The Godfather-DVD Collection (1972)

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    As I have mentioned on numerous occasions in previous reviews, one of the true advantages of the DVD format is not just the exceptional video and audio quality available, but the ability to view classic films that you might just not have had the chance to see before. Not only are they presented on a modern medium with decent packaging, but more importantly you get to watch them in their correct theatrical ratio.

    What's this got to do with The Godfather trilogy? Well, I have a confession to make. I have never seen any of The Godfather films, ever. I was far too young to see  the first two when initially released, don't ever remember them being on network TV, and had just never bothered to rent them on videocassette. Call me what you like (an illiterate, movie Philistine if you wish), but I have never had the chance to watch what is arguably regarded by many as the greatest film of all time (it is currently firmly positioned in the number one spot on the IMDB Top 250 list, for those of you that hold that said list in any regard).

    Therefore, since I am far from qualified,  I am not going to pontificate about how magnificent The Godfather films are, or how they changed American film culture, or dribble on endlessly about the genre-defining scenes that have been parodied or copied endlessly. I won't even use a line such as "I'll make you an offer you can't refuse", or make silly comments about a horse head. You see, it's all been done before. So instead, I'll try to offer a completely unbiased, first-time viewer approach to the stories and the quality of the video and audio transfers that have been afforded this box set.

    I'll start with the negative aspect of the overall collection - and that is the packaging. There are five discs in this box set (Part I, Part III and the Bonus Materials are on a disc each, and the longer Part II is spread over two discs). They are packaged in a slip case design with each of the discs in a separate cardboard folder style case with plastic insert stuck to the inside of the cardboard for the disc to sit in. While it may look quite attractive, my major concern is what it is going to look like in a few years time, after repeated viewings and several loans to family and friends. I can imagine all sort of dog-ears, creases, and even the possible separation of the plastic disc holder from the cardboard surround. My copy is only two weeks old and already the extreme edges of the cardboard have started to show signs of wear. I strongly recommend that if you loan this collection to anyone, protect it by placing each disc in a spare jewel case or something similar and leave the nice cardboard boxes at home.

    Now to the good stuff. After taking delivery of this five disc DVD collection, the first thing that struck me was the sheer length of all three films in the trilogy and the quantity of the bonus materials. I did the sums quickly and calculated that I would be spending just over twenty hours watching the lot. Add in the repeated viewings of certain parts of the films to write the reviews properly and we're talking a significant outlay of time. You are certainly getting your money's worth with this box set, even at the considerable price of $130 (give or take a fiver or two depending on where you shop).

    So enough of the preamble. On with the review of one of the most eagerly awaited films to come to the DVD medium in recent time - and a couple of sequels.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Godfather (1972)

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General		Extras
Category	Mob	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Director - Francis Ford Coppola
Rating
Year Of Production	1972
Running Time	168:03
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (92:41)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Programme
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Francis Ford Coppola
Studio Distributor	Paramount Home Entertainment	Starring	Marlon Brando Al Pacino James Caan Richard Castellano Robert Duvall Sterling Hayden John Marley Richard Conte Diane Keaton
Case	Slip Case
RPI	?	Music	Nino Rota

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Dutch English for the Hearing Impaired Swedish Danish Norwegian Finnish	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    For those of you like me who have never seen The Godfather (and don't like to admit it, in case those superior people that we all know sneer at you for being uncultured), here is a quick rundown of the plot.

    Adapted from the very successful novel by Mario Puzo, this is the story - no - saga is a much better word - of the Corleone Family. It is actually quite difficult to summarise in only a few paragraphs as this is a multi-layered story of very complex characters that spans a significant length of time.

    The period is just after the end of World War II and America is rebuilding. It is a time of opportunity in business. Don Vito Corleone (an Academy Award-winning  performance from Marlon Brando) is the patriarch or 'Godfather' of one of New York's large crime families (we can't use the word Mafia...at least not yet). His sons Santino 'Sonny' (James Caan) and Fredo (John Cazale) are involved in the day-to-day operation of the business, which includes racketeering and gambling. They are assisted by ever-faithful lawyer Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall). The Don's third son, Michael (Al Pacino), is a recently returned WWII veteran who wants little to do with the illegal doings of the family. Vito also has a daughter, Connie (Talia Shire). It is her wedding that becomes the opening scene of the film.

    As the family business unfolds before us, we get an idea of the standing that Don Vito has in the city by the number of people that visit him during the wedding to pay their respects and offer suitably large gifts. Included among the visitors are some of the competing 'families' in New York and the other heads or 'Dons'. They are all fighting on the same turf and for the same illegal business, so problems sometimes flare into confrontation. A conflict arises between the Corleones and one of the other families in respect to the continuation of the illicit drug trade. Don Vito makes a decision that is not entirely popular with the other family and when a resulting attempt to assassinate him goes awry, the shooting leaves him incapable of running the business. It looks like the family is under threat of being wiped out by their competition, but the murder attempt seems to trigger something in young Michael, who up until now had wanted no part of the business. When he seeks to exact revenge in one of the signature scenes in the film, it is the commencement of the phase that sees him establishing himself as the one most likely to take on his father's role as head of the family and the next 'Godfather'.

