Any Serious Godfather fans out there?

I've read numerous accounts of Coppola saying that the Corleone's 'likability', and the general public's adoration for them, took him by surprise. And that this was the primary reason he 'darkened' the tale in general and Michael specifically in GF2.

 

I love I and II, III not so much. The first two are among my top 5 favorite movies of all time...pure storytelling and cinematic genius. I watch them frequently, every few months or so, and never tire of them.

I read the Godfather book over the holidays and also loved it a lot; some elements I could have done without (Lucy's 'makeover') but did like the added story about Johnny Fontane, his friend, and how Jack Woltz related to Fontane after giving him the part. Found it interesting to see how the return of Michael was worked out (the movie glossed over that point) and the overall added depth the book provided. Oh....you see how bad of a guy Luca Brasi is in it as well...

 

That is also a favorite scene of mine; love the contrast of them idly watching a game on TV in a normal, suburban way like millions of others do, and plotting some very nasty events. Very powerful scene...

 

we were in lake tahoe a couple of summers ago, and i wanted to see the 'compound, but is a private drive and private residence.

i was told everybody who was somebody, visited there back in the day.

 

I've read this too. Of course, as you suggest, only the Michael sections of the second movie actually were like that; if anything, the early Don Corleone parts offered an even more romanticized view of that life than the first movie, IMO.

 

Hi, my name's Ohnothimagen and I am a serious Godfather fan.

("Hi, Ohnothimagen!")

The first two films are quite possibly the greatest movies ever made. IMO. Part III's not bad, but it is definitely one of the more flawed films Hollywood has made. It could have been so much better.

I'd like to see a Part IV (preferably before Coppola croaks) concerning the mob war in the thirties they talk about in the first movie. The war where Sonny made his bones. With the right script and cast it could be decent...better than III at least.

 

I only recently got the BD Godfather Collection and it's a revelation for me. I honestly don't mind the coloring - it adds to the overall atmosphere for me. Maybe I'm being forgiving because of all the work Robert Harris et al put into it. Gordon Willis at least advised them on the overall grading scheme. I can't imagine a churned-out print looking this good, frankly.

 

I think the coloring is fine. Better than fine. It's great. I think we got so used to the colors being faded and washed all these years that it's a bit shocking when we watch the Blu Ray. In fact, when I first watched it with my wife, I wouldn't stop going on and on about Johnny Fontaine's linen jacket. You could see the fibers.

 

A massive new book from Coppola came out a couple months ago. I just got my copy and have just scratched the surface but so far its an excellent read.

https://www.amazon.com/Godfather-No...swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1484082835&sr=8-1

 

That looks seriously impressive. Thanks!

 

Oh, the coloring isn't a significant problem for me - it's not like I don't enjoy the movies. Crap, I've been beaten down so much by orangenteal that I'm amazed I even noticed!

I just still can't help but wonder if that really is how the movie's supposed to look. Maybe - probably? - but it's still kinda odd to me...

 

For all the knocks that Godfather III takes (undeservedly, IMO), I still think it has an amazing trailer.

 

I recall reading an interview when the Blu Ray came out suggesting this is exactly how it looked originally. Forget whether it was Copolla himself or the reviewer. I can try to find it. It was so stunningly different from what I was used to I couldn't believe it. I'm still amazed watching it.

 

Yes warm, and yes, very very cold. at times.

Fire & Ice.

 

Me and my wife watched the triology over a weekend before we got kids. It's the kind of movies you really should be in the right mood for. When that happens it is an amazing experience. III was pretty decent as I recall but I remember that the film looked more dated than the first two.

 

I like to watch the films in my bedroom ... where my wife sleeps ... where my children come to play with their toys.

 

Ah part 3....where do I begin? It suffers greatly from no Duvall. Sofia was terrible. Connie ordering hits? Nah...I don't think so. With the exception of the hit scene at the casino penthouse, i think it deserves all the criticism it gets. Maybe if it was just a stand alone movie, it would have been better received. But because it falls IMO so far short of the first two, it gets its knocks.

