Steven Spielberg has directed some of the best movies ever made. After all, this is the same filmmaker who gave us “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park,” “Saving Private Ryan,” and three great “Indiana Jones” flicks before the franchise went off the rails. Those movies barely even scratch the surface of the gems in his oeuvre, and one could even argue that the lowest-rated Spielberg movies have their merits. Spielberg’s credentials speak for themselves, so when he says that a film is the best American movie of all time, people listen. So, which film does he rank above every other movie to come out of the country?
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Spielberg’s favorite American film is one that’s beloved by the masses, and it’s the best crime thriller in history according to IMDb. Yes, we are talking about “The Godfather,” directed by Spielberg’s old friend Francis Ford Coppola. The movie tells the story of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), a son of a mafioso boss, Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), who reluctantly inherits control of his father’s organized crime empire. When we first meet Michael, he’s completely removed from his family’s illegal activities, but it’s only a matter of time until the power corrupts him, causing him to lose his morality and sense of right and wrong.
“The Godfather” isn’t the first gangster movie to chronicle the corruption of its protagonist, but it’s arguably the most influential one. For Spielberg, though, Coppola’s movie is more than a mob drama, as he believes it sits at the apex of American cinema, along with its director.
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