    From this point on, the story focuses on Michael and the ensuing transformation that he undergoes as the old Don Vito slowly loses his grip on the family and the youngest brother gets sucked more and more into the grubby dealings of the underworld. There is plenty of bloodshed and many deaths throughout, and some fairly gruesome scenes (including the famous severed horse head), that earn The Godfather an 'R' rating.

Video

    Even though this is the first time I have viewed this film, there is no doubt that this is the best it has looked since its release. Maybe I set my expectations just a little too high and I'm being a bit harsh, but I was just a little bit disappointed with the video presented here. Grain and plenty of film artefacts are the most noticeable problems. Still, don't get me wrong, the transfer is extremely watchable and satisfying, and given the source material quality, probably about as good as we could expect. I just dream what effect a full restoration would have on it.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is of consistent sharpness throughout, though there is a reasonable dose of edge enhancement present. I thought the level of shadow detail overall was lacking and in some parts it is very poor with some scenes very difficult to make out. I then listened to the audio commentary and the featurette from the cinematographer, Gordon Willis, and discovered that this was all intentional. Apparently Willis liked to stretch the boundaries with exposure and the darker scenes and shadows on faces are intentional. Willis admits that a couple of times he went too far and did not provide enough light for the camera. Therefore, I'd have to declare that the shadow detail is quite acceptable given the source material.

    Grain is without a doubt the biggest problem area for this transfer. It is present in some form or other in most scenes. It is most notable in the wider angle establishing scenes such as those showing Hollywood at 25:33-25:53, although given the budget constraints on the second unit material, it is not surprising that the source quality is not as good for these shots. There is no low level noise present.

    Colours are consistent, though not overly vibrant. They are certainly warm in tone with plenty of browns and similar hues portraying the 1940s period very nicely. Skin tones are natural and although blacks sometimes look a little grey, this is probably more to do with the source material.

    There are no apparent MPEG artefacts. Aliasing pops up on occasion though it has been very well-controlled, being mostly restricted to a minor shimmer on several automobile grilles. Film artefacts rank with grain as the most noticeable problem. Almost every scene features white spots or scratches of varying sizes, though the vast majority are small enough not to cause any disruption. They are, however, just so frequent that they are unmissable.

    There are seven subtitle streams available. I sampled the English and English for the Hearing Impaired variety and found them to be nicely accurate.

    The disc is presented as a single sided dual layered picture disc with RSDL formatting. The layer change occurs well into the film at 92:41 and should have been placed about 9 seconds earlier on a scene change. As it stands, John Cazale's character Fredo, pauses noticeably while visiting the sick Don.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are two audio tracks available for your listening pleasure. The original mono track is not available, instead replaced by a remixed Dolby Digital 5.1 track. There is also a Dolby Digital 2.0 surround audio commentary track by director Francis Ford Coppola. I listened to both tracks in total.

    The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is by no means a show-stopper. Focussing very much on the centre speaker, this track doesn't pack a great deal of fidelity and is very closely linked to its mono origins.

   Dialogue is clear (apart from Brando's mumbles!), though occasionally comes across a bit harsh. During the scene where Tom Hagen is talking with the film-maker Woltz at 30:27, there is a noticeable hiss and extreme harshness in the dialogue. The only audio sync problems are attributed to the ADR work that is, at times, quite apparent.

    The score is a famous one, instantly recognisable even to someone like myself who had never seen the movie before. Composed by famous Italian composer Nino Rota, it sets a fantastic mood throughout. There is not much else to say about it, other than it is a classic. Much of the other music used (by the real bands featured in various scenes for example), was composed by Coppola's father Carmine. It captures the era perfectly.

    The surround channels are not called on too often. The most notable use they get is during the Italian restaurant shooting scene at 125:25 where the elevated train sounds come from all channels.

    The subwoofer is likewise not used extensively but when it is (during the odd explosion) does not focus any undue attention on itself.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio and Animation

    The main menu features one of three scenes from the film (all involving a recent murder for some reason). These scenes are sequentially selected each time you go back to the main menu. The audio is part of the film score presented in Dolby Digital 2.0.

Audio Commentary - Director Francis Ford Coppola

    An audio commentary of any sort should add value to the overall film viewing experience. It should do this by being both entertaining and informative. It also needs to contain some variety in the information being delivered or otherwise it can boring very quickly. All the information about camera angles, lighting or problems with the cast can become a bit monotonous if it is endlessly repeated by a droning voice. There are many bad commentaries doing the rounds. Luckily, this is not one of them and is among the best that I have heard.

