Watchmen, Batman v.s. Superman all had rather exciting trailers that gave away the best parts of rather disappointing films, and though I don't like 300 at all I'll admit the trailers did a great job of marketing it, but Sucker Punch actually managed to convince me it was a great film from the trailers with its intense visual panache. I thought I'd be going in to see a masterpiece; it ended up being a moderately entertaining film with some major flaws that have really aged in a bad way over time.
Conclusion: Didn't live up to expectations Godzilla
I do like Godzilla for what it is, a decent monster movie with some great visual sequences. The trailer, however, is rather deceptive. It implies a stronger human element to the proceedings than we end up getting; you'd think, just from watching this, that Bryan Cranston is going to be our human lead and give an incredibly powerful performance as a grieving husband trying to get to the conspiracy of things. Instead, he gets killed before even the halfway mark. The film also implies more Godzilla than we actually get in the finished film. Now the film is still fine as a straightforward action movie, but this trailer implies so much more than just that.
Conclusion: Disappointed by trailer, though somewhat satisfied by film itself.
Fury
After watching this trailer, I just wanted to watch Fury as soon as possible; even without considering how awesome Brad Pitt's haircut looked and the fact that Shia LaBouef seemed to be giving an invested performance, it looked rather exciting and heart-pounding, as well as providing insight into an aspect of WWII combat I'd never really seen on film before. The final film is a good film, but ends up being far more generic than I'd expected it to be. There's traces of a masterpiece in it, which the trailer seems to imply, but it ends up being just a rather good war film than a great one.
Conclusion: Though I did like the film, bit of a disappointment.
Deadpool
Hm. Could any film have lived up to the extreme, and extremely effective marketing campaign behind this one? Answer is no, not really, but having said that the trailers did nicely bring across the exact tone of the film and pleased everyone enough to turn up to the cinemas.
Conclusion: Overhypes the film, but it works.
Bridge of Spies
One of those trailers that fittingly to the film itself, is styled in a rather old-fashioned manner of presenting you with the plot, its characters, all based to some rousing music as it emphasizes the themes of the film and its central character. I'll say this is a great trailer because it really does show exactly what you're going to get; I really like it because, rather than tricking me into watching the film, it approached me and enticed me in a most earnest fashion. Great trailer.
Conclusion: Lived up to expectations and in some ways, exceeded them (Mark Rylance).
Prometheus
Finally a long-awaited second venture by Mr Ridley Scott into the Alien universe, complete with a banging trailer that seems to bode nothing but greatness. Nothing can go wrong, right? Well, strictly speaking Prometheues didn't exactly lie in its trailers. The sequences in the trailer appear in the film, but the things is those scenes were the highlights and the final product just doesn't feel as cohesive on the whole. The trailer promises something big and grand but the film just ends up feeling less than the sum of its parts.
Conclusion: Disappointment.
Kill the Messenger
Based off this trailer, you might think you've found yourself a gem of a conspiracy thriller along the lines of something like JFK or All the President's Men. Well, I wouldn't say the film ends up being quite as great as those films. There's something missing to it - the topic matter is there, the lead performance is there (Jeremy Renner is excellent), the ensemble is actually solid within the film, but I don't know, the film as a whole just didn't make the sort of impact I thought it would. The trailer like Bridge of Spies hit me in the old sweet spot, and though I didn't end up loving this as much as Bridge of Spies, I won't fault the trailer for misguiding me too much since it is a well-made film, just not as well-made as I thought it would be.
Conclusion: Somewhat disappointed; the film itself is good, not great.
Spectre
I've gone on record calling this the best Bond film of all-time. I'll retract that statement now; it really hasn't aged that well for me, and while I still like it, it's probably only barely in my top 7 bond films or so. I think the brilliant trailers played their part in hyping me up so much for the film that I ended up liking it more than I should have when watching it the first time round.
Conclusion: Initially met expectations set by trailer, but over time have grown disappointed by the film.
Black Snake Moan
One hell of a trailer that draws you to the film immediately by very simply presenting you with its concept. Samuel L. Jackson as spiritual blue guitarist v.s. Cristina Ricci as misguided drug addict (sorta). The trailer doesn't give away some of the slightly weaker elements of the film, but I'd say it's a great trailer nevertheless since it presents the best and most prominent parts of a rather terrific film.
Conclusion: A trailer as divisive as the film itself, so I'd say if you liked the trailer, you'll like the film.
The Aviator
This trailer cheats in so many ways. Using the soundtrack to Love Actually, giving away so many close to the chest details to maximize emotional impact, and in the process pretty much revealing the whole arc of the film. I'll admit watching this trailer gave me goosebumps and made me watch the film as soon as I finished it. I ended up being quite disappointed; it's far from Scorsese's best film, in fact I'd say it's one of his weakest films, as well as one of DiCaprio's weakest performances. The trailer implies a more earnest, old-fashioned, vintage sort of Hollywood biopic and I can't help but feel that might've made for a better film than the tonally imbalanced, somewhat dragging and overly stagey product we got in the end.
Conclusion: Loved the trailer, really didn't like the film, and they seemed like two entirely different entities.
Pacific Rim
This trailer is amazing, and I have to give credit to whoever pieced together footage and Ramin Djawadi's score into this explosive few minutes of Kaiju/Jaeger splendor. The film is a fine film, and one which I did not mind watching at all, but there's a lot of cheesy and generic tropes in the trailer nicely steps over, and the trailer also noticeably skips over any of the more 'dramatic' moments of the film which are its weakest parts. Still, the Idris Elba speech does work as well in the film as it does in the trailer.
Conclusion: A disappointment, but everything I loved in the trailer I still loved in the film.
