10 Movies That Give 'The Godfather' a Run for Its Money

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Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in The Godfather

Published Oct 21, 2026, 7:51 AM EDT

Diego Pineda has been a devout storyteller his whole life. He has self-published a fantasy novel and a book of short stories, and is actively working on publishing his second novel.

A lifelong fan of watching movies and talking about them endlessly, he writes reviews and analyses on his Instagram page dedicated to cinema, and occasionally on his blog. His favorite filmmakers are Andrei Tarkovsky and Charlie Chaplin. He loves modern Mexican cinema and thinks it's tragically underappreciated.

Other interests of Diego's include reading, gaming, roller coasters, writing reviews on his Letterboxd account (username: DPP_reviews), and going down rabbit holes of whatever topic he's interested in at any given point.

Back in 1967, Paramount Pictures optioned Mario Puzo's manuscript for The Godfather for a film adaptation, intending to make a cheap and modern gangster flick. After the book became a massive critical hit and bestseller upon publication, however, the studio knew that they needed to make a far more serious movie. The rest is history. Francis Ford Coppola took on the project and delivered what many still praise as the single greatest feature film of all time.

Regardless of any subjective superlatives, however, one thing is objectively undeniable: The Godfather is among the most universally acclaimed movies the big screen has ever seen, and for good reason. There are 10 movies, however, that definitely give it a run for its money in terms of near-flawless quality. Of course, to avoid comparing apples to oranges, these must be movies that are similar to The Godfather in some substantial way.

10 'Apocalypse Now' (1979)

Martin Sheen as U.S. Army Captain Benjamin L. Willard in Apocalypse Now (1979)

It was screenwriter John Milius who came up with the idea to adapt the plot of Joseph Conrad's classic novella Heart of Darkness into a Vietnam War film, with Francis Ford Coppola himself attached as the director. After one of the most notoriously hellish productions in the history of Hollywood, we got Apocalypse Now, now widely recognized as one of the best movies based on books in history.

Coppola was on a generational run throughout the 1970s, which should make it come as no surprise that most cinephiles would agree that Apocalypse Now gives The Godfather a run for its money. It's the most perfect Vietnam War film ever made, a hypnotic descent through the River Styx right into the bowels of Hell itself. It's technically faultless, impeccably performed, and crafted with a level of psychological depth that not even The Godfather can match.

9 'City of God' (2002)

Two Black men with guns in City of God - 2002

There are remarkably few crime movies from the 21st century that can truly be said to give The Godfather a run for its money, but if one had to go with one, it would undoubtedly be a masterful film that's not only the highest-rated movie of the 21st century on Letterboxd, but even higher-rated than The Godfather itself: Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund's City of God.

It's one of the best gangster movies in film history, a gritty look at life in the slums of Rio with the perfect balance between carefully-executed shock value and deeply heartfelt character drama. It's certainly a far more brutal movie than The Godfather, and it has character writing that is just as admirably complex, visuals that are just as unforgettable, and set pieces that are almost as memorable as those from Coppola's magnum opus.

8 'Once Upon a Time in America' (1984)

Once Upon a Time in America - 1984 (1)-1

Even though he's far better known for his Westerns—spaghetti Westerns in particular, a subgenre he's practically the father of—, Sergio Leone also experimented with other genres over the course of his career. Case in point: the epic crime drama genre which produced Once Upon a Time in America, one of the best epic movie masterpieces of all time.

Clocking in at nearly four hours long, Once Upon a Time in America is definitely best left for a day when you have a lot of time on your hands, but it's oh so worth every minute. In terms of scale and scope, it feels even more vast and sweeping than The Godfather; and in terms of its deconstruction of the American gangster myth, it's just as fascinatingly nuanced and layered as the 1972 classic.

7 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994)

Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman looking in the same direction in The Shawshank Redemption.

For many years, The Shawshank Redemption has been right atop The Godfather as the single highest-rated feature film of all time on IMDb, and it's not difficult at all to see the reasons why. Based on the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, this Frank Darabont masterpiece has a claim to the title of "best prison drama of all time" so strong that it's impossible to ignore.

Though it was made on a pretty modest $25-million-dollar budget, the film failed to break even at the box office in spite of the critical acclaim that welcomed it. Over three decades after its release, however, most cinephiles would agree that it's one of those movies that can change anyone's life. Deeply moving, philosophical, and human, it really is one of the most life-affirming works of art that the big screen has ever delivered.