    Francis Ford Coppola's commentary is entertaining, informative, and offers much variety. I've always thought that the better commentaries are made when there is a heavy dose of nostalgia pervading the whole process. When a film-maker is looking back at a film that they made many years before, they can offer a critical look at their mistakes or offer thoughts on inappropriate casting choices or even poor performances. When the film is more recent, they are often reluctant to be critical and can often spend the whole time congratulating the cast, the crew, or even themselves. Coppola holds no such illusions and offers stories on the tight budget and the many other pressures put on him by Paramount, including the manner in which he convinced the executives at the time that Marlon Brando would indeed star in the film and the almost constant threat of himself being fired.

    Because he was involved in so many of the decisions that were made in making this film, such as casting, direction, and writing he can offer not only technical information about the construction and filming of certain scenes, but also anecdotal stories about things that only he would know. The inexpensive ways that the crew got around certain problems (the car headlights for one), the major problems with the casting and the amusing fact that Coppola believes all films should offer a decent recipe in the script!

    This is a first rate commentary track that deserves a listening to by all fans of the film and of Francis Ford Coppola.

    The Godfather Collection DVD Box Set features the same specification throughout the world. Therefore, our product is to be favoured due to the superior PAL formatting.

    The Godfather is superb film-making. Without needing to resort to the crash and bang of modern day films, this is character-based drama at its best. It plays out like a great novel that you just can't put down. I had intended watching Part I on the first review night and then moving to Part II, but it hooked me in so quickly that I watched both in one night. The character development is fascinating. At the end of Part II, you are so familiar with the forty-odd  year history of the family in such intimate detail that they seem like old friends.

    Given the age of the source material, the video is pretty good with no real problems apart from film artefacts, grain, and some edge enhancement. It is at least consistent in terms of colour and sharpness.

    The audio betrays its mono origins and can be a little harsh at times, but does the job.

    The Godfather is a must-have in any film buff's collection and a must-see for anyone like me who just hasn't ever got around to seeing it before.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Godfather Part II (1974)

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General		Extras
Category	Mob	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Francis Ford Coppola (Director)
Rating
Year Of Production	1974
Running Time	192:07
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (62:55) Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Programme
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 Morgana King John Cazale Mariana Hill Lee Strasberg
Case	Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI	$29.95	Music	Nino Rota

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	Danish English Dutch Norwegian Finnish Swedish English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    "The best sequel ever?" - a phrase often used to describe The Godfather Part II, released two years after the original took all before it. Not many films claim the Best Picture Academy Award, even less claim it with a sequel as well. Regarded by many as the superior film of the trilogy, I was expecting big things from this film when I sat down to watch it immediately after viewing the superlative The Godfather. I was not disappointed. Wider in scope than the first instalment, this three hour epic is told using two parallel stories, each as engrossing as the other.

    The film opens with Vito Corleone as a boy fleeing from Sicily after a mafia chief murders his family. He sails to America and grows up in New York. As a young man (a youthful Robert De Niro in a very early role) he dabbles in a bit of petty crime and soon crosses the path of local crime boss, Fanucci. Rather than pay protection money to this local crime lord, Vito takes matters into his own hands and starts the journey that will place the Corleone family at the top of the Mafia crime families of New York.

    The other thread of the film follows on from where The Godfather finished. 'Don' Vito Corleone has passed away and we now find Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) the new 'Don' of the family empire. We are exposed to the struggle that Michael Corleone faces in the freewheeling and decadent 1950s as he tries to come to grips with various shady deals in Nevada and Cuba and betrayal by some of his closest allies and family. Michael is facing inner turmoil as he tries to determine what sort of man he is becoming.

    With these two eras book-ending the plot from the original film, a complex tapestry is woven of the whole Corleone dynasty. Don Vito is slowly building his family and his empire and exacting revenge on his enemies. He travels back to Sicily to find those responsible for the deaths of his parents and brother. Michael is burdened with the legacy of his father before him. Continuing the family business in the same vein is beginning to weigh heavily on his shoulders and the cracks are beginning to show.

    It is obvious from the plot that Francis Ford Coppola had a much larger budget to work with, no threat of being fired, and no lingering self-doubts about his directorial ability when he made this. This is a film crafted by a director who knows exactly what he wants and how to go about getting it. More varied location shots, such as The Dominican Republic for the Cuba shots, Lake Tahoe, and Las Vegas offer a much slicker overall package than the second unit shots that were used in the original film. The turn-of-the-century era in New York city are fantastically shot. Attention to detail is supreme and the colours are just ideal. The Godfather - Part II offers probably the best-looking early 1900s I have seen on film.

