The Godfather is about a power struggle between differing Mafia Families in the 1950s. Headed by Vito, the Corleone Family finds itself in a difficult position when Vito refused a request of favor from another crime Family. All hell broke lose, and in the midst of the chaos, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) emerged as the successor to take over the Family business. From father to son, Michael inherited his father’s wits and brutality, the “do what it takes” mentality to keep the Family on top of the food chain. The Godfather is 3 hours of goodness, with great acting, memorable script-writing, and cinematic goodness bundled into one. This is a must-watch for the dedicated film buffs, and the casual viewers alike.
Video – This blu-ray is considered the “Coppola Restoration” version. I’m assuming that it was his choice to crank-up the brightness level for this transfer. I am disappointed. Although, the DVD version wasn’t as crisp and sharp, it had better color palettes. The darks were very inky, but there was enough light to understand the scenes, it reminded me of certain Italian paintings. The black backgrounds, and shadows on the faces just made the film more grand. Now, Coppolla somewhow ruined it by making it too bright. Don Vito’s room is supposed to be dark, resembling the hearts and motives behind each men that occupies it. Now, we are left with seeing too much.
Like that wasn’t enough tinkering by the director, he also decided to add a yellow tint to the whole movie, making the skintones look flat and undesirable. With that said, in terms of clarity, the transfer itself is very good, too bright and yellow at times, but very good. Most frames are crisp and clear, especially for an almost 40-year old film, there are hardly any specks or dirt on the transfer. Either the film was very well preserved, or the restoration team did a great job cleaning almost every frame to perfection. There are scenes that are slightly fuzzy, mostly scenes that used long lenses. The close-ups are great, and more details are visible in the backgrounds. The little things like the brick walls, the door knobs, or the picture frames at the hospital brings a smile to my face. Considering the age of this film, the transfer is very well done. My biggest complaint is the brightness level and the yellow tint, but that is Coppolla’s fault. An easy fix for the brightness issue is to turn down the brightness level on your TV to get the levels back on track. But, the limey color is a bit irritating, and somewhat changes the experience.
Video: B-
Father to son talk.
Sound – The sound transfer is very good. I enjoyed the little details that I never noticed before, and I’ve seen this film many times. The most significant difference from the DVD version are the background noise, such as the echoing of the room, the footsteps, and the people talking in the back. The use of the sub-woofer is well balanced, it is heavier, almost like you can feel it under your skin. The dialogue is very nice and clear, when Vito whispers “Where’s Micheal?,” I thought I’d have to turn up the volume, but it came out perfect.
Sound: A-
Extras – Not much extras except for Francis Ford Coppola’s commentary. The commentary is a mixed bag, some of his comments are insightful, sometimes, not so much. He talks about how he gets ideas for certain scenes, like the wedding in the beginning, most of the ideas came from personal experience. Overall, the commentary is a good insight on how this classic came about.
Extras: B-
Overall – This is a good blu-ray; due to the age of the film, most of my complaints are forgivable, except for the yellow tones which was done intentionally. Seriously, it ruins the fleshtones. But, as a fan of the movie, I would still recommend this blu-ray if it’s under $15. The details that you will notice are remarkable, and will keep you glued to your TV for 3 hours. I just wished that Coppola hadn’t change the colors too much.
Overall: B-
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