was the PT inspired by "Godfather part II"?

i was just watching it last night, an a few things hit me.

the flashback parts where young vito watched his mother die, fled to America, gained power, reminded me of parts of eps I and II.

and the story of micheals downfall, and fredos betrayal mirror in many ways, anakins downfall in epIII.

any thoughts? am i reading too deep into things?

 

I like when Vito wins the big race and then gets trained to be a space ninja. Then his teacher "kills" him and he comes back from the dead in a robot suit. Who saw that coming? Or that his large-nosed, but still hot daughter would grow up to be such a good film director?

 

Well in the Godfather Part 1 you see Vito Corleone already as a powerful man, and with the flashback scenes in Part 2 we see his rise to power. It is similar to the PT in that sense because we finally understand why Vito is the way he is when we see him in the first Godfather film.

The characters between the two series aren't really similar but the idea behind the prequels echoes Copolla's choice to show the rise of Vito Corleone.

The style of Godfather part 2 was a film showing the different decisions and actions of a father and his son at similar times in their lives. Vito Corleone (the father) in the 1920's, and Michael Corleone (the son) in the 1950's. With the PT and the OT we see Anakin/Luke around the same age and we see the paths that their choices take them.

 

I doubt that the prequel trilogy was inspired by the Godfather Part II, but they are similar with all of their parallels, I'll give you that.

 

I don't believe The Godfather Part 2 actually inspired the prequel trilogy either but I do agree that the backstory idea is similar between the two series.

 

Probably not.

 

I was always under the impression the prequels were inspired by the original films.

 

its certainly not as direct an influence as the old serials for example, but i thought it was one of those subtle things george likes to do.