Godfather, The: The Coppola Restoration (Box Set) (Blu-ray) |
BUY IT |
Taken as a whole, the Godfather Trilogy remain the best gangster films ever made. But like so many film trilogies, the series started well, peaked in the second, and disappointed with the third.
The Godfather Trilogy includes two of the greatest American films ever made – Part I and II. Both outstanding critical and commercial successes, these films both won Best Picture Oscars, and topped the Box Office results. Made many years later, Part III has a similar style and mood to the original films, and is a good gangster film, but simply lacks the substance, artistry, and power of the original two films,
That noted, one of the great bargains in both the DVD and Blu-ray market is purchasing films in collections, especially as these collections often come packed with generous bonus materials. This four-disc box set is being released globally in October this year, and all versions are pretty much the same, with only minor variations with languages and subtitles. While I imagine most adults would have seen the Godfather films, and might have even already own a VHS or DVD copy of one or two of them, this Box Set is a great opportunity to buy the entire trilogy with a great bonus disc of extras. The first two films have been restored under the supervision of Coppola himself, and all three films also include a fascinating Coppola audio commentary.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Godfather, The: The Coppola Restoration (Blu-ray) (1972) |
BUY IT |
General | Extras | ||
Category | Mob |
Audio Commentary-#1, #2, #3: Francis Ford Coppola Featurette-Francis Coppola's Notebook Featurette-On Location Featurette-The Godfather Family-A Look Inside Featurette-The Godfather Behind The Scenes 1971 Deleted Scenes Featurette-The Cinematography of The Godfather Featurette-The Music Of The Godfather Featurette-Coppola and Puzo on Screenwriting Storyboards Biographies-Cast Biographies-Character Featurette-Academy Award acceptance speeches Gallery-Photo Theatrical Trailer Biographies-Crew Featurette-The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't Featurette-Godfather World Featurette-Emulsional Rescue: Revealing 'The Godfather' Featurette-When the Shooting Stopped |
|
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 1972 | ||
Running Time | 177:09 | ||
RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (5) |
Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Francis Ford Coppola |
Studio
Distributor |
Paramount Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Marlon Brando Al Pacino James Caan Robert De Niro Robert Duvall Talia Shire John Cazale |
Case | ? | ||
RPI | Box | Music | Nino Rota |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 French Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s) |
|
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
|
||
Video Format | 1080p | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | English | Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
The Godfather remains one of cinema’s greatest critical and commercial successes. The film was not only the first chapter in an epic and bloody gangster saga, it was to become widely acclaimed as one of the greatest films ever made. Decades later, Francis Ford Coppola’s movie masterpiece remains as potent as ever - a beautifully rich, layered, and detailed exploration of a family in crisis. The film has been restored, and the entire Godfather Trilogy is making its high definition debut as a four-disc box-set. But is the Godfather on Blu-ray “an offer you can’t refuse”?
A commercially and critically successful producer, director, and screenwriter, Francis Ford Coppola was born in 1939. The son of musicians, Coppola grew up in New York City. After graduating with a B.A. in Theater Arts in 1959, Coppola enrolled in UCLA for graduate work in film. While studying, he worked as an assistant to Roger Corman on a variety of low-budget films. Coppola's break came when he scripted an English-language version of a Russian science-fiction movie, which became Battle Beyond the Sun (1963).
Considered a young writing talent, Coppola was hired to work on a number of scripts before landing the job of scripting Patton. In 1969, Coppola and his UCLA buddy, George Lucas, formed American Zoetrope, an independent film production company (Coppola produced Lucas' THX 1138 and American Graffiti). In 1971 Coppola's film, The Godfather, became the highest-grossing film to date It also brought him an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay with author, Mario Puzo, and a Best Director nomination. The film also received an Oscar for Best Picture. Coppola's next film, The Conversation, was also critically acclaimed, winning the Golden Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival, and also gaining Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
In 1974, Coppola wrote the screenplay for The Great Gatsby and The Godfather, Part II was released. The Godfather, Part II was also a box office success, and went on to win six Oscars. Indeed, Coppola won Oscars as the film's producer, director, and writer. No sequel before had achieved this feat. Buoyed by his success, Coppola undertook his most ambitious film project, Apocalypse Now. Although it was greeted with mixed reviews when it was released initially in 1979, the film was awarded with the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival and two Oscars. The film has since been recognized as both a critical and commercial success.
