his hero and his trilogy a definitive conclusion.

4. The Godfather

It should come as no surprise that the celebrated saga of the Corleone mafia crime family ranks highly on our list. The first two films in particular are treasured classics for a myriad of reasons. It defined the careers of director Francis Ford Coppola, stars Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, and novelist and screenwriter Mario Puzo. It won a total of nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture for the first and second films.

A moody, fully-realized world is introduced in the soft lenses and mud-colored cinematography of The Godfather. The film told the story of Michael Corleone (Pacino), a World War II veteran who returns home to his Italian-American family in New York and becomes deeply embroiled in the mafiawar his father is waging. At its barest of bones, the first film is a tragedy about a good man who goes bad, albeit in part as a result of the circumstances around him. It ends with the death of his father Vito (Brando), and Michael taking his place as the head of the Corleone family.

The Godfather Part II, the first sequel to ever win Best Picture, continued Michael’s story as Don Corleone, charting his schemes and sins to come out on top over rival crime families. Robert de Niro appeared in flashback scenes as a young Vito Corleone, depicting the patriarch’s rise from Sicilian orphan to mob boss. Pacino’s nuanced performance in Part II is considered one of the best of all time, and the movie became