NY Times article on DVD has news on new Godfather discs, other stuff

[dtsguy3407]

news that Par will be producing better looking "Godfather" discs and even quotes Columbia Vid exec admitting the first "Lawrance of Arabia" discs were no good.......check it out

[fnordboy]

has....

bad titles for their <s>threads</s> articles.

[jough]

Link?

[dtsguy3407]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/09/movies/09KAPL.html

[ScandalUMD]

The Godfather is my favorite film, ever, but I'm not going for the double dip. I think the current DVD looks excellent.

[Frank S]

Glad to see Paramount admitting the Godfather DVD's were sub-par. I have said so since the day I bought the set and to this day people still refuse to admit it because of the stature of the films. These ARE horrible looking DVD's and reading who will be remastering the new DVD's I am confident we will get DVD's of the quality that these films deserve.

Excerpt from NY Times arlticle:
In any case, according to a Paramount executive, who asked not to be named, the studio has hired an outsider, John Lowry, to re-do the "Godfather" discs. Mr. Lowry has worked on such brilliant DVD's as "North by Northwest," "Sunset Boulevard" and the new double-disc "Casablanca" — all of which were made from prints or negatives in dreadful condition. He holds patents on film noise-reduction techniques. Decades ago, he cleaned up moon photos for NASA's Apollo project. A few years ago, he devised a program that harnesses the computational power of 400 Macintosh G5 computers to clean up the damage that's been done to film by age, wear and handling. This program detects flaws like scratches or dirt, erases them, and — by comparing flawed frames with those in better shape — "draws" in a facsimile of what an unflawed version of the image should look like.

[danwiz]

Thanks for posting, that's a very newsworthy article!

[digitalfreaknyc]

Hmm...

So I'm wonding what the deal will be with the Godfather films. Are they going to release a new boxed set? Or just release the first two cleaned up? Or....

Hmmm...

That was the most interesting part of the article for me.

[vivarey]

Ouch... that will be an expensive double dip.

[PatrickMcCart]

If they re-do the discs, they should make each film use 2 discs.

I know the first and third films would benifit from a 3rd layer.

[wm lopez]

I remember when THE GODFATHER dvd set came out the guy at HOMETHEATER FORUM gave it rave reviews.
I responed that the dvds were crap.
And went back in forth on the thread.
I always felt he had to say they looked great so he can continue to recieve free dvds from Paramount.
I sure would like to know what he thinks now that the studio admits the quility doesn't look good.

[wm lopez]

The excuse was that they looked the way they did was because they were from the 70's. Well, FOXY BROWN was from around the same time and that dvd looks great.
And what's the excuse for GODFATHER 3 a 90's movie?

They should now release them in that edit that they run in order of events which was called THE GODFATHER EPIC on vhs & laserdisc.
This would make the public buy them over again.

[brianluvdvd]

I never bought The Godfather set since all I wanted was part 1. This will be good news not only for the new transfers but also if they release the 3 films separately.

[DavidH]

This is very interesting news, indeed. Supposedly, the reason why Godfather doesn't look real great is because the original elements were nearly destroyed. I don't know if this was true or not.

However, even Godfather III didn't look too great. And, that's only a 13 year old film.

I too hope they release these individually and don't charge such a high price again. I only want parts I and II.

[mdm67]

I think studios are treating us collectors as imbeciles and as long we're willing and ready to double dip we behave ourselves as such. Alas, Godfather I and II are important movies, I could even consider to buy them one more time, but the improvement should be real, Eastwood's Unforgiven was a real improvement but how much a dark movie like Godfather can be improved? it certainly isn't a film of bright and brilliant colours. Let's wait and see.

<A HREF="http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=mdm67">My Collection</A>

[Josh-da-man]

Good to see that the media is recognizing this.

The really frustrating thing is that this happens to expensive boxed sets, like "Godfather" and the Kubrick Collection. I still haven't picked up "Godfather," but I have "A Clockwork Orange" and "The Shining," and it's hard not to feel a little bit ripped off.