Guardians of the Galaxy
There was a period a few years ago when I was getting tired of Marvel. Each of their films were perfectly solid, but I just felt like they were repeatedly re-hashing the same old formula over, and over again. Then this trailer came around and suffice to say I was entirely gobsmacked. It's testament to the film's strength that it actually exceeds the loft expectations I had going into this; the trailer promises a funny, action-packed and rather refreshing take on the Marvel universe, but the film itself has an added emotional depth that these trailers don't really belie, choosing to focus on the more 'fun' aspects.
Conclusion: Exceeds expectations.
Filth
I'm quite tentative about trailers like these nowadays, which almost give too much away, but I think this works in favour of Filth, a film which is a perfectly fine vulgar comedy, featuring a great central performance by James McAvoy. The comedy bits in the trailer are slightly less funny in the context of the film, where they're enjoyable but somewhat undercut by the rather mean-spirited nature of it, which is the point I'm sure. The dramatic moments, however, which we get doses of in this trailer, are actually handled in a far more sensitive fashion than the trailer implies. In the end, I think this trailer somewhat oversells how funny and entertaining the film is, but also cleverly hides how dramatically effective certain bits of it are. I'm glad they didn't give away the ending since the last few scenes of Filth are in my opinion, easily the best bits of the film.
Conclusion: Somehow manages to slightly disappoint, slightly exceed, and meet expectations all at the same time.
Cloud Atlas
A great trailer that establishes the structure of the film, lays out its various subplots without giving away to much, and employs a great combination of its score and M83's 'Outro' to powerful effect. It would be nearly impossible for any film to live up to this trailer, and indeed the amazing novel it is based upon. The final, finished product is an intriguing film, a failure on certain levels (some of its performances, some of the makeup, some of the editing) and masterful on others. I can't properly judge whether it's a misleading trailer or just an exceptionally great one that no film could ever really live up to, but I'll stick with a bit of both for the time being.
Conclusion: A great trailer for in some ways, a pretty great but problematic film. The trailer somewhat disappoints, but also gives an accurate impression of what the film is going for.
Hon. Mention: La La Land,Hacksaw Ridge, and Rogue One
I'm not going to discuss these trailers in thorough detail yet since I've yet to see the films, but these are all great trailers and I really, really hope they live up to them.
Hon. Mention: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Watched the film before the trailers, but I have to say that if I'd chosen to do it the other way round, I might have ended up being more enthused about getting into the prequels trilogy than I was.
And finally, a trailer that wasn't so great in my opinion, but the film itself...
The Hateful Eight
The film is now officially one of my all-time favourites, its staying power really is tremendous. What is it about this trailer that bugs me, then? Well, it's understandably a bit more lighthearted and marketed as a dark Tarantino comedy of sorts, but the style it's presented in seems more akin to something like Django Unchained (which I loved), and less like the brooding, paranoid and surprisingly emotional, with aspects of black comedy, film we got. I think the trailer presents a misguided view of the film, and really if you haven't seen The Hateful Eight yet I'd recommend going in without watching the trailers; they really don't do it justice.
Ah, finally, having three of what are commonly acknowledged to be the best mob movies of all-time in a head-to-head. Well, for this first matchup, it's very east to pick out a winner. Francis Ford Coppola was a fantastic director, and he handles both Godfather films in an extremely compelling fashion with his direction. The subdued, cool and rather merciless nature of the underworld is brought to life wonderfully through his work in the first film, and yet somehow within it manages to finds smidgens of humanity in sequences like the Sicily scenes and the scenes of family bonding, which he gradually corrupts over the course of the film to a spellbinding conclusion. His masterful handling of two parallel plot lines in Part II gives each half a distinctly different style that feels so specific to their respective time periods. The first film set up the backdrop of a heightened, dramatic, somewhat Shakesperean gang dynamic that espoused universal themes of loyalty and betrayal, ambition and corruption, and family; the second film takes it to even greater heights.
In the end, though, I'll have to give this to Scorsese. As Kevin P. Sullivan from Entertainment Weekly puts it, The Godfather films are great films that happen to be about a mob family, more universal in its set of themes; 'Goodfellas is about – yes, it’s about something – a specific lifestyle and the people who lived it' (http://www.ew.com/article/2011/08/12/the-godfather-vs-goodfellas), that being the deceptively glamourous, inwardly corrupt life of a gangster. Now these alternative approaches work incredibly well for both films, but I'd say Scorsese has an even bigger challenge in that he has to make Henry Hill's story both vibrant and exciting mob life and the hedonistic enjoyment of evils, while also exploring the ugly and gritty underbelly of it, sometimes within the same frame. The film could've completely failed as a tonally imbalanced piece of cinema but instead it works marvellously. Scorsese never holds back on style, uses every trick in his vast directorial book, and completely controls the film's dynamic, kinetic approach with the camera, yet also somehow allows enough space for the characters to breathe. The film never feels aimless even though like many Scorsese films it doesn't exactly have a 'plot', and also never feels like glorifiication of the mob life through its frequent, extremely effective bouts of violence which Scorses brings such a vivid, unforgettable quality to, especially in the casual fashion it is handled. Coppola's work on the Godfather films is sublime, but Scorsese's work is a career high. Winner: Martin Scorsese, Goodfellas The Lead Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather
v.s. Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather: Part II
v.s. Ray Liotta as Henry Hill in Goodfellas
Interestingly enough, both The Godfather and Goodfellas had a relatively obscure actor leading them; Pacino was up till that point, mostly a stage actor who'd done a few indepedent films, though certainly nothing as huge as The Godfather, while Liotta had gotten a Golden Globe nomination for his work as a jealous ex-husband, ex-convict in Something Wild and a memorable supporting turn in Field of Dreams, but I'd say was still more of a character actor than an A-List star at that point. This caused an oddity in the subsequent awards races when both films reached critical and box-office acclaim, as Pacino somehow found himself placed in the Supporting category despite the whole film being about his personal arc, while Liotta found himself almost universally snubbed despite his performance being absolutely essential to the success of the film.
