Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television (1977)
TV series • Crime, Drama
Cast: Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, James Caan, John Cazale, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Richard S. Castellano, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, Lee Strasberg, Gastone Moschin, Al Lettieri, Morgana King, Richard Bright, G. D. Spradlin, Tom Rosqui, Marianna Hill, Troy Donahue, Al Martino, Rudy Bond, Julie Gregg, Tere Livrano, Dominic Chianese, Joe Spinell, Maria Carta, Mario Cotone, Simonetta Stefanelli, Angelo Infanti, Franco Citti, Saro Urzì, Gianni Russo, Abe Vigoda, Lenny Montana, John Martino, Salvatore Corsitto, Alex Rocco, Tony Giorgio, Victor Rendina
Additional info
The original 1977 censored cut has never been officially released on home video. The 1981 cut and the 1990 EU cut are available on VHS. The 1992 Trilogy cut was released on LaserDisc and VHS. The 2012 and 2016 HD versions were broadcast on AMC and streaming HBO respectively but neither are available on either platform anymore currently. The Chinese 1080p blu-ray on the high seas is probably the most accessible and affordable way to watch it, (albeit with terrible compression) and appears to be a Webrip of the 2012 AMC HD tv broadcast. It’s on two BD-25 discs with lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and with subtitles for Sicilian dialogue.
About the series
A seven-hour chronological edit of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, expanded with over an hour of restored scenes to trace the Corleone family’s rise from Vito’s youth in Sicily to Michael’s reign in 1950s America.
- Alternative Titles
- The Godfather Saga, The Godfather Epic, The Godfather Novella, The Godfather: A Novel for Television, The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television, The Godfather 1902–1959: The Complete Epic, The Godfather: The Complete Epic 1901–1959
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
The Paramount 4K "restoration" is a desecration. It has completely revisionist color timing, harsh HDR, treatment of stock footage, bad encoding, selective DNR and grain management so bad that the entire screen frequently freezes up with only characters moving around in grain soup. It is so bad that the film's restorer Robert Harris publicly washed his hands of it saying essentially the 2007 restoration (with Willis and Coppola supervising) is how the film was intended and made. This is Paramount's modern version done their way. The new 1080p SDR Blu-rays in print are the crap 4K desecration master with the same problems still there just harder to spot and with crap encodes. Part II overall fares better than the first film but it has all the same problems. Randomly some shots are the worst in the trilogy looks mushy and manipulated to death.
The mono option is an unnecessarily processed version of the lossy mono from the 2008 Blu-ray. The 2008 Blu-ray of the 2007 Coppola Restoration while an imperfect outdated disc is LIGHT YEARS better than this 4K desecration. The only truly major issue is that it is very slightly redder than the 2007 finished master as seen on DCPs. The lossy mono on the 2008 Blu-ray is the best version of the original mix known to exist as it is better than the late 80's mastering for VHS and LaserDisc.
DFIC review of the hideous crap 4K Blu-rays: https://youtu.be/0uw6-Kcy_UA?si=ob1nDg0wTCvemjH0
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
2008 Blu-ray lossy mono
(Britain release only has 5.1)
The Paramount 4K "restoration" is a desecration. It has completely revisionist color timing, harsh HDR, treatment of stock footage, bad encoding, selective DNR and grain management so bad that the entire screen frequently freezes up with only characters moving around in grain soup. It is so bad that the film's restorer Robert Harris publicly washed his hands of it saying essentially the 2007 restoration (with Willis and Coppola supervising) is how the film was intended and made. This is Paramount's modern version done their way. The new 1080p SDR Blu-rays in print are the crap 4K desecration master with the same problems still there just harder to spot and with crap encodes.
The mono option is an unnecessarily processed version of the lossy mono from the 2008 Blu-ray. The 2008 Blu-ray of the 2007 Coppola Restoration while an imperfect outdated disc is LIGHT YEARS better than this 4K desecration. The only truly major issue is that it is very slightly redder than the 2007 finished master as seen on DCPs. The lossy mono on the 2008 Blu-ray is the best version of the original mix known to exist as it is better than the late 80's mastering for VHS and LaserDisc.
DFIC review of the hideous crap 4K Blu-rays: https://youtu.be/0uw6-Kcy_UA?si=ob1nDg0wTCvemjH0
1991 Home Video Cut: Paramount 2008 Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: Paramount 4K Blu-ray, but it has problems described below in the additional info section, and worse encoding than the Coda cut.
Coda Cut: Paramount 4K Blu-ray, but it has problems described below in the additional info section, and also has slightly better encoding than the Theatrical/1991 Home Video cuts on 4K.
