Godfather 4k (1 Viewer)

[Douglas Monce]

and thankfully always will from here on out thanks to this heroic restoration.

Yeah they don't call Gordon Willis the "Prince of Darkness" for nothing!
Doug

 

[Jari K]

Thanks for the report, Vincent.

and thankfully always will from here on out thanks to this heroic restoration.

Good and valid points. It´s a well known fact that Willis shot some of the scenes with a very little light, so they´re indeed dark. So yes, "Transformers-generation" might have some "issues" with the upcoming Blu-ray-version (if/when it´s coming at some point).

 

[Michel_Hafner]

Can't wait to see this on BD.

Is the 4K digital master archived? Any 2K/4K digital projection planned? What where the total costs of this digital restoration?

 

[Reagan]

Great post, Vincent. Thanks for taking the time.
-R

 

[willyTass]

great news

 

[Mike Williams]

Very exciting news, Vincent. I can't wait to see "The Godfather" films in their restored glory. These will be a must-buy on Blu-ray the day they're released.

 

[RobertR]

That said, if some folks' issues with the current DVDs have to do with the aesthetic look of the film (i.e., "It's too dark! It's too grainy! The blacks are crushed!") as opposed to any condition issues regarding the elements, I don't know what they'll think of the restored print. It's the same stylized film, with Gordon Willis's super-deep, inky blacks and a palpable, textured grain structure alive and visible throughout. I can see the Blu-ray reviews already from certain circles- "Grain is apparent... shadow detail is wanting." This is not a film that looks like Discovery HD, it looks like THE GODFATHER and thankfully always will from here on out thanks to this heroic restoration.

I wish that well-worded statement was attached to every one of those "duh--it doesn't look like good HD" reviews.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I wish that well-worded statement was attached to every one of those "duh--it doesn't look like good HD" reviews.

I too am confused as to when and where the "if it doesn't look like Discovery HD Theater or Jay Leno, then the picture sucks" attitude came from. I've actually seen people criticize 300 as a lousy transfer because of the excess grain. Also, people saying "modern video games get more realistic as time goes by, why can't films like 300 do the same?" Even worse, I've seen people openly call for every transfer to eliminate film grain because it is a product of the inferior film medium and "no different from scratches on a negative or pops and hisses on a soundtrack." I told them the day The Godfather is released looking like a Discovery HD documentary about sunshine and roses, I'll throw my HT in the trash and buy a projector.
. . . and then I curled into the fetal position and openly weeped for the future. :frowning:

 

[oscar_merkx]

Wow awesome report Vincent.
That must have made your day indeed.
I'll be getting my first Blu Ray then.
Are they region free ?

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I liken this whole "film grain is evil and everything should look like digital argument" to the early days of digital recordings and CDs. There were many people who saw all-digital recording as the only way that music should be recorded and that analog would have to be molded to that image. Examples that come to mind are the early Zappa remasters and the Alan Parsons Project's Tales of Mystery and Imagination. While these were undertaken by the artists themselves, it was on the understanding that their masters were rapidly deteriorating and needed to be saved immediately. In both instances, newer elements were recorded digitally to replace deteriorating elements, and the whole thing was then remastered digitally. Thankfully, when it came to audio , newer methods intervened to preserve the original intent (24/96 mastering, "baking" the masters for transfer to digital), as well as a general digital backlash, including some artists' insistence that certain elements needed to be recorded analog before digital mixing and remastering to obtain the ideal sound (analogous to 300 using film for its grainy look when pushed).
We can all hope that cooler heads will prevail, and in the case of The Godfather, it looks like they have.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Wow awesome report Vincent.
That must have made your day indeed.
I'll be getting my first Blu Ray then.
Are they region free ?

Most Blu-ray are not region free, so probably not.

 

[oscar_merkx]

is a Playstation 3 region free

 

[RomanSohor]

Yeah I have already tried to explain to many people what the benifit of BluRay for "pre-HD" movies is, and they can't seem to wrap their heads around the fact that video and film store images differently- that film was able to capture more detail in the era of Citizen Kane then 1080p video can show us today.. (I know its a simplification, but...) I've heard countless people say "why does Chicken Little look so much better than Pirates" about the Sony BluRay demo disc when I worked at Best Buy... ugh.
I can't wait to pick up the Godfather in HD. I missed picking up a lot of titles like this and My Fair Lady, and some of the other older films I love, and now I'm glad I'll be able to pick them up in hi Def

 

[Jeff Gatie]

is a Playstation 3 region free

No. All Blu-ray players and most disks are not region free.

 

[Jari K]

...most disks are not region free.

"Most" are actually "R0", but some are indeed region coded. All Blu-ray-players are A, B, or C coded ( Blu-ray Disc - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ).
(Note, that both Blu-ray and HD DVD-players are also region coded for SD DVDs)

 

[Jari K]

as a lousy transfer because of the excess grain.

True. My friend bought PS3 and his first Blu-ray-title was "300". He called me and said that it look "mediocre" (or something, can´t remember what he exactly said now). Of course it´s not "mediocre", but it just tells that people expect to be "blown away" with every HD-title (vs SD DVD). And "blown away" doesn´t mean "grain", "dark", "gritty", "murky", etc, even if that´s how the film has always looked. Even so-called pro-reviewers does that (giving "lower scores", just because they don´t like the intended look and artistic style of the film), so I´m sure that we see some differing reviews of e.g. "Godfather".
But hey, at least we have "Transformers"!

 

[Jeff Gatie]

"Most" are actually "R0", but some are indeed region coded. All Blu-ray-players are A, B, or C coded ( Blu-ray Disc - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ).
(Note, that both Blu-ray and HD DVD-players are also region coded for SD DVDs)

Sorry, my bad. Looks like I was off by 1/3.

 

[oscar_merkx]

Jeff & Jari
Thanks for the education lessons.
Cheers
Oscar

 

[Brandon Conway]

True. My friend bought PS3 and his first Blu-ray-title was "300". He called me and said that it look "mediocre" (or something, can´t remember what he exactly said now). Of course it´s not "mediocre", but it just tells that people expect to be "blown away" with every HD-title (vs SD DVD). And "blown away" doesn´t mean "grain", "dark", "gritty", "murky", etc, even if that´s how the film has always looked. Even so-called pro-reviewers does that (giving "lower scores", just because they don´t like the intended look and artistic style of the film), so I´m sure that we see some differing reviews of e.g. "Godfather".
But hey, at least we have "Transformers"!

I think a lot of people who are not HT enthusiasts yet like HD images probably have their brightness on their TV much too high, or even worse, the "Vivid" mode set on their TV. Nothing will bring out grain more than bad calibration towards brightness. I just watched 300 on BD the other night with my roommate who hadn't seen it on my properly calibrated 96" Sanyo Z4 projector, and he and I both thought it looked excellent, with the grain being noticeable but not distracting in the least, because it worked with the story being told and was very finely detailed grain - as it should be.

 

[ZacharyTait]

Watching the restored Godfather in Blu-Ray on a Pioneer Elite Kuro? I think I need to change my underwear!