The Godfather Boxed Sets

5 EXQUISITE  DVD DISCS

COLLECTOR ITEM HIGH QUALITY

It took a while to arrive, but Paramount eventually put out The Godfather DVD Collection, undoubtedly the studios most elaborate product when it was released. Was it worth the wait? In terms of the presentation of the movies, Id say no; these prominent flicks shouldnt look and sound as bad as they do here. However, the set excelled in terms of supplements, the focus of this review.

For full information on the individual movies, please consult my separate reviews of 1972s The Godfather, 1974s The Godfather Part II, and 1990s The Godfather Part III. Please note that the picture and sound grades found at the top of this article represent an average for the three movies. Please check out the full reviews to get the details.

Though this article covers the boxed set as a whole, I want to concentrate mainly on the packages fifth DVD. Called simply Bonus Materials, this disc includes a wealth of Godfather information.

All of DVD Fives pieces appear in different domains. We begin with Behind the Scenes, where we get a mix of video programs. Most significant of these is The Godfather Family: A Look Inside, a documentary about the trilogy. Created to accompany The Godfather Part III, this 1991 program runs 73 minutes and 20 seconds. It includes clips from all three films, footage from the various sets, and interview snippets with a mix of participants, most of which appear to have been recorded during the filming of Part III.

Although I found this to be a generally interesting documentary, the focus on Part III made it less effective. Roughly the first half of the program explored the genesis of the series and discussed Godfather and Part II. This was where the best material resided. We saw parts of Marlon Brandos original makeup test as Vito Corleone, Pacinos auditions, and even tryouts for others; we got to watch De Niro go for the role as Sonny, and both James Caan and Martin Sheet attempt Michael! All of this was fascinating to see, although it went by far too quickly.

Additionally, interviews added to the discussion of the first two films, and these provided some good information. Really, most of this material stuck with Godfather, and even then we heard mostly about the casting. Most of the shows second half dealt with Part III. Occasional tidbits about the other movies cropped up, and the program could be rather disjointed as it leapt between eras.

Admittedly, some of the information about Part III was interesting, and I enjoyed a lot of the shots from the set; a scene in which Garcia really chomps at Mantegnas ear is terrific. However, the concentration on Part III felt fairly superficial, and the program seemed like it mainly intended to promote that film. We didnt get a lot of insight into it, and the preponderance of film clips became tiresome. Overall, A Look Inside had some good moments, but it failed to become a truly engaging and informative piece.

Next we found On Location, a six minute and 55 second featurette that followed production designer Dean Tavoularis as he revisited the original shooting settings. Its moderately fun to get an updated look at these locales and to hear about how the areas were changed for the movie. The program also included some documentary footage shot for Part II, which added a nice layer of depth to the piece; its too bad more of this material didnt make the DVD.

Francis Coppolas Notebook offered a very compelling discussion of the directors preparation for the first movie. He took the Mario Puzo novel and extensively annotated it. During this 10 minute and 10 second program, Coppola goes through the notebook and mentions many of his comments. The piece particularly focuses on the scene in which Michael kills Sollozzo and the police captain, with additional information about the violence aimed at Apollonia and Vito. Its a terrific little featurette that provided some great information.

The Music of The Godfather gave us some notes about the two composers involved in the series. The section about Nino Rota comes from an audiotape Coppola made of a January 1972 meeting between the two men. We hear demo versions of many Godfather themes as well as some remarks from Rota and Coppola during this cool five and a half minute snippet. This was one place we could check out the unused Going to Los Angeles music discussed during Coppolas audio commentary for Godfather.

Another area talks about Carmine Coppola. In the three minute and 15 second piece, we see shots from a November 1990 scoring session conducted by Carmine, and we also hear comments from him and director son Francis. Its a superficial piece but I thought it was mildly interesting.

Coppola and Puzo On Screenwriting offered exactly what the title implied. During this eight minute and five second program, we find more Part III vintage interviews with Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo, and they went through issues dealt with for all three movies. Its a good discussion of the general concerns, and I was very interested to hear Puzos idea for Godfather IV.

During Gordon Willis On Cinematography, we got some insight into his photographic techniques for the three films. In addition to his comments - which included an admission that he may have made some parts of Part II too dark - we heard from fellow cinematographers Michael Chapman, Conrad Hall, and William A. Fraker in this three minute and 45 second featurette. Despite its brevity, I found this to be a very compelling little piece.

Two separate sections provided looks at Storyboards. For The Godfather Part II, we found a stillframe presentation that covered 24 boards, mainly from the scene in which Vito murders Fanucci. The boards from The Godfather Part III used more of an animatic format; a narrator described the filmed action, and some others acted out the parts during this four minute and 25 second piece. Its an interesting way to check out the material, which covered three different scenes but mainly focused on the break-in at Vincents apartment.

Lastly, we found The Godfather Behind the Scenes