Video

    The video transfer for this movie is similar to that of the first instalment, though perhaps a little more consistent in terms of grain and with less film artefacts present. Due to the very long running time (over 3 hours), the decision was made to split this film onto two discs, rather than run the risk of compression problems. The first two hours are on disc one and the last seventy minutes are on disc two. The break is well-placed between a storyline switch from the early 1900s to the 1950s and is not too disruptive (except you have to get out of your seat!).

    The transfer is presented in an aspect of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    Sharpness is about the same as the first film, with a nice overall level of detail, though there is still plenty of edge enhancement present which is quite noticeable at times. Shadow detail is not as much of a problem here due to the wider range of outdoor locations portrayed such as Cuba,  Las Vegas, and Lake Tahoe, and the lower reliance on the dingy interiors used in the original. Having said that, there is one scene in particular at 4:45-6:00 on Disc 2 (125:55-127:10 overall), where Michael is talking to his mother by the fire that is incredibly dark. It is almost impossible to make out the expressions on their faces, even with the glow of the open fire. This is the scene mentioned by cinematographer Gordon Willis on the bonus materials disc where he feels he went a bit too far with the lack of lighting.

    Grain is still quite prominent throughout most of the film, though much better controlled. There is no low level noise.

    Colours are well rendered and reflect the times of the two periods shown in the parallel storylines very well. The sepia browns and yellows of the early 1900s period are superbly captured. Absolutely no problems in terms of oversaturation or bleeding are evident.

    There are no MPEG artefacts, which given the two disc decision is exactly what is expected. Some minor aliasing on the steps at 58:00 are about the worst case of this particular artefact in the whole film which is rather pleasing. The number of film artefacts is significantly less than the original, though most scenes still feature some manner of white spots.

    There are several subtitle streams present. I verified the presence of them all and sampled the English and English for the Hearing Impaired variety. Like the original film, they are both extremely accurate.

    Being over 3 hours long, this film has been split onto 2 discs. The first two hours are on disc one which is a dual layered disc with RSDL formatting. The layer change occurs at 62:55 and is barely perceptible. The last 70 minutes are on disc two and fits onto a single layer.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     There are two audio tracks available, a remixed English Dolby Digital 5.1 track and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround audio commentary track by director Francis Ford Coppola. I listened to both tracks in total. The main film track, the Dolby Digital 5.1 effort, is very similar to the original film's remixed track, but offers slightly more stereo separation at key moments. It is very much front and centred focused, though this does not detract from the listening experience..

    The dialogue is on a par with the first film, though we are spared Brando's mumblings this time around. While on the whole the dialogue is clear, it is at times poorly recorded and can sound extremely tinny. The best (or worst if you like) example of this is the conversation between Michael and Tom between 37:00-39:45, where it sounds like both of them have their heads in steel buckets. There are no audio sync issues of any note.

    The score for Part II was again composed by Nino Rota, and again is superb and sets a fantastic mood throughout. There is not much else to say about it, other than it is a classic.
   
    The surround channels are seldom called upon.

    The subwoofer is likewise not used extensively but does not draw any undue attention to itself when used.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio & Animation

    The main menu features one of three scenes from the film (only one involving a murder this time!). These scenes are sequentially selected each time you go back to the main menu. Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 and features part of the film score.

Audio Commentary - Director Francis Ford Coppola

    This commentary from Coppola is more specific to the actual film than the commentary for the original Godfather, and is once again a high quality extra. There are a few silent spots, but Coppola does talk for the majority of the three hour plus film, which is a pretty fair effort.

    He commences by discussing how he insisted on calling the second film Part II, much to the displeasure of Paramount, who figured people would see it as the second half of the original. This is in direct contrast to how the name of the third instalment came about, which he flags as the ultimate irony in the closing stages of this commentary. It's interesting to hear that he never had any intention of making Part III and the closing stages of Part II were supposed to be the end.

    Coppola had a great deal more freedom in the making of this film after the huge success of the original. As a result, a lot of the conflict that was so common in the original was simply not present in this film. He spends more time explaining exactly what he was thinking in terms of plot for certain scenes, and how he came up with the ideas for certain shots and locations.

    A very good commentary that certainly isn't losing any steam after more than 5 hours of discussion.

    The Godfather Collection DVD Box Set features the same specification throughout the world. Therefore, our product is to be favoured due to the superior PAL formatting.

    Sequels of successful films seldom reach the lofty heights achieved by their predecessor. This is the exception to the rule. The fact that it is titled Part II is an indication of how closely linked it is to the original. They really are complementary to each other, so much so that after having watched both films, you will try to recount certain scenes and at times have trouble working out which film they are from.

    The video is better than the original, though the number of film artefacts is still quite high and grain is continuous.