I have to wonder how Paramount will handle the Godfather discs? The article seems to imply they're going to be re-released as individual movies. Will these include the special features? Will the old boxed set still be available, or will they upgrade it with the improved transfers?

[shanester]

Originally posted by ScandalUMD
The Godfather is my favorite film, ever, but I'm not going for the double dip. I think the current DVD looks excellent.

I'm not sure what type of tv your seeing them on but the first Godfather looked awful on a 48' widscreen tv. There were so many specs and particles from beginning to end. It was very distracting.

Glad to see there being remastered :up:

[ETILIM19]

if the new single issue dvd's still have the commentary's I shall sell the original godfather and godfather II and add them to my box set.

[Tarnower]

Thank you, dts guy. This is one of the most interesting and informative threads in this forum in quite some time. You were on the ball for spotting a potentially huge thread in that article.

[speedy1961]

Excellent find dts guy. :thumbsup:

[StevieD]

Nice catch.......but does this burn you guys up as much as me?? To be honest, I wasn't that displeased with the box set transfer. I guess I was just happy to finally have them on DVD, that I overlooked what I have to admit is not a great transfer (although I don't think its terribly bad). That said, I also know that, if and when these come out, I won't be able to sit back knowing that there are better disks out there.

If this new transfer becomes reality, Paramount should do the right thing for its previous customers, which, in my opinion, is: (1) Offer a trade-in program for the new disks (I realize this is highly unlikely), or (2) Offer a significant discount to current owners of the box set. Anything less is a slap in the face to Paramount's customers.

[TomOpus]

Glad I never bought the original box. Now I'll eagerly await how the new set will turn out.

[SFranke]

I commend Paramount on their new reissuing trend. First it was the Jack Ryan films, then announcements for Untouchables, South Park, Top Gun, and now the Godfather films (who wants to bet Apocalypse Now is next?). I always held off on the Godfather box because of both price and poor reviews regarding the transfer. We all want the best discs possible, and now it seems we're getting them. For those who complain that they are stuck with the old discs that they happily and willingly bought, selling them on Half.com and eBay.com will help you fund your upgrade, should you so desire. But don't get mad at Paramount for deciding to make inprovements after old discs were already reissued. It is that or discs that aren't better than they could be. And don't complain you weren't told when the old discs were released that there'd be new versions. If you do, then you shouldn't buy any DVDs, because you'll never know when the next version is coming.

[DavidH]

evitagen,

I think what some people are upset about is that the entire Godfather to DVD process was not done correctly. I have no problem upgrading DVDs as technology improves (compression and authoring techniques, more HD transfer, etc.). However, Godfather was just released two years. Compression and authoring techniques have not really improved too much since 2001. Paramount just screwed-up. They should have had Lowry or someone competent to do the RIGHT kind of restoration.

These things do happen and I will be the first person to upgrade. I will sell my boxset on Ebay. I am willing to bet that these movies will be reasonably priced this time too. Also, I am glad I don't have to buy part III.

Regarding Apoc. Now, Martin Blythe indicated a SE is likely at somet point in time. However, the current version of Redux looks great (especially for a 3:20 minute movie on one disc) and Copolla has stated that Redux is the definitive version. I would love to see the original movie re-mastered - though the current version looks pretty good really.

[Frank A]

Now that most of the "Major" titles have been released on DVD, Studios will focus more and more on reissuing titles, hopefully with superior transfers.

I don't have a problem with this. DVD has only been around for 6+ years. I didn't expect every title to be perfect on first release, especially with pressure to get DVD's released.

It's no problem for me to sell, trade or give away the existing inferior version. As a collector, it's about having the best possible presentation of the movie available.

[cruzness]

Originally posted by wm lopez

They should now release them in that edit that they run in order of events which was called THE GODFATHER EPIC on vhs & laserdisc.
This would make the public buy them over again.

