The Godfather Collection (The Coppola Restoration) [Blu-ray]

First there was the book; then there were the movies. In 1972, three years after the publication of "The Godfather," Mario Puzo's runaway best-selling novel of the Mafia, Paramount Pictures released the movie "The Godfather," a film that would change the course and tone of gangster films forever. Two years after "The Godfather," came the sequel, "The Godfather Part II;" and sixteen years after that, the third and (to date) final sequel, "The Godfather Part III" was released. And nothing was ever the same again.I could spend countless paragraphs rhapsodizing about these three iconic films, and about how good I think they are. Suffice it to Say, "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II" are genuine masterpieces of filmmaking that rightfully deserve their spots on the American Film Institute's list of the "100 Greatest American Films of All Time." And while "The Godfather Part III" doesn't quite rise to the level of excellence as its predecessors, it is nevertheless a good movie.Over the years, I've owned home video versions of "The Godfather" movies in nearly every format - VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray. I make time at least twice a year to watch `em all. Until recently, I watched "The Godfather" films on my "The Godfather DVD Collection," a first-generation set of DVDs that marked the very first time these movies appeared together in this format. I expected the DVD versions to show a dramatic improvement in video and audio quality over the clunky VHS videocassettes, with their annoying 1.33:1 pan-and-scan aspect ratio, that I had previously used; and while there was some improvement, (most notably the correct 1.85:1 aspect ratio,) the DVDs were still a disappointment to me. I saw little difference in the overall quality of video or audio. I was especially irked by the fact that "The Godfather Part II was put on a "flipper" disc.Then, about a year ago, I discovered "The Godfather - The Coppola Restoration," a four-disc set with each of the three films on its own Blu-ray disc, and a fourth disc containing a wide range of fascinating bonus features. This set - commonly known as "The Godfather Collection" - was first released in 2008. It's a complete 4K digital remastering of all three films. Each of the movies has been meticulously restored frame-by-frame by director Francis Ford Coppola and cinematographer Gordon Willis. The results are astounding; colors are much brighter, images are sharper, the film grain is left intact, black levels are superb, there's no evidence of noise reduction or image enhancement, and the Dolby TrueHD lossless 5.1.soundtrack is totally immersive. Some Blu-ray purists will probably criticize the look of the films as not being "Blue-ray enough," but, in fact, these films now look exactly as I remember when I saw them in theaters forty years ago.I never tire of watching "The Godfather" movies. I saw them repeatedly in theaters, and they were among very first movies I purchased on VHS and DVD when those mediums became widely available to the general public. Now, with "The Godfather - The Coppola Restoration" on Blu-ray, I can proudly say I own the definitive collection of the three most iconic and influential greatest gangster films of all time. I'm sure it will remain one of my most often viewed trio of movies in the years to come.

The Godfather saga is one of the most popular movies about a crime family that have ever been created. Indeed, it is truly an “epic masterpiece” of film making by Francis Ford Coppola. This trilogy tells the story (The Godfather 3 movie collection) of a crime family, headed by Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando.The first movie in this trilogy begins with the wedding of Vito Corleone’s daughter, (Connie). While the large outdoor celebration party is going on, Vito Corleone is meeting with various people. This is our first introduction into the Sicilian tradition of granting requests of anyone asking a favor on the day of a daughter’s wedding. This incredible movie stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duval. There is plenty of intrigue, suspense, vicious revenge scenes in this movie. This short review cannot due this justice to this amazing movie.The second movie is in my opinion is even better than the first one. In this fantastic film we are exposed to the early years of Vito Corleone when back in Sicily his father, brother and mother are killed by the local crime boss. It shows the young 9 year old first coming to America with the statue of liberty in the background. It truly had to be a heartfelt moment for immigrants coming to America. It also follows his development as a young man and how he becomes the respected head of a crime group beginning with the opening of an olive oil business to cover other criminal activities. This excellent movie stars Al Pacino, as Michael who now heads the Corleone family, Robert DeNiro playing the young Corleone, with Robert Duval and Diane Keaton.The third movie does not come up to the same level as the Godfather 1 and 2; nevertheless, I personally also love this movie. In this final saga Al Pacino plays the aging Michael Corleone, as he is still attempting to make the Corleone family business completely legitimate. The crime bosses of the other families want to pull the Corleone back into the seedy criminal business. They are not happy and in an attempt to clear things up with everyone sets up a meeting to set things right. He gave each of the other crime family heads a check except one. This movie has a very sad ending but completes the crime family saga.If you loved the Godfather trilogy at the movies, you may want to get this 3 film DVD collection. Even though I had seen the three movies in the past I really enjoyed viewing them again in this DVD set.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Tactical Principles of the most effective combative systems).