However, not every film project of his has been so successful. Coppola's overblown musical One From the Heart (1982) was considered a disaster, and recouped little of its US$25 million budget. In 1983, Coppola was forced to sell his Zoetrope Studio. While many predicted the end of Coppola's career, he immediately began his comeback by purposely choosing to direct popular films, such as The Outsiders(1983), The Cotton Club (1984), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986),Gardens of Stone(1987), Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), The Godfather, Part III(1990), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), and The Rainmaker (1997). Coppola is now semi-retired, only occasionally working as a film producer.
However, long before his ‘retirement’, in the early 1970s Coppola was credited with providing a renaissance in American film. Coppola’s Godfather set the standard for almost every gangster or crime movie in the last 30 years, and has also well and truly entered popular culture. Just consider lines of dialogue such as “sleeps with the fishes" or “make him an offer he can’t refuse”. Interestingly, the words "Mafia" and "Cosa Nostra" never appear in the film. Rather, the characters refer to the "family business". Some have claimed this was at the insistence of organised crime bosses who could have used their union connections to prevent the film from being made.
The Godfather is is beautifully paced and delivered with strict attention to detail. The story unfolds meticulously during conversations that take place in darken rooms, corridors, kitchens, and around tables. Family celebrations and meals feature throughout. On one hand, this is a time-honored writing technique. There are a lot of characters, and these scenes allow the writers to bring them all together naturally. But more importantly, these scenes serve to underline how important family is to the story. Family, and issues surrounding honour, duty, respect, loyalty, responsibility, and blood-ties pervade the story. There are no outstanding or memorable action set-pieces. It’s the story, characters, and dialogue that one remembers. The Godfather focuses on story and characters first and action and effects second – an approach many modern filmmakers could learn from.
As mentioned above, The Godfather was to become one of cinema’s greatest critical and commercial successes. Not only did it become the highest grossing film to date, but also won a swag of awards, including the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Screenplay Adaptation. Both the American Film Institute and the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) rank it as one of the greatest films ever made. By any measure - box office or reviews, The Godfather is a phenomenal success.
Of course Marlon Brando also won the Oscar for Best Actor, and he provides one of his most famous performances as the family patriarch. But Brando's is just one performance in an outstanding ensemble cast. Al Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall all create characters for which they will be forever remembered. Interestingly, Brando and Pacino both provide brilliant performances as ‘the Godfather’, but they do so with very different approaches. While Brando’s oft-imitated physical characterization is perfect for the role, Pacino provides a powerfully restrained performance as Michael Corleone. His character’s internal struggle can be seen with the slightest gesture or just a look in his eyes.
The talent behind the camera is also as impressive. Apart from Coppola, who could forget the atmospheric sepia-tinted cinematography by Gordon Willis, the editing by William Reynolds and Peter Zinner, the set design by Dean Tavoularis, or the haunting score by Nino Rota.
Coppola, Mario Puzo, and Robert Towne (uncredited) wrote The Godfather’s script based on Puzo's classic 1969 novel. In some ways, The Godfather can be seen as a juxtaposition of the famous Biblical parable of the Prodigal Son. The story begins in 1945 with the end of WWII. Michael is the youngest son of the Godfather, Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando). Michael had left his gangster family, and when he returns home in the opening scene we can see that he has chosen a different path to them. He has a tertiary education and is a patriot; he has even served in the US Marines and is a war hero. Indeed, when we first see his character at his sister Connie’s (Talia Shire) wedding, everyone else is sporting their slick, Italian suits, but he is in full military uniform, adorned with medals. Everyone assumes Michael is the ‘back sheep’ (or perhaps ‘white sheep’) of the Corleone family – the one who has gone straight. He even arrives at this very Italian-American wedding with another outsider, his WASP girlfriend Kay Adams (Diane Keaton). She is horrified, entertained, and intrigued by the Corleones. But Michael is quick to assure Kay that he is nothing like his family. As an outsider, her introduction to this sub-culture is also ours. At the wedding she meets Michael’s three brothers, the family heir, the hot-headed and impulsive Sonny (James Caan), the weak Fredo (John Cazale), and ‘half-brother’, raised by Don Vito, Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall).
Following an attempt on his father’s life, Michael is slowly drawn by family ties into the underworld, and his corruption only bonds him closer to his family. Even if those bonds result in a forced exile, as opposed to his former self-imposed one. Michael’s point of no return arrives when he carries out a hit at a restaurant, which forces him into hiding in Sicily. Once he returns to America, Michael assumes control of his family with a masterful command and callousness that is both shocking and thrilling. In one of the outstanding segments of the film, a series of bloody and brutal assassinations are carried out which are poetically intercut with scenes of Michael attending his nephew’s baptism. Michael has become the Godfather.