I think in the commentary For part 2 Coppolla says that he hates the Godfather Epic that they occasionally broadcast on TV.

[TomOpus]

Speaking of Martin Blythe... haven't seen him around in over a month. It would be nice to hear what he had to say about this news.

[hgar78]

glad i've held off from buying these! hopefully, since there already is a box set, they'll release them separately.

[Rogue588]

could someone cut&paste the specifics of the article for those of us that don't want to join the NYTimes...?

Thanks.

[speedy1961]

When Bad DVD's Happen to Great Films
By FRED KAPLAN

Published: November 9, 2003


IF you paid $40 for the DVD of "Lawrence of Arabia" when Columbia released it with great fanfare in April 2001, you probably felt hoodwinked when, this autumn, the studio brought out a new, improved version for two-thirds the price and (sorry) no factory trade-in for your not-so-old but flawed copy.

It turns out the original discs had problems with color accuracy. Look at that first desert battle scene: in each shot the sky is a different color — magenta, green, reddish-blue. Those grand, gorgeous desert expanses look pale tan instead of the golden brown of the real sand. Occasionally, Peter O'Toole looks either out of focus or artificially sharpened, as if someone had traced his body with a felt-tipped pen.

All these problems have been fixed on the new DVD, but you'll have to spend $27 more to add it to your collection.

The video market these days is flush with fabulous-looking DVD's, for great and lousy movies alike. But bad-looking ones keep trickling out, too. So what goes wrong when bad DVD's happen to great films?

The tale is not a new one. In June 1999, Warner Home Video issued "The Stanley Kubrick Collection," a seven-disc boxed set of the director's films, for $149. Two years later, Warner came out with a remastered edition for $199. The new box had much better picture quality (and two extra discs, for "Eyes Wide Shut" and a documentary about Kubrick), but, again, no refund for the earlier, shoddier goods.

The first Warner DVD of Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven," released in 1997, had blurry images, skewed colors and a woozy choppiness whenever the characters or camera moved. It took five and a half years before a good version hit the video bins.

At least these films were sent through rehab. Many other great films were turned into substandard DVD's — and, so far, have been left that way.

Bernardo Bertolucci's "Last Emperor" is a gorgeous film. It won nine Oscars, including the 1987 Academy Awards for best picture, best director and best cinematography. And the DVD, from Artisan Home Entertainment, is one of the most dreadful ever made. Colors are faded, images blurry; if a shot is filled with lines (say, the slats of a roof), they shimmer like hula hoops. It is tragically, agonizingly unwatchable.

Francis Ford Coppola's "Godfather" and "Godfather, Part II," which take up three DVD's in a five-disc boxed set, don't look quite that bad, but — given that they're among the greatest, most beautifully photographed films of all time — the results are dismaying. Images are faded in some scenes, way too dark in others and often speckled with weird distortions. For instance, in the opening shot of "Part II," the close-up of Al Pacino against a dark backdrop, it looks as if mosquitoes are swarming down his face. The movie looks better when it's televised on HBO.

Paramount is making new digital masters of the "Godfather" films for reissue, as single-film discs, late next year. Steve Beeks, Artisan's president, says a new version of "The Last Emperor," mastered from Bertolucci's personal print, will come out next year as well. Neither re-do is likely to carry a banner boasting vast improvement. That would be tantamount to admitting that something was wrong with the lavishly promoted originals.

Digital technology seems, on the face of it, a preposterously inadequate medium for storing movies, and we should gape in wonder that DVD's yield coherent pictures at all, much less the gloriously sharp, detailed images they churn out under the best of conditions. Consider: A DVD stores only 17 gigabytes of data. A two-hour film, transferred to digital data and otherwise untreated, would take up more than 150 gigabytes.

