Round one is here. 61 years of film with 3 convenient ties. What film will come out on top? For this round, we start with: ROBOCOP, Paul Verhoeven's all-too-prescient portrayal of the increasingly impersonal law enforcement "strategies" that discount human life under the guise of efficiency and cleaning up the street. (The trailer really leans into the Terminator, even borrowing the music) Against... THE GODFATHER, PART II, Francis Ford Coppola's about the most essential American tale of the limits of our own mythology and the ways they clash with a nation founded on exploitation. The short answer for best sequel ever made, we see the truth of harnessing the power to take human life and the toll it inevitably takes on our soul. The winner will move on to the next round. The full bracket is attached below.
This isnt fair. Robocop should get a chance to move ahead.... But I cannot vote against Godfather II.
Robocop and Verhoeven are essential satire, but The Godfather Part II might be the greatest mainstream American drama ever made. Every scene feels so monumental and towering as we watch the collapse of the veneer of respectability and intrigue that had been around this family for so long.