 

It definitely is stylized. In the special features they talk about consulting with Gordon Willis and his across-the-board yellow and red (if I remember correctly) push, to blow out the whites in the outdoor wedding, etc. In the restoration doc you can see quick shots of techs at the console where you see the unaltered shot and the color-timed one. The warmth and darkness have always been in my memory of the first two films so I'm OK with it.

 

Yes, you're right. Some criticism is valid, but it's the hatred and dismissal of the film by many that I think is undeserved. There are things to admire. such as the performances of Pacino and Garcia, and I always enjoyed the third act a great deal. And then there's the very personal stamp from the director himself, who, by casting his daughter in the film to much controversy, added the subtext of failing one's children to both the film itself as well as in real life. Now that I have a daughter of my own, that movie resonates with me even more than it did when I saw it as an 18-year-old in 1990.

 

Yeah, like I said, that may well be the original coloring. We've gotten so many movies with "altered" color schemes on DVD/BD that it's hard not to be skeptical...

 

Garcia? Pretty good.

Pacino? Awful, IMO. All bluster and "hoo-ahh" - no connection to the Michael of the first 2 movies.

Of course, the script lets him down, too. I can't believe that the Michael who turned on Kay the way he did in "II" would ever embrace her like he does in "III"...

 

I try to be objective when I see a film, but in the case of GF3 I had no chance. I loved the first two films and had seen them literally a hundred times each by the time 3 came along (an NBC broadcast of "The Complete Novel for Television" being one of the first things I ever recorded on a VCR, anti-defamation disclaimer and all. My college roommates and I played those tapes to death). I WANTED to like 3. Even when I went to the theater to see it, and knew darned well it wasn't very good, I STILL tried to talk myself into liking it and seeing its redeeming qualities. I've given the film every chance. I've probably seen it 15 or 20 times, one viewing as recent as last year. STILL trying to warm up to it. But to be objective, the film has way more wrong with it than it has to recommend it (IMO).

 

Yeah, agree. I actually liked "III" reasonably well back in 1991 but I saw its problems more clearly as time passed.

I do think it would enjoy a better reputation if it wasn't part of the "Godfather" series - for instance, I wouldn't be able to criticize the bizarre character changes because we'd have no prior experience with Michael and company.

It's still a flawed movie, though. Not very well-acted in general, clumsy storytelling, and just not especially interesting.

"III" was a cash grab and it feels like it...

 

Thanks for the quick impression. Since I like (rather than love) The Godfather this book feels like overkill for me. On the other hand, it has me written all over it. I have a very soft spot for books that document the creative process first hand. I have maybe a half dozen such collections devoted to the drafting process of various poets and can lose hours looking at the marginalia, cross-outs and tracing the thought process. [process, process, process. WC -ed.]

It's probably why I'm drawn to Dylan's Bootleg Series more than his main catalogue. Listening to a dozen studio takes of Dylan's "Visions of Johanna" (let alone the live iterations) breathes new life into the familiar. Similarly, I can imagine re-watching The Godfather after thumbing through the notebook even once would be enlightening (or at least refreshing). [necessary tangent? -ed.]

Anyhow, for others fighting a similar impulse to spend let me throw some temptation at you. Because I'm not a nice person (and in the last two months my heart has shrunk three sizes) [tone? -ed.]:


Auto-biographical side note: I actually like Godfather III. It's my least favorite, but it was the first one I saw. It came out when I was in college so on a free day I checked it out at the campus theater and it introduced me to its variety of epic pulp storytelling. Like most, I don't find it as re-watchable, engrossing or consistent but if you haven't yet then I highly recommend checking out its DVD/Blu-ray commentary, in which Coppola is refreshingly frank and at times forensically detailed in explaining intents, shortcomings, etc. without ceding responsibility or ownership of the film's noted problems. He doesn't come off as particularly revisionist or mawkishly apologetic. [relevance? -ed.]

[Not a bad first draft. Work on organization, unnecessarily abstract and haughty verbiage, some passive voice. Look for ways to reduce "I" statements and consider breaking up a few sentences for readability.]

 

Don't think that would've helped. The (over)acting and plot weaknesses would still be there. Without the GF imprimatur it's just another mob movie, not even a good one, and a box office disaster.