For Pacino, I should note firstly that he's very, very good in The Godfather: Part II as the Godfather more set in his ways than before, a much colder, darker man than before who doesn't hesitate in ordering murder so long as it helps the family, although his best moments are when he breaks that facade, like 'you broke my heart' and his outbreak of rage against Kay (Diane Keaton).
His best performance as Michael though is most certainly his work in the first film, where he depicts the iconic transformation of a good man into a bad one, though it's neve as simplistic as just that. It's masterful how Pacino gradually twists Michael's love for his family into that of a bond with the criminal empire, and he matches the terrific writing behind his character's arc at every turn. The episodes which gradually break down his humanity are all dealt with subtly and in a heartbreaking fashion, with his best scene being the first act of killing where we see, wordlessly almost, the transition of Michael to a point of no return. He shares some very tender chemistry with Keaton, and most importantly with his onscreen brothers and father, his final scene with Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) being particularly memorable.
Liotta's work as Henry Hill is that of an altogether more unhinged sort, which is necesarry, particularly since the character is drugged up for essentially the whole second half of his performance. For anyone who hasn't seen Goodfellas yet, Liotta's work can be best compared to that of Leonardo DiCaprio in the later The Wolf of Wall Street in that this is a protagonist who's completely amoral, through and through, and by the end of the film still hasn't really learnt his lesson. Unlike Michael Corleone, Henry Hill gets into the mob lifestyle not because of family or loyalty, quite opposed to that actually. The film depicts the real-life mobsters assimilation into the gritty gang life because he just enjoys being a criminal and gaining the perks of it, and Liotta is fantastic in bringing that passion to his performance and terrific narration. He's equally good at matching it with a gradual depiction of his character's horrors at the not-so-glamours aspects of the crime life.
Liotta's work should not have been ignored as it was, and he'd actually be my runner-up for 1990 Best Actor after Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands. Nevertheless, it's Pacino's work in the first Godfather film I'll give the win to here because of how seamlessly, and subtly he charters the growth and fall of Michael Corleone to absolute perfection. Winner: Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather The Boss Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather
v.s. Robert de Niro as Young Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II
v.s. Paul Sorvino as Paul "Paulie" Cicero
All three of these Italian American Dons are of the supporting variety, looming over the film at our lead gangsters and watching their journeys take place.
Brando's Don Vito Corleone is easily the most iconic of the lot, you'll know the image of him stroking a cat even if you haven't even heard of the film. And to be sure he gives a very memorable performance to match that iconic quality. I won't say it's Brando's greatest performance, how could it possibly be when you have On the Waterfront, but he really disappears into the role of Vito, and all his Method acting works perfectly in establishing the very particular style of Vito's Godfather persona, and he certainly nails the more emotional moments like his reaction to his oldest son's death perfectly. He doesn't have much screentime but more than makes up for it with his indelibly iconic performance.
Paul Sorvino as Paulie Cicero has even less time to work with, as the father figure to our central criminals in Goodfellas. Sorvino, who I haven't seen much of elsewhere, is rather good at playing into the warm, fatherly qualities of Paulie in his guidance of the wiseguys, and also has a certain style to his mobster persona that works entertainingly. When he's more cold and incisive though, he's also rather good at turning that on its head and makes his character extremely fitting to Scorseses world of deceit and appearances.
My win here, however, goes to Bobby de Niro as the young version of Brando's character in Part II. De Niro garnered his first Oscar for his performance here, and it's so interesting to compare this performance to some of his other acclaimed turns. In contrast to some of his more exuberant and louder performances, De Niro as Vito is often silent for long, long stretches of time, and doesn't speak a word of English through his whole performance, speaking in a Sicilian dialect. It resembles above all his other performances, his career-best turn in The Deer Hunter, but more about that some other time. I love the way the film sets up the character of young Vito as a contrast to Michael, but it would've fallen completely flat if the actor playing young Vito wasn't up to scratch. De Niro manages to not only completely convince you that this is Vito in his younger years, but manages to bring an added depth to the performance by showing how the gangster qualities gradually come out of Vito in an almost silent fashion. Each act of murder he partakes in to fulfil his position as the Godfather is masterfully handled, and despite the film's central focus being Michael, De Niro always holds your attention onscreen and makes for an incredibly compelling presence in a great film. Winner: Robert de Niro as Young Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II The Crazy, Unpredictable One James Caan as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather
v.s. Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas
There is no real equivalent in Part II, I guess Frank Pentangeli kind of counts but he's not so much a nutcase as he is just a very emotional chap who comes to overly quick conclusions. Sonny and Tommy, on the other hand, are walking, breathing human fuses just waiting to explode at any point.
Caan's performance as Sonny is breathtaking because every moment, even when he's just chilling around and joking with his brothers or listening to business matters, he's ready to blow. A hotheaded and insolent individual like Sonny could've been too repetitive if overplayed, but Caan importantly allow the slightly gentler, at least less hotheaded, aspects of the character to shine through as well, and he's very entertaining to watch each scene onscreen.