So the data must first be massively compressed, mainly by digitally sampling a frame, then sampling only the information that changes in subsequent frames. This is no big deal for a scene of someone standing still against a blank wall. But it's a major challenge for a scene of someone running through traffic surrounded by dozens of flashing lights and moving objects. If a film is old and damaged, the compression machine will "read" random dirt and scratches in the same way it reads motion. If the machine's operator doesn't pay attention and make adjustments, or if the machine is sub-par, the digitized image will be full of waves, zigzags and other distracting distortions.

Similar problems can plague color or, if it's a black-and-white film, the gradations of gray. When transferring film from a negative to a print, someone has to practice the fine art of "color timing." The same thing has to be done, though electronically, when transferring it to DVD. The job can be done well or it can be done badly.


When Bad DVD's Happen to Great Films

Published: November 9, 2003


(Page 2 of 2)



"The main reason a lot of DVD's are so bad," says Robert A. Harris, president of the Film Preserve, one of the top film-restoring companies, "is that the people making them don't know what they're doing and don't care what they're doing."

Several years ago, when Mr. Harris restored the film of "My Fair Lady" — which had faded badly — he tracked down many of the original costumes, so that he could replicate their precise shades of pink or white. When he restored Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo," he asked Jaguar to send him a paint chip from a 1957 car — like the one Kim Novak drove in the film — so he could match the shade of green.

Mr. Harris also restored the 1989 theatrical rerelease of "Lawrence of Arabia," and one problem with the first DVD of that film is that the technicians who made it did not consult with him. One virtue of the new version is that they did. Grover Crisp, Sony Pictures' vice president for film restoration, who supervised the new "Lawrence" transfer, admits that the original discs had problems. "The people doing our DVD's back then," he says, "may not have paid as close attention as they should have."

Doing a DVD right takes time and money. A good Telecine machine, which transfers film to an image suited for television, costs about $2 million. Use of an outside lab's Telecine facilities can cost up to $1,000 an hour.

The Criterion Collection, which produces some of the finest DVD's of classic films, routinely takes months to make a digital transfer. Lee Klein, Criterion's chief technician, says: "If there's a scratch, we draw it out frame by frame. When there's 12 pieces of debris on each frame, it takes a long time."

Most studios don't bother. Some simply take the master that was made for laser disc, or even for VHS videotape, and transfer it to DVD. This was an especially common practice in the infancy of DVD, four to six years ago. It explains the problems with the first Kubrick set. Kubrick had just died. Years earlier, he had approved masters of his films for VHS and laser disc. Warner executives knew these masters had much less detail than DVD's could reveal, but felt nervous about selecting new masters on their own. Not until the company was pelted with complaints from home-theater enthusiasts did they bring in Leon Vitali, Kubrick's assistant, to authorize better masters for new DVD's.

"The Godfather" is a sadder case. The negative and all existing prints were, and still are, in horrible condition. When a film is a big hit, studios put the negative through the wringer, churning out print after print after print. With each new churning, the negative deteriorates. (Now that awareness of film preservation has grown, studios usually make a back-up negative.)

One independent film archivist says that Paramount "horribly mishandled" the negatives for the first two "Godfather" films, not just by making so many prints but also by moving the job among several printing labs, some of which were "grossly careless." An executive at Paramount blames American Zoetrope, Mr. Coppola's company, which made the digital transfers, for the quality of the DVD's. Kim Aubry of American Zoetrope — which, for what it's worth, has made several excellent DVD's — blames Paramount for providing him with poor film materials.

"We spent more time in the compression lab on `Godfather' One than on anything we've done," said Mr. Aubry, who doesn't think the resulting DVD's are so bad anyway. "But at the end of the day, you can do only so much."

In any case, according to a Paramount executive, who asked not to be named, the studio has hired an outsider, John Lowry, to re-do the "Godfather" discs. Mr. Lowry has worked on such brilliant DVD's as "North by Northwest," "Sunset Boulevard" and the new double-disc "Casablanca" — all of which were made from prints or negatives in dreadful condition. He holds patents on film noise-reduction techniques. Decades ago, he cleaned up moon photos for NASA's Apollo project. A few years ago, he devised a program that harnesses the computational power of 400 Macintosh G5 computers to clean up the damage that's been done to film by age, wear and handling. This program detects flaws like scratches or dirt, erases them, and — by comparing flawed frames with those in better shape — "draws" in a facsimile of what an unflawed version of the image should look like.

