Review of Godfather Trilogy, The: 5 Disc Box Set

Introduction

Taking a retrospective look at "The Godfather", it is difficult to see how such an amazing production could ever not have become one of the greatest films of all-time. Directed by the eccentric Francis Ford Coppola, and brought to life on-screen by the likes of Al Pacino, James Caan, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Talia Shire and Diane Keaton, in hindsight it sounds like the multi-million pound blockbuster to end all multi-million pound blockbusters.

But when Francis Ford Coppola was first hired to direct the project, "The Godfather" was to simply be a made-for-television adaptation of a book by Mario Puzo. As luck would have it however, the book began to sell in strong numbers during the project, and it was decided that this was to be a cinematic release.

With this change though, came a change in thinking from the Paramount Pictures executives. If this was to be an adaptation of a best-selling book, it was said, it would require a well-known cast. That meant that Al Pacino - who had caught Coppola`s eye in the low-budget film "The Panic in Needle Park" - would be ousted from the role of Michael Corleone, with suggestions such as Warren Beatty, Burt Reynolds, and Robert Redford being voiced as replacements.

We can only thank the gods of film that eventually, the Paramount executives had faith in Francis Coppola!

To briefly surmise the trilogy of films, then: "The Godfather" is the tale of Don Vito Corleone (Brando), head of New York`s most prominent crime "family", who dispels an offer to become involved in the underground narcotics trade. This leads to an assassination attempt on the Don, from which point his youngest son Michael (Pacino) - previously disassociated from the family`s underworld existence - comes to the fore.

In "Part II", we discover how the young Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) arrives in New York from Sicily. From there, we see his life is paralleled with that of Michael, whom it seems is attempting to finalise a deal with the Jewish businessman Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg).

"Part III", set in 1979, centres around the ailing Michael`s continual struggle to make the family business completely legitimate. Despite this, he uses his influence to attempt to gain control of the Vatican bank. Meanwhile Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), Michael`s nephew, wants to be given his chance to prove himself the Don, but has also fallen in love with Michael`s daughter Mary (Sofia Coppola), who is also his cousin.

Video

Made in 1972, 1974 and 1990 respectively, these transfers are as good as the films have ever looked, although you would expect nothing less from DVD.

Being made within the space of two years, Part I and Part II look very similar. Both are presented in anamorphic widescreen (PAL), in their original aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The main issue with both of these transfers are that film artefacts are noticeably present, although aren`t disruptive to the enjoyment of the presentation. There are also certain scenes where the image appears too dark. The scene in Part II where Michael speaks with his mother is so poorly lit that you could easily interpret it as a transfer issue, but cinematographer Gordon Willis states that this was intentional, although he furthermore admits that he now considers this an error.

Sensibly, Part II has been spread over two discs, due to its long running time of 192 minutes. The lack of compression artefacts is a testament to the fact that this was the correct decision.

As you would expect, Part III (again, in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen) looks substantially better than the previous two films, with the image much less grainy. Whilst it still doesn`t astound, the image is typical of what you would expect from a film made in 1990.

Audio

For all three films, audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1.

Although the films` score by Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola (the director`s father) is excellent, and sets the mood wonderfully in all three films, the essence of this trilogy is in the wonderful story-telling, and not its flair. As such, there is little use of the surround speakers, and the subwoofer is only used in particularly explosive moments.

This is the case with all three films, although the audio on Part III is a little softer on the ear. This is not surprising given the 16-year age differential.

Features

I am delighted to say that fans of this trilogy have not been treated with the disdain shown to fans of "Rocky" or "Beverly Hills Cop", in that we have substantial extras here, directly related to each film. None of these are better than Coppola`s audio commentaries (there is one for each film), which are staggeringly informative, and probably enough for a short book! Never one not to have anything to say, Coppola is superb, and especially intriguing on Part I are the various stories of how close he was to losing his job, and in regards to the general turmoil that surrounded the making of the original.

The other two commentaries are also excellent, but definitely centre a little more on the film and cast itself. In no way is that a complaint.

There are almost too many other extras to mention here, so many so that they have been granted an extras-dedicated disc. The most interesting is called "Francis Coppola`s notebook", in which the director shows us how he prepared for the making of the first film, by cutting out the pages of the original novel and sticking them into a giant scrapbook, before making numerous annotations. An intriguing look into what must be one of the most attentive directors in the business.

There is an extensive deleted scenes package included, which is set out superbly in the form of a fictional timeline, all the way up to the death of Michael Coreleone, in 1979. Thankfully, before each scene plays, there is a short description of what you are about to see, and where this would have fit into the story. Lasting over 50 minutes and including 34 seperate scenes, this is a remarkable extra and all credit must go to whomever dug them from the archives.

"The Godfather Family: A Look Inside" is a documentary (70 mins) compiled in 1991 from various sources, taking a retrospective look at the making of the first two films, and bringing the viewer backstage on the third. Although the footage is very interesting, and includes some incredible screentest footage, the documentary is all over the place in terms of structure, to the point where you really just have to enjoy what is put in front of you, rather than worry about why it appears at a certain time.

"On Location" takes us on a short but intriguing walk through the real streets of New York that were used for the making of the first and second films. I am glad to say that the original production designer Dean Tavoularis is our guide, as he was a trusted associate of Coppola in his film-making hay-day.

"The Godfather: Behind The Scenes" is the original featurette made for the first film, which is interesting for the archive footage. "The Cinematography of The Godfather" is a short interview with Gordon Willis, who so often fought with Coppola, but without whom the film would likely not have been so well shot. "The Music of the Godfather" is, of course, dedicated to Nina Rota and Carmine Coppola, who worked together on the film`s music. Part one of this featurette is a discussion from 1972 between Coppola and Rota which Coppola recorded on cassette, whilst part two of the featurette is a focus on the director`s father. I can say no more other than I am astonished that such archive material exists.

Yet another featurette is provided in the form of "Coppola and Puzo on screenwriting", which is basically an interview edit in which Puzo speaks of how he wrote the original book, before Coppola chimes in on how the screenplays came to be.

Further to this, there are storyboard analysis from the latter two films, a Corleone family tree with information on each character and actor, the Oscar-acceptance speeches by Coppola and an odd introduction by Coppola to a made-for-TV re-edit of the original film. There is also a photo gallery, trailers for all three films, and biographies of the crew.

Phewwwwwwww!

Conclusion

In summary:

"The Godfather" is a superb film, brought to life by an awe-inspiring cast list, most of whom will forever be remembered for these particular roles. The screenplay is wonderful, as you would expect having been derived from the outstanding prose of Puzo`s novel, and the pacing is excellent, allowing for tremendous character development that is crucial to the remainder of the trilogy.

"Part II" is one of the very greatest films of all time, and my personal favourite, for several reasons. De Niro and Pacino both put in performances that would set the standard for the remainder of their careers, and it could certainly be argued that neither unveiled a finer performance than this. Also, now free from Paramount`s pressure, Coppola was able to command extra money for the making of the film, allowing for more impressive locations and visuals. This helped to back up an exceptional screenplay, interweaving several different stories over different time periods, with a finale which, in story-telling context, is thoroughly shocking.

"Part III" is often derided for being an unsatisfactory conclusion to the previous two masterpieces, but whilst it may be a step down, it is far from a dud. Instead, it simply lacks the heavy overlapping themes of the second film, instead centring strongly on the characters of Michael and Vincent.

With two genuine all-time classics in this 5-disc DVD boxset, and with a set of extras that will leave you open-mouthed, I have no hesitation in attributing accolades of the highest order to this compilation.

In fact, no collection is complete without it.