| The Godfather - The Coppola Restoration Giftset (The Godfather / The Godfather Part II / The Godfather Part III) [Blu-ray] | ![The Godfather - The Coppola Restoration Giftset (The Godfather / The Godfather Part II / The Godfather Part III) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ek%2BlM5IIL.jpg)
| Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Actors: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $124.99
Buy New: $48.99
You Save: $76.00 (61%)
Buy New/Used from $48.99
Avg. Customer Rating:   (66 reviews)
Sales Rank: 137
Format: Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Blu-ray
Running Time: 840 minutes
Number Of Items: 4
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 5.4 x 0.8
MPN: PARBR138644
UPC: 097361386447
EAN: 0097361386447
ASIN: B000NTPDSW
Release Date: September 23, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
THE GODFATHER: Popularly viewed as one of the best American films ever made, the multi-generational crime saga The Godfather (1972) is a touchstone of cinema: one of the most widely imitated, quoted, and lampooned movies of all time. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino star as Vito Corleone and his youngest son, Michael, respectively. It is the late 1940s in New York and Corleone is, in the parlance of organized crime, a "godfather" or "don," the head of a Mafia family. Michael, a free thinker who defied his father by enlisting in the Marines to fight in World War II, has returned a captain and a war hero. Having long ago rejected the family business, Michael shows up at the wedding of his sister, Connie (Talia Shire), with his non-Italian girlfriend, Kay (Diane Keaton), who learns for the first time about the family "business." A few months later at Christmas time, the don barely survives being shot by gunmen in the employ of a drug-trafficking rival whose request for aid from the Corleones' political connections was rejected. After saving his father from a second assassination attempt, Michael persuades his hotheaded eldest brother, Sonny (James Caan), and family advisors Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) and Sal Tessio (Abe Vigoda) that he should be the one to exact revenge on the men responsible. After murdering a corrupt police captain and the drug trafficker, Michael hides out in Sicily while a gang war erupts at home. Falling in love with a local girl, Michael marries her, but she is later slain by Corleone enemies in an attempt on Michael's life. Sonny is also butchered, having been betrayed by Connie's husband. As Michael returns home and convinces Kay to marry him, his father recovers and makes peace with his rivals, realizing that another powerful don was pulling the strings behind the narcotics endeavor that began the gang warfare. Once Michael has been groomed as the new don, he leads the family to a new era of prosperity, then launches a campaign of murderous revenge against those who once tried to wipe out the Corleones, consolidating his family's power and completing his own moral downfall. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winning for Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay, The Godfather was followed by a pair of sequels. THE GODFATHER PART II: This brilliant companion piece to the original The Godfather continues the saga of two generations of successive power within the Corleone family. Coppola tells two stories in Part II: the roots and rise of a young Don Vito, played with uncanny ability by Robert De Niro, and the ascension of Michael (Al Pacino) as the new Don. Reassembling many of the talents who helped make The Godfather, Coppola has produced a movie of staggering magnitude and vision, and undeniably the best sequel ever made. Robert De Niro won an Oscar; the film received six Academy Awards, including Best Picture of 1974. THE GODFATHER PART III: One of the greatest sagas in movie history continues! In this third film in the epic Corleone trilogy, Al Pacino reprises the role of powerful family leader Michael Corleone. Now in his 60's, Michael is dominated by two passions: freeing his family from crime and finding a suitable successor. That successor could be fiery Vincent (Andy Garcia)... but he may also be the spark that turns Michael's hope of business legitimacy into an inferno of mob violence. Francis Ford Coppola directs Pacino, Garcia, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Eli Wallach, Sofia Coppola, Joe Montegna and others in this exciting, long-awaited film that masterfully explores the themes of power, tradition, revenge and love. Seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.