The first two Godfather films have been restored under Coppola and Willis' supervision. The restoration was carried out by famed film historian, Robert A. Harris of the Film Preserve, using 4K (4000 pixel-per-inch scanning technology) at Motion Picture Imaging - the Warner Brothers digital facility. Harris gained fame in the film and DVD community by restoring the classic films Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), Spartacus (1960), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and My Fair Lady (1964).
Having just watched and reviewed the Blu-rays of the Lowry-restored Dr. No (1962) and Live and Let Die (1973) , my expectations might have been a little too high, for I was horribly disappointed with the high definition transfer of the restored Godfather films. Indeed my heart sank as soon as the first film began.
Having been restored from "a patchwork of sources", The Godfather has been mastered in 1920 x 1080p, using AVC MPEG-4 compression. The High Definition transfer is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1, in a native 16x9 frame.
Both Parts I and II appear much brighter with this restoration, and this is particularly noticeable with the almost 'over-exposed' look of the outdoor scenes. But fortunately, the mood evoked by the shadowy indoor scenes and the at times, sepia-tinted cinematography by "Prince of Darkness" Gordon Willis, remain unaffected. There are no problems with the transfer in regards to MPEG or film-to-video artefacts. The vast majority of film artefacts are tiny and not distracting, but their existence is surprising considering the time and cost of the restoration.
16 sets of subtitles are provided, but note both Parts I and II have lengthy scenes of dialogue in Italian, with no English subtitles.
This is a BD-50 (50 GB Blu-ray disc), with the feature divided into 23 chapters.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
I found the audio on Parts I and II also disappointing. The feature for all three films is presented with English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround audio (48kHz/24-bit) with the option of French or German dubs presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps). There is also an English Audio Commentary by Coppola presented in English Dolby 2.0 (192 kbps).
Dolby TrueHD Lossless audio is capable of carrying up to eight discrete audio channels, at a sample depth and rate of 24-bit/96 kHz. The maximum bitrate that can be encoded is 18 Mbps. That noted, the format seems largely wasted here as the audio still sounds fairly mono, flat, and tinny. The audio has a similar sounding fidelity as a DVD and the surround channels are barely used.
As a dialogue-based drama, perhaps the most annoying aspect of the audio is the variable volume. Often I struggled to hear what was being said and I was forever increasing or decreasing the volume, as at other times the looped dialogue was booming. The use of looped dialogue is frequent and obvious. For example, in an interview Brando later admitted that he had tried to imitate gangster Frank Costello's whispery voice in the film, but he had to later redub most of his dialogue because almost all of it was impossible to understand. There is extensive use of ADR and the audio sync is by far the worst I have ever seen on any Blu-ray.
The original orchestral musical score was provided by Italian composer, Nino Rota, and his memorable and haunting Italian melodies suit the films perfectly.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
The Box Set comes with a bonus disc packed with genuine extras. The extras are comprised of those ported from the 2001 DVD release (presented in standard definition), and a collection of new extras as well (presented in high definition).
As with other BDs, a floating menu is available.
Audio Commentary
Coppola provides a screen-specific commentary for each of the three films, which collectively adds up to over eight hours! I found all of them interesting, and he shares many memories and anecdotes, along with trivia and detailed information about the actors, locations, and film production. I was pleased that he's fairly opinionated (with a well-considered opinion gained from intellect, education, and experience) and seems to share his views freely, which makes listening to these commentaries all the more interesting. These commentaries are the only extra included on each feature disc, as all the other extras are all found on the Bonus Disc.
Bonus Disc: The Godfather Supplements
The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't (29:46)
Featuring interviews and plenty of archive footage, this fascinating featurette looks at how Hollywood and the film industry changed dramatically at the end of the 1960s, and how facing an industry that was "collapsing", a group of young film students sought to revive it with their own vision, inspired by the films from the past.
Godfather World (11:19)
Comprised of interviews and clips from television shows such as The Sopranos, The Simpsons, South Park, and The Family Guy, this is a fun featurette looking at the incredible influence these films have had on popular culture.
