Who was a more evil man: Vito Corleone or Michael Corleone??

I vote for Michael.

 

Deffinitely Michael. Vito was a businessman.

 

If you would please, could you define what you mean by evil?
With respect to the movies in question, it'd be a relative term. They each thought that they were doing what was right and necessary to protect their family, friends and personal interests.
Only by those who were in conflict with them would they seem "evil".

 

Michael, hands down.


btw, some of you might find this board to your liking.

 

Michael. There's no doubt about it. He was more evil and ruthless than Vito could ever be.

BTW, the board that Liz has just linked to is an awesome Godfather message board. I visit it once a day. Some great conversations on the film there.

 

I was a regular there until the GAUTNLET restarted up here. Now I go once a day. when I can't, once a week. AWESOME board.

 

shameless plug

Okay, I vote for Michael because he was just down right evil. I mean, Vito, at least respected his family, I doubt he would have shot Paolo in the head. But then, I guess he didn't have to... someone did it for him.

Thanks for the heads up on the site, Liz.

~PAd

 

Neither one is "evil" - they were both looking out for the community.

I have more respect for Vito - built the Family up from nothing...

 

The edge would go to Micheal, but Vito was no angel.

Vito came from a dark background, and one in which he got his revenge. He killed the person who killed his family. He killed the man who messed with his honest job and killed the man who turned him into a criminal.

Now we don't know who he killed or what not during the time between Vito getting his rise to the part where he got shot, but he was a man of respect by fear.


Micheal got involved in a situation in which he was doing right in the beginning and that was protecting his father and family. He killed the gangster and Police officer behind the attempt on his fathers life. Where Micheal goes bad is when his first wife is killed. What was human in Micheal left that day. When he gets back he settles the score against anyone not with him since he is in charge. He gets rid of those who killed Sonny including killing is sisters husband who was a scum bag anyway.

Micheal then killed his brother who tried to have him killed, and he alienated his wife, killed more gangsters trying to kill him. Swears on the lifes of his kids that he will do no more evil acts yet he does.

In the end he gets his when his daughter is killed and he lives out his days as a lonely old man just as the man who created his father did in Italy.

I've watched and interpreted those movies so much that I know I went overboard, but both Vito and Micheal are evil. Micheal did worse things to his family than Vito did. However Vito was the origin of the evil.

 

Yeah, Vito is my favrote of the two.

 

I think the both of them could easily be characterized as evil. They killed on a whim, all for thier family's gain.

But no matter what angle I look at it at, Vito was the more upstanding of the two.

 

It seems to me that Vito only killed for justice, if you can call it that. Michael would have you killed for looking at him the wrong way.

 

Michael was definitely evil. Vito I think was a much better man. He loved his family (Michael did to but look what he did to Fredo) and did do quite a few good deeds for some of the people of the community. Remember in Godfather 2 how he stopped that landlord from evicting the old woman? But he had a ruthless streak inside of him, especially when you crossed him.

 

Did Michael's brother really try to have him killed? I thought it was that he just got mixed up in the wrong thing and was unaware they were planning to kill Michael.

 

Neither are as evil as Jedi-Corleone...

 

But wasn't Michael trying to reform in the third film and go legit? Plus he did confess to a priest (if I'm remembering right). That would count in his favour for the later years.

His father merely left the business, and even then tried to ensure that the family continued, by giving Michael advice.

 

From what we've seen, Michael is by far more evil. But that's not saying much since we see so little of Vito's real operation. Other than seeing all the heartless actions Michael takes, it's also because we see his decendence that makes him seem even more chilling a character. In that respect, Vito was born to do everything he did, while Michael learned. Because of that--Michael knew his actions were evil--therefore Michael truly becomes the monster.

As for the third film, it's all about this monster trying to find redemtion, but of course, there is little possibility for it after all that he's done.

 

Vito always tried to protect his family and keep them together, keep them safe. Mike had his brother killed and drove his wife to have an abortion. I think Michael was the rotten one.

 

Michael had his brother killed, all the mob bosses during his son's Christening, and poor Moe Green. It's Michael. At least with Vito it was only a horse.

 

Michael had his brother killed, all the mob bosses during his son's Christening, and poor Moe Green. It's Michael. At least with Vito it was only a horse.

DS, have you read the book? or seen GF2? Vito killed a lot of ppl. Michael also did, plus killing Fredo.

 

Yup, Ive read the book and Id say they were both equally as ruthless, but in different ways. But ultimately, especially if you have read the book, these men do not consider themselves evil for a moment, and the they feel the same about those in the Family. Whatever they are doing is ultimately to protect the family and its interests, personal or business.

 

the prob w/the thrid one is that it's a diferent MICHAEL.

who'd win in a fight: Luca Brasi or Al Neri? I'd have to go with Al.

 

Another thing with Michael is that he truly destroyed the family. His wife left him, his kids were estranged from him, he killed Fredo, and he literally drove Tom Hagen (who was very loyal to him) away from him. His sister Connie also wanted nothing to do with him for a long time. Now look, I'm not saying Vito wasn't evil. He certainly was evil, not to mention a killer. But he never did the kind of damage to his family that Michael did. When Vito died, there were many people who mourned for him. I don't think there were many who even cared when Michael finally went.

I know you can bring up Michael's attitude in the third film but I try to ignore that movie's influence when it involves comparisons between the far superior Godfather films that came before it. If you really want to judge the Godfather, you should do it with the first two.

Good point on Michael in the third movie Liz. Coppola wanted to show in Godfather 3 Michael's effort's at redemption. But he really missed the point. Michael had already changed so drastically by the time Godfather 3 took place. The movie that Coppola wanted to do should have shown this transformation happening. Instead, we see in Godfather 3 a Michael Corleone who bears no resemblance to his Godfather 2 personality.

Another interesting question, Liz. I'd say Neri. We don't really see much of Luca in Godfather and by that point, he seems to be past his prime. Though I've heard that in the book (which I want to read soon) we do see Luca ruthlessly in action. Neri was pretty tough and ruthless in his own right. Plus, out of the Mafia captians, he pretty much remains the last man standing.

 

Top!

 

Gotta go with Jedi-Corleone for this one.

EDIT: What's a Hedi-Corleone?