Written by: Ashtyn at 7:48 pm
In the second part of the series, there are two major storylines that occur side by side. The first storyline deals with the life of Don Vito. Vito is shown first as a young boy (Oreste Baldini) who is forced to flee to Ellis Island at age 9. A local mob boss kills Vito’s father, brother, and mother for disobeying his will. Vito narrowly escapes. As he becomes a man (portrayed by Robert DeNiro), Vito tries to live the straight and narrow life though he eventually slips comfortably into a life of crime. In this storyline we see the beginnings of the Corleone family emerge at the hands of Don Vito.
The second storyline follows Michael in the 1950s feeling his way through this new business. Originally having the best of intentions, he tells Kay that within five years he will be legitimate. Well that was seven years ago and the Corleone family is falling apart, specifically Michael’s marriage. Michael’s iron fist rules harder and more intensely than Don Vito’s did. Likewise, Michael does things his father never would have agreed with or wanted from him. He is as honest as he needs to be to keep his family alive and thriving.
The final installment of The Godfather was made quite some time after the second installment. When watched together the films make perfect sense. When watched more than a decade apart it is harder to see the beauty. Things change as this series comes to an end. Michael is now an aging man that is going to need to put someone else in power of his family. Like he once felt, his son Anthony (Franc D’Ambrosio) is not interested in running the family business. Instead he wants to be an opera singer. Michael must come to terms with this and other portions of his life, before it is too late.
It’s true, whether you watch these in order or year’s apart, The Godfather III is not as good as the two that have come before it. However, when watched together the film closes up all the issues left open from the previous films nicely and in a way as just as the Mob can be. The third film suffers from Michael’s need to become legitimate, and as he does this you see a movie revolving more around a business setting and less around an Italian dinner. This is not as exciting to some, but the writing is still sharp, the story needs to be told, and ultimately it is told well.
Whether you like the third installation of The Godfather or not, this series is still one of the greatest works of film to ever grace the big screen. As such, this box set is the perfect gift for any true film lover.
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Audio/Visual:
The Godfather – The Coppola Restoration Giftset is the best looking these films have ever been. Every small speck has been cleaned up and removed from these DVDs. They could not look better if they tried. The images appear to have been lightened and flawed color issues have been corrected. That being said, if you notice a slight dullness or grain it is because the image was corrected, but not heightened enough to take away from when it was made and what it has always been. The films are presented at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 in anamorphic widescreen. What is important though is not the specs, but rather the fact that these movies look as good, if not better than they would have on the big screen.
The sound has been upgraded to Dolby Digital 5.1, but there is also an English Dolby Digital Mono track. Both tracks come with Closed Captioning. The same can be said for the French Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The sound is consistent with incredibly dynamic sound effects and a booming musical score. The sounds of the guns pop with great force and the dialogue is as strong or as chilling as the actor delivering it wishes to be. Like the video, this is an excellent remastering job that does great justice to this box set.
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Bonus Features:
There are more bonus features here than you can possibly imagine. All of the bonus features that were in the original box set are again included here with a selection of new bonus features thrown in. Each film comes with a full length commentary by Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola does a wonderful job filling each commentary with loads of interesting facts about the making of each film. It is engaging and goes by as quickly as each film. While I normally do not enjoy commentaries I found these to be fantastic.
The 2001 bonus features include the following:
“Making of The Godfather: This documentary is over an hour and looks at what it took to make the entire series. It includes plenty of behind the scenes footage, interviews with Coppola and Pacino, and much more.
The Godfather Historical Timeline: This is a large collection of deleted scenes that appear in chronological order.
“Filming Locations”: Dean Tavoularis, the production designer, handles this six minute featurette that allows viewers to tour the various locations where the original film was shot.
“Francis Ford Coppola’s Notebook”: This is a private ten minutes with the director with him showing what he did to prepare for the film.
“Puzo and Coppola On Screenwriting”: These interviews are all about the writing process between the two men.
“Gordon Willis On Cinematography”: This is just a brief discussion with the cinematographer on the film.
“Original 1971 Behind-the Scenes Featurette”: The title here should be pretty self explanatory, but it’s basically a promo piece for the film.
“The Corleone Family Tree”: This feature is completely text based, offering biographies for the main characters.
“The Music of The Godfather”: An interview with the composer Nino Rota.
Also included two text based features, one of a list of awards that the movie was nominated for with footage of acceptance speeches for the winners and a biography feature. Things are wrapped up with trailers for all of the films, storyboards, and photo galleries.
The rest of the special features are all brand new and created for this set. These are listed below:
“Godfather World”: This is an eleven minute featurette that looks at how this series has shaped other movies in this genre and television shows. It also includes a series of spoof clips.
“The Masterpiece that Almost Wasn’t”: Thirty minutes are dedicated to discussing one of the greatest movies in history that almost wasn’t made. You hear from people involved ranging from Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg. Also included are industry workers that appreciate the beauty of these films. Notable appearances include John Turturro and Kimberley Pierce.
“When the Shooting Stopped”: This featurette lasts for about 15 minutes. It discusses moments from the filmmaking process, as well as a dissection of the dramatic qualities of the films.
“Emulsional Rescue: Revealing The Godfather”: This piece is all about what it took to restore the films. It’s incredibly technical and includes information from the director of photography and some technicians that worked on the restorative process.
“The Godfather on the Red Carpet”: I am not sure what to say about this four minute featurette. Some unknowns and newer actors are caught on the red carpet. They are asked their opinions on the films and some of them go as far as offering embarrassing attempts at movie monologues.
The final four features are all short films that include “GF vs. GF Part II,” “Riffing on the Riffing,” “Cannoli,” and “Clemenza.” The most interesting of these features is also the one that is the longest. “GF vs. GF Part II” details why people believe that the second movie was far superior to the first.
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Bottom Line:
I don’t know what else to say that I have not said already. These are some of the best movies you will ever see. This collection of these movies is the best one available to date. The movies are as clear as can be, the sound is spectacular, and the special features are as thorough as can possibly be. Fans of this spectacular series will be thrilled with this set. If you love these movies you need to ditch your old copies and buy this today!
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: DVD, Crime, Mafia, Mob, Italian, Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Vito Corleone, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Greatest Movie, Don, Crime Syndicate, Classic Film
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Written by Ashtyn - Visit Website
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Ashtyn Evans is a writer, advocate, free thinker, and all around cynical person. Always quick to find the negative in anything pop culture, she loves being a part of that which she despises. Ashtyn and Dominick own numerous blogs together, as well as a full-time writing business. In her spare time she is a full-time college student studying History and Psychology. She plans to one day give up her freelance career and be a full-time blogger, novelist, and domestic goddess. She can be contacted for writing projects, fan mail, or just to say hi. She really is friendlier than we make her look.
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[...] bet they will be selling like hotcakes. Ashtyn also did a review of the standard definitive set, The Godfather Coppola Restoration Box Set. Like this one, it received high recommendations and rave reviews. This is just one set that [...]