Emulsional Rescue: Revealing 'The Godfather' (19:05)
A short but detailed featurette looking at the original work of Prince of Darkness, cinematographer Gordon Willis, and how the films have degraded over time. This featurette covers how the restoration of Parts I and II came about, with Steven Spielberg's help, and the long road to the finished version with the wonder of technology and serious computing power.
When the Shooting Stopped (14:18)
Focusing on the post-production work carried out, here we see how Coppola struggled to realise his lengthy artistic vision on the big-screen, with Paramount insisting on a much shorter cut of the film.
'The Godfather' on the Red Carpet (4:03)
A strange addition, this is a collection of short interview snippets recorded at the red carpet premiere for the film Cloverfield.
Four Short Films on 'The Godfather' (7:20)
These are not short films but a collection of interviews discussing various aspects of the films.
The Family Tree and Crime Organization Chart
A diagrammatic presentation of both the Corleone Family tree and a FBI-style Crime Organisation Chart. Viewers can also drill down using their remotes for more information, such as character bios.
Connie and Carlo's Wedding Album
A collection of photographic stills from the opening wedding scene of Part I.
2001 DVD Archive
An extensive collection of extras ported from the previous DVD release:
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
In terms of content, the Blu-ray discs released in the USA and here seem to be much the same, with only minor differences such as subtitles.
The Godfather is a truly wonderful film, and while the high definition transfer is disappointing due to the poor source material, these Blu-rays are now the best way to enjoy these films. Indeed, as Robert A. Harris observed in a recent interview: "hopefully this will be one of those films that will spur people to buy Blu-Ray players".
The video quality is hampered by the dated and damaged, (albeit restored), source material.
The audio quality is also limited by the age, condition, and monaural source.
The extras are genuine and enjoyable.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Sony Playstation 3 (HDMI 1.3) with Upscaling, using HDMI output |
Display | Panasonic High Definition 50' Plasma (127 cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Samsung Pure Digital 6.1 AV Receiver (HDMI 1.3) |
Speakers | Samsung |
Godfather Part II, The: The Coppola Restoration (Blu-ray) (1974) |
BUY IT |
General | Extras | ||
Category | Mob | Audio Commentary | |
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 1974 | ||
Running Time | 202:06 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Francis Ford Coppola |
Studio
Distributor |
Paramount Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Al Pacino Robert Duvall Diane Keaton Robert De Niro Talia Shire John Cazale Lee Strasberg |
Case | ? | ||
RPI | Box | Music |
Nino Rota Carmine Coppola |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s) |
|
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
|
||
Video Format | 1080p | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | English | Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
Few would argue that The Godfather Part II is the greatest movie sequel ever made. Indeed, many would argue that it is even superior to its predecessor. An outstanding box office success, Part II was also lavished with 11 Oscar nominations, and won six, including Best Director for Francis Ford Coppola. It also became the first sequel to win Best Picture. Parts I and II have both been restored, and now the entire Godfather Trilogy is making its high definition debut as a box-set.
In 1971 Francis Ford Coppola's film, The Godfather, became the highest-grossing film to date, and also brought him an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay with author Mario Puzo, and a Best Director nomination. The film also received an Oscar for Best Picture. In 1974, The Godfather, Part II was released and was also an outstanding critical and commercial success. Apart from the afore mentioned 11 Oscar nominations, with wins for Best Director and Best Picture, Part II also remains popular, and is ranked in the Top 5 films by the Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB).
With parallel storylines, The Godfather Part II is both a sequel and a prequel. In Part II Coppola and co-writer Mario Puzo have broadened scope of the original story, yet it still remains character focused and highly intimate. In Part II, Coppola tells the parallel stories of the two Corleone Godfathers starting out. The focus is on Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), the son and successor to mob giant Don Vito. Michael is presented as more of a ruthless businessman than a traditional mobster like his father. We see Michael expanding his business nationally and internationally, while struggling to keep tight control of it. It's the late 1950s, and the Corleone family has relocated to Las Vegas as they own legitimate casinos there. Looking to expand into Havana, Michael meets with Jewish mobster Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), who in turn deals with a corrupt Cuban government.
Coppola intercuts this storyline with Vito's early life in a small rural town of Corleone, Sicily. Young Vito flees to New York City after his family is murdered by a cruel local gangster. An adult Vito (Robert De Niro) starts a family and finds work in a small gang with local friends, but he is smart and ambitious. He quickly moves from poverty to power in Little Italy in the 1910s and 1920s. Now we can see the similarities and the differences in the two approaches to power: Vito's power grows as he helps people and grants favors which expand his influence in his neighbourhood, meanwhile, a callous and secretive Michael rules a growing criminal empire with fear and a heavy hand.