Then there's Joe Pesci as the former shoeshine boy-turned-gangster Tommy, though don't mention that. Pesci as an actor is one with an incredibly distinctive screen presence. He's not physically imposing at all and yet somehow, he manages to be the scariest thing in Goodfellas. It's really difficult to take your eyes off him and yet, also hard to keep them on the screen whenever Tommy's around as he could be joking around one second, then bashing your brains out the next. The core quality to Tommy's character is his desire for respect; if you mock him, take the mickey out of him, or even vaguely disrespect him by just uttering a 'fuck you' in retort to his insults, beware the consequences. Tommy is a psycho, and Pesci takes a no-holes barred approach to reveling in all that glory. Each scene he's in is a highlight of the film, and even in his more casual scenes you can find that monstrous presence lurking within; and his final reaction to becoming a 'made man' is a brilliant, if brief, finale to his performance as Tommy finally gets what's coming to him. Winner: Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas The Right-Hand Man Richard S. Castellano as Peter Clemenza in The Godfather
v.s. Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen in The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II
v.s. Robert de Niro as James "Jimmy the Gent" Conway in Goodfellas
Castellano and Duvall are completely solid as two of the most consistent characters in the Godfather franchise.
Clemenza is the family man who also happens to be the most proficient killer in the Corleone family, and Castellano bridges these two sides rather well. He makes for a very engaging presence within the film and I wish he'd reprised his role for the sequel.
Duvall is interesting in that this was his 'breakout' role of sorts, garnering him his first Oscar nomination for the first film, and yet in many ways it's a pretty thankless role. Tom Hagen is the most strict and professional of all characters in both films, and remains always distanced somewhat from the viewer. And to be fair on Duvall he's perfectly competent at that every step of the way, and has a few standout scenes which show the man behind the businessman. Far from his best performance; his real debut in To Kill a MockingbirdI'd argue allows him to show his talents in a greater fashion in far less screentime, and later on he'd team up with Coppola again to give a far meatier and in turn, more iconic performance as the one and only Lieutenant Bill Kilgore.
It'll be De Niro once again here, though, and admittedly Jimmy Conway is a much meatier role than the aforementioned two. I'd argue that this is actually De Niro's best performance in a Scorsese film. He's not given as much Oscar-y scenes to work with like he is in Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The King of Comedy (all great performances, by the way), but I'd say he impresses me all the more because of that. The very particular nature of Jimmy as a smooth operator is perfectly handled by De Niro as you completely buy into how revered and respected he is by the underworld, and also how loved he is by Tommy and Henry, which makes it all the more disconcerting in the final act of the film when an increasingly paranoid Jimmy starts to go insane in a very strange fashion. He's still a 'professional', so to speak, but De Niro indicates with some brilliant, silent reactions how his growing anxieties about being arrested gradually drive him to increasingly desperate ends, including potentially killing off his friends. I love each of De Niro's silent reactions, particularly THAT one of him smoking in a bar, seething with hate, and they add to his compelling portrayal of a gangster to build up to one of De Niro's best performances. Winner: Robert de Niro as James "Jimmy the Gent" Conway in Goodfellas The Loose Ends That Need to Be Tied Up Basically everyone who's murdered in the final act of The Godfather
v.s. Lee Strasberg as Hyman Roth and Michael V. Gazzo as Frank Pentangeli in The Godfather: Part II in The Godfather: Part II
v.s. John Cazale as Fredo Corleone in The Godfather: Part II
v.s. Billy Batts (Frank Vincent), Morrie (Chuck Low) and all the Lufthansa heist fools in Goodfellas
The final act of The Godfather which builds up to that unforgettable ending consists of basically, murder after murder of men who've wronged the Corleone family. Each scene is extremely effective, from a visual (Moe Greene, played by Alex Rocco, being shot in the eye, his eyeglasses cracking), and dramatic (Tessio, played by Abe Vigoda, and his silent resignation to being found out for his betrayal) standpoint.
The victims in Part II are all given slightly more screentime and development, and Strasberg as the aging but still power-hungry associate of Michael, and the dangerously emotional and neurotic Pentangeli (Michael V. Gazzo) who threatens to collapse the order of the Corleone family, are very effective too. In particular, Gazzo's testifying scene is a particularly memorable one, and his final scene also rather poignant.
The Goodfellas murders are all handled in a particularly dispassionate fashion, as is shown by the film's very first, in medias res scene where we open with a barely alive Billy Batts being brutally stabbed to death. It's an effective set of sequences based around his character, vividly depicted by Scorsese's direction with his foreshadowing, employment of violence, and also a degree of dark humour. The the Lufthansa murders are all great too, accompanied by 'Layla' by Derek and the Dominos and make an indelible visual impression. A surprisingly soft-spoken Sam L Jackson as Stacks even gets murdered in a very similar way as Fredo in The Godfather: Part II.
