If you want to tell a good story about a man, show him fail. He can recover but there needs to be a journey into darkness. Part II of the Godfather trilogy is Michael Corleone’s journey into darkness.

By the end of the movie he’s lost his wife, his mother, the trust of his adopted brother and his last brother by blood. His enemies are dead by their own hand or by his. But Michael has failed. He destroyed his family.

In flashback, the film portrays his father committing crimes to provide for others. What is the point of sitting atop the most powerful crime family when there is no one to take care of? As great as the original Godfather movie is, Part II is a movie with a grander sweep. We’ve seen the principled thug of Brando’s Vito Corleone and now we get the icy rage of his youngest son.

The opposition also steps it up. Years ago when I first saw Lee Strasberg’s performance of movie antagonist Hyman Roth, I didn’t get it. I thought he was miscast, but actually, I lacked the life experience to appreciate his good casting. Roth sprawls. He’ll project dominance by folding a leg over the arm of a chair. He’ll lay on a couch in pyjama bottoms, chest hair exposed as a recovers from a health scare, and explain to someone in logical terms how close to danger they are. In these scenes he’s soft spoken, he’s direct, and he’s menacing.

More important, he’s smart. Not because he has every possibility mapped out. But because he adapts when the unexpected happens. A setback for Hyman Roth is an opportunity for him to try another line of attack. As one of the few remaining first-time mobsters, this skill has served him well.

When Michael and Hyman are together, it is clear their world is too small for both of them to thrive. This starts out a fact of business and then gets personal. What follows is a well lit, well shot and great sounding set of moves, countermoves and executions.

The 4K movie on UHD disc is a full screen HDR10 presentation with clear Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound. There’s a remastered monaural track if you want to hear it as mixed for cinemas back in 1974. I found the picture to be crisp, with good brightness and nice film grain.

Michael Corleone has more to lose in the Godfather Part III. But for your time it is the second Godfather movie that tells the best story of the three movies.