Godfather Re-release - May 2004
02-17-04 | 06:32 PM
#1
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From: Devon, UK
Godfather Re-release - May 2004
We have had confirmation that Paramount plan to re-release Francis Ford Coppola's classic The Godfather in May. Previously only available in The Godfather Trilogy box set, this release will be virtually identical in content to the box set's first disc, including the Coppola commentary track.
The only major difference that this single disc release will have over the box set, is that the transfer for The Godfather has been digitally enhanced by a team at Lowry Digital Images, the very same guys responsible for the outstanding Indiana Jones DVD transfers released last year.
Taken from article here.
The only major difference that this single disc release will have over the box set, is that the transfer for The Godfather has been digitally enhanced by a team at Lowry Digital Images, the very same guys responsible for the outstanding Indiana Jones DVD transfers released last year.
Taken from article here.
02-17-04 | 07:21 PM
#13
Banned by request
Unless the reviews say the new transfer is out of this world good and every fan of the movie should own it, I'll skip it. If they redo the transfer on II I might consider it.
02-17-04 | 08:30 PM
#19
DVD Talk Gold Edition
I'll wait and see on this one. I wish this digital restoration was done the first time, but I guess the demand was too great for these movies that Coppola rushed it out. IIRC, his own company did the the transfer to DVD themselves. But it didn't really look like they did anything special. The print of the first film especially is kinda grainy and dirty.
02-17-04 | 08:35 PM
#20
DVD Talk Special Edition
For those who missed the New York Times article:
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.
"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.
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.
"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.
02-17-04 | 09:33 PM
#23
Nice. My father really likes the first two Godfathers, but I've been too cheap to get him the boxset. Hopefully this Christmas I can replace his warn out VHS copies.
02-17-04 | 09:44 PM
#24
DVD Talk Hero
I'm happy keeping my trilogy (which I only paid $30 for) 