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The Godfather: Part II Blu-ray Disc Review

THE GODFATHER (1974, Blu-ray released February 2, 2010 – MSRP $39.99)

The Godfather: Part II Blu-ray DiscI have strong feelings about The Godfather: Part II and I’m not sure where to start talking about them.

First, I guess I want to address the popular opinion that it’s a better film than its predecessor. It is not. It is inferior in many ways; the story is at times confusing and unnecessarily convoluted for the sake of adding ‘intrigue’; the characters behave insincerely, their actions often in service to the movement of the plot rather than their own hearts, and the ending is weak and unsatisfying.

At its best (and it’s very, very good), the film is a thoroughly engrossing look at the lives of a father and his son. Their journeys to manhood are paralleled through a series of flashbacks, each man defining himself, in his own way, through family. But times are changing, as Michael tells his mother, and the concept of family may no longer be what he thought it was.

The portrayal of Michael Corleone in The Godfather: Part II seems overly melodramatic to me, and that criticism is aimed not at Al Pacino‘s performance, which is every bit as good as it was in the first film, but at the script. I get the impression that the entire story was orchestrated to culminate in Michael’s deplorable act at the end of the movie (I’m trying not to spoil anything for new viewers), which would be fine if that act was driven by any sort of believable motive. I can only surmise that Michael has been driven insane by the series of tragedies that have befallen him in his past, because nothing in his character justifies his eventual actions. It’s such an inelegant leap in reasoning that it makes the whole movement of the plot feel forced and unnatural.

As for the ending, I consider it weak only relative to the first film’s gut-punch of a closing scene. In theory, Part II‘s ending makes sense: I want to see father and son on screen together after watching their stories unfold and play off of one another. But Marlon Brando‘s not in this movie, and no amount of trickery is going to make up for that fact. His presence is required to make that scene work and without him it feels cheap and empty. I get it – they couldn’t get Brando and they did the best they could. But it’s still weak.

Whew. That’s a lot of complaining about what is, for all its flaws, an amazing movie. Where Michael’s story flounders, Vito’s story is magnificent; the scenes in old New York are riveting and every scene that Robert DeNiro is in is memorable.

The Blu-ray presentation is as beautiful as it was on the Godfather: Part I disc – everything is rendered in crisp detail, but the rich, velvety textures and deep blacks maintain the softness of film. We couldn’t ask for a better viewing experience than what’s offered here.

As with the previous disc, this one lacks almost all of the Special Features found in the Godfather Trilogy boxed set. All that remains is a director’s commentary track, which is a good listen, but if you’re a superfan and you want more behind-the-scenes stuff, you’ll have to go beyond these individual releases and buy the whole collection. In fact, even if you’re NOT a superfan but you just want to see the third movie you’ll have to spring for the boxed set because Paramount has no plans to release Part 3 on its own as they did for the first two. I guess I can’t fault their reasoning because, really, who goes out and ONLY buys Godfather: Part 3?

Nobody, that’s who.

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One comment for “The Godfather: Part II Blu-ray Disc Review”

  1. There is not one of these that I will ever miss. I love watching the Godfather.

    Posted by Darth Lightsaber | April 12, 2010, 9:45 pm

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