Michael had his own brother murked for betrayal. Was this the right move?

Brian Ethridge said:

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He's like a big butt and smile.

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If I were you, I'd take precautions.

Edmond Bear said:

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My oldest brother and I call the middle brother Fredo. It took him a few years to figure out why but now he hates it. We call him Mo Green's b**ch. He hates that even more. I tell him to go get the car for me. He hates that the most...and then he goes to get the car.

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I'm pretty sure he was the only one who could bring the one ring to Mount Doom...

Mr Tulip said:

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Yep. He was told that in Vegas over a business deal. Then he helps Ross which results in an attempt on Michael's (and Kay) life. After Fredo tipped his hand at the sex club in Cuba, you knew it would someday happen. I thought there was a small chance if Fredo had stayed with Michael in fleeing Cuba. You know, put the lame brother out to pasture rather than feed the fishes. But that was the final action by Fredo that set it in stone.

Fredo was safe as long as momma was alive, which he should have known. It was his own fault for getting whacked.

Business is business.

NoBSU said:

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Mr Tulip said:

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Yep. He was told that in Vegas over a business deal. Then he helps Ross which results in an attempt on Michael's (and Kay) life. After Fredo tipped his hand at the sex club in Cuba, you knew it would someday happen. I thought there was a small chance if Fredo had stayed with Michael in fleeing Cuba. You know, put the lame brother out to pasture rather than feed the fishes. But that was the final action by Fredo that set it in stone.

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They thought they were putting him out to pasture by sending him to Vegas, and that didn't turn out so well.

Was his betrayal so bad as to warrant a death sentence?

GoldMind said:

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Was his betrayal so bad as to warrant a death sentence?

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Perhaps more a business decision about risk mitigation than personal punishment.

bubbadog said:

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GoldMind said:

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Was his betrayal so bad as to warrant a death sentence?

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Perhaps more a business decision about risk mitigation than personal punishment.

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That's my point, I guess. I think the shot of Michael dropping his head signified he felt he may have overreacted. Fredo didn't do anything that cost anyone their life, so I don't know why exile wasn't an option.

GoldMind said:

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bubbadog said:

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GoldMind said:

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Was his betrayal so bad as to warrant a death sentence?

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Perhaps more a business decision about risk mitigation than personal punishment.

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That's my point, I guess. I think the shot of Michael dropping his head signified he felt he may have overreacted. Fredo didn't do anything that cost anyone their life, so I don't know why exile wasn't an option.

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Wasn't it because of Fredo's big mouth and lack of self-control that Michael's house at Tahoe got shot up in the middle of the night? That COULD have cost their lives. And it wasn't from Fredo that Michael found out about Hyman Roth's plan to kill him. I think Fredo became too much of a liability. Michael truly loved Fredo but had so hardened himself that he knew the family couldn't afford any weak links. At least that's how I've interpreted the story.

bubbadog said:

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GoldMind said:

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bubbadog said:

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GoldMind said:

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Was his betrayal so bad as to warrant a death sentence?

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Perhaps more a business decision about risk mitigation than personal punishment.

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That's my point, I guess. I think the shot of Michael dropping his head signified he felt he may have overreacted. Fredo didn't do anything that cost anyone their life, so I don't know why exile wasn't an option.

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Wasn't it because of Fredo's big mouth and lack of self-control that Michael's house at Tahoe got shot up in the middle of the night? That COULD have cost their lives. And it wasn't from Fredo that Michael found out about Hyman Roth's plan to kill him. I think Fredo became too much of a liability. Michael truly loved Fredo but had so hardened himself that he knew the family couldn't afford any weak links. At least that's how I've interpreted the story.

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That's probably what I gathered.

Just put this up for discussion.

bubbadog said:

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GoldMind said:

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bubbadog said:

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GoldMind said:

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Was his betrayal so bad as to warrant a death sentence?

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Perhaps more a business decision about risk mitigation than personal punishment.

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That's my point, I guess. I think the shot of Michael dropping his head signified he felt he may have overreacted. Fredo didn't do anything that cost anyone their life, so I don't know why exile wasn't an option.

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Wasn't it because of Fredo's big mouth and lack of self-control that Michael's house at Tahoe got shot up in the middle of the night? That COULD have cost their lives. And it wasn't from Fredo that Michael found out about Hyman Roth's plan to kill him. I think Fredo became too much of a liability. Michael truly loved Fredo but had so hardened himself that he knew the family couldn't afford any weak links. At least that's how I've interpreted the story.

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I agree with your post. Plus I will add that Fredo went again the family.


Vito decided to send Fredo to Vegas because he wasn't strong enough to stay in New York during a war. Then Vito decided to pass Fredo for Michael. Fredo was a weak link. They would stick him in a cathouse or some out of the way club, but he couldn't handle anything difficult. When Fredo decided that wasn't enough and betrayed the family, he brought it on himself.

Michael didn't drop his head in regret. Michael did what needed to be done at cost of his soul. He accepted that weight. He just waited so his mother would not suffer.

How come Kay understood the rules better than Fredo? She killed a Corleone and that was unforgivable. As long as one kid outlived Michael then she coulee out AND alive.

From the way Michaels character had developed up until that point, all of the killings Michael was responsible for were strictly business. McClusky, Tessio, Fredo...Carlo should have been tortured to death with a rusty fish scaler if you ask me, but in the end I'd like to think that Michael at least felt some remorse for his brother, he'd already lost Sonny at that time. My point is Michael was prone to making emotional decisions.

GoldMind said:

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bubbadog said:

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GoldMind said:

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Was his betrayal so bad as to warrant a death sentence?

