The Godfather: The Complete Epic (extended, chronological version)

I'd like to hear people's thoughts on this. It's the first two Godfather films, re-edited by Coppola into chronological order, with about an hour of extra footage included, most of it excellent.

It was shown on HBO the other day in pristine HD (I have rather worn down VHS copies of it from the late 1990s).

I'm kind of ambivalent about it. On the one hand, I love the structure of The Godfather Part II, with its parallel storytelling, which is obviously lost here.
But on the other hand, the restored footage really adds shade to the characters, not least Sonny, who was always the least developed of the three sons, in my opinion.

What do you think? Interesting curio, or sacrilege?

Thargor

I was planning a rewatch but I think Ill give this a go instead, thanks.

Chain Smoker

Does it focus at all on Sonny's giant dick? The films didn't cover that part of the novel enough.

Chain Smoker

Chain Smoker wrote: »

Does it focus at all on Sonny's giant dick? The films didn't cover that part of the novel enough.

Ha ha, no. An alternate title for it is The Godfather: A Novel for Television, but it isn't quite the complete novel in that sense.

saintsaltynuts

Don't like watching the two tact together.I love the part II though..who doesn't.

WHIP IT!

Thargor wrote: »

I was planning a rewatch but I think Ill give this a go instead, thanks.

Ditto... I'm not sure about "messing" with such a classic, in a way, but it's certainly got my attention... tip of the hat to the OP

MfMan

saintsaltynuts wrote: »

Don't like watching the two tact together.I love the part II though..who doesn't.

It might be absolute sacrilege but I've always felt GII might be better off without the De Niro interludes. Yes, they provide a backstory for Don Vito, his rise and where he came from. However, I think they interrupt the flow of the main thread, detracting form the overall and making it a bit flabby. Pacino's story, his gradual descent into outright wickedness, would have been powerful enough on it's own to carry the film. (The scenes between he and Strassberg/Roth are electrifying.)

Sad Professor

MfMan wrote: »

It might be absolute sacrilege but I've always felt GII might be better off without the De Niro interludes. Yes, they provide a backstory for Don Vito, his rise and where he came from. However, I think they interrupt the flow of the main thread, detracting form the overall and making it a bit flabby. Pacino's story, his gradual descent into outright wickedness, would have been powerful enough on it's own to carry the film. (The scenes between he and Strassberg/Roth are electrifying.)

I was just about to say the opposite: that Part II is rendered mostly redundant without the Vito flashbacks. Once you put them in chronological order, you might as well end the story with the door closing at the end of The Godfather. The flashbacks in Part II provide a crucial contrast with Michael's descent from being a version of his father, a lovable monster who did terrible things in the name of his family, to being a monster beyond all redemption who destroys his family. It's this juxtaposition that justifies the second film as being part of the saga. Without the context of Vito's rise to power, i think Part II wouldn't feel like Part II. It would just be a bloated, unnecessary sequel in which Michael gets even worse.

Frank O. Pinion

This was...fantastic. It feels like a much more epic story this way, not just because of the 7 hour runtime. I prefer Part I to Part II anyways, but having De Niro's scenes first gives a much better narrative to the story. If you were watching the trilogy for the first time, you're always comparing De Niro to Brando, and his impression of a younger Godfather. But in this version, you get to see De Niro's interpretation of the character first, then Brando's older version, which I feel flows much better.

faceman

Ooh extra footage. I have the chronological edition on VHS somewhere.

They really don't make films like this anymore.

Part I was always my favourite.

MadDog76

The Godfather was my introduction to film, it was the first "grown-up" movie I watched and they still remain my favourite movies of all time ......... I even love The Godfather Part III.

The thing is, the first time I saw The Godfather it was The Complete Epic version (think it was called The Godfather Saga back then) which my Father had recorded on VHS when it was on television back in the 90's ......... for years I thought that was the one & only original version!!
So imagine my surprise as a teenager when I bought The Godfather boxset and watched the two separate movies ........... I was so confused!! "It's actually two movies???". This makes no sense at all!!!"
"Where's the scene of Genco on his deathbed?". "Where's the Make Your Bones scene?".
In fact, there were so many deleted scenes added to the Saga version that I genuinely thought (when viewing the original versions) I'd bought a badly edited pirated copy ........ from Golden Discs!!!

Now, as an adult, I love The Godfather Trilogy as three separate movies ......... but I'll always have a soft spot for the extended chronological version that introduced me the The Corleone Family, and to the world of film in general, when I was barely into my teens.

Ultimately, I do prefer The Godfather and The Godfather Part II in their original, separate forms, and Part II especially, with its parallel storytelling.

Much of the restored footage in The Godfather: The Complete Epic is excellent – head and shoulders above most deleted scenes – but it also loses some of the greatest scenes of the series, such as the transition between Michael kissing his son Anthony and telling him that ‘some day’ he will help Michael, to a 25-year-old Vito Corleone watching Sonny in his crib in New York, while Nina Rota's wonderful music is playing.

Such a beautiful moment!

Mesrine65

I watched this over the last couple of evenings (7+ hours long)

Basically it's the first two Godfather films re-edited together in chronological order with additional footage added.

Being a fan of the original two offerings, I have to say I enjoyed the chronological order & would recommend a viewing.

It got me thinking though...who is your favourite character in The Godfather saga & why?

For me it was Buscetta, a professional assassin & Michael Corleone's bodyguard.

One of the native Sicilians who was brought to the United States by the Corleone family & a man of few words who was known to carry out Michael's orders with brutal efficiency & remained at his boss' side at all times.

WHIP IT!

While we're at it... RIP to Abe Vigoda (Tessio) who died toward the end of January, aged 94... played a great character very well.