Fredo. Oh, poor Fredo. Poor, sensitive Fredo; all he wanted to be was a somebody, and no just a bum, something more than just the stupid, incompetent brother. Cazale was really good in the first Godfather with his brief screentime, and is particularly good in the scene where he utterly fails in trying to protect Don Vito from the assassins. By all accounts it was the fact he was so good in the role which led Coppola to increase his role in the sequel, and Cazale more than proves himself worthy of this ascended status. His Fredo is a disarmingly pathetic loser who can't seem to get anything in his life right, and it's tough to watch Cazale's perfect portrayal of a perennial incompetent. Fredo is stupid, very stupid, and Cazale shows that that's the case through and through. Then as we gradually see the more deceitful and angry side of Fredo come out, it's magnificent as we find the rage and anger broiling within the overlooked brother come out with such a haunting quality. His interactions with Michael are heartbreaking, and the film does well in never pigeoning him as a villain or Michael as a hero. They're both bad people doing bad things, only Fredo was never cut out for the mob life, and Cazale's magnificent performance, my second favourite supporting performance of all-time, makes his arc and fate the ultimate tragedy of The Godfather trilogy. Winner: John Cazale as Fredo Corleone in The Godfather: Part II (although the way the schmucks are depicted in Goodfellas works brilliantly as well) Married to the Mob Constanzia "Connie" Corleone (Talia Shire), Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone (Simonetta Stefanelli), Kay-Adams Corleone (Diane Keaton) in The Godfather, Connie and Kay in The Godfather: Part II
v.s. Lorraine Bracco as Karen Hill in Goodfellas
Here's where Goodfellas exceeds The Godfather by miles. Shire, Stefanelli and Keaton are all decent throughout the films, and Shire and Keaton both have occasional standout moments in both films when showing the more emtoional sides of the characters. Most of the time, however, they're a bit sidelined. Shire, who would go on to show much more range in a sweeter and bigger role in the Rocky films, and Keaton who's an amazing actress when given suitably colourful roles but can't really make much out of the boring Kay here, are decent but ultimately overshadowed - although Keaton is rather great in the ending of The Godfather. And it's notable that the most notable aspect of Apollina is her death scene, and even that because of Pacino's performance than anything else.
Bracco deservedly got an Oscar nom for her portrayal of the mobster's wife and one of the strengths of the writing behind her character is that she's not just one thing or the other. Karen starts off as being a rather simple, sweet Jewish girl who gradually becomes corrupted by Henry's influence. She has dynamic chemistry with Liotta and effectively shows through both her narration and her performance how her character gradually becomes more immoral and oblivious to her husband's crimes. Then in the final act she's an extremely convincing ball of paranoia, a double act of despearation with Liotta. Margot Robbie is good in The Wolf of Wall Street but Bracco shows how this sort of role should really be played to perfection. Winner: Lorraine Bracco as Karen Hill in Goodfellas The Ensemble as a Whole
All three films have great ensembles, but I'll have to give it to the first Godfather here since every character, every actor, whether it's John Marley's arrogant studio executive to Lenny Montana's Luca Brassi, and of course Sterling Hayden's corrupt cop in typical Sterling Hayden fashion, makes an indelible impression. Winner: The Godfather The Screenplay As aforementioned, The Godfather has a great screenplay that depicts one man's downwards spiral in a grandiose fashion, while Goodfellas has a brilliant screenplay which is effortlessly funny, incisive, delivers exposition brilliantly, has fully-fleshed characters and also never loses sight of its main character's journey. The Godfather: Part II however handles two journeys of two iconic characters seamlessly, manages to find emotional poignancy in its deeply corrupted criminal world, and strings together several complex relationships between characters in a compelling fashion while at the same time crafting a very satisfying narrative. All three scripts are great but I'll give Part II the edge for the timebeing. Winner: The Godfather: Part II Cinematography
The Godfather has beautiful cinematography and colour schemes in each of its most iconic sequences, particularly Vito's death and that ending.
The camerawork in The Godfather Part II is similarly flawless, particularly in the young Vito scenes with the murder of Don Fannuci being unforgettable from a camera's stance.
But Goodfellas has all those tracking shots, as well as other subtler little touches in scenes where most director's might have just done a workmanlike shot, which are every film fanatic's wet dreams brought to life. Technically a lot of the crafty camera tricks are a bit show-offy, but do I care? Not really. Winner: Goodfellas Editing
Again, all three films are flawless from this standpoint, as they flow along so effortlessly despite their long running times. I'll give the win to Goodfellas as Thelma Schoonmaker just seems to have a knack to giving such a scattershot story such structure with her incredible pacing and intertwinement of one scene after the other. Although the fact that both Godfather films maintain such strong momentum for their 3 hour plus running times is certainly nothing to be sniffed at. Winner: Goodfellas Sound
It's mostly about the gunshots. Again, from a technical standpoint there's nothing to criticize from each of these films from a sound perspective. Again, Goodfellas takes the cake because of how it flits in and out of its soundtrack and sounds with such an immersive feeling, each gunshot and fisticuff as resonant as each lighting of a cigarette, each line of dialogue.
Although credit also has to go to the Godfather films for making mumbling coherent and also making violent scenes which might've seemed dated in a modern-day perspective, still pack quite the punch because of how in-your-face the sound effects are. Winner: Goodfellas Set Design
Oh, I kind of regret doing this head-to-head now. The Copacabana, man, it's a set with such a character all of its own, as is the Neirs Tavern. The Godfather has great sets of both interior and exterior quality. But Part II has sets which stick in your mind forever.
Winner: The Godfather: Part II Costumes
The best sort of costumes tell you about the character before you've even heard them utter a word or perform an action. Goodfellas and The Godfather have great costumes, for sure, but The Godfather: Part II takes that a step further by having each costume tell a story, from Don Vito's well-permed, prim and proper attire and moustache to Michael's dark colour scheme, to the fact that you can always clearly identify which side a character's on by the sorts of clothes they're wearing. Winner: The Godfather: Part II Soundtrack
For The Godfather films, it's the score, for Goodfellas it's the soundtrack choices. The 'Love Theme' from The Godfather is arguably the most iconic score of all-time, rightfully so, and both films utilize it wonderfully, as well as Part II expanding upon the soundtrack of the original to great effect. Goodfellas never sets a foot wrong either in the songs department. 'Sunshine of Your Love' by Cream playing to Bobby de Niro's death glare is just about the most inspired choice in film history, and the whole list of songs that appear in the film (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodfellas_(soundtrack)) which all fit into it in some way and are all specific to the time period, are eclectic, with of course the Rolling Stones thrown in, and perfectly matching. Winner: It's a tie between all three. Emotional Impact
The Godfather and Goodfellas all have their fair share of emotional moments, with the deaths of Vito, Sonny, and Apolliona, and the predicament of Karen all delivering a degree of emotional investment. But The Godfather: Part II easily impacts me the most out of them all. My aforementioned comparison to the films as Shakespearean is realized most vividly here and you feel such empathy and a connection with characters who are so far removed from you and yet so identifiable, making each of their fates worthy of an intense emotional investment.