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Perhaps more a business decision about risk mitigation than personal punishment.

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That's my point, I guess. I think the shot of Michael dropping his head signified he felt he may have overreacted. Fredo didn't do anything that cost anyone their life, so I don't know why exile wasn't an option.

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If he's exiled, he could still be a source of information to Michael's rivals, the police, or the media. It would have been a risk. Even so, it's clear in the third movie that Michael regretted his decision.

Sam Lowry said:

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GoldMind said:

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bubbadog said:

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GoldMind said:

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Was his betrayal so bad as to warrant a death sentence?

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Perhaps more a business decision about risk mitigation than personal punishment.

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That's my point, I guess. I think the shot of Michael dropping his head signified he felt he may have overreacted. Fredo didn't do anything that cost anyone their life, so I don't know why exile wasn't an option.

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If he's exiled, he could still be a source of information to Michael's rivals, the police, or the media. It would have been a risk. Even so, it's clear in the third movie that Michael regretted his decision.

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So, you think that if Michael had a do-over then he doesn't pop Fredo?

NoBSU said:

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Sam Lowry said:

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GoldMind said:

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bubbadog said:

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GoldMind said:

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Was his betrayal so bad as to warrant a death sentence?

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Perhaps more a business decision about risk mitigation than personal punishment.

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That's my point, I guess. I think the shot of Michael dropping his head signified he felt he may have overreacted. Fredo didn't do anything that cost anyone their life, so I don't know why exile wasn't an option.

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If he's exiled, he could still be a source of information to Michael's rivals, the police, or the media. It would have been a risk. Even so, it's clear in the third movie that Michael regretted his decision.

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So, you think that if Michael had a do-over then he doesn't pop Fredo?

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It ruined his marriage and brought him years of guilt and torment, but I think for most of the third movie Michael is still Michael. He would do the same again and take the consequences. At the very end, when Mary dies, only then does he see that the price is too high.

He could have sent him to Iceland. Or Zimbabwe.

The whole point is that, in being "strong for the family," Michael ends up destroying the family. Fredo is just a literary/cinematic trope to make that point.

John Cazale appeared in 6 movies. Every one of them was a best picture nominee. Lived with Meryl Streep.

Booray said:

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John Cazale appeared in 6 movies. Every one of them was a best picture nominee. Lived with Meryl Streep.

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He deserved a few statues for that.

I think The Deerhunter was his last film. He was very sick and I think they had trouble casting him because of completion insurance.

NoBSU said:

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Booray said:

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John Cazale appeared in 6 movies. Every one of them was a best picture nominee. Lived with Meryl Streep.

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He deserved a few statues for that.

I think The Deerhunter was his last film. He was very sick and I think they had trouble casting him because of completion insurance.

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Leonardo DiCaprio has never been in a sequel. Ever.

Neither has Alec Baldwin

GoldMind said:

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NoBSU said:

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Booray said:

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John Cazale appeared in 6 movies. Every one of them was a best picture nominee. Lived with Meryl Streep.

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He deserved a few statues for that.

I think The Deerhunter was his last film. He was very sick and I think they had trouble casting him because of completion insurance.

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Leonardo DiCaprio has never been in a sequel. Ever.

Neither has Alec Baldwin

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Leo's first film role was a straight to video release of Critters 3.

GoldMind said:

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NoBSU said:

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Booray said:

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John Cazale appeared in 6 movies. Every one of them was a best picture nominee. Lived with Meryl Streep.

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He deserved a few statues for that.

I think The Deerhunter was his last film. He was very sick and I think they had trouble casting him because of completion insurance.

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Leonardo DiCaprio has never been in a sequel. Ever.

Neither has Alec Baldwin

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Alec Baldwin was in 2015's Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.

GoldMind said:

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NoBSU said:

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Booray said:

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John Cazale appeared in 6 movies. Every one of them was a best picture nominee. Lived with Meryl Streep.

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He deserved a few statues for that.

I think The Deerhunter was his last film. He was very sick and I think they had trouble casting him because of completion insurance.

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Leonardo DiCaprio has never been in a sequel. Ever.

Neither has Alec Baldwin

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If I took either deer hunting they might not make it home.

Booray said:

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GoldMind said:

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NoBSU said:

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Booray said:

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John Cazale appeared in 6 movies. Every one of them was a best picture nominee. Lived with Meryl Streep.

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He deserved a few statues for that.

I think The Deerhunter was his last film. He was very sick and I think they had trouble casting him because of completion insurance.

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Leonardo DiCaprio has never been in a sequel. Ever.

Neither has Alec Baldwin

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Alec Baldwin was in 2015's Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.

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Coffee is for closers..

Booray said:

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GoldMind said:

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NoBSU said:

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Booray said:

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John Cazale appeared in 6 movies. Every one of them was a best picture nominee. Lived with Meryl Streep.

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He deserved a few statues for that.

I think The Deerhunter was his last film. He was very sick and I think they had trouble casting him because of completion insurance.

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Leonardo DiCaprio has never been in a sequel. Ever.

Neither has Alec Baldwin

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Alec Baldwin was in 2015's Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.

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My bet is he won't be in the next one.

GoldMind said:

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NoBSU said:

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Booray said:

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John Cazale appeared in 6 movies. Every one of them was a best picture nominee. Lived with Meryl Streep.

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He deserved a few statues for that.

I think The Deerhunter was his last film. He was very sick and I think they had trouble casting him because of completion insurance.

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Leonardo DiCaprio has never been in a sequel. Ever.

Neither has Alec Baldwin

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I hope to see him in Django II or Titanic II.