Pacino again provides a wonderfully restrained performance as the Godfather, Michael Corleone. In a non-English speaking role, De Niro won an Oscar in the Supporting Actor category, and in doing so became the first (and perhaps only) actor to win an Oscar for playing the same character (Marlon Brando previously won an Oscar for playing Don Vito in Part I). De Niro's excellent co-stars, Lee Strasberg and Michael V. Gazzo were also nominated for Supporting Actor Oscars. Of note, many actors from the original film reprise their roles in Part II, such as Talia Shire, Diane Keaton, John Cazale, Alex Rocco, and Robert Duvall. Also look out for a cameo by Coppola's friend Roger Corman as a Senator at the Senate hearings.
As with Part I, Part II also features great production and design work, including the beautiful cinematography by Gordon Willis, the detailed and 'lived-in' period design by Art Director Angelo Graham, the realistic costume design by Theadora Van Runkle, and again the beautifully haunting score by Nino Rota.
The first two Godfather films have been restored under Coppola and Willis' supervision. The restoration was carried out by famed film historian, Robert A. Harris of the Film Preserve, using 4K (4000 pixel-per-inch scanning technology) at Motion Picture Imaging - the Warner Brothers digital facility. Harris gained fame in the film and DVD community by restoring the classic films Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), Spartacus (1960), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and My Fair Lady (1964).
As I wrote in the review of Part I, having just watched and reviewed the Blu-rays of the Lowry-restored Dr. No (1962) and Live and Let Die (1973) , my expectations might have been a little too high, for I was horribly disappointed with the high definition transfer of the restored Godfather films.
The Godfather Part II has been mastered in 1920 x 1080p, using AVC MPEG-4 compression. The High Definition transfer is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1, in a native 16x9 frame.
Both Parts I and II appear much brighter with this restoration, and this is particularly noticeable with the almost 'over-exposed' look of the outdoor scenes. But fortunately, the mood evoked by the shadowy indoor scenes and the at times, sepia-tinted cinematography by "Prince of Darkness" Gordon Willis, remain unaffected. There are no problems with the transfer in regards to MPEG or film-to-video artefacts. The vast majority of film artefacts are tiny and not distracting, but their existence is surprising considering the time and cost of the restoration.
16 sets of subtitles are provided, but note both Parts I and II have lengthy scenes of dialogue in Italian, with no English subtitles.
This is a BD-50 (50 GB Blu-ray disc), with the feature divided into 30 chapters.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
I found the audio on Parts I and II also disappointing. The feature for all three films is presented with English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround audio (48kHz/24-bit) with the option of French or German dubs presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps). There is also an English Audio Commentary by Coppola presented in English Dolby 2.0 (192 kbps).
Dolby TrueHD Lossless audio is capable of carrying up to eight discrete audio channels, at a sample depth and rate of 24-bit/96 kHz. The maximum bitrate that can be encoded is 18 Mbps. That noted, the format seems largely wasted here as the audio for Parts I and II still sound fairly mono, flat, and tinny. The audio has a similar sounding fidelity as a DVD and the surround channels are barely used.
As with Part I, an annoying aspect of the audio is the variable volume. Often I struggled to hear what was being said and I was forever increasing or decreasing the volume, as at other times the looped dialogue was booming. The use of looped dialogue is frequent and obvious, but it is noticeably better than Part I. There is extensive use of ADR and the audio sync remains problematic, but is also improved from Part I.
The original orchestral musical score was provided by Italian composer, Nino Rota, and his memorable and haunting Italian melodies suit the films perfectly. Addition music is provided by Carmine Coppola. Some astute listeners claim that in Part II the end credit theme music is missing the final chord from the original film, this would be located immediately before the restoration credit music begins.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
The Box Set comes with a bonus disc packed with genuine extras. The extras are comprised of those ported from the 2001 DVD release (presented in standard definition), and a collection of new extras as well (presented in high definition).
As with other BDs, a floating menu is available.
Audio Commentary
Coppola provides a screen-specific commentary for each of the three films, which collectively adds up to over eight hours! I found all of them interesting, and he shares many memories and anecdotes, along with trivia and detailed information about the actors, locations, and film production. I was pleased that he's fairly opinionated (with a well-considered opinion gained from intellect, education, and experience) and seems to share his views freely, which makes listening to these commentaries all the more interesting. These commentaries are the only extra included on each feature disc, as all the other extras are all found on the Bonus Disc.