Cleaning a film, though, poses its own problems. Mr. Lowry's otherwise wondrous DVD of "Citizen Kane" (for which no negative exists; it was destroyed in a fire decades ago) has been criticized for being too clean, for wiping away the natural film grain along with the scratches, for looking more like video than film. "I'd agree with that," Mr. Lowry says. "We were just getting our feet wet in the business when we did `Kane.' It was our third or fourth film. We've done 70 films now. Even that's not enough to raise the bar for the entire industry. You have to remember, this is still a very new art."


Fred Kaplan is a columnist for Slate.com and a film critic for The Perfect Vision.

[theneobez]

I cannot wait! Plus being able to buy them individually is another excellent plus. Late 2004 can't come soon enough.

[wm lopez]

And now if they can fix CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, which is another dvd certain reviewers also said looked great just like THE GODFATHER dvd.

[cloudnin]

Both from the article and common sense, this has nothing to do with a studio "admitting they were wrong" and everything to do with them trying to sell the same thing twice that many of us already bought once. With the Back To The Future discs, and them doing stuff right away, saying it's defective, and offering a trade in program, that's admitting they were wrong. This is doing a crappy job (less money spent), marketing it as if it's a good product that they did their best on because of course it will sell no matter the quality (who doesn't want Godfather on DVD?), waiting over two years so probably at least 95% or so of the people who will buy the original product have bought it, and now planting the seed to the idea that the quality of the product you bought is bad (something many noted right away, but bought the product anyway), and will soon be inferior because they're going to do it right this time, so unless you're OK with having an inferior product, you need to SPEND, SPEND, SPEND, all with a smile on your face because the studio "apologized." I wonder what they'll come up with when they release Godfather and other major movies on HD-DVD. Maybe they'll have ads running Saturday mornings during cartoons with a CGI young Brando saying what a worthless human being you are if you don't rush out and buy the Godfather HD-DVDs before noon. And then, a month later, all memory of the ultimate importance of the Godfather HD-DVDs will be forgotten, and you'll then be a worthless human being if you don't rush out and buy the 6 disc Spy Kids 3D Ultimate Extreme Special Collector's Edition Box Set with Cubic Zirconia studded 3D glasses and an authentic plastic spork used by one of the crew members, sealed for safe keeping in Forever Ware, so that even in 500 years it will still be minty fresh.

[blindrocket]

All I can really say about this is I'm glad I waited to get them... I need to tell people not to get The Godfather Trilogy for me this Christmas since I asked for it.

I have watched them on DVD before (I checked them out from my library) and I did notice they weren't the best looking DVDs.

[digitalfreaknyc]

But they're not saying if it's going to be another boxed set or what. I have to admit that I was completely underwhelmed with the extras in the current boxed set. Very little new besides the commentaries. I'll be holding on to the current boxed set until I find out what will be on the next...if there even IS a boxed set. Who's to say they won't just remaster the first two? I'm one of the few, it seems, who cares about 3.

[vivarey]

Since they're admitting guilt here, I wouldn't be surprised if they offer some kind of small rebate or incentive for owners of the current set.

[Mr. Salty]

I would. It's Paramount, the stingiest studio in Hollywood.

[spainlinx0]

Held off on purchasing this, so I guess I'm good now.

[Drexl]

Originally posted by cloudnin
I wonder what they'll come up with when they release Godfather and other major movies on HD-DVD. Maybe they'll have ads running Saturday mornings during cartoons with a CGI young Brando saying what a worthless human being you are if you don't rush out and buy the Godfather HD-DVDs before noon.