6 'Goodfellas' (1990)

Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta, and Robert De Niro on screen together in Goodfellas (1990)

When people talk about the greatest crime dramas of all time, Martin Scorsese's name is always bound to pop up; and when Martin Scorsese's name pops up, there's a virtual guarantee that Goodfellas will be mentioned at some point in the conversation. It's only natural, seeing as this is one of the most near-flawless crime films in Hollywood history, complete with one of the best casts of any gangster movie.

Goodfellas has plenty to offer on top of Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, and Robert DeNiro's masterful performances, however. Much like The Godfather, it's a dismantling and critique of the dark underbelly of the American Dream, demystifying the mob through a dramatization of the life and work of Henry Hill. It's kinetic, it's raw, it's authentic, and it's irresistibly entertaining from beginning to end.

5 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' (1966)

At first glance, it may not seem like The Godfather and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly share much in common, but a look under the surface reveals two sweeping epics focused on morally ambiguous characters, with stories looking to de-mythify different eras of American history. In the case of this Italian Sergio Leone spaghetti Western, it's the Civil War period.

The result is one of the most fun Westerns of all time, one that's often hailed right alongside The Godfather as one of the greatest epics of the 20th century. Where many laud Coppola's masterpiece as the ultimate American crime drama, those same people would very likely be more than willing to call Leone's magnum opus the absolute pinnacle of Western filmmaking.

4 'High and Low' (1963)

Three men hiding under a table in high and low

There are many who would confidently call Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa the greatest filmmaker in the history of cinema—and even those who wouldn't go as far as to place him right at the top would likely agree that he's at least among the best. To understand why, one needn't look much further than High and Low. Though Kurosawa was better known for his contributions to samurai cinema, it just so happens that one of his best works is a crime thriller based on the American Evan Hunter novel King's Ransom.

It's one of those movies that many would say are unironically better than The Godfather, a testament to why Kurosawa has remained among the most influential filmmakers in history, influential even to Coppola himself. With its perfect three-part structure, its flawless pacing, and its downright faultless technical qualities, it's not at all exaggerated to say that High and Low rivals The Godfather's quality in practically every department.

3 '12 Angry Men' (1957)

The question of what the greatest film from Hollywood's Golden Age is typically brings up many different answers, but there's one that almost always comes up more than most: 12 Angry Men, a film so perfect that it's almost hard to believe that it was Sidney Lumet's debut as a director. Adapted by Reginald Rose from his 1954 teleplay, it's one of the most powerfully theatrical movies in the history of cinema.

12 Angry Men is also one of the best must-watch movies of the 1950s, serving as both a critique of the American justice system during the McCarthy era and a deeply human tale about truth and judgment. It may seem abundantly simple on the surface—certainly simpler than a movie as massive as The Godfather—but it's precisely in that technical simplicity that it finds the room to be so emotionally and thematically hard-hitting.

2 'Citizen Kane' (1941)

There's one film from Hollywood's Golden Age that people often bring up when the question of whether there's any movie better than The Godfather is brought up: Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, easily one of the most universally acclaimed movies of all time. This is also a film that makes it difficult to believe it was a debut, but indeed, Orson Welles' first venture into filmmaking absolutely revolutionized the art form.

Through its groundbreaking camerawork, unparalleled narrative structure, and never-seen-before ambition, Citizen Kane completely re-defined what Hollywood cinema was capable of during Hollywood's Classical period. Much like The Godfather, it's all about a man's rise to power at the expense of his values, and it may very well be the quintessential Hollywood character study.

1 'The Godfather Part II' (1974)

Robert De Niro holding a torch in The Godfather Part II

You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who would be unwilling to admit that if there is any one film that gives The Godfather a run for its money, it's the sequel that many still recognize as one of those rare sequels that are even better than their predecessor: The Godfather Part II, which tracks Vito Corleone's rise to power and Michael Corleone's spiritual downfall in parallel.

Part prequel, part sequel, The Godfather Part II is so massive yet so perfectly structured that it may very well be the most ambitious gangster movie of all time. Regardless, what's undeniable is that it's a practically flawless masterpiece that's even bigger, more epic, and more emotional than The Godfather. It's visually delightful, the performances are phenomenal, and the entire third act is one of the most enrapturing in the history of cinema.