Vito started out with a reasonalble proposition first to the band leader. He never used violence unless it was absolutley necessary.

I agree Vito was much less violent than Mike but still violence/murder against anyone is wrong

Absolutely necessary?! Johnny signed a contract he later regretted. Vito's threat of lethal force in such a simple business matter shows where Michael got his cold-bloodedness.

And I agree with the previous posters about the many victims Vito left in his wake, although they are never shown on the screen.

There is a reason why the Corleone family outlasted every other family and built the empire to sucess - Vito Corleone

I believe Vito's success was built on his karma. He cared for every person that came his way who had troubles.

Killing Fannucci in godfather 2 was his first sin. But how many people did Fannucci terroize in the community? I'm not saying killing is ok, it's just a movie. But karma makes sense. He's helped so many poor people, thats why he became the richest and most powerful

I must say though, Vito's bad karma was losing a son, being shot multiple times and other tragic things he encounterd.

As for Michael, he fought for his country and intially didn't want anything to do with the life of crime. All he wanted was to live a humble life with Kay. So deep down his roots were innocent and good. Vito had to channel his success through someone, sadly it had to be Michael.

im sorry but thats a bunch of crap. Vito made his own bed. Mike made his own bed. The only difference is that Vito would never harm his family like mike did

Vito did make his own bed, but he had a dream of making Michael his sucessor in a legitimate way. Sadly, it didn't turn out that way..which is also tragic.

Mike fucked up

Well we will never know. Vito's brother never risked the life of his wife, children and his actions never led Carmella to leave Vito and abort their unborn child. Maybe he would have killed a brother so stupidly harmful too.

I think the question to discuss would be if Vito was alive during Fredo's betrayal, if Vito would have allowed Michael to kill him (or give his support towards the hit). I believe that what sealed Fredo's fate wasn't his betrayal per se, it was his vehement rant to Michael about being passed over and about there supposedly being "something in it for [him]". That rant made it clear to Michael that he could never be trusted, since he wouldn't yield to Michael's leadership and could easily be swayed again (imagine someone like Don Altobello in GF3 approaching Fredo with the same kind of story). I personally think if it wasn't for that rant Fredo would have been exiled from the family and probably set up with a sustenance living and then cut off, but not killed.

Michael would never have whacked Fredo during Vito's lifetime, just as he didn't as long as his mother was alive.

But, you're right: the rant sealed Fredo's fate. With all that resentment bubbling to the surface--AFTER Fredo's betrayal had nearly cost him and Kay their lives--there was no way Michael could let him live..

If you take a look at the history of the family we learn that a little boy has lost his father because of an offense or a refusal to poor little Vito witnessing his own mother being murdered right in front of him to him getting shot because of his son's clumsiness, to his youngest unwillingly to take over the family-- we are meant to sympathize with this family! With all this history is good enough for me to sympathize with and even care for these people.

I dont sympathize. I know people who have had rough lives yet they went on to live a good honest life despite the hardships they had. Those people i respect. Mike and Vito used violence to gain money and power and they paid for it in the end. You reap what you sow

I think Vito and Michael used violence to protect people from the violence and discrimination they faced in the country. The state did not want to take care of them so they had to build a state of their own where they were the kings. This is exactly what the opening scene of the Godfather says and explains why the institution is kept alive and cherished by people who are regularly treated as second class citizens, and could not have good and honest lives even when they tried. The story is well written. Was it true in real life? That is another question.

That's why I believe Vito and Michael was the strongest and lasted the longest out of all families. They didn't kill for greed or stupidity, they killed for protection and smart tactics.

By the time Michael had Fredo killed, his conscience had been seared, "as with a hot iron . . . "

Michael was acting more like a wild animal, on survival instincts, than a human being with a moral compass.