Talk about an offer you can't refuse!

BTW, will the recent buyout of Artisan by Lion's Gate affect the new disc of The Last Emperor?

[milo bloom]

You know, I'm not a huge fan of the GF trilogy, and this just makes me even gladder I stuck with my laserdisc copies. If these new versions are drastically improved, I might consider them.

[speedy1961]

Originally posted by spainlinx0
Held off on purchasing this, so I guess I'm good now.

I have it but it has never been opened. Had concerns about it and was holding for sale. Time to upgrade I guess so I can open & enjoy.

[chanster]

Both from the article and common sense, this has nothing to do with a studio "admitting they were wrong" and everything to do with them trying to sell the same thing twice that many of us already bought once.

I agree with this sentiment. I think it is a way to encourage people to buy again by trashing their own product.

[wm lopez]

I always wondered why the transfer didn't look top notch.
After all Paramount has done great looking transfers, although their prices are steep for bare bones dvds.
The blame does fall on Zoetrobe studios who did the dvd.

But why were so many magazines & online dvd sites saying it was a great dvd boxset when it came out?
Like HomeTheater Forum's reviewer.
All those people miss let us into buying it in their reviews at the time.
When I bought mine I quickly went on forums and told it like it was, but then you get the adminster of the site saying otherwise of my comments.
So who do you think consumers were going to listen to at the time?

[EPKJ]

I think you miss the point. I and many others believe that the Godfather Collection has good transfers. Could they be better? Yes. But that does not make them bad. Too many people on various fora slam decent transfers for not meeting the highest standards.

[wm lopez]

Well when one has to pay $50 or more, because one reads a review that it's a great set and one reads in magazines that it made the best dvds to own list.
And now the studio itself says that it's not the best it could have done.
Where does that leave the creditbility of all those that praised that dvd boxset in their reviews?
Ever since then I read what the people say in threads like this one instead of following some guy who runs his dvd website and may feel a negative (truthful)review will stop his free supply of dvds from the studio.

[ETILIM19]

from what the article states there will not be a new box set. just seperate release for each film.

[Geist]

You know, if they clean up the prints and offer new material that doesn't overlap the box set, I might pick it up and keep the original one I bought.

As much as I think Coppola does pretty nice commentaries, different perspectives on the films would be great. I mean, most of the cast is still around for a retrospective documentary, and while I can't see Pacino, DeNiro or Brando sitting down for a commentary on 1 or 2 (or even being very coherent or informative if they did...), I'm sure James Caan, Talia Shire, Diane Keaton and Robert Duvall could be convinced. Imagine having Robert Evans sit down to discuss his point of view, for example.

Hell, they could probably do a "Scarface" style "Influence on Hip Hop" piece. They could even have the cast of "The Sopranos" do a commentary in character and it would convince enough people to double-dip without tossing their first purchase.

Depending on how much addditional material is out there that didn't get used the first time and how much they refrain from recycling, I think this could be something that people would feel is worth buying again. The arguement could be made that it is one of the few films that is worth the attention.

[eXcentris]

Looks like the discs will be available separately:


The Godfather goes it alone for Paramount 11/7/2003

Supplier offering movie on DVD apart from trilogy for first time in May.


http://www.videobusiness.com/

Someone less lazy than I can register and post the whole article. :)

[Mr. Gore]

Here's the full article from Video Business Online:

THE GODFATHER GOES IT ALONE FOR PARAMOUNT
Supplier offering movie on DVD apart from trilogy for first time in May.
By Jennifer Netherby 11/7/2003

NOV. 7 | Paramount Home Entertainment will release a single-disc, movie only DVD of The Godfather on May 11. The DVD will be priced at $24.99. The studio noted the release to retailers in a mailer sent this week.

The movie has only been available on DVD in the five-disc Godfather DVD Collection, first released in October 2001 and priced at about $80 at retail. A studio spokesman said the move was made to give consumers who don't want to purchase the whole collection a choice.

