This is topic The Godfather - "The Complete Epic" and "Trilogy" in forum The Afterlife at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 02-13-2005, 09:17 PM:
I just read a book about the making of The Godfather. It says in the book that there was a "Complete Epic" edited for TV in chronological order in 1977 (parts I and II only, obviously) which also contained several scenes cut from the original movies. Although the chronological editing wouldn't appear to me too be any improvement over the original form - the switching back and forth between the stories works so well in part II -, I would like to see these scenes and wonder if they are restored or included as bonus materials on the recent DVD edition. According to the book, the first video release of the complete trilogy also had the chronological editing and deleted scenes (probably simply the "Epic" cut plus the new movie), with a few small cuts made because of violence and nudity for the TV "Epic" also restored.
In other words, does the DVD edition contain all the material, whether in chronological form or in bonus scenes?
Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 02-13-2005, 09:45 PM:
The DVD edition contains the 3 movies as theatrically released with a bonus disc of the deleted/TV movie scenes. I believe I read that not ALL scenes were included on this disc though, but I'm not positive.
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-15-2005, 08:37 AM:
There was, and I have, the Godfather Trilogy on Laserdisc and it was in chronological order. At first this seems like a desriable thing but the edits were clearly for how they were released....the chronological editing actually looks more disjointed than the theatrical editing.
Steve
Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-15-2005, 01:50 PM:
I agree with Steve. My parents still have the old VHS release of the trilogy shown in chronological order. You definitely lose something in the dramatics, particularly with Part II, when everything is rearranged in chronological order.
I definitely prefer the DVD box set. I've been meaning to sit down and watch Godfather's I and II again sometime (especially after paying around $50 for the set).
Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 10-02-2005, 01:52 AM:
The chronological version aired on cable this week, I think it was either "Spike" or "TNT"
The chronological version has many excellent scenes that are true to the book, and help better explain various things.
Cheers
K.
Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 06-03-2007, 02:01 AM:
It has been 609 days since the last post.
Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 06-03-2007, 02:01 AM:
The chronological/tv version aired on cables BRAVO Channel this weekend. I never saw this version before. It includes the deleted scenes and is quite extensive, following the book.
K
Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 06-03-2007, 12:45 PM:
Thanks for letting us know *after* it aired!
Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 08-21-2007, 11:04 AM:
Bravo and AMC have both been FLOGGING all three picture for the past two months over and over and over...
Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 06-30-2008, 09:19 AM:
Bump.
Paramount officially announced The Godfather: the Coppola Restoration Collection for release on September 23, 2008. The box sets will be in the form of a 4-disc Blu-ray package and a 5-disc DVD package. The three movies will also be sold individually, but those individual discs may lack a lot of the newly produced extras. The BD version will feature those extras in high definition.
The first two Godfather films were subject of an intensive frame by frame restoration supervised by Robert A. Harris with input from Francis Coppola and cinematographer Gordon Willis. The project, using a 4K digital intermediate, took a year to complete. Bill Hunt at The Digital Bits website was treated to a screening of the finished product and says the results are "breathtaking." Apparently the restoration puts the previously released DVD box set to shame.
The MSRP of the BD and DVD box sets is $119.99 and $72.99.
Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 10-31-2008, 04:43 PM:
The Godfather Trilogy is beautiful on Blu-ray and it's on sale at Amazon for only $61.95. Highly recommended.