Bonus Disc: The Godfather Supplements
The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't (29:46)
Featuring interviews and plenty of archive footage, this fascinating featurette looks at how Hollywood and the film industry changed dramatically at the end of the 1960s, and how facing an industry that was "collapsing", a group of young film students sought to revive it with their own vision, inspired by the films from the past.
Godfather World (11:19)
Comprised of interviews and clips from television shows such as The Sopranos, The Simpsons, South Park, and The Family Guy, this is a fun featurette looking at the incredible influence these films have had on popular culture.
Emulsional Rescue: Revealing 'The Godfather' (19:05)
A short but detailed featurette looking at the original work of Prince of Darkness, cinematographer Gordon Willis, and how the films have degraded over time. This featurette covers how the restoration of Parts I and II came about, with Steven Spielberg's help, and the long road to the finished version with the wonder of technology and serious computing power.
When the Shooting Stopped (14:18)
Focusing on the post-production work carried out, here we see how Coppola struggled to realise his lengthy artistic vision on the big-screen, with Paramount insisting on a much shorter cut of the film.
'The Godfather' on the Red Carpet (4:03)
A strange addition, this is a collection of short interview snippets recorded at the red carpet premiere for the film Cloverfield.
Four Short Films on 'The Godfather' (7:20)
These are not short films but a collection of interviews discussing various aspects of the films.
The Family Tree and Crime Organization Chart
A diagrammatic presentation of both the Corleone Family tree and a FBI-style Crime Organisation Chart. Viewers can also drill down using their remotes for more information, such as character bios.
Connie and Carlo's Wedding Album
A collection of photographic stills from the opening wedding scene of Part I.
2001 DVD Archive
An extensive collection of extras ported from the previous DVD release:
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
In terms of content, the Blu-ray discs released in the USA and here seem to be much the same, with only minor differences such as subtitles.
The Godfather Part II is a unquestionably a great film. As with Part I, although the high definition transfer is disappointing, due to the poor source material, these Blu-rays are now the best way to enjoy these films. Indeed, as Robert A. Harris observed in a recent interview regarding the Trilogy Box Set: "hopefully this will be one of those films that will spur people to buy Blu-Ray players".
The video quality is hampered by the dated and damaged, (albeit restored), source material.
The audio quality is also limited by the age, condition, and monaural source.
The extras are genuine and enjoyable.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Sony Playstation 3 (HDMI 1.3) with Upscaling, using HDMI output |
Display | Panasonic High Definition 50' Plasma (127 cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Samsung Pure Digital 6.1 AV Receiver (HDMI 1.3) |
Speakers | Samsung |
Godfather Part III, The: The Coppola Restoration (Blu-ray) (1990) |
BUY IT |
General | Extras | ||
Category | Mob | Audio Commentary | |
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 1990 | ||
Running Time | 170:15 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Francis Ford Coppola |
Studio
Distributor |
Paramount Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Al Pacino Diane Keaton Talia Shire Andy Garcia Sofia Coppola Joe Mantegna Eli Wallach George Hamilton Raf Vallone |
Case | ? | ||
RPI | $89.95 | Music |
Nino Rota Carmine Coppola |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s) |
|
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
|
||
Video Format | 1080p | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | English | Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
The Godfather Part III has been derided by many, perhaps most, of the Godfather faithful, and there are some valid reasons for this. While Part III remains consistent with the style and mood of the first two films, it lacks their substance. The story does not seem as natural, but more contrived, as if it were a vehicle for a nostalgic gathering of familiar characters, almost like one of those nostalgic ‘where are they now?’ specials. It’s a good gangster film, whereas Parts I and II were outstanding films. But there’s nothing so memorable or special about Part III. That aside, it remains part of one of the great film Trilogies, and with Parts I and II having both been restored, the entire Godfather Trilogy is making its high definition debut as a box-set.
In 1971 Francis Ford Coppola's film, The Godfather, became the highest-grossing film to date, and also brought him an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay with author Mario Puzo, and a Best Director nomination. The film also received an Oscar for Best Picture. In 1974, The Godfather II, was released and was also an outstanding critical and commercial success. With 11 Oscar nominations, and wins for Best Director and Best Picture, Part II remains popular, and both Parts I and II are ranked in the Top 5 films by the Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB).
