Coming to DVD and Blu-Ray: The Godfather, The Coppola Restoration Collection

On Sept. 23, Coppola's crime family classics take the cannoli in newly restored and remastered editions for DVD and Blu-ray.

Paramount Pictures

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They're making us an offer we don't for a minute even consider refusing.

More than three decades after they won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, we'll be able to watch director Francis Ford Coppola's classic films The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II once again as they originally were meant to be seen, thanks to a meticulous restoration by Paramount Pictures, overseen by Coppola himself.

The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II are currently No. 1 and No. 3 in the list of "Top 250 movies as voted by our users" at IMDb.com. On September 23, both newly restored and remastered films will arrive on DVD and Blu-ray, along with a newly remastered version of The Godfather, Part III, to be included as part of The Godfather, The Coppola Restoration Collection. All three films will be available individually or in a five-DVD or four-disc Blu-ray collection loaded with a host of all-new special features.

The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II underwent extensive frame-by-frame examination and restoration utilizing state-of-the-art digital technology in this historic preservation effort, which required more than a year to complete. Robert A. Harris of the Film Preserve supervised the restoration under the direction of Coppola and cinematographer Gordon Willis. Harris's restoration credits include Lawrence of Arabia, Spartacus, Vertigo, and Rear Window among others.

The new special features created by Kim Aubry, founder of Zoetrope Aubry Productions, explore the complexities of the restoration process and provide new insights and perspectives about how the film almost didn't come to pass as we know it. "The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't" relates the unlikely events, intrigue, allegiances and luck that put together the unknown director with the "unwanted" cast; it contains interviews with most of the living players and many of the films' admirers. Other featurettes include "...when the shooting stopped," and "Godfather World," which take a look at The Godfather's influence on popular culture today. Each film includes a commentary by Coppola.

Here's the disc-by-disc breakdown for The Godfather, The Coppola Restoration Collection DVD edition:

Disc 1:
The Godfather feature film
Commentary by director Francis Ford Coppola

Disc 2:
The Godfather, Part IIfeature film
Commentary by director Francis Ford Coppola

Disc 3:
The Godfather, Part III feature film
Commentary by director Francis Ford Coppola

Disc 4 -- Previously released special features:
Making of The Godfather
Additional Scenes
Filming Locations
The Corleone Family Tree
The Music of The Godfather
The Godfather Historical
Timeline
Profiles on the Filmmakers
Photo Galleries
Storyboards

Disc 5 -- New special features:
Godfather World
The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't
...when the shooting stopped
Emulsional Rescue Revealing The Godfather
The Godfather on the Red Carpet
Four Short Films on The Godfather --

The Godfather vs. The Godfather, Part II
Cannoli
Riffing on the Riffing
Clemenza

For the Blu-ray edition of The Godfather, The Coppola Restoration Collection, video will be presented in 1080p and accompanied by English Dolby TrueHD soundtracks. That disc breakdown looks like this:

Discs 1 - 3 -- Same as the DVD collection.

Disc 4 -- These bonus features are in high-def as noted:
Godfather World (HD)
The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't (HD)
...when the shooting stopped (HD)
Emulsional Rescue Revealing The Godfather (HD)
The Godfather on the Red Carpet (HD)
Four Short Films on The Godfather --