Although Goodfellas, does have the most daring attempts at finding a connection with the viewer, and The Godfather has one of the greatest endings of all-time. Winner: The Godfather: Part II The Godfather - 3 The Godfather: Part II - 7 Goodfellas - 7 Can't lie, these are all great films. I might not consider the original The Godfather one of the 10 greatest films of all-time like many do, but I still think it's a brilliantly made film, and The Godfather: Part II and Goodfellas are both in my top 30 of all-time. I suppose I think Goodfellas is the more superior film in terms of craftsmanship, but The Godfather: Part II ranks higher on my list because it just hits me in the sweet spot, with its Fredo subplot, the emotional power of its performances, and the whole parallel story structure.
His most old-school theme in many ways, and also one of his very best. It's somewhat schmaltzy and sugary sweet but helps enhance many of the film's highlight scenes from pure corniness to rousing, enjoyable sequences.
9. Finding Nemo
Not his best animated film score, but it's rather fitting for the film's tone as it carries so much of the youthful exuberance and wonder at ocean life that the audience needs to get with its flow.
8. Little Women
Wonderful work by Newman as he brings the March household to life beautifully through this old-fashioned set of tunes to accompany a rather lovely, old-school film. It's so moving and tender yet also with this sense of youthful sprightliness to it that's quite remarkable.
7. American Beauty
Man, I'm not a fan of the film but I have to admit...what a score. What a spellbinding score that actually manages to make some of the horrendously pretentious scenes somewhat bearable to watch.
6. Bridge of Spies
It's Thomas Newman doing John Williams, and doing it rather well. I actually think, contrary to some who believe it hinders the film, that the powerful soundtrack helps to underscore many of the most dramatic or pulsating scenes of the film. I particularly like how it's utilized in the 'Standing Man' scene and of course, the ending.
5. Wall-E
The most iconic musical moment in the film may go to Louis Armstrong, but it's Newman's soundtrack which does an incredible job in carrying the opening, dialogue-free scenes of the film with such aplomb. When the film itself expands to outser space he does an equally good job in matching the tonal change.
4. The Green Mile
Minimalist but I think it's great work from a great composer. Newman's work here is fantastic as he manages to very simply, craft a tune that is so haunting and despairing, and yet with a tinge of beauty to it that suggests the glimmers of hope we see throughout the film's dark expanses.
3. Skyfall
The best Bond soundtrack and we have Newman and Adele to thank for that. Newman technically is somewhat limited by the fact that a Bond soundtrack has to always fit a certain sort of criteria, but he never feels constrained, matching each action sequence with remarkable flair and power.
2. Road to Perdition
The film is okay but not something very special in my opinion, nor do I really care for Sam Mendes in general, but this. Score. RULES. Though the visual aesthetic of the film isn't all that much to my liking, nor is the screenplay, or the characters, I still managed to be invested in key moments due to Newman's incredible work at nailing both the atmospheric, sombre moments where he quietens the impact and makes the big, more grand sequences stand out.
Before getting into the masterpiece that truly kicks off with the most disturbing mid-meal intrusion ever, I should take a brief look at the films that followed this masterpiece. Aliens (1986) is a fantastic action film with a superb leading turn by Sigourney Weaver, whose reprisal of the Ripley character was so filled with incredible power and deservedly earned her an Oscar nomination. It has a rather fun, eclectic ensemble, its special effects and setpieces are fabulous, and the final act is particularly heart-pounding. Aliens 3 (1992) is a flawed film with dated effects, but works rather well as an atmospheric, slow-burn prison film with another fantastic Weaver performance, another rather good ensemble (including Charles Dance who for once is playing a good guy), the third act I think is comparatively flawed to the build-up, but I still liked it overall. Alien: Resurrection (1997) is a bit of a disposable sequel, visually quite inventive and again, Weaver is rock-solid, but the storyline is rather flimsy and the aliens don't have quite the same impact. The Alien v.s. Predator films, I don't really remember if I've seen any of them, and if I have, I really can't comment. Prometheus (2012) was a decent enough sci-fi adventure film, I'm not quite sure if it reached its full potential but there's certainly a fair bit of fun to be had, Noomi Rapace is a solid enough lead, Michael Fassbender's Peter O'Toole impersonation is rather fun, and though the third act is mostly quite lacklustre, the initial set up and special effects are enough to somewhat make up for those inadequacies.
Which brings me to Alien. Oh, Alien, one of the most iconic films of all-time, period. Even if you don't care for cinema at all, period, you'll still be aware of that incredibly memorable chestburster scene. You'll know the gist of the plot, about yes, an alien who attacks and picks off crew members one by one. It's no spoiler to say that Ripley (Weaver) is the only one who survives - as I've mentioned, the whole subsequent series focusing on her is one of the most well-known sci-fi franchises of all-time. It's endlessly re-watched by many, myself included, and yet even though each time I technically know what's around the corner, so to speak, it still terrifies me with each re-watch.