Single-disc releases of Godfather 2 and Godfather 3 are expected to follow. The DVD collection has been one of Paramount's top sellers.

Also due in the first half of the year is a special edition of The Ten Commandments, which was previously released on DVD without extras.

[William Fuld]

So it was all American Zoetrope's fault! I wonder who Paramount will find to blame when they re-release Grease next year.

[Pants]

For those who bought this before, all I can say is "I told you so". That's what you get for buying ANYTHING that includes The Godfather Part 3.

[theneobez]

May 11? Awesome. Much sooner than I thought. Again. . .I cannot wait!

But it doesn't mention anything about it being restored in that particular article. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[dtsguy3407]

did they ever mention WHY the films look so good when broadcast on cable? Those really do look like new transfers, if you've seen them!

[NEUMANN]

From the way that article sounds the godfather 1 that will be sold seperatly will be the same one that is in the current boxset

[lostatmidnight]

nobody is excited about a decent transfer of 'The Last Emperor?'

[Johnny Zhivago]

Originally posted by lostatmidnight
nobody is excited about a decent transfer of 'The Last Emperor?'

:wave:

That's really the only news from this article that interested me...

As for GF... New transfers, and a cheaper MSRP, might get me to pick em' up. Otherwise, still no sale.

[ugabuga]

well never opened my old box so up on ebay it goes.

[weargle]

Originally posted by William Fuld
So it was all American Zoetrope's fault!

Nope. AZ had nothing to do with these discs; of course I have nothing to back that up other than the email I got back from someone there several years ago that stated the it was in Paramount's hands, not Coppola's.

[djtoell]

Originally posted by weargle
AZ had nothing to do with these discs

They sure did. They made the discs. As the NY Times article states:

An executive at Paramount blames American Zoetrope, Mr. Coppola's company, which made the digital transfers, for the quality of the DVD's. Kim Aubry of American Zoetrope — which, for what it's worth, has made several excellent DVD's — blames Paramount for providing him with poor film materials.

Paramount provided American Zoetrope with the film elements, but American Zoetrope did the transfers and produced all of the extra features themselves. The entire project was in Coppola's hands.

DJ

[brizz]

Originally posted by digitalfreaknyc
But they're not saying if it's going to be another boxed set or what.....

Uh....yeah they did....

Paramount is making new digital masters of the "Godfather" films for reissue, as single-film discs, late next year.


I'm curious about the LofA references...Is the bad version they are referring to the Deluxe one in the tan book style case or is that the reissued improved print?

[Johnny Zhivago]

Originally posted by brizz
I'm curious about the LofA references...Is the bad version they are referring to the Deluxe one in the tan book style case?

Yes. The color timing was off on the previous release of LOA... It has been corrected, by Robert Harris, for the new Superbit. It was a <i>much</i> needed improvement... Of course, if you want supplements, you'll still want the LE to go with the Superbit. But for transfer quality, the Superbit is superior.

[jough]

I haven't seen a comparison of the Larry the Arab SB, but it's supposed to be colour corrected by Harris.

[The Nature Boy]

Screw that scum at Paramount. If there isn't a substantial rebate offered, I'll be as done with that studio as I can be. I mean, life is too short to deny me of something I enjoy, but I'll think long and hard before supporting them again. It was their meddling and shortsightedness that played a large part in GFIII being the comparitive crapfest that it is.

[aynrandgirl]

Originally posted by djtoell
Paramount provided American Zoetrope with the film elements, but American Zoetrope did the transfers and produced all of the extra features themselves. The entire project was in Coppola's hands.
A good transfer of damaged film elements is still going to look bad. Without Paramount's permission for, and budgeting of, restoration all AZ can do is use what they're got.

[djtoell]

Originally posted by aynrandgirl
A good transfer of damaged film elements is still going to look bad. Without Paramount's permission for, and budgeting of, restoration all AZ can do is use what they're got.

