A Few Words About A few words about…™ The Godfather CODA: The Death of Michael Corleone – in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[owen35]

Who stopped him from doing the cut he wanted back when he first cut it? He had total control and did the cut he wanted - all the rest is revisionism, as always. He says that NOW, but either he liked his cut back then or, if he didn't, why didn't he fix it then?

We are on our THIRD version of Apocalypse Now--and Coppola had full control over that edit--so it is not surprising that he keeps tinkering.

His reasoning, which I believe, is that the release date was rushed, so was he never was able to complete an edit he was happy with, nor would they allow the title to include "the death of Michael Corleone". I'm sure there were dreams of a G4 at that time and they were not about to "end" the series yet. And it appears with the "Director's Cut" he wasn't given the permission to redo the entire film either, only tweak. At the time, I'm sure Paramount wasn't going to spend any more money beyond some restoration efforts (Robert Harris stated he didn't have the budget to do all that he wanted).

Now, however, Paramount has backed these efforts as well as giving Coppola permission to redo the film. (Coppola doesn't own the rights to the film, he needs permission to do anything to them.) I applaud Paramount for doing this--the film, the franchise, and Coppola's reputation are the better for it. I don't see it as revisionism, but giving the artist the time, money, and resources to complete his vision.

 

[PMF]

But it's his lucky coat! He's happy to just stand there waiting to get shot to save his now unlucky coat.

Finally, my copy has arrived.

Hopefully; with full-coats included; Coppola’s Coda will prove to be his luckiest of cuts.

 

[Noel Aguirre]

Finally, my copy has arrived.

Hopefully; with full-coats included; Coppola’s Coda will prove to be his luckiest of cuts.

It’s great and who new Sophia would be giving us Ivanka, Sicilian style!! She’s perfect!

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

It’s great and who new Sophia would be giving us Ivanka, Sicilian style!! She’s perfect!

Did you notice Ivana's name in one of the newspaper shots?

 

[TonyD]

I watched a bit of it the other day, up till around when Sofia is sitting on a table flirting with her cousin.
The entire sequence right after Andy Garcia shows up is so awkward and uncomfortable.
All the jokes and winking he does with the underage girls is so hard to watch.

Plus Sofia and her flirtingwith him and saying “Oh I was 8 and you were 15”
Blecchhh.
It also seemed like she was trying to channel Mae West with her weird speaking pattern and her lip curl.

Ugh, I so dislike the beginning of the movie.
The thing with the guy imitating the trumpet and the family singing that song.
It was all so forced and not organic even a little bit.

 

[PMF]

With just finishing my first viewing of “The Godfather CODA: The Death of Michael Corleone”, I have walked away feeling far, far better about the trilogy as a cohesive and structural whole. I, for one, was fascinated by this new edit and found it to be a completely rewarding experience.

 

[willyTass]

Great to see Francis has lost all the excess weight. Salud !

very classy sub-titles. Easy to read and elegant.

 

[willyTass]

“ but we need 4k resolution to capture all the detail of 35 mm film ...”

 

[Britton]

Yeah, watching Coda on my recently calibrated LG C8 65“ was a revelation. Maybe ignorance is bliss but I didn‘t miss 4K or HDR. Time to give GF and GF2 a spin. I think I’ll feel very much the same. It’s going to take a RAH 5/5 to consider upgrading in 2022 or whenever the Trilogy gets a 4K HDR release.

 

[bujaki]

It’s great and who new Sophia would be giving us Ivanka, Sicilian style!! She’s perfect!

To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, capo is a capo is a capo.

 

[lark144]

To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, capo is a capo is a capo.

She may be an aspiring capo, but for me, there's way too much da capo in her performance.

 

[Nick*Z]

Spoilers ahead.

The Godfather III isn't quite the lemon most everyone has branded it as ever since its release. Tragically, the new 'cut' isn't an improvement so much as just a different movie. Not sure why Coppola insists its a new ending. It's a truncated ending - minus the two flashbacks of the aged Michael, one dancing with Apollonia, his first wife who was killed with a car bomb in Palermo in Part I, and the second, with Kaye, during Anthony's confirmation party in Lake Tahoe in Part II.

So, the score gets foreshortened and the screen fades to black prematurely before Michael keels over and dies. There's nothing 'new' about this finale. As for the 'new' opener - Coppola has merely put a scene that once took place approximately 40 minutes into the movie and moved it front and center. But the cut from this scene to Michael's after party after his being awarded the Order of St. Sebastian doesn't make any sense at all now. When was he given this award? We've lost the 'ceremony' that helped to establish Kaye's reluctant return, along with her second husband, and a close up to establish Sophia Coppola and Franc D'Ambrosio as Michael's adult children, Mary and Anthony respectively.

Image quality is much improved on CODA over PART III, but the loss of these aforementioned moments hasn't really tightened up the narrative so much as to suggest Coppola just felt like he had the right to tinker with his red-headed stepchild, hoping a new dye job could make it over as a brunette or blonde. Never having 'hated' Part III - though hardly loving it as much as the first two movies, it's still the same story with the same shortcomings as before - with the added detriments already noted above.

 

[Bartman]

I've only seen Coda streaming in HD from Prime. It was a struggle to get the picture to look 'right' on my LG B8 55". First I had to raise the black level then change from ISF(Dark) to ISF(Bright), still not a great picture, hopefully this is due to aggressive compression. I already have Godfather III on Blu-ray, that was such a big improvement over DVD, some day I'll buy Coda on Blu-ray when I have an itch to see it again.

 

[TonyD]

I've only seen Coda streaming in HD from Prime.

You rented it from Prime Video?

 

[Bartman]

You rented it from Prime Video?

Yes!

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I'm intrigued.

Guess I may have to buy the BD afterall... even though I'd probably re-dip on the set if/when it comes out in 4K.

_Man_

 

[ghostwind]

Watched it last night. The transfer is better, that's all. I prefer the original cut. I always get duped into these revisionist or director's cuts, yet I can't think of a single film where I actually preferred the revised or director's cut. I hope when they release the 4K discs, they include the 1990 version, not this mess.

 

[Noel Aguirre]

Watched it last night. The transfer is better, that's all. I prefer the original cut. I always get duped into these revisionist or director's cuts, yet I can't think of a single film where I actually preferred the revised or director's cut.

Cotton Club?

 

[PMF]

[...]
I always get duped into these revisionist or director's cuts
[...]

Only film, and film alone, can get duped.

 

[B-ROLL]

This is currently on sale at Target for $13.00 - not including the 20% Circle discount .