Let's start with the elements established from the very beginning. The opening credits sequence to Alien is masterful in establishing the ton perfectly. It's brooding, creepy, unnerving and brings such an overwhelming sense of dread, thanks to the words ALIEN slowly appearing out of dissonant white forms strung together,'a disjointed version of Helvetica Black is used to instill a sense of foreboding, the letters broken into pieces, the space between them unsettling' (Lola Landekic, http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/alien/), with title designer Richard Greenberg doing so much to convey a particular sort of mood alongside Jerry Goldsmith's haunting score.
The nailing of this brooding, tense mood is crucial because the film then transitions to the definition of a slow-burner. Panning shots of the exquisite set design of the commercial spacecraft Nostromo, the spaceship that's going to be the setting for the upcoming events, in an eerily quiet, calm state while the crew are in stasis, allows Ridley Scott to show off the exquisite work of his production crew in constructing the spaceship set. Hundreds of sketches by artists Ron Cobb and Chris Foss were used to plan the labyrinthine ventilation shafts, the pristinely white computer rooms and stasis roomns, the living areas contrasted with the lower levels. The ship manages to have such character of its own with each component, and yet at the same time carrying that sense ofartifice and industrilization that shows that its business is purely business, and that this mission by the crew isn't some daring, wild adventure into outer space, but merely a job.
The style of the sets variate once the crew of the Nostromo, waken up from stasis to check on a distress signal from a nearby planetoid. The planet's design is AMAZING. The film's artistic influence stemmed firstly from the artwork of H.R. Giger, who brings a viscreally organic, lived-in quality to his sets with their stylized biological look, alongside the established style of Scott's direction. It's amazing stuff, and I must say one of the reason the film's as iconic as it is is because of how it looks.
Beyond just looking great, though, the substance to Alien is as evident as the style early on. Ridley Scott's direction, as I've mentioned before in my ranking of his films, holds this film masterfully together as he brings in the human element into the story while wow-ing us with the technical mastery of his craftsmanship. Credit to the excellent screenplay has been frequently debated - Dan O'Bannon wrote the original draft and is credited as such, but the likes of Ronald Shusett, Walter Hill, David Giler etc. also added a great deal/and revised it, including the inclusion of a rather fascinating twist in the third act. Regardless of who claims the most responsibility, it's an incredible screenplay, not least in its writing of its characters who are far from being merely dead meat.
I'll start with Mr Hurt, who plays executive officer Kane, since we all know what happens to him, he having perhaps one of the, if not the, most famous death scenes of all-time. Hurt was coming off his first Oscar nomination for his memorable supporting portrayal of an imprisoned drug addict in Midnight Express, and in the subsequent year would give one of the greatest performances of all-time as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, which he garnered an Oscar nod for as well. For some odd reason he's never been nommed against since, but I digress. In between both those performances, he found the time to take part in the greatest horror film of all-time, and in classic Hurt fashion he makes a huge impact despite being the first member of the Nostromo to be killed off. The casting of Hurt in the role was rather clever on many levels. Always one who looked wiser than his years, having him as the savvy, world-weary veteran of the crew works extremely well in setting him up to be a sort of secondary leader, and having perhaps the most well-known cast member out of the ensemble be killed off first enhances the effect of his death scene. Hurt most importantly delivers in every moment the character is onscreen, swiftly bringing his character from his initial apathy to the mission, to excitement at finding the alien eggs, and finally giving one of the most breathtaking, harrowing depictions of pain onscreen.
Harry Dean Stanton as Brett has one of the relatively simple, minor roles as engineering technician Brett. Stanton, like Hurt, is an underrated character actor, even more so because he's never been nominated for an Oscar and unlike Hurt who's gotten a fair few substantial and meaty roles throughout his career, rarely gets any role of much substance. Not that it matters, I've seen him absolutely kill it without dialogue in a few minutes (Seven Psychopaths), with dialogue in a few minutes (The Green Mile and The Straight Story), and in slightly bigger supporting roles like Wild at Heart he can be absolutely amazing (I need to see Paris, Texas soon). This is another small role, but a memorable one. Stanton is very funny in a low-key fashion in the role of a slightly disgruntled but otherwise rather relaxed and chilled engineer who's in it for the paycheck, but doesn't make to much of a fuss about his job otherwise besides a few slightly snide comments here and there. His little banterous jibes and reactions are always on point, and he also absolutely delivers in his final scene where we get the first sighting of the Alien in full form.
The most heartwarming relationship (of which I guess there aren't that many) in the film has to be that between Brett and his buddy, chief engineer Parker (Yaphet Kotto). Kotto and Stanton have fantastic chemistry in there scenes together which enhance both their performances, and really do enliven the film. Kotto is like Stanton, really funny and energizes the film in the right sort of fashion in the opening scenes as the most lighthearted of the lot, routinely cracking jokes and trying his best to enjoy, while always having a slight air of dissatisfaction to his delivery over his relatively miniscule paycheck. Kotto and the script establish Parker as an occasionally abrasive and rather hotheaded sort whose amiable demeanour sometimes crack under being ordered around, or as the film progresses, as the pressure intensifies. One thing I've grown to appreciate more on re-watches is that in many films of this sort, Kotto's character would be very much of the scapegoat, dead meat variety, killed off immediately to make a point. Instead the film gives him more time than you might expect to develop his character, and for a film as chilling and terrifying as this, I actually find with every viewing of the film, that Kotto's reactions to the death of the crewmembers, and his gradual growth into a man less concerned about his own welfare, more about the safety of his fellow crew members, rather moving.
The most straightforward and straight-laced of the crew, so to speak, is Tom Skerritt's Captain Dallas. Skerritt was a fairly well-known and well-established actor at the time with his prominent role in MASH and a string of television and cinematic supporting roles. He has one of the more potentially thankless roles as the decoy 'hero' of the film, but he certainly nails the needed command of the captain alongside the personable attributes of a all around decent guy who the crew respects. One thing I've notcied more on re-watches though, like Kotto, is that Skerritt actually brings a certain flaw to Dallas in his heroism, he's admirable but not always wise and Skerritt plays into the script's realizations of that. He sets up his character to be the hero but is ultimately upended in one of the greatest film sequences of all-time.
