Both are two of my favorite films of all-time. Every time I weigh the pros and cons, I'm still unable to decide. Right now I'd say Chinatown, but yesterday I thought GF 2. I know it's the Chinatown message board so it'll be a little biased, but it'll still be fun to talk about these two awesome films.
shareBoth are amazing movies and both are the masterpieces of 1974. I'd go with Chinatown but both films are among my all time favorites.
shareAs Junior Soprano would say, there's not a .... hair between them.
Forget it Jake. It's Chinatown.
I'd lean Chinatown's way. They're both so good, though.
shareGodfather II was arguably better than Godfather I. "Chinatown" is great but it's not even in the same league as The Godfather.
shareObviously The Godfather has a superlative reputation, but Chinatown isn't as far behind as you think - a few years ago it was named the greatest film of all time in a poll by Guardian and Observer critics. I prefer Chinatown, but to each his own.
shareBut Chinatown has arguably the greatest screenplay in the history of American cinema.
The reputation of Chinatown's screenplay completely dwarfs that of "The Godfather Part II" and writing is a substantial aspect of "The Godfather Part II".
So which film is not in the other's league is debatable.
As much as I love De Niro, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen every time Pacino was on. He made The Godfather II for me. Him not winning an Oscar for it is terrible.
shareJack Nicholson not winning an Oscar for Chinatown is a travesty. The credibility and logic of every single scene of the film depends on his performance.
shareYou make great points. Nicholson or Gene Hackman should've won instead of Art Carney. Pacino is just my favorite performance of those three. But your reasons for Jack not winning are spot on.
shareI agree. I actually wouldn't mind if Gene Hackman won because pretty much every scene also depends on his performance. If you look at it, the overall success of The Conversation depends on Hackman even more than Chinatown on Nicholson, given that the latter is such a collaborative masterpiece.
shareI just realized that Hackman wasn't even nominated for The Conversation. I always thought that he had been. I haven't seen Carney's movie, so can't comment on that.
Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Criedshare
even answer to your question i would have to kill myself
sharePacino pretty much disappeared and became Michael Corleone though, and although the film doesn't rely on his performance as much as Chinatown does Nicholson's, there are several of the film's crucial plot and story moments rely on his solely on his performance. So I think it's unfair to say that Nicholson or Hackman are clearly ahead of Pacino on this one because The Godfather: Part II wouldn't have had half of the same impact if it wasn't for Pacino's performance.
share"Chinatown" is great but it's not even in the same league as The Godfather.
Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Criedshare
Neither one. I would not sit through either movie a second time.
shareI'll take Chinatown over the Godfather II. Just a better story, more profound. The Godfather is a well executed mob yarn while Chinatown's story and screenplay are much deeper. Perfectly executed as well. Also.. Chinatown's ending packs more of a punch than the Godfather II.
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Chinatown for me. I enjoyed Godfather 2 (and 1 for that matter), but Chinatown's setting and story is much more interesting to me.
It might be the sheer number of gangster films made since the Godfather, but I just don't really enjoy those type of films as much as I used to either.
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