{"id":864445,"date":"2026-09-29T07:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T07:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/864445\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T07:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T07:12:12","slug":"the-second-greatest-film-of-all-time-resurfaces-to-become-one-of-the-biggest-movies-on-streaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/864445\/","title":{"rendered":"The “Second-Greatest Film of All Time” Resurfaces To Become One of the Biggest Movies on Streaming"},"content":{"rendered":"

The streaming wars are currently dominated by the usual players, with true crime hits, Harlan Coben thrillers<\/a>, Taylor Sheridan Westerns, and Reacher occupying the top spots of the charts. However, a 54-year-old crime classic has resurfaced on streaming and become widely popular among home viewers. The 1972 masterpiece, widely considered one of the best movies in history, presented a character arc unlike any other \u2013 a drama that humanized evil without redeeming it and made viewers witness firsthand the rise of a man inevitably pulled into a world of organized crime.<\/p>\n

An Extraordinary and Genre-Defining Crime Drama<\/p>\n

Based on the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo, The Godfather<\/a> is a 1972 masterpiece written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola and directed by Coppola. The film is a quintessential classic in the genre and stands among the greatest films ever made according to\u2026 everyone. From critics to viewers, The Godfather is internationally regarded as an essential cinematic experience<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It follows the Corleone family as they face an unexpected threat when their patriarch, Don Vito Corleone, says no to protecting a big player in the drug-dealing scene in New York. An assassination attempt leaves Don Vito hospitalized, while his sons Michael, Sonny, and Fredo take over the family affairs. Michael is arguably the most apt to take over the Corleone empire, but his view of crime clashes with his family’s values. However, he steps up and commits a ruthless act against Vito’s new enemies, showing the other families that there is a new Mafia leader who will stop at nothing.<\/p>\n

Released in March 1972, The Godfather stars Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, James Caan, and Robert Duvall<\/a>, among others. It received international acclaim from audiences and critics, and grossed over $81 million in its original theatrical run \u2013 a solid box-office performance for the 1970s. After its many re-releases, the film’s gross now totals $291 million worldwide.<\/p>\n

At the Academy Awards the following year, The Godfather won three Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for Brando, who declined the award. On Rotten Tomatoes, the classic has a 97% critics’ score<\/a> and a 98% audience score. Over time, its status as a film classic only got stronger, and today, it’s regarded as one of the best movies ever made, if not the actual best.<\/p>\n

Why “the Second-Greatest” and Not “the Greatest”?<\/p>\n

Audiences are rediscovering the quintessential crime classic on streaming. At the time of writing, The Godfather stands as one of the most popular VOD titles on the Apple TV<\/a> Store. It ranks below recent releases such as Obsession, Disclosure Day, and The End of Oak Street. On the subscription-based streamer MGM+, the film sits at No. 5, ranked above Project Hail Mary and The Shawshank Redemption.<\/p>\n

Ironically, the reason The Godfather is the second-greatest and not the greatest film of all time is The Shawshank Redemption. This ranking is based on IMDb’s Top 250 list, where the Stephen King adaptation currently holds the highest rating, with a 9.3 out of 10. The Godfather sits at No. 2 with 9.2, and below them are The Dark Knight, The Godfather Part II, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Release Date<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarch 24, 1972<\/p>\n

Runtime<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t175 minutes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The streaming wars are currently dominated by the usual players, with true crime hits, Harlan Coben thrillers, Taylor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":864446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,206],"class_list":["post-864445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}