    The audio is similar to the original with a little more stereo separation.

    Thoroughly enjoyable. A classic.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Godfather Part III (1990)

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General		Extras
Category	Mob	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Francis Ford Coppola (Director)
Rating
Year Of Production	1990
Running Time	163:11
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (79:52)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Programme
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Francis Ford Coppola
Studio Distributor	Paramount Home Entertainment	Starring	Al Pacino Diane Keaton Talia Shire Andy Garcia
Case	Slip Case
RPI	$29.95	Music	Carmine Coppola

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Dutch English for the Hearing Impaired Swedish Danish Norwegian Finnish	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Made in 1990, this third instalment of the Godfather trilogy has come under much criticism over the years and is the least liked by the critics and fans alike of the three films by a considerable margin. Set in 1979, the Corleone family business is becoming legitimate. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) is making generous donations to charity and through a trust managed by his daughter Mary (Sofia Coppola) is becoming a model citizen. In fact, the Vatican is awarding him their highest honour due to the work he is doing for them and the philanthropic contributions he makes. While Michael is attempting to legitimise his business, the jostling is commencing to continue the shady side of the family. Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia) is the b****** son of Michael's brother Sonny, and he feels that he is in a position to take over the family business and perhaps become Don. He is also falling for the affections of the flirtatious Mary Corleone despite them being cousins and against the wishes of her father.

    Meanwhile, Michael is facing increasingly poor health and pressures from both Vincent and a hood named Joey Zasa (Joe Mantegna) who are fighting for control of the gambling and racketeering empire. Michael is making a play to claim control of the Vatican bank and facing pressure from a government inquiry and the corrupt forces within the Vatican and Catholic Church itself (which sparked much controversy at the time for suggesting such a thing if I remember correctly). Much of the action takes place in Sicily and Rome, with the culminating assassination scenes playing out at an opera in the Italian capital.

    While much of the production crew was the same as the previous two films, many of the cast are missing this time round. Al Pacino carries the story, but aside from Talia Shire as his sister Connie, most of the cast are new to the story. Andy Garcia in particular seemed a little out of place to me. It's interesting to hear Francis Ford Coppola's comments about this film and respond to some of the criticism that flared up upon its release. Much of his displeasure with the film arose from the fact that he really hadn't finished it when Paramount insisted that it be released. Coppola felt that he needed a further six months to polish it up to his satisfaction, and this he was unable to do.

Video

    Like the other films in the collection, this is presented in an aspect of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. Overall, this is a far cleaner print than the first two instalments, thought it is not without problems of its own.
   
    While this is the sharper of the three films and the level of detail is better, there is still an abnormal amount of edge enhancement that is quite distracting at times (see 79:21 on Vincent Mancini's jacket for a glaring example). Shadow detail is also quite poor at times and I'm not sure that it can be blamed on the source material this time. There is no low level noise.
   
    Set in more contemporary times, the colours are fairly drab and muted. There is not a huge amount of vibrancy but no real problems as well. It's just that the colours are not particularly stunning.

    There are no MPEG artefacts apparent. The film-to-video artefacts were limited to the odd shimmer here and there that was not particularly distracting. The number of film artefacts is significantly less than in the original two films.

    There are several subtitle options available. I sampled the English variety and found them to be highly accurate and presented very nicely.

    The transfer is presented as a single sided, dual layered disc with RSDL formatting. The layer change is located at 79:52. It is pretty well located and not overly disruptive.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are two audio tracks on this disc, these being a remastered English Dolby Digital 5.1 and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround commentary track. I listened to both tracks in total. There is certainly a wider and more open soundstage on offer from this soundtrack than the original two. There is certainly more stereo separation, though given the nature of the film, where there is a significant amount of dialogue, it is still prominently focused on the centre speaker.

    Dialogue is clear and concise and of much better quality overall than the earlier two films. Considering the age of the source material, this is not surprising. There are no audio sync problems.

    The musical score this time round was composed by Coppola's father Carmine Coppola (who collaborated with Nino Rota on the first two films). Nino Rota's music is used throughout also.

    There is some surround use, though not to any great extent. The subwoofer is likewise mostly silent.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio & Animation

    The main menu features one of three scenes from the film (more death featured again - though only two murders). These scenes are sequentially selected each time you go back to the main menu. Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 and features part of the film score.

