Just When I Thought I Was Out, They Pull Me Back in

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in". This was one of Al Pacino's most memorable quotes from the film Godfather III, where he continued to play the role of Michael Corleone -- just like in the two previous Godfather films. He (Corleone, or Pacino or whatever) was a Mafia boss. No, erase that. Michael Corleone was the head of all Mafia bosses, and ruled the world of organized crime. But like majority of major characters surrounded by an evil world, the third Godfather film portrayed a Michael Corleone trying to withdraw from the dark lifestyle of the Mafia underworld and attempts to legitimize all his illegally acquired enterprises. But guess what? Just when he thought he was out, his peers and colleagues prevented "the bad guy from turning good" and plunged him back to old time Italian gangster treachery and violence.

Here's the famous scene from the Godfather III:

The Godfather trilogy became a classic and the "Michael Jordan" of films related to organized crime, the Mafia, and Italian gangsters. Somehow, Mafia flicks begun to multiply and become commonplace during the next three decades following the first Godfather film (which was first released in 1972). Some examples are The Untouchables, Donnie Brasco, and Goodfellas. There are so many films like these, and many film critics say: "We've had enough of these Mafia films!!"

Well, just when we thought Mafia stories are out, they pull it back in. This time Mafia stories hit the TV industry. In the early 2000's, the TV series "The Sopranos" revived the savour of the Italian gangster underworld. This time it was not a Michael Corleone who made it all come to life, but a Tony Soprano and a family more adjusted to modern American lifetlye. Times have changed: No more elaborate Sicilian parties, or Nino Rota's waltzes. Instead, we see characters dealing with more serious challenges in the modern world, enjoying the benefits of mass media, and the ownership of a gangster bar called Bada Bing, where moral standards are more wicked than that of their forefathers. Strangely though, the Golden Ages of the Mafia underworld are long gone, but the Italian ganglords in The Sopranos are counting a whole lot of money more than ever.

And this time, it's no longer Al Pacino a.k.a Michael Corleone who recites the famous line (just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in), but an interesting character named Sylvio Dante who looks surprisingly similar to Pacino during younger years. You decide if this scene from "The Sopranos" give justice to the classic "Godfather" movie: