Posts Tagged ‘director’
Bullitt Review.
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Bullitt Review.
Compare & Purchase Bullitt at Amazon by clicking here! List Price: —- Amazon Price: $2.99 |
Bullitt Description:
- Amazon Sales Rank: #4502 in Movie
- Released on: 2008-09-01
- Running time: 114 minutes
Customer Reviews:
Steve McQueen scorches the streets of San Francisco
Arguably the best crime film of 1968, and certainly one of the most influential films of the genre….”Bullitt” established new directions in the mood and style of crime thrillers, and firmly established McQueen as one of the key anti-hero stars of the 60′s. Based on the gritty novel “Mute Witness” by Robert L. Pike, this was the first, and only, time McQueen portrayed a police officer (albeit a maverick one) in his movie career. In 1968 Steve was then riding high on the success of his previous heist film, “The Thomas Crown Affair”, and “Bullitt” just propelled his star even higher into the cinematic heavens !
The plot is tight, economical and well crafted….taciturn, moody Detective Frank Bullitt (McQueen) is charged with the protection of a key witness vital to an upcoming trial involving Mafia connections. Whilst hidden away in a supposed secure location, the witness and his police guard are brutally gunned down by unknown assailants. The heat is turned up on Bullitt by his tough Captain (Simon Oakland) and the manipulative, opportunistic politician Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) to come up with the right answers fast ! Between the draining investigation, Bullitt struggles to maintain his relationship with his cultured, sensitive girlfriend, Cathy (Jacqueline Bisset)
Primarily coming from a TV series background, Englishman Peter Yates (directing his fourth movie) did a commendable job as director on “Bullitt”…producing a complex, intense crime thriller with a unique style that would ultimately influence many other films. Yates would later to go onto direct tough guy Robert Mitchum in the excellent 1973 “sleeper” crime film “The Friends of Eddie Coyle” !
And of course “Bullitt” is reknowned for it’s now legendary car chase between Frank Bullitt’s 390 GT Mustang and the two hitmen in their black, Dodge Charger 440 Magnum barrelling through the city streets and highways of San Francisco….just don’t pay too much attention to how many times they pass that slow-moving, green VW Beetle !!
The DVD transfer is excellent in both sound and picture quality, and the Limited Edition Collectors Set with the additional goodies (Single sheet poster, shooting draft, lobby cards etc.) is a real bonus for keen film fans !!
One of my favourite cop thrillers….McQueen sizzles on screen !!
A Few Thoughts … about an American Style Icon
I have read GQ and other men’s fashion magazines for the last 20 years. No single person is mentioned as a men’s style icon more often than Steve McQueen, and this movie defines his style most clearly. What I think that is not often understood, is why his style is so beloved. It is minimalist, yes, but also, this is someone not playing the middle class America game.
1) He lives in a small apartment. The furniture is ordinary, with a few hip 60′s touches. (Watch for the picture over his bed, his paisley bathrobe, the cool paper hanging lampshade, and a couple of hippie style items on the walls). You get the impression he owns about six pairs of clothes at most. He eats cheap frozen dinners (except for the occasional date at the cool San Fran Restaurant). He is not wasting this time and life keeping up with the Jones’s.
2.) He is not climbing the career ladder. On this case, he doesn’t give a thought to politics. He is not chasing the American ideal of success.
3.) Look closely and you will see his car, the most famous in any movie ever, is a olive drab color. Not candy apple bright red. It is a Mustang, a symbol of blue collar America. It is dusty, and he parks it in the street, not a garage. He does not inspect it for door dings every time he goes out to it. It has dents in it. You get the impression he doesn’t spend his free time polishing and waxing it.
4.) He doesn’t spend his time chasing money. He spends it on his job, trying to do what he thinks is right, not what is good for office politics and promotion.
5.) His clothes are 60′s pre-hippie fashion perfection (look for the extremely tapered legs, the suede loafers, and of course the famous tweed blazer and blue turtleneck).
In summary, I think it is funny that people idolize McQueen’s personal style in this movie and yet they don’t realize why. It is not just the stoicism, or minimalism. It is the old fashion American values (think Old West). Just something to think about as you watch one of my favorite movies of all time.
Film: ***** Blu-Ray Disc: * Rent it, or buy it used or on mark down…
Better view than the DVD. But only worth renting, or if it can be purchased used or on mark down at $5 or less.
A great film with very problematic picture and sound quality on Blu-Ray. The source transfer for “Bullit” has obviously not been re-done for Blu-Ray, and appears to be the same source transfer used for the older DVD edition of this film. Although the superior medium and capabilities of a 1080p Blu-Ray disc make this an upgraded way to view this material, the limitations of an aging source transfer abound and call attention to themselves. Detail is OK in well lit scenes, much less so on indirectly lit surfaces and shadows. Blacks are unstable and milky, and there is motion judder and blur of in motion detail in shadows. Skin tone and texture show the waxy effect of DNR (digital noise reduction). Surface detail is mediocre at best. Sharpening is obvious and annoying. All in all a better view than the DVD version. But only worth renting, or if it can be purchased used or on mark down at $5 or less.
Nightbreed Movie Streaming
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Nightbreed Movie Streaming.
Movie Title: Nightbreed Nightbreed is available for streaming or downloading. |
Clive Barker’s Nightbreed may seem like a fable about putrid monsters vs. humanity, it is not. This is really a simple myth about a man who realizes that he is a cramped different from most people, so he tries to collect a station where he can be popular. The people he joins are so different from the rest of society that they must remain hidden or face persecution at the hands of the church, the police and the rest of humanity in general.
Usually, the monsters and freaks embody the wrong in a film, but Barker likes to build his plain creatures into sympathetic characters the reader or viewer can identify with. He accomplishes this in Nightbreed by making the humans into the most irrationally horrified, self-righteous, gun-toting rednecks the world has to offer. Despite the incredible physical differences and unique tastes of some of the monsters we are totally on their side.
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Craig Sheffer plays Boone, a young man who dreams of a space called Midian along with it’s unique inhabitants. He feels drawn to that residence by the promise of forgiveness and complete acceptance, but he makes the mistake of telling his shrink, Decker (David Cronenburg) . Decker convinces Boone that he is not well. You survey, Decker knows about Midian too. His goal is the complete distruction of Midian and all it’s inhabitants. His hatred is intense and apparently irrational because no reason is ever stated in this film, other than that they are different than he.
Decker sets Boone up as a patsy for several horrid murders he himself has committed, and Boone is shot down by police impartial outside the gates of Midian, but not before Boone had a fateful encounter with one of its denizens.
Boones girlfriend Lori learns of his death and travels to Midian, looking for answers. She is alarmed by what she finds down in the labrynthine tunnels and cavernous chambers. She sees monsters; they are grisly, unnatural creatures with unnatural abilities. A woman, Rachel, tries to design her understand that they are the last of their kind to race persecution through the centuries.
Unfortunately Decker has followed her there to destroy her and lure Boone, who is plain but also lives. Lori takes him with her, but he is no longer the man he was.
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Decker whips the local constabulary and townspeople into a frenzy over the goings on at Midian, and there is a stout battle. When it is over, Boone is commanded to earn a fresh home for his people.
The creatures of Midian are bright! The various shapes and faces are endlessly fascinating. Peloquin has red skin and seems to have hair also made of flesh. Shuna Sassi has a wait on and head covered with quills. There is grand to explore in Midian!
This film is a fantastic arrangement to study at abhor, be it based on hasten, religion, sexual orientation or whatever. The dislike for Midian’s people is based on an irrational anxiety, for Midian laws do not allow them reach in contact with humanity. It is also borne of envy-these uncommon looking people can change their shapes, or cruise. They can also live forever. Who wouldn’t want that?
All the actors are scrumptious to gape, but David Cronenberg stands out. He is very chilling as the psychopath Decker, especially in his Button-Head screen. He positive shy me!
Danny Elfman wrote some music for this film. Elfman evokes a mysterious and tribal atmosphere for Midian like no one else could. If you listen stop, you can even hear Oingo Boingo’s song ‘Skin’ done up in country style.
I worship this movie. Clive Barker adapted his gain recent, and the result is a aesthetic and creepy film about being different and surviving hatred. Humans can be so boring sometimes.