Well, there are a lot of things that can be done digitally to make damaged film elements look much improved (although not necessarily actually look like film). That aside, to say that American Zoetrope had no part in the creation of the Godfather discs, as weargle did, is just completely off the mark. That was my only point.

The Godfather is in bad need of a restoration, and while having John Lowry do a digital cleanup might be a nice gesture (although I'll certainly be waiting to see the finished product to decide just how nice it is), it doesn't really help the true problem: the film needs to be restored. That Paramount is apparently, once again, not actually restoring the film isn't a very positive sign. Many people are sure to treasure their digitally-scrubbed new DVDs when they arrive, but the film itself will continue to be in terrible shape. The get-clean-quick scheme that Lowry has developed for films sure makes a lot of DVD fans happy, but it may be doing harm to film overall by giving studios even less incentive to do the truly difficult and important work that needs to be done on so many films.

DJ

[DIVX Rulz]

quick question

So Godfather parts 1 & 2 will be re-released by themselves with better picture quality but no extras (ie commentary and part 2 going from 2 discs to 1 disc)

[kmac]

I read in another article that with CGI, they will make Sollozzo shoot first.

sorry about the bad sw humor.

[Veej]

I personnaly think Paramount wants in on Butter and Cheese they missed with the release of Godfather 2 yrs ago..

Think about it,,,your the head of the DVD release department...your just kicking your-self for releasing this set 2 years 2 soon, now when the box sets are coming out, all you need a reason to release it again, so here it goes...

You know the extravagant box- set like trend going on like" LOTR", " Scarface", "Spiderman"...and many more to come...

Thats all your gonna get for you money folks believe me, they just can't come out and say

" Hey you DVD afficianodos heres the same thing, different packaging with a connolli in it !!, now couph-up the xtra bills for the special addition Silver Connolli.. by the way included is the 3 GodFather movies, that we think is better then the previous ones".

I personly think the current box-set is beautiful, but thats my opinion......

[DieselsDen]

If Paramount is going to reissue the GODFATHER titles, the least they could do is thrown in the re-edited GODFATHER EPIC/SAGA/TRILOGY cut, as seen on TV, VHS and laserdisc editions.

[vivarey]

The latest rumor is that ONLY Godfather 1 is being re-released, and the contents will be exactly the same as in the current boxset (single-disc) but with a cleaner transfer. May 04.

From thedigitalbits:We have word from studio sources on that Godfather DVD re-issue rumor that's been going around. There will be another Godfather DVD out next year, but it will ONLY be the first film, as a single-disc release. This will be basically the same disc that's currently in The Godfather DVD Collection, with the Coppola audio commentary. The only difference will be that the film's digital video file is being given an additional clean-up pass by Lowrey Digital. Watch for it in May 2004.

[DavidH]

The Godfather is in bad need of a restoration, and while having John Lowry do a digital cleanup might be a nice gesture (although I'll certainly be waiting to see the finished product to decide just how nice it is), it doesn't really help the true problem: the film needs to be restored. That Paramount is apparently, once again, not actually restoring the film isn't a very positive sign. Many people are sure to treasure their digitally-scrubbed new DVDs when they arrive, but the film itself will continue to be in terrible shape. The get-clean-quick scheme that Lowry has developed for films sure makes a lot of DVD fans happy, but it may be doing harm to film overall by giving studios even less incentive to do the truly difficult and important work that needs to be done on so many films.

I agree.

I too am just curious now how much better it can look since there is no film restoration happening. I am certainly not selling my boxset off on Ebay just yet.

I hope these new transfers don't lose some of the necessary, inherent film grain that gives them a look they should have. However, seeing Lowry's latest work, I suspect that won't be a problem as he's been doing a great job.

[jough]

I guess I'm one of the few who think the current discs look pretty good.

Lowry is great at digital clean-up, though, a la the North by Northwest disc, so it'll be interesting to see how much of an improvement it is, or if it will look flat and artificial.