The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration

This double-dip of American’s greatest crime drama is an offer some will refuse. True, Godfather I and II have been polished by digitally removing dust and damage that littered the original negative and the 2001 DVD. The 1972 classic especially benefits from restoration, which sharpens Gordon Willis’s brooding, magnificent cinematography. Meanwhile, 1991’s Godfather III features deeper blacks and colours more consistent with its Oscar-winning predecessors. All three films have never looked finer on DVD. Like the 2001 box, the Restoration spans five discs. Thankfully, the 200-minute Godfather II now runs on a single DVD instead of two. All the bonus features, plus Coppola’s audio commentaries from 2001, are carried over, joined by an entirely new disc of extras spanning two hours. However, these features recycle old information and offer too much fluff. In the featurette "Godfather World,” celebs like Alec Baldwin gush endlessly about how great the Godfathers are, while David Chase surprises no one, waxing about the Corleones’ influence over The Sopranos. The praise continues in "The Godfather on the Red Carpet,” which strings together a number of empty superlatives from the cast of Cloverfield at their premiere. Among the "Four Short Films on The Godfather,” David Belzer recites snatches of Corleone dialogue. Again, it’s cute but disposable. The best featurettes are technical in nature: "When The Shooting Stops” spotlights editors such as Walter Murch, who recall the struggles of piecing together three epic films. "Emulsional Rescue” takes us through the yearlong restoration process. Though full of jargon, it’s fascinating to watch. "The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn’t” does a decent job of describing the Hollywood climate of the early ’70s (sagging box office, corporate takeovers) but offers nothing new to die-hard fans. A better inclusion would’ve been "The Godfather and The Mob,” a 2006 British TV special that revealed the surprisingly close relationship between the real-life Mafia and the filmmakers. A more glaring and unforgivable omission is the Godfather Epic or Godfather Trilogy. Released on out-of-print VHS sets in 1981 and 1992, respectively, these Godfathers present the first two films cut in chronological order, opening with a young Vito Corleone escaping Sicily at the turn of the century and closing with Don Michael (Pacino). Both sets included several scenes not found in the theatrical releases (though some are included on the bonus DVD). Bottom line is you’re paying $76 for one very mixed DVD of bonus features and cleaner versions of the three films. While technically inferior, the 2001 transfers are still enjoyable to watch. Coppola and Paramount should’ve taken a cue from last year’s Blade Runner deluxe box and included the Epic in this package. Or will that be on the next Godfather reissue?