Amazon.com
On the DVD People used to say this was Frank Sinatra's world, and the rest of us just lived in it. After watching the multiple special features in the box set The Godfather - Coppola Restoration, one might conclude it's actually time for a cultural and historical revision: This is the Corleone family's world. The rest of us better tread lightly. Actually, the point of the half-dozen or so features crammed onto a disc accompanying the beautifully restored The Godfather, The Godfather II and The Godfather III, is that The Godfather movies have penetrated popular culture in such a deep and meaningful way that they are second-nature to everything. David Chase, creator of and writer on The Sopranos, for example, describes in the featurette "Godfather World" that his hit HBO series was intended to be the story of the first generation of mobsters actually influenced by Francis Ford Coppola's hit trilogy. Joe Mantegna calls the three films "the Italian Star Wars." (Mantegna co-stars in The Godfather III.) Alec Baldwin says no matter what one is doing, one is compelled to stop and watch the films if they're on television. Richard Belzer calls the films "a religion." And so on. A number of people similarly testify in "Godfather World" to the importance and ubiquitousness of The Godfather and its sequels in American life. There's no point in arguing, so its best to move on to the other featurettes, including "The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't," reviewing in detail much of what has been said about Paramount's mistreatment of Coppola, about casting fights (Steve McQueen as Michael?), about the studio's assumption they were getting a quick-and-dirty B-movie, and about producer Robert Evans' determination to keep his choice of director and unlikely actors under his wing. Fresh information within the special features, however, begins with "? When the Shooting Stopped," a fine study of post-production on The Godfather, with several surprising and fascinating facts. Among emerging details is an explanation of why Michael Corleone's scream toward the end of The Godfather III is silenced out. (Hint: it was meant to be the inverse of a sound effect in the first movie.) "Emulsional Rescue: Revealing The Godfather" talks about the painstaking work of restoring the first two films, beginning with a phone call from Coppola to Steven Spielberg (after the latter's DreamWorks studio became part of the Viacom family) asking if he'd request money from Paramount for restoration work. "The Godfather On the Red Carpet is a negligible series of fawning statements about the movie from hot young actors, while "Four Short Films" are brief and enjoyable takes on different aspects of The Godfather's impact on modern living. --Tom Keogh
Stills from The Godfather - The Coppola Restoration Giftset (Click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 61 more reviews...
 Fertile imagination. January 5, 2009
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
THE GODFATHER (1972) was clearly ahead of its time, when it was
released, from its many aspects and from its 3 hour duration, much
can be said of it, mostly about Mario Puzo's imagination and
personality.
First, many will be critical of Puzo's opinion that Italian
civilization is the peak in human achievement, comprising wine from
grapes, olive oil, a peak in culture development comprising
sophisticated music, cuisine, high standard of etiquette, complex
marriage, baptism, funeral rites and ceremonies, multi-generational
households with grand parents and grand children living under the
same roof, etc. As such, this movie is an emotional outburst and a
shout to the world " I love Italy" which is not suprising, for an
Italian book author.
Secondly, in addition to the tribalism, another weakness is the
nostalgia expressed in the movie, such as being 21 years old again,
finding a spouse, entering adulthood and marriage, with all the
pressures that entails, the joy of Christmas and the family, etc.
This generosity by Puzo is in a part a gift to the feminine viewers
in providing entertainment, by underlining the personal, intimate
aspects of relationships, emotions, the birth of children, schools,
playgrounds, etc. But it shows that a man is multi-dimenensiol.
Clearly it is unrealistic to suggest that most or many Italian
Americans originate from cow pasture, bare mountain spots in Sicily,
from poverty stricken villages. In fact, Italy was and still is one
of the most prosperous nations on the Earth, and only a tiny fraction
of its population emigrated, the rest staying behind, most with full,
natural lives, obviously.
Thirdly, the movie shows a reluctance or a hesitance in the Italian
ethnic members in USA, in integrating into the mainstream culturally,
behaviorally, socially, such as, for example, in terms of the
sexually liberal conduct typical of American. Puzo transposes his
own reluctance in letting go of his European and Old World beliefs
and values vs. present day-to-day society in USA. This is not
realistic, as 2nd or 3rd generation immigrants, for the most part,
lose all notion of their ancestors' language, cuisine, traditions,
ceremonial requirements, religious behaviors, etc, and that includes
Italian-Americans, clearly fully joining the mainstream.
Those aspects are only liablilities for those who do not descend from
Roman European countries, while for those who do descend, they are
curiousities, and paradigms, interesting observations.
The positives of this movie, is the full spectrum of emotions, wide
range of experiences shown that comprise a human being ... the film
does require 3 hours to show those and does it well.
A surprising suggestion from Puzo, is that a Santa-Claus twin existed
in the USA at the turn of the 20th century, handing out favors, jobs,
contracts, promotions, justice as he saw fit, and people would turn
to him endlessly as if he was a witch doctor solving those ills that
nowhere and nobody else could solve, such as through the justice
system, a capitalist market, the responsible, good citizen conduct
from people at large. This is played by Marlon Brando, to perfection.
Another strength is the courage of the story in reflecting problems
at large, such as corrupt law officers, judges, politicians,
manipulated unions, personal animosities in companies that result in
rivals being left in the dust for trivial slights of ego, gambling,
prostitution, drinking rackets, etc, with the narco-trafficking on
the horizon, and the Las Vegas scene in its infancy.
Perhaps the most significant statement, in the movie, is Puzo
shifting from the early chest-pounding of Italian-Americanism, who
can do no wrong, mid-way through the movie, as he focuses on the
inter-gang fighting among various crime bosses and gangs for
territory, each set on monopolizing the market, with betrayals,
traps, strategic maneuvering behind the scenes, and gang-banging.
Puzo's wisdom, as well, is his notion that corrupted individuals are
not permanently bought, nor would they provide unlimited protection
or favors once bought. Brando is shown calculating mentally how far
his powerful personal contacts could go in supporting various types
of mobster projects, this skill having taken him to the top of the
NYC underworld over many years, in addition to skill in reading
psychologically his opponents intentions from assessing them when in
their presence.
James Caan's character, according to Puzo, suggests a temperament, a
propensity to libidinous and hotheaded behavior that is not typical
of most Italian-Americans, which seems to stereotype needlessly the
latter group, as he's shown as having been an adopted son.
Overall, the movie is outstanding from the point of view of creating
tension, suspense, surprising viewers with the turn of events, in
connecting with viewers, showing culturally the struggle of Italian
Americans in leaving behind the civilization learn in the so-called
Old World as they take their space on the American continent. The
mature subject will be difficult to take for many, such as brutality
from guns and car bombs and the taking out of fellow human beings as
mere pieces on a chessboard.
I Love this set!!! January 2, 2009
First off I have to say the restoration is superb for such an old film. I have a 60" Sony 1080p, PS3, and a High end 7.1 Pioneer Home theater. So I can tell you that this both looks and sounds better then I ever remember it. If your a fan of the Godfather and you don't have the collection on DVD. Then this is a must buy! If you do have the collection on DVD you still might consider upgrading, I would. The only thing I want to comment on is the case itself. It's very hard to get the disks to pop out, I feel like I am going to break them every time and it concerns me. Still a must buy!
Legend Movie in Future Technology December 26, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
if they release it in new dvd technology i will buy it.... the movie is the best and the blu ray is crazy crazy i loved it
 Quality is not of Blu Ray Standards December 26, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
The movie is 5 star. But I am rating the Blu Ray version, not the movie itself. Unless there is something wrong with my Blu Ray copy, then the God Father Blu Ray is not worth the money. Unlike other Blu Ray movies, where there is a significant noticeable difference in the quality of the Blu Ray version vs. non Blu Ray, I perceived no difference.
I am not saying that if you had both a Blu Ray and non Blu Ray version of the Godfather running side by side, that you would not be able to see a difference. Just that with other Blu Ray movies, the difference to me has always been clear with a Wow factor. No Wow with the Godfather Blu Ray.
I haven't watch Part II of the set, maybe it has improved quality.
Not worth the money for the package. This is the only Blu Ray I have purchased where I have been disappointed.
The Godfather collection December 24, 2008
I was very happy to see that the Godfather was released in Blu-ray. A perfect gift for someone...of the best movie ever. Great collection and I received it in a very timely manner.
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