Godfather Blu-ray Confirmed (1 Viewer)

[Geoff_D]

Just watched part 1 (us Britishers have finally got the boxset, minus the mono, natch). Amazing film, amazing presentation.

 

[Jari K]

I ordered this from DVDpacific to Europe:
$73.37
Air Mail: $9.47
Invoice total: $82.84

Also, they mark the lower value to the package, so no custom issues (hardly never from DVDp).

Also, $61.95 in Amazon.com:
Amazon.com: The Godfather - The Coppola Restoration Giftset (The Godfather / The Godfather Part II / The Godfather Part III) [Blu-ray]: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy Garcia, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, George Hamilton, Bridget Fonda, Sofi

Next time, choose the cheaper place when ordering.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

I just finished the set. I knew it looked good but didn’t know to what extent. So I opened my DVD set and tried the first movie. It was only then that I realized they have done an amazing job in restoration.

From the opening title the DVD starts with so many dirt and white spots. Also in the infamous long zoom scene I knew something was different. The contrast was so high that the white paper on the desk got all the attention.

In the restaurant scene the DVD image is so bad that there is a red flicker right before Pacino uses his gun. I have noticed they have smoothed cuts too.

Also it was a nice surprise to see our member Robert A. Harris on the disc!

Enjoyed Part III also and don’t understand the criticism it gets. Story wise I think the story is a perfect ending to the saga. Loved the ending and if everything looks kind of “off” and different in Part III, that’s good, shows things and time has changed. I would even go as far as saying without Part III, the Saga would have been suffering. The rise and fall of power is more interesting.

 

[John Hodson]

A few weeks ago, prior to my buying a BD player, I rewatched the 2001 SD disc of the first film, and, from a transfer point of view, I was appalled. I'd upped screen size considerably since my last viewing, and thus all the problems were magnified exponentially. Ughhh!

I bought the BD set today (Paramount's UK release), and, well, the 'wow factor' is well and truly present. Even after buying into Blu-ray, I wasn't wholly convinced that, for older films at least, I'd see that much difference over my Oppo DVD player.

Count me now as a convert. I don't think I've stopped smiling since I saw it.

And thanks Robert; I fully realise all the credit can't go BD's way - the restoration is just a terrific job of work.

 

[JediFonger]

just had some time to sit down and go through all 3 movies (not straight through) but zipped around to my fav. scenes (the violence . first thing is the logos and text in the beginning. they are so sharp it's like a BRAND NEW FILM! that to me, is a revelation. all 3 films look absolutely fantastic, i can't ask for anything better for Godfather trilogy =D. thanks robert &all involved in the restoration =D. it was truly a labor of luv =D.

 

[Jari K]

One good article (great photos!):
How they shot The Godfather | Mail Online

 

[John Hodson]

I watched this a couple of days ago and I'm compelled to pass on my admiration and sincere thanks to one Robert Harris (of this parish). Just a fantastic piece of work Robert and one that I'll revisit with genuine pleasure again and again.

 

[Brian Husar]

Just a tiny note. Unlike some I like restoration credits. I like to know the people that brought the films back to life. The simple question i'd like to know is why were there no restorations credits on The Godfather Part 3, and why was RAH's name not in the credit's on 3.

 

[Robert Harris]

While GF and GF 2 were full fledged restorations of films that could no longer be printed with quality results from original elements, GF 3 was not. From the beginning we considered GF 3 as a digital intermediate, creating the Director's Cut for the first time on film. While there was digital clean-up and the replacement of a few shots with cleaner production elements, it was in no way a "restoration." We felt that neither the use of the word "restoration" nor the addition "restoration credits" would have been appropriate.

Unfortunately, the use of the word has lost much of its meaning over the past couple of decades, with some taking the attitude that if a negative goes into a lab, is cleaned and the next print out has a bit less dirt printed through, that the film has been in some way "restored."

We disagree. Cleaning a negative or dupe, putting separation masters together toward the creation of a new printing neg, and simple digital clean-up do not "restorations" make, and we prefer to stay far away from the use of the word even if something is far more complex than a lab order.

RAH

 

[Patrick McCart]

I finally got into 1080p/BluRay a few weeks ago and this was one of my first picks to see in HD. Beautiful all over. It didn't look like anything digital was applied, but rather a miniature 35mm projection. I never thought the old DVD looked terrible since I assumed The Godfather was supposed to look murky and degraded. It's great to see how the look of the film corresponds with the story so well. The Sicily scenes are gorgeous. The darkest scenes are at the darkest moments of the story. This is one of the best films to use as a model for cinematography bringing out more of the story.

Besides all the love for the visuals, the restored mono track is awesome. I had to check a few times to make sure I didn't have the 5.1 track on since my rear speakers are out of comission for now.

So, thanks RAH, for saving another great movie and making sure it didn't get fiddled with to please those who want to show off their display instead of a faithful representation of the film.

 

[Reagan]

I too just finished watching the blu-ray of the restored version of The Godfather. Very nice. Kudos to all involved, including a certain restoration producer. One little detail that stood out was how good (and artistic) the subtitles looked in the Sicily scenes.

On a final note, I've always liked restoration credits when done in the same style as the regular credits (as was done here and on other movies like Bambi, Lady and the Tramp, and so on).

-R

 

[Robert Harris]

I'm pleased Patrick McCart recognizes the elegance of simplicity.......not getting motion confused with accomplishment. I had a hard enough time making people understand that when I was shooting these films. I'm delighted when someone looks, and actually sees that these films were Restored....not remade.....of course, I'm delighted when someone is looking at anything, as opposed to texting. I also have to thank Patrick for the recognition of visual structure as it relates to story telling..........

Thank you Patrick, that was very nice.

Gordon Willis

 

[Carlo_M]

Darn it all RAH, why not "remake" the film! We now know that Castellano priced himself out of #2 (with unreasonable rewrite demands for his girlfriend) as did Brando, so this would have been a perfect time to CGI both of them back into that movie!

And heck, we could've added Duval into 3 as well!

In all seriousness, great job on this set, it looks and sounds...perfect!

 

[Cees Alons]

Wow!


Cees

 

[Carlo_M]

Double wow. Didn't even realize that!

 

[TonyD]

yikes, quick ask him to become a part of the insiders section.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Wow, thanks for forwarding that! I think HT geeks have a duty to insist on films being presented on BluRay as close as possible to what's intended. What's great about this format is that the increased resolution and vastly better compression codecs prevent grain from looking weird like on too many DVDs. If we don't push for a "hands-off" approach on so-called "improvements", who will? Or at least studios could use the excellent "Lowry Processing" from DTS Digital Images, which avoids smearing images like a political campaign.

By the way, is there a 35mm re-release planned for the new restorations?

 

[Rob W]

The films played The Cinerama Dome in Hollywood last fall just before the restorations streeted and must have had a New York run as well. I have no knowledge of the format that was projected.
I know Paramount ran Part 1 in Toronto for two weeks at the same time but it was a 2k digital print of the restoration rather than a 35mm print. Paramount's Canadian branch only has 35mm prints of an earlier printing, pre-restoration.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

They ran new 35mm prints of I and II at the Brattle Theater here in Cambridge, MA. Unfortunately, I was out of town the weekend they showed them...grrr... but it's good to know that there are at least new prints floating around out there.

 

[Carter of Mars]

The restored 35mm prints will be playing at the Aero in Santa Monica later this month.

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