The story for Part III opens in 1979. The Godfather, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) and Kay (Diane Keaton) have divorced, and Michael has moved back to New York. Michael is in his twilight years and very conscious of the fact that he never fully attained his goal of the Corleone family becoming fully clean with completely legitimate business interests. As he reflects on his life, Michael sees that he has become estranged from his two children, and as such, he has gained everything yet nothing. Michael now seeks legitimacy and redemption, he seeks forgiveness and respect both from his family, and the wider community. Michael tries to wash his past clean by only involving himself in legitimate businesses, and severing ties with the old Mafia families, but as he famously realises: "Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in". Ironically, it’s his deepening involvement with the Catholic Church which drags him back down.
In many ways the story is very confusing – a blend of Shakespeare's King Lear and the real life Vatican Bank scandal. In 1978 the Vatican Bank was found to be laundering a crime family’s funds from drug trafficking. These actual events, including the theft, fraud, and deaths, form much of the plot of this film. Trying to squeeze the complicated real events of this scandal and the subsequent death of Pope John Paul I into a story focused on the repentance of the Godfather Michael Corleone makes the plot a little hard to follow at times. All the double crosses and overly complicated political and financial machinations don’t help either.
That noted, while Part III cannot match the first two films in quality, it remains better than your average gangster film. Part I focused on family and the duties that followed from that with the story of Michael Corleone’s corruption. Part II provided a comparison between the rise of Michael and his father Vito Corleone as Godfather. Part III is a Shakespearian tragedy, interlaced with real events, presented in mobster garb. Part III is a detailed character study of the aging Godfather, and like playing Shakespeare’s King Lear, Pacino is given a lot more to work to do with his character. The Godfather battles his personal demons and the weight of decades of secrets, while juggling the various relationships between his now adult children and a new generation of mobsters. Can the Godfather's generous philanthropy clear his guilt or his family’s name? Michael also has to deal with a further complication, when Sonny Corleone’s illegitimate son Vincent (Andy Garcia) begins an incestuous relationship with his daughter Mary (Sofia Coppola).
As with the first two films, the acting performances are solid. It should be noted that many audience members and critics savaged Coppola for casting his ‘non-actor’ daughter in one of the main roles. She stands out, but I think she does so in a good way. Her acting is so naturalistic that there appears to be no craft, and she comes across as a simple and sweet, albeit naïve young woman - exactly the character she is playing. The problem is that when she shares the screen with other actors dreaming of Oscar success, like the dramatic Talia Shire, Sofia stands out. Perhaps because of the savage reaction, Sofia Coppola followed in her father's footsteps and chose a career behind the camera. Sofia went on to direct some good films, such as The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation. It should also be noted that the introduction of Andy Garcia as Michael's protégé, Vincent, is inspired, as is the casting of Eli Wallach as the sinister Don Altobello, Joe Mantegna as cruel gangster Joey Zasa, George Hamilton as the slick new consigliore B.J. Harrison, and Raf Vallone as the mysterious Cardinal Lamberto.
The Academy nominated Part III for seven Oscars, but unlike Part I and II, it won none. The nominations were for Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Andy Garcia), Cinematography (Gordon Willis), Song (Carmine Coppola and John Bettis), Art Direction, and Film Editing.
The first two Godfather films have been restored under Coppola and Willis' supervision. The restoration was carried out by famed film historian, Robert A. Harris of the Film Preserve, using 4K (4000 pixel-per-inch scanning technology) at Motion Picture Imaging - the Warner Brothers digital facility. Harris gained fame in the film and DVD community by restoring the classic films Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), Spartacus (1960), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and My Fair Lady (1964). Part III, however, was made in 1990 and did not need the same treatment.
Part III has been mastered in 1920 x 1080p, using AVC MPEG-4 compression. The High Definition transfer is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1, in a native 16x9 frame.
The film grain is consistent throughout and there are no problems with the transfer in regards to MPEG or film-to-video artefacts. The vast majority of film artefacts are tiny and not distracting.
16 sets of subtitles are provided and the English subtitles are accurate.
This is a BD-50 (50 GB Blu-ray disc), with the feature divided into 25 chapters.
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I found the audio on Parts I and II disappointing, largely due to their poor quality and monaural approach. Fortunately, made in 1990, Part III does a lot better. The feature for all three films is presented with English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround audio (48kHz/24-bit) with the option of French or German dubs presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps). There is also an English Audio Commentary by Coppola presented in English Dolby 2.0 (192 kbps).
