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The Godfather Blu-ray Disc Review

By karl ⋅ February 8, 2010 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

THE GODFATHER (1972, Blu-ray released February 2, 2010 - MSRP $39.99)

You don’t need me to review the story of The Godfather for you. Chances are, you’ve seen it and you already know that it’s Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece and arguably one of the best films ever made. The last scene of the film is one of my favourite movie endings of all time, and it still gives me chills after countless viewings.

The last time I watched The Godfather was when the Blu-ray box set was released last year and it was a revelation. The film is shot in such deep shadow that no VHS or DVD version was ever able to convey the cinematographer’s original intent, and that’s where this release really shines - lush detail mixed with the blackest of blacks to immerse the viewer in the authenticity of post-war America. There are a couple of scenes (notably the scene in the hospital with Enzo the baker) that look a bit grainy, but I’m pretty sure this is true to the original negatives and the lighting conditions at the time of shooting and, as such, as faithful a representation of the film as possible.

Having seen the Blu-ray edition of the film in the aforementioned box set, I was interested to see how the individual release held up. I sat down to watch it with Amy, who had never seen the movie before, and we dimmed the lights. It was actually more of a treat for me to see her reactions to scenes I’d seen a million times, and the fact that she stayed awake for the whole thing is a testament to Coppola’s honest storytelling and further indication of The Godfather’s lasting appeal.

The film is exactly the same as what I saw in the boxed collection - beautiful picture quality and sound - the best this movie will probably ever look. The only real difference between the two releases is the lack of any real Special Features on the standalone disc. There’s an audio commentary by Coppola, which is excellent and definitely worth a listen, but that’s it! The wealth of extras from the collected edition are gone. No more ‘making of’ featurettes (some of these were almost feature-length on their own!), no more talks with the writers and composers (my favourite features, showing footage of the creative process and real insight into the craft of filmmaking) and no more ‘family tree’ extras (an in-depth look at who’s who in the Corleone family). Sure, I could do without some of this stuff, but the featurettes would have been nice, especially as Amy was full of questions and hungry for more information following our viewing.

As a fan of the first film and less so of the sequels, I thought I’d be content to own this standalone disc, but due to the lack of additional stuff (and the quality of that missing stuff) I’d recommend that any fan of The Godfather just pick up the trilogy box set. It’s worth it - even if you never bother to crack open Part 3.

Tags: Abe Vigoda, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Francis Ford Coppola, James Caan, John Cazale, Mario Puzo, Marlon Brando, Paramount, Richard Bright, Richard S. Castellano, Robert Duvall, Rudy Bond, Sapphire Series, Talia Shire