Commentary

    A great deal of criticism has been levelled at this film and during this commentary, Francis Ford Coppola uses it as an opportunity to answer some of those criticisms. He is honest and open about the problems that exist with this film. Many of them are attributed to the fact that it was quite a rushed project that was conceived, filmed and released in less than a year. In fact, he felt that he needed an extra six months to complete it, but Paramount insisted that it be released. Coppola admits that he didn't have the clout that he did in making the second film and some of the decisions made were not his. With Robert Duvall missing after failed negotiations, the cast was lacking that certain something. The fact that Winona Ryder was supposed to play Michael's daughter, Mary but pulled out at the eleventh hour also caused problems. She was replaced by Coppola's own daughter Sofia who had no experience of acting and copped plenty of criticism about it. She has had to carry the baggage associated with Coppola's decision to cast her ever since. Coppola is open in his admiration for his daughter and the way that she handled herself during the performance. He also points out the other members of his family that appear in the film - and there are quite a few of them!

    Coppola points out that there is also a recipe in the film, as there always should be. This time it's for Gnocchi!

    The Godfather Collection DVD Box Set features the same specification throughout the world. Therefore our product is to be favoured due to the superior PAL formatting.

Certainly the weakest of the three films, maybe because it was rushed, or maybe it was too grand in its planning. Maybe it just had to followup many years after two of the most successful films ever and Coppola was always on a hiding to nothing. Certainly rounds the trilogy off, just don't expect the same quality as the first two films.

The video is better than the original films, but is not what I would call stunning. Being set in contemporary times, it is certainly not as vibrant as many other films that I have seen recently.

The audio is much better than the original films. The dialogue in particular is from a far superior recording.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Godfather-DVD Collection Bonus Materials (2001)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	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-x3 Biographies-Crew
Rating
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	211:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Paramount Home Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Slip Case
RPI	Box	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Full Frame	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	None
16x9 Enhancement	No
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.33:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    With the last disc of The Godfather DVD Collection devoted solely to extras, one would hope that they are of decent quality and quantity. Consider also the standing that these films have in American film history and the amount of effort that Paramount went through to get them released, and I would be slightly disappointed if this wasn't the greatest set of extras ever released. It lives up to that expectation in a couple of areas, but is let down in others. There is certainly quantity (over 200 minutes worth), but the quality varies. The extras are all accessed from a non 16x9 enhanced menu with no audio. Unless otherwise stated, all the audio for the extras is from a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Video

    See Extras for details.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    See Extras for details.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Featurette - Francis Coppola's Notebook

    This is one of the better mini-featurettes that I have seen in quite some time and gives a real insight, albeit an all-too-brief one, into exactly how a director might prepare for making a major motion picture.

    Running for nine minutes and forty nine seconds, it features Francis Ford Coppola sitting on a couch with a large, battered, multi-ring folder filled to overflowing in front of him. He calls it his 'Prompt Book'. Coppola tells how he read the original The Godfather novel by Mario Puzo and then basically pulled apart the novel and stuck each page onto a full size sheet of paper. Onto these sheets he added notations, prompts, underlined or highlighted important and key scenes, and basically used it to plan the whole film. He used it as a virtual 'Bible' to refer to while filming. Interestingly, Coppola found that he could have almost made the film without a real script. He had completed the script with Puzo, but hardly referred to it when making the film (presumably the actors used it for their lines and that was about it). His 'prompt book' was the key to the whole production process and it is quite amazing to see just how close the finished film actually came to what his notes described. This is a fabulous insight into the preparation process and it's a real shame it doesn't run longer.

Featurette  - On Location

    With many of the exterior scenes of the first two movies filmed in the lower east side of New York, this featurette is a retrospective look at the streets used for the production. Instead of using soundstages, Coppola decided a much more authentic look would be achieved by using the real streets. Production Designer Dean Tavoularis conducts a guided tour of the areas used and the changes that the team had to make to replicate the look of the 20s and 40s. Total running time is 6:56 minutes.

Featurette - The Godfather Family - A Look Inside

    This is the most comprehensive featurette found on the extras disc in terms of length, though it is by no means the best. It is a one chapter featurette running for 70:30 minutes. It was made in 1991, a year after the release of Part III. It's a strange type of feature, one that has some good attributes and a couple of negative aspects as well. It offers a retrospective look at the first two Godfather films, and a look at the behind-the-scenes processes of the third. We see Francis Ford Coppola and some friends around a dinner table discussing the various aspects of the films, and as they discuss various elements we get cut away to the actual scene or the particular screen test they are discussing. As a result, it has a bit of a disjointed feel to it, flitting around between Part I, Part II, the dinner with Coppola, and Part III. It really could have done with a reworking with a decent narrator pulling it all together into a more coherent format. Some of the highlights here are the multiple screen tests for the character of Michael Corleone, performed by Al Pacino, James Caan, and Martin Sheen. We also get to see a Sonny Corleone screen test by a very young Robert De Niro looking very much like Bono from U2!

    The video is a mix of 1.33:1 full screen for the interviews and behind the scenes footage with Pan & Scan footage for the film highlights. The overall video quality is fairly ordinary as well, with huge amounts of grain and film artefacts present.