Dolby TrueHD Lossless audio is capable of carrying up to eight discrete audio channels, at a sample depth and rate of 24-bit/96 kHz. The maximum bitrate that can be encoded is 18 Mbps. That noted, the format seemed largely wasted for Parts I and II, as they still sounded fairly mono, flat, and tinny, with a similar sounding fidelity as a DVD, and the surround channels barely used. Part III boasts far better dynamic range, consistency, and makes much better use of the surrounds.
Also, the annoying variable volume of the audio for Parts I and II does not affect III. With Parts I and II I often I struggled to hear what was being said and was forever increasing or decreasing the volume, as at other times the looped dialogue was booming. The use of looped dialogue is frequent but not as obvious in Part III. There is extensive use of ADR and the audio sync is generally acceptable.
The original orchestral musical score for the Godfather films was provided by Italian composer, Nino Rota, and his memorable and haunting Italian melodies suit the films perfectly. Additional music is provided by Carmine Coppola.
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The Box Set comes with a bonus disc packed with genuine extras. The extras are comprised of those ported from the 2001 DVD release (presented in standard definition), and a collection of new extras as well (presented in high definition).
As with other BDs, a floating menu is available.
Audio Commentary
Coppola provides a screen-specific commentary for each of the three films, which collectively adds up to over eight hours! I found all of them interesting, and he shares many memories and anecdotes, along with trivia and detailed information about the actors, locations, and film production. I was pleased that he's fairly opinionated (with a well-considered opinion gained from intellect, education, and experience) and seems to share his views freely, which makes listening to these commentaries all the more interesting. These commentaries are the only extra included on each feature disc, as all the other extras are all found on the Bonus Disc.
I particularly enjoyed Coppola's commentary for Part III. His analogy between the critical attack on his own daughter, and the fate of the character Mary in the film is very interesting. As are his comments on family and reflections on what these films have come to mean to different people.
Bonus Disc: The Godfather Supplements
The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't (29:46)
Featuring interviews and plenty of archive footage, this fascinating featurette looks at how Hollywood and the film industry changed dramatically at the end of the 1960s, and how facing an industry that was "collapsing", a group of young film students sought to revive it with their own vision, inspired by the films from the past.
Godfather World (11:19)
Comprised of interviews and clips from television shows such as The Sopranos, The Simpsons, South Park, and The Family Guy, this is a fun featurette looking at the incredible influence these films have had on popular culture.
Emulsional Rescue: Revealing 'The Godfather' (19:05)
A short but detailed featurette looking at the original work of Prince of Darkness, cinematographer Gordon Willis, and how the films have degraded over time. This featurette covers how the restoration of Parts I and II came about, with Steven Spielberg's help, and the long road to the finished version with the wonder of technology and serious computing power.
When the Shooting Stopped (14:18)
Focusing on the post-production work carried out, here we see how Coppola struggled to realise his lengthy artistic vision on the big-screen, with Paramount insisting on a much shorter cut of the film.
'The Godfather' on the Red Carpet (4:03)
A strange addition, this is a collection of short interview snippets recorded at the red carpet premiere for the film Cloverfield.
Four Short Films on 'The Godfather' (7:20)
These are not short films but a collection of interviews discussing various aspects of the films.
The Family Tree and Crime Organization Chart
A diagrammatic presentation of both the Corleone Family tree and a FBI-style Crime Organisation Chart. Viewers can also drill down using their remotes for more information, such as character bios.
Connie and Carlo's Wedding Album
A collection of photographic stills from the opening wedding scene of Part I.
2001 DVD Archive
An extensive collection of extras ported from the previous DVD release:
There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
In terms of content, the Blu-ray discs released in the USA and here seem to be much the same, with only minor differences such as subtitles.
The Godfather Part III is a good film, but is found lacking when compared with the outstanding Parts I and II. Although sequel fatigue seems to have set in, and a lot of the criticism of the film is valid, Part III deserves another viewing. The video and audio lack the sparkle of some of the more recent high definition releases, but is much improved over Parts I and II.
The video quality is good for its age.
The audio quality is also good for its age.
The extras are genuine and enjoyable.
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Sony Playstation 3 (HDMI 1.3) with Upscaling, using HDMI output |
Display | Panasonic High Definition 50' Plasma (127 cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Samsung Pure Digital 6.1 AV Receiver (HDMI 1.3) |
Speakers | Samsung |