There is a reason why IMDB.com's raters have this brilliant movie in the number 1 slot.

The most overrated film of all time. It was average at absolute best. This is self-indulgent tripe which goes on for at least an hour too long, takes itself far too seriously and mainly consists of middle-aged men flexing their muscles pitifully at each other.
If this is perfection...

When it first came out, the critics were short stroking to a climax of rage over Brando's portrayal of Don Vito. He didn't fit the part, it was all wrong, blah, blah, blah. Now can you even envision Vito Corleone without seeing Brando?

Cinematic perfection.

Certainly one of the classic movies of our time, if not THE classic movie of our time. It sort of mythologizes the Mafia in the same way Gone With The Wind mythologized the Antebellum South, although Marlon Brando has been quoted as saying that the story was more a commentary on American capitalism than it was on the Mafia, which probably is why it has been embraced so ardently by aggressive Yuppies who seem to find inspiration and a blueprint for their own conduct from the characters (it also seemed to exert a Hawthorne effect on real-life mobsters, who began utilizing lines of dialogue from the movie and acting like some of the characters in the course of their own day-to-day criminal operations). Also interesting to speculate how the movie would have turned out if some of the actors who were initially considered for different roles in it had been utilized. Coppola has said he was considering Laurence Olivier to play Don Corleone because he had a passing physical resemblance to real-life Mafia Don Vito Genovese. Robert Redford was initially considered for the role of Michael. Robert DeNiro was considered to play Sonny. An older friend of mine grew up with actor Richard Castellano, who played Clemenza, and they remained friends until Castellano died. Apparently, Castellano had a great antipathy towards Coppola (Castellano was in poor health and Coppola made him do the scene where he had to run up the stairs with the flower box containing a shotgun 20 or so times because he was dissatisfied with the way Castellano ran; when it was all over and done, Coppola ended up using the first take in the finished film), which is why he didn't appear in Godfather II. Castellano's widow Ardell Sheridan has written a memoir entitled Divine Intervention and a Dash of Magic: uncovering the mystery of The Method; Behind the scenes of Godfather I that Godfather fans might find interesting and enlightening.

A classic in its genre. PBeaver may be right about it possibly being more meaningful or appealing if you're Italian. The beginning (the wedding scene) captured the essence of old-fashioned (1950s) Italian weddings beautifully. There were so many other touches and nuances throughout the movie that possibly are best understood by someone who grew up in the Italo-American subculture of the times. But, even if you don't have an Italian background, I think that the movie stands head and shoulders on its own above all imitators. Great acting (I liked Santino Corleone a lot - a typical paesan hothead of the era. Let's face it - Puzo wrote a good story, and Coppola did the movie well.

the godfather is the best movie of all time.