“Nightbreed” is a sure case of a studio barreling into a creative contract with a hot, young talent and bankrolling auteuristic genre share before they had any concept what they’d bought into. Co-produced by Morgan Creek and 20th Century Fox, “Nightbreed” was touted by auteur, Clive Barker as “the Star Wars” of panic which was fair what Fox wanted to hear (especially with their sci-fi dismay franchises, “Alien” and “Predator” in creative limbo) . I’m guessing that their conservative expectations anticipated the ultimate, effects-filled Us vs. Them narrative, with impartial enough of a faith in “general goodness” to morally elaborate the film’s existance. Things fell apart when they sussed that Barker’s overbudget production (it ballooned from $8 million to $11 million) was a gleefully paganistic and psychosexual affair. The record involves young heart throb, Aaron Boone (played by Craig Sheffer of “Some Kind of Amazing” and “A River Runs Through It”) who suffers from maddening dreams of frolicing in a night-time field with a platoon of chuckling, inhuman creatures. An outcast himself (although how Craig Sheffer could be an outcast with that face, hair, body tone and slick leather jacket is beyond me), he dreams of escaping to this dream spot where “all [his] sins will be forgiven.” Equally obsessed is Sheffer’s psychiatrist played by David Cronenberg (yes, THAT David Cronenberg), affecting an ominous, monotone performance, “I regain you…tantalizing.” No prizes for guessing the psycho here. All of this set-up is merely conceptual red herring for the conservative viewer. The genuine device here is the film’s second and final third which thrusts Boone’s girlfriend, Lori (played by Anne Bobby of “Cop Rock” fame. . .and occasional ringer for director, Barker) and her quest to rep her lover who goes missing, presumed tiring,…but maybe not. The film’s second half in particular is rife with a stunningly imaginative array of monsters (mostly human actors in some really explain, prosthetic make-up) . As Bobby, Cronenberg and the creatures assume center stage, the film seems to abandon all pretense of a customary tale and accelerates towards a action-oriented, laughable book-style climax. Apparently, Fox executives were disgusted with Barker’s early cuts of the flick with a few even maintaining that they found Barker’s vision to be completely amoral (especially the method that the climax invites the audience to root for the monsters to massacre a particularly buffoonish mob of Canadian rednecks) and forced as many cuts as they could to withhold the flick watchable, yet to pare away as grand of Barker’s sensibility as possible. No dice. The flick IS overly short and the editing often shows haphazard hastiness, but Barker’s vision and sensibility permeats every frame. Even truncated and conceptually neutered. Among the missing situation points are allusions to the hero’s impotence, the heroine’s climactic suicide (even though we peek her holding the machete with which she was meant to do it) and a priest’s renunciation of his faith (Rev. Ashberry is wearing a collar up until Sheffer’s line, “We don’t like priests here.” In every shot afterwards, he isn’t.) . Perhaps the most silly of the editing faux-pas involves cisfigured bohemoths known as The Berserkers. Every sequence with them is cleave so poorly that it feels like you’re watching a far shoddier production than you are. It feels almost as if the camera cuts away from The Berserkers as if jumpy for the viewer to salvage a wonderful perceive at their make-up. The reason for this has less to do with the craftsmanship on the suits as it does with the beasts’ endowments. Apparently, The Berserkers were fitted with mountainous, sledgehammer cocks and the editors were left with the thankless task of ommitting every instance where these members were visible. The result is the absolute mess of editing that is the “Charge of the Berserkers” sequence. So, what does this all add up to really? Well, in spite of all the factors stacked against it, “Nightbreed” remains (for me, anyway) an absolutely fun and compelling flick. It was always meant to be a fun, waggish b-flick, but the forced edits get the whole experience seem a lot more hollow than it intended. Be that as it may, this film is far more keen and imaginative than most “straight” films. The fact that the myth seems to barrel along, madly accelerating from unexcited shocker to apocalyptic record is actually allotment of its charm. In a lot of ways, it resembles David Lynch’s “DUNE” in the design that it propels itself from ponderously level-headed and visually sumptuous to account action. The perk here is that “Nightbreed” doesn’t demolish your time with loose-thread exposition which goes nowhere (all instances of this have been more thoroughly ommitted than in “DUNE”), it unbiased gets down to it and dares you not to downshift your brain and go with it. Determined, the action is sometimes clumsy and the actors are occasionally less assured, but I’d occupy that the fun to flaw ratio is a lot more satisfying in this 10-year-old “bomb” than in most “blockbusters” that we’ve been treated to this summer. Give me the breed over Lara Croft or that overly-pixelated mummy any time!
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Samurai X – Reflection – Director’s Cut Movie Streaming
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Samurai X – Reflection – Director’s Cut Movie Streaming.
Movie Title: Samurai X – Reflection – Director’s Cut Samurai X – Reflection – Director’s Cut is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download Samurai X – Reflection – Director’s Cut |
The ‘Samurai X’ OVA’s stand separate from the body of the Rurouni Kenshin series in that the subject is the events preceding and following the television stories. While the possess a commonality in characters and are the go further in the direction of presenting more of the motivations that lie leisurely master assassin Kenshin Himura’s decisions and provide us with closure on the account of a life corpulent of regret and the quest for atonement.
All of the OVA’s, ‘Reflections’ included, lack the comical relief of the TV series. In that sense they are an acknowledgement of Kenshin’s contribution, and the ongoing effect he would