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
LaserDisc for original mix
The Paramount 4K "restoration" is a desecration. It has completely revisionist color timing, harsh HDR, treatment of stock footage, bad encoding, selective DNR and grain management so bad that the entire screen frequently freezes up with only characters moving around in grain soup. It is so bad that the film's restorer Robert Harris publicly washed his hands of it saying essentially the 2007 restoration (with Willis and Coppola supervising) is how the film was intended and made. This is Paramount's modern version done their way. The new 1080p SDR Blu-rays in print are the crap 4K desecration master with the same problems still there just harder to spot and with crap encodes. Part III fares best of the three and these issues are at their most minimal-but they're still there. The new Coda version is given prominence with lesser encodes for the other two versions. The original mix was remixed into 5.1 decades ago and we have yet another version of this instead of the original Dolby Stereo SR as heard on the LaserDisc release.
The 2008 Blu-ray of the 2007 restoration, while an imperfect outdated disc, is LIGHT YEARS better than this 4K desecration. The only truly major issue is that it is very slightly redder than the 2007 finished master as seen on DCPs.
DFIC review of the hideous crap 4K Blu-rays: https://youtu.be/0uw6-Kcy_UA?si=ob1nDg0wTCvemjH0
Despite being restored alongside the Coppola Restorations of The Godfather: Parts I and II, the Part III restoration is not officially labelled a Coppola Restoration.
Sony 2022 Steelbook 4K Blu-ray
Sony 2022 Steelbook 4K Blu-ray for Dolby Vision, original forced subtitles, updated a few scenes (see caps), and a few new extras on the 4K Blu-ray disc.
Theatrical: Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray
Redux: Lionsgate vs Eagle Pictures?
Final: Lionsgate or Eagle Pictures
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Theatrical Cut: Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray
Redux Cut: Lionsgate vs Eagle Pictures?
Final Cut: Lionsgate or Eagle Pictures, both are not great (visible chroma noise)
Theatrical Cut: Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray > US Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical: Germany 4K Blu-ray/US Blu-ray DD 5.1 (1979 mix)
In the Lionsgate US/UK 6-disc set, there are 4 discs of the main feature. For whatever reason, the 4K discs lack the *original track. The Germany 4K Blu-ray release is different on this matter.
UBD: Final Cut: Atmos, DD2.0
UBD: Redux/Theatrical: Atmos
BD: Final Cut: Atmos, DD2.0
BD: Redux/Theatrical: Dtru5.1 (Redux mix?), DD5.1 (?), DD5.1 (Theatrical only), DD2.0 (downmix??)
As a result the Theatrical Cut has 4 tracks, The Redux has 3. Differences are unclear.
BD: Hearts of Darkness
BD: Special Features
More Crime on Blu-ray
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
The 4K discs in both Criterion and Imprint sets are low-passed even though encoded by FiM and has better contrast and highlights compared to Kino Lorber.
MGM DVD/Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray mono
Director: Brian De Palma
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Toshiharu Ikeda
UK Third Window Blu-ray and US Error 4444 Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Director: Arthur Penn
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the WB release without the filtering Comparison between the Criterion and WB.
5.1: WB 4K Blu-ray, a remix but has higher fidelity
Mono: Criterion 4K Blu-ray (restored for the box set)
Director: Michael Mann
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · thedigitalbits.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray is encoded by FiM and is better than Criterion, see caps https://slow.pics/c/Z2RRQAAT
Criterion 4K Blu-ray vs Blu-ray: caps colors are more different and nuanced than anticipated even in the SDR-converted caps and the usual gain in highlight detail is also apparent. Encode looks excellent except for the brightest areas as usual.
5.1/5.0 mix (essentially a 4-track mix in 5.1 and 5.0 containers respectively)-Arrow/Criterion 4K Blu-ray. Only imperceptible differences in bit-depth: 20 vs 24.
2.0 mix- Arrow 4K Blu-ray (original stereo)
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
US Magnolia BD
UK Entertainment One release contains directors commentary track
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Both come from a 4K scan of a 35mm film out which was made from the original 2K DI but the Lionsgate release has visible dust and damage marks while the Universal release is cleaned up more thoroughly. Both releases suffer from DNR which seems to have been baked into the DI. The colour grade is basically the same for both releases but the Lionsgate has Dolby Vision whereas the Universal is HDR10 only. The compression on the Lionsgate UHD base layer is apparently fine so the FEL doesn't make much of a difference.
The Lionsgate UHD has Dolby Atmos whereas the Universal UHD has DTS:X. Kick-ass was originally released with a 5.1 track which may be on the Universal Blu-ray.
The Lionsgate UHD is on a BD-100, the Universal UHD is on a BD-66.
The Universal UHD has no extras.
Director: Joel Coen
Director's Cut: Disappointing UK StudioCanal/US Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: LaserDisc or 2001 UK Universal DVD
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=21782879#post21782879 - comparison. StudioCanal is a massive improvement to the Criterion but still flawed in some areas (chroma noise)
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