I'm getting ready to watch The Godfather Trilogy for the first time (well, I've actually seen The Godfather III before, but slept through most of it). I want to watch each one in one sitting without breaking it up over several nights. Because of family, work and other things, I'll probably end up watching one movie per weekend for three consecutive weeks.

My question is, is it safe to watch The Godfather on the weekend, then the commentary during the week (I don't mind splitting the commentary over several days), then The Godfather II, then the commentary, etc. Or should I first watch all three movies before listening to the commentaries? I just don't want the commentaries to spoil anything before I move on to the next movie.

I would suggest watching them before watching the commentaries.

And you should probably skip part 3, every time I have tried to watch it, I can't go for more than hen minutes.

Don't Skip Part III - it's an underrated movie. Yes, there are some bad performances but it's not a bad film at all. Better than I expected!

I enjoyed Part III. It's not as good as 1 or 2 but I greatly enjoyed it. Do yourself a favor and watch all the movies before listening to the commentaries. You will appreciate it much more in the end.

I also tire of the Godfather III bashing. It is not as good as the first two, but it is not an awful movie by any means.

If not for Sophia Coppola's justifiably hated performance (she only had one important line to deliver in the whole movie, it contained just one single word, and she blew it!), the movie would be held in much higher regard.

Also didn't Coppola sound bitter on the commentary for Godfather 3?

Yea, Coppola sounded a little bitter on that Godfather 3 commentary but for good reasons I think. I don't remember if the commentaries spoil anything for other movies but just to be on the safe side, I'd save the commentary until after you've watched all 3 movies.

"The Godfather Part III" may not be a great movie like it's predecessors but it's also not a bad movie, either. It's a definitely "good" movie, nothing more, nothing less. Still, a good movie is far from guaranteed these days.

All 3 of them are good solo commentaries.

I never noticed the those "hippie guys" in Vegas on Godfather I. Thanks, Francis!

My ranking of the 3 commentaries from best to worst:

1. Godfather I
2. Godfather III
3. Godfather II

Thanks for the comments. I'll try to watch part I on Friday and part II on Saturday. Then hold off on part III until next weekend. Even though III put me to sleep the first time I watched it, I think I'll enjoy it much more after seeing the first two. Then after all three, I'll dig into the commentaries.