Featurette  -The Godfather Behind The Scenes 1971

    This is the original behind-the-scenes promotional feature that was made back in 1971 for the release of the first film. It is of fairly ordinary quality with very grainy video and quite scratchy audio. It runs for 8:35 minutes. It offers only a couple of interesting facts (such as the student film-maker that was given access to make a behind-the-scenes documentary of the street scenes), otherwise it is an early 70s version of the present day promotional fluff piece.

Deleted Scenes

    Just about the most comprehensive set of deleted scenes that I have ever encountered. In fact, there is probably enough material presented here to make a separate movie in its own right and one that would almost be comprehensible in story terms.

    Presented as a timeline of the Corleone family history from 1901 to 1979 (from the main deleted scenes menu you are also able to view the full chronology of the Corleone family), there are a total of 34 scenes all with text introduction so you know what the scene about. By having them listed in a timeline, you know exactly when they occur and from which film in the trilogy they were excised. By having the text description as an introduction to each scene, you know exactly what is about to occur and can easily place it within the context of the three films. Most run for around 1-2 minutes, though there is also an alternate opening sequence to the Godfather Part III that is over 6 minutes long. Total running time for all the scenes is over 50 minutes.

    Extremely comprehensive and a lesson in how to present a large number of deleted scenes in a coherent and meaningful manner.

Featurette - The Cinematography of The Godfather

    Running for 3:36 minutes, this featurette is an interview with cinematographer Gordon Willis. The main point he explains in this brief featurette is the unusual use of underexposure and lighting techniques that are so prominent throughout the films. He admits that on occasion they may have gone too far and this is the reason that several scenes came out just a little too dark.

Featurette - The Music Of The Godfather

    Even to someone who has never seen these films before, the musical score is instantly recognisable and highly original. This featurette is in two parts and focuses on the work of Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola respectively. Part One runs for 5:16 minutes. In January 1972 Francis Ford Coppola travelled to Rome to meet with Nino Rota and discuss the music for the first film. He taped part of the discussions with him and this is the recording of that meeting. The quality is obviously a bit scratchy, given that it was recorded on a handheld cassette deck and is now the better part of 30 years old. You will benefit greatly by turning on the subtitles to catch all of what Nino Rota is saying.

    Part two runs for 3:18 minutes and focuses on Coppola's father Carmine Coppola who collaborated with Rota on the score (and subsequently won an Oscar) and continued his work through on all three films.

Featurette -Coppola and Puzo on Screenwriting

    This featurette runs for 7:48 minutes and features Francis Coppola and Mario Puzo discussing, in interview style, the development of the script that they worked on together. It starts with Puzo discussing how the original book evolved and how the film rights were sold. He then discusses how he collaborated with Coppola in developing the screenplay. For Part II, Coppola apparently invented much of the story and again developed the screenplay with Puzo. An interesting fact for Part III from Francis Coppola is that he did not want to call it Part III. He wanted the title to be "The Death Of Michael Corleone" but apparently Paramount overruled him.

Storyboards

    Two sets of storyboards are available for viewing, both taking on different visual forms. Set one sees 24 storyboards for a scene from Part II. These are presented as static images that you need to scroll through with your remote. Set two is from the 'Break-in at Vincent's apartment' scene from Part III and is presented as a visual storyline that automatically steps you through the boards. There is also a voiceover for what is actually happening in the scene, so you don't need to read any captions or speech bubbles to keep up with what is going on. This section runs for 4:13 minutes.

Biographies - Character and Cast "The Corleone Family Tree"

    Presented as 'The Corleone Family Tree', you can follow the links of each family member on a series of static screens. The major members of the family are able to be selected and from here we see a brief history of that character. You are also able to select the photo of the actor that plays that particular character (or 3 actors in the case of Don Vito) and see a brief biography of that actor (albeit only up to 1971 in the case of the original Godfather cast). A decent way to tie together the characters and the cast.

Featurette - Academy Award acceptance speeches and Network TV introduction

    Something slightly different this one. Both The Godfather and The Godfather Part II won a myriad of awards including a whole swag of Academy Awards. This extra shows four of the acceptance speeches (two per movie) complete with hideous 70s fashion. We see the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award for The Godfather with the speech by Francis Ford Coppola, running for 2:19 minutes. We also see the Best Picture Academy Award for The Godfather, not awarded to the Director as is the fashion now, but the Producer, Albert Ruddy. His speech runs for 1:44 minutes. The awards for Part II included Best Director and Best Picture again. These are both collected by Coppola and run for 1:45 and 1:01 minutes respectively.