Sigourney Weaver, as she always was and always will be, is brilliant in the role of Ripley. It's the least showiest of her performances in the series due to the ensemble nature of the film meaning she's jsut barely lead by virtue of the film's final act focusing almost entirely on her v.s. the Alien. This was Weaver's first substantial onscreen role and boy does she show the mounds and mounds of screen presence she'd continue to utilize over the years. Unlike later films, Ripley here is more of a space officer doing her job, who in some ways appears to be the most cool-headed and professional of the lot. She sticks to procedure and protocol, handles her interactions with each crew member in a rather blunt fashion, and figures out stuff's amiss fairly quickly. This could've made her character boring, especially in contrast to the way the character carries on in the sequels, but Weaver makes Ripley very intriguing to watch onscreen with her naturalistic portrayal of a person who's motto is professionalism, through which she finds ways to survive. She shows hints of the badass yet relatable heroine we get in the later films but within Alien's more horror-based atmosphere finds the right amount of realism to ground that style, and carries the second half of the film incredibly well.
Her dynamic with all the other crew members, especially Kotto and Skerrittt, is particularly great as she brings out even more out of those characters through her interactions with them. Indeed, one of the reasons all the performances and characters in Alien work as well as they do is because of the way they are thrown together. In one contained setting, the script and cast build up a believable camaraderie and chemsitry between them all that makes the horror and sci-fi elements resonate all the more, because they just seem like such human, realistic characters in this setting.
Which brings me to the two wild cards of the film which in terms of both writing and acting, are the biggest risks and biggest payoffs of the film. Vernoica Cartwright and Ian Holm play, respectively, the most and least emotional characters in the film.
Cartwright's Lambert, navigator of the Nostromo, starts off as an adept enough and amiable navigator and ends the film as a complete and utter mess of emotions. Cartwright apparently auditioned for the role of Ripley and only found out when arriving in London for wardrobe fitting that she was to play Lambert. Alien is considered a masterpiece in female writing for characters since all roles in Alien were written as being unisex/interchangeable. This therefore allows for the film to show two female characters who are not 'types' of characters but rather, are characters in themselves. Ripley is not just some badass and Lambert is not a coward, rather she's the crew member most disinclined to take risks, and gets steadily more anxious as the risks build up; her anti-chemistry with Ripley is particularly good in establishing this. Of course the highlight of her performance is indeed the big emotional scenes where she reacts in a terrified fashion to the threat of the Alien, and as Invasion of the Body Snatchers showed, Cartwright is perhaps the greatest onscreen screamer of all-time. The way her character is utilized within the story is great as she's not just some victim, she reflects a very real, palatable sense of horror that evokes itself through her so viscreally, we feel entirely for her, making her character's demise incredibly effective.
As for Holm, won't get into too much detail in case you, my dear reader have yet to see the film, but safe to say it's one of its most intriguing elements, the way his performance and his character plays into the plot...(excellent review of his performance here, http://actoroscar.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/alternate-best-supporting-actor-1979_5.html).
Having gotten that whole ensemble out of the way, let's talk about how the film is structured. The brooding first act soon gives way to an exhilirating, heart pounding second act, an absolutely terrifying and yet so intriguing transitions into the third act, and the third act itself repeatedly pushes and pulls the carpet from underneath you to shock and release, release and shock.
Scott's approach with the horror sequences is to switch back and forth from a more casual, still brooding air to occasional bursts of visceral horror. This works incredibly well in the three most famous scary sequences in the film: the first three deaths of Kane, Brett and Dallas. All are masterfully handled death scenes, the first so unsuspecting and given weight by Hurt's incredible work in the scene, the second with such an ominous build-up and set in such a perfectly grimy setting, and the last one being my favourite scene in the film. The film entirely subverts the usual idea of the heroic captain by having him do his very heroic act of going into the vents, seemingly making progress in hunting down the Alien before oh so swiftly and terrifyingly becoming the victim himself.
The final act of the film is as incredible even though the on-screen violence noticeably diminished. The deaths of Parker and Lambert are mostly obscured from the audience and indeed, Ripley, but it works SO well. There's little touches like SPOILERS the way Ash tries to subdue and kill Ripley to prevent her from killing the Alien by strangulation with an adult magazine that make the film even more unsettling, by having two characters who were respectively so prim and proper, and resilient and assertive, switch into a crazed, almost animalistic struggle in an instance. It helps to build up to the intensely physical final few minutes of the film with such subtle ways that you might not pick up on first watch.
The Alien actually doesn't appear all that much in full form till the final act, and it's all we need to feel the full force of its horror. Lambert's terror that literally freezes her to the spot is completely believable as what the Alien has done, plus the overall design of it (another one of Giger's ingenious creations), is marvellous. Nightmarishly eyeless, gaping drooling jaws, and the somewhat disturbing sexual overtones to its physique and 'facehugging' antics, all add to the whole idea of a creature whose sole purpose is to kill and propagate. It's just a chilling idea all thrown into one beast. The conflict between the Alien and Ripley on an ideological level would be further explored in the sequels, but here it works just perfectly as a creepy, atmospheric cat-and-mouse and cat chase in the last few minutes of the film, which could have proved extraneous if not for the incredible power each sequence carries. You feel the sheer effort and diligence of the cast and crew in every sequence inwhat is truly a masterpiece in terror.
