I think a thread like this is necessary.

Everyone bangs on about ‘Horses Head’, ‘I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse’, ‘Leave the gun, Take the canolli’ etc etc…but for me there are smaller moments that get overlooked.

I’ve gone about the Tessio moment at the end enough in the past, so for my first moment, I want to mention the bit just before Michael heads off to kill Sollozzo and he speaks with his brother and Tom…even though, from what we have seen in the film, Sonny and Mike have a somewhat salty relationship, they rarely agree. Sonny is the elder and likes to demean Mike for his choices in his life, Mike doesn’t like to be patronised by Sonny and has no fear of contradicting him whenever he likes. This all changes when Mike volounteers to kill the pair and he earns Sonny’s respect, all though he didn’t outwardly show it in his ‘nice college boy’ moment…so when the time comes for Mike to leave, knowing that they wont see eachother for years…well, you can see both brothers drop their respective guards and share a deep loving embrace, Michael even kisses his brother and Sonny tells him he’ll get word to Kay when the time is right. The music played during this bit is great and its particularly heartbreaking when you realise that Mike will never see his brother again.

Brilliant from both Caan and Pacino

Nice catch..that is a great scene...and notice the half hug Tom gets from Michael.

Yes. I meant to add that...it's not as warm as the one Sonny gets, but it is sincere...you have to wonder at what point Mike went off Tom

Anyway...the floor is open for more underrated moments people...

The two cannoli phrases
"Don't forget the cannoli." and
"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."
were both added in the studio.
We don't see the actors move their lips.

That's done nothing to damage it's iconic standing in mafia culture.

And let's not forget the iconic scene where Connie pretends to taste the poisoned cannoli intended for Altobello.

Another moment I love is the Fredo/Michael scene in Havana. Mike delights Fredo by telling he wants to spend time with him, and when they do for a drink, there is a touching closeness between the two, the way Mike smiles at him and tells him that Banana dachari is the same in Spanish...and the hollow realization for Freddie that his brother loves him after all..the way he says 'I was mad at you.....why didn't we spend time like this before'...which unbeknown to Mike was Freddie beating himself up about what he has done. If Fredo admitted what he did then and there, in that environment...it could have been diffeent. Again, its another heartbreaking moment...

I would describe some of these moments as understated or subtle. The ones that come to mind usually demonstrate the contrast between violence and compassion. Example, Clemenza is instructing Michael how to kill Sol and McClusk and testing the gun. Then he tells Michael how proud they are were of him, being a war hero "you're father too." The tenderness that Clemenza shows is a big contrast to the cold-blooded killer explaining how to kill two men; two shots in the head apiece.