    There is also a full list of all the awards and nominations that all three films received from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

    Another interesting little snippet is the introduction from Francis Ford Coppola that preceded the 1974 network television premiere of The Godfather. Running for 1:32 minutes, we see Coppola sitting at an editing desk, finishing up Part II. He explains that he has made some minor alterations to the film to allow it to be shown on television and if the violence left in is likely to upset anyone, then they shouldn't watch. It's refreshing that the director gets to make the cuts for the TV version instead of some heavy-handed censor who has no regard for the continuity of the story. This is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The quality is reasonable for the age of the material.

Gallery - Photo

    There are two different galleries present here. The first is the 'Photo Gallery'. This gallery is one of the highlights of the extras package due to the fact that it has been presented very nicely. It is presented full screen 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced. There are 105 different photos featuring all aspects of 'in-front-of-camera' and 'behind the scenes' action and all come complete with a caption, so you know exactly what the photos are and who is in them - an excellent idea that more galleries should have. The photos are all a decent size as well, taking up most of the screen. They don't suffer too badly from not being 16x9 enhanced, though a couple do exhibit a minor shimmer around the edges.

    The second gallery is the 'Rogues Gallery' and contains 10 different portrait shots of some of the villains found in the three films. The specifications are the same as the main gallery.

Theatrical Trailer

    Trailers for all three films are available for viewing. All are presented in an aspect of 1.78:1 and feature 16x9 enhancement. The audio for all three is Dolby Digital 2.0.

    The Godfather

   Running for 3:31 minutes, this trailer is a series of still images from the film with the score playing over it. Not terribly exciting. I'm surprised it was presented like this at all. Maybe Coppola blew the budget making the film and there was nothing left to promote it.

    The Godfather Part II

    Running for 3:57 minutes, this is a better trailer, though it does appear to be a re-release trailer, as it spends the first 53 seconds listing all the Academy awards that Part II won. Shows much of the story of the film as would be expected for the duration it runs. A fairly cheesy voiceover and reasonable quality video are the standout features here..

    The Godfather Part III

    A more modern, as would be expected, though very long trailer, running for 4:14 minutes. Starts with a 1:10 minute summary of the first two films in order to get audiences up-to-speed with what has occurred (there was 16 years between drinks after all), then launches into the trailer proper. The quality here is much better with only a few film artefacts present although there is plenty of edge enhancement.

Biographies Crew

    Biographies for Francis Ford Coppola, Mario Puzo, Gordon Willis, Dean Tavoularis, Nino Rota, and Carmine Coppola. All are presented full screen 1.33:1 and are quite detailed. From each of these, if you select the name of the person at the top left of the screen, you are able to view the short featurette that focuses on their work (ie Coppola's takes you to the Notebook featurette).

Easter Eggs

    There are several Easter Eggs to be found if you poke around long enough. They are all quite good, especially the first one, featuring the Sopranos.

    The Sopranos

    Go to the DVD credits section and then keep selecting NEXT. You will be treated to a very, very funny scene with the Sopranos sitting down to watch an advance bootleg edition of the Godfather box set. They have some trouble with the player which leads to a familiar conclusion. Very nicely done. Running for 1.32 minutes, it is presented in 1.78:1 non 16x9 enhanced. I particularly like the FBI warning at the start.

    James Caan Screen Test

    Go to the 'Corleone Family Tree' and select 'Sonny'. Select 'Sonny' again and you will be taken to his biography. Press the 'Left' arrow key to highlight the photo of James Caan and then press 'Enter.' You will be shown James Caan's biography. Press the 'Left' arrow key once again to highlight the portrait of him and if you press 'Enter' now, you will be shown a screen test by James Caan for his part as Sonny Corleone. Runs for 40 seconds.

    International Dubs

    Go to the 'Set Up' section from the main menu and press the 'Right' arrow key on your remote control. A globe will appear, which when selected will show a whole series of scenes from all three films with various international languages dubbed over the scenes. Runs for 45 seconds.

    Show me the money!

    From the 'Filmmakers' section select 'Mario Puzo'. Then press your left arrow button twice. A large, green dollar sign appears. Select this and you will be treated to a 6 second clip of Mario Puzo and Francis Coppola shooting pool. Coppola asks Puzo why he wrote The Godfather.

  The Godfather Collection DVD Box Set features the same specification throughout the world. Therefore our product is to be favoured due to the superior PAL formatting.

    This is a pretty decent set of bonus material that in terms of variety is up there amongst the best I have seen. Very little of it gets repeated 'ad-nauseam' as is often the case with many so-called extras packages. Some of the extras, such as the 'Coppola Notebook' are highly original and unlike anything I have seen previously. The whole package though, would have been so much better had there been a really more up-to-date documentary about the overall Godfather trilogy, presented from a modern day perspective. The material (aside from the Sopranos Easter Egg), does have a 'been-there done-that' feel to it.

  Overall, this disc is a very worthwhile addition to The Godfather DVD Collection 5 disc set.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall