Amazon.co.uk Review
Throughout his long, wandering, often distinguished career Francis Ford Coppola has made many films that are good and fine, many more that are flawed but undeniably interesting, and a handful of duds that are worth viewing if only because his personality is so flagrantly absent. Yet he is and always shall be known as the man who directed the
Godfather films, a series that has dominated and defined their creator in a way perhaps no other director can understand. Coppola has never been able to leave them alone, whether returning after 15 years to make a trilogy of the diptych, or re-editing the first two films into chronological order for a separate video release as
The Godfather Saga. The films are America's very own Shakespearean cycle: they tell a tale of a vicious mobster and his extended personal and professional families (once the stuff of righteous moral comeuppance), and they dared to present themselves with an epic sweep and an unapologetically tragic tone. Murder, it turned out, was a serious business.
The first film remains a towering achievement, brilliantly cast and conceived. The entry of Michael Corleone into the family business, the transition of power from his father, the ruthless dispatch of his enemies--all this is told with an assurance that is breathtaking to behold. And it turned out to be merely prologue; two years later
The Godfather, Part II balanced Michael's ever-greater acquisition of power and influence during the fall of Cuba with the story of his father's own youthful rise from immigrant slums. The stakes were higher, the story's construction more elaborate, and the isolated despair at the end wholly earned. (Has there ever been a cinematic performance greater than Al Pacino's Michael, so smart and ambitious, marching through the years into what he knows is his own doom with eyes open and hungry?)
The Godfather, Part III was mostly written off as an attempted cash-in, but it is a wholly worthy conclusion, less slow than autumnally patient and almost merciless in the way it brings Michael's past sins crashing down around him even as he tries to redeem himself.
--Bruce Reid, Amazon.com
DVD Description
The Godfather Trilogy - The Coppola Restoration
The Godfather and The Godfather Part II fully restored including 5.1 stereo for the first time, with direct involvement from Francis Ford Coppola 5 discs box set, including 2 special features discs New Special Features: Godfather World The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't When The Shooting Stopped Emulsional Rescue - Revealing The Godfather The Godfather on the Red Carpet Four Short Films on The Godfather: GF Vs. GF Part II; Cannoli; Riffing on the Riffing; Clemenza Hidden Easter Egg: Cosa Nostra & Coppola Previously Available Special Features (also included) Director’s Commentary for all 3 films Behind the Scenes Additional Scenes Chronology The Family Tree Photo Galleries Theatrical Trailers Acclaim and Response Filmmaker Biographies
Synopsis
The Godfather Considered by many to be the greatest movie ever made, Francis Ford Coppola`s epic masterpiece features Oscar winner Marlon Brando as the head of the Corleone family. Coppola paints a chilling portrait of a Sicilian family`s rise and near fall from power in America, and the passage of rites from a father to a son who was previously uninvolved in the business. Godfather Part ll The Godfather Part II is one of the rare breed of cinematic sequels which is as good as, and perhaps better than, the original. Al Pacino heads the star cast as Michael Corleone, heir to the criminal empire established by his Mafioso father, the late Don Corleone.
The time is mid-1940s: Michael is now in charge of all gambling activities in Nevada, making certain that any and all political or mob enemies are quickly bought off, compromised, or disposed of. Throughout the film, Michael`s travails are paralleled with the early experiences of his father, played in flashbacks by Robert De Niro. The Godfather lll In the final installment of the Godfather Trilogy, an aging Don Michael Corleone seeks to legitimize his crime family`s interests and remove himself from the violent underworld.
Now in his sixties, 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 hopes of business legitimacy into an inferno of mob violence.
Product Description
Throughout his long, wandering, often distinguished career Francis Ford Coppola has made many films that are good and fine, many more that are flawed but undeniably interesting, and a handful of duds that are worth viewing if only because his personality is so flagrantly absent. Yet he is and always shall be known as the man who directed the Godfather films, a series that has dominated and defined their creator in a way perhaps no other director can understand. Coppola has never been able to leave them alone, whether returning after 15 years to make a trilogy of the diptych, or re-editing the first two films into chronological order for a separate video release as The Godfather Saga. The films are America's very own Shakespearean cycle: they tell a tale of a vicious mobster and his extended personal and professional families (once the stuff of righteous moral comeuppance), and they dared to present themselves with an epic sweep and an unapologetically tragic tone. Murder, it turned out, was a serious business.
The first film remains a towering achievement, brilliantly cast and conceived. The entry of Michael Corleone into the family business, the transition of power from his father, the ruthless dispatch of his enemies--all this is told with an assurance that is breathtaking to behold. And it turned out to be merely prologue; two years later The Godfather, Part II balanced Michael's ever-greater acquisition of power and influence during the fall of Cuba with the story of his father's own youthful rise from immigrant slums. The stakes were higher, the story's construction more elaborate, and the isolated despair at the end wholly earned. (Has there ever been a cinematic performance greater than Al Pacino's Michael, so smart and ambitious, marching through the years into what he knows is his own doom with eyes open and hungry?) The Godfather, Part III was mostly written off as an attempted cash-in, but it i
