The Godfather Collection [Coppola Restoration] [4 Discs] [Blu-ray]

Before Tony Soprano, Coppola's take on the rise and fall of mafia kingpin Michael Corleone really makes you cheer for the bad guy (granted, there are no good guys in these films). Pacino, Brando, DeNiro, Duvall and Caan are at their absolute best in this series, The digital restoration is pristine (both DVD and Bluray) and everyone involved should take a bow. "The Godfather" is to director/writer Francis Ford Coppola what "Star Wars" is to George Lucas (minus the obvious marketing opportunities). I actually discovered it rather late in life, at least 15 years after its release, and have been hooked ever since. I've purchased it in every form available including the VHS of the chronological edition (for those who aren't familiar, Part II bounces between events before and after Part I). A plus in the extras is hearing about Coppola's struggle to even get the movie made the way he wanted to and adding the influence of an Italian-American upbringing, without which this may have just been another one-shot gangster movie. It truly is a monumental creation and will be appreciated as such by anyone viewing it.

I heard great things about the Godfather. I have yet to watch these series, but I am glad to know it's one of the greatest classics out there.

Let's put this behind us: the Godfather was, is and will always be 'grainy'. It's just the way they were shooting movies THIRTY-SIX YEARS AGO. So, yes, it's a 36 year old movie and it looks its age. It's true, '2001' looks a lot better on blu but, apparently, that's the best that could be extracted from the existing Godfather negatives - there is an entire 'extra' that explains how the transfer was done and the sometimes painful choices the restorers had to make. The transfer is grainy all over. It's grainy all the time. The whites are grainy and so are the blacks. In the end, it does not really matter or it didn't matter much to me because it's better than anything I've seen yet. Moving beyond grainyness, the picture is steady like rock. I wasn't able to detect any major artifacts. The extra available on 'disk 4', showing the kind of work and the technology invested into this product convinced me that this is the best-looking Godfather except maybe the first screening at the Chinese theater in Hollywood that we are going to see in a long, long time. [A post blu-ray 'better' edition is possible in 10 years or so, when blu-ray is surpassed by a new technology, because the best negatives found were digitized on a resolution that's about 3 times higher than the current blu-ray.] No major complaints about the sound. It's TrueHD 5.1, it's clear but don't expect any surround effects. I doubt the original was even stereo. It was a little bit low-volume on my stereo but it's probably my equipment to be blamed. The extras on the 4th disk are actually worth watching. They are shot in HD

The Godfather is one of the greatest films ever made, period. That opinion is that of almost every individual that has experienced the film itself. This is an opinion I do no wholly agree with, as I see The Godfather as 1/3 of the story. The Godfather, to me, is films 1-3 operating as one whole. Being only 30 years old, I never experience the Godfather films as they we originally fed to movie-goers. My experience is watching the entire trilogy, back to back, as a whole and I have a hard time seeing these films working as well as standalone films. Most fans of the Godfather films feel that the third entry is the least compelling. This is another notion I disagree with. The third film is the perfect third act for a Shakespearian type tragedy, more-so like that of Macbeth in my opinion. This sentiment carries over to the first film as well, I don't see the first film being a better film than third. The Godfather is sum of all it's parts and must be seen as a whole to be wholly appreciated. I know many will disagree with a lot of what I have stated, but to each their own, and my Godfather experience is the epic that is the sage, the trilogy, and they should be seen as so.

A great (re)addition to the video library. Great transfer from film, a noticeable upgrade from the DVD collection. Sharp colors, crisp with much better details. 5.1 surround is a nice touch, not sure that I really noticed it, and confess I haven't watch them all the way through yet. Great bonus materials, although the deleted scenes (which are presented in chronological order, nice touch) are all in 4:3 and lower resolution. Truly two great films, with an admittedly over-long and meandering finale, but you have to wrap the story up. Enjoy!

One of the best American films ever made, the multi-generational crime saga The Godfather 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.

This has to be one of the greatest movies ever made. A story of power, greed and unshakeable allegiance to family. Everything about it was done to perfection. Highly recommend.

As I had already owned the VHS and then the DVD (two different releases) of the trilogy I was a bit hesitant to plunk down again for teh Blu-ray version. I read a few ohter reviews and decided to go ahead and shell out another $30 to see for my self. Indeed the restoration is stunning! The DVD releases did not do these masterpieces (1&2) justice. If you don't own at least parts one and two what is wrong with you. IF you do the restoration is worth buying it again. It was truly a pleaseure seeing these films restored to their full GREATNESS!