When AMC is not airing The Walking Dead, the cable channel is often airing The Godfather. Francis Ford Coppola’s legendary classic film frequently airs on AMC, and another opportunity to watch the movie comes up Friday, Aug. 27. AMC is also airing the equally monumental The Godfather Part II Friday night. By the time Part II ends though, Saturday is already starting and it will be followed by Coppola’s new edit of The Godfather Part III. For those who want to see these movies without commercials but do not have them on home video, all three are also available to stream on Peacock.
The Godfather airs Friday at 5 p.m. ET. Although the film runs 177 minutes, the film’s block runs four hours due to commercials. The Godfather Part II begins at 9 p.m. ET. The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone airs at 1:30 a.m. ET on Saturday morning, so get the DVR ready. The Godfather will air again Saturday at 5 p.m. ET, with a Two and a Half Men episode following at 9 a.m. ET. Nothing quite compares to the tonal shift of seeing Michael Corleone close the door before Charlie Sheen gets a laugh.
The first two Godfather films are considered some of the best movies ever made. The 1972 film was based on Mario Puzo’s bestselling novel about the Corleone crime family. Marlon Brando starred as Don Vito Corleone, a performance that earned him the Best Actor Oscar. Al Pacino played his youngest son Michael, who began the saga desperate to avoid joining his father’s crime family before he is pulled into it. In addition to Brando’s Oscar win, the movie also won Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.
The Godfather Part II was released in 1974 and remains one of the best sequels ever made. It runs on parallel tracks. In one thread, we see how Michael struggles to hold his family together in Las Vegas. The second thread follows the young Vito Corleone, played by Robert De Niro, from Sicily to New York City. The film dominated the 1975 Oscars, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (De Niro), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Dramatic Score.
In 1990, Coppola chose to return to the Corleone family with The Godfather Part III. The original version of the film remains divisive, but the movie still earned seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Last year, Coppola put together a new version called The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. It’s not drastically different, but it is interesting to see for anyone who enjoys the first two films. One of the best parts of the film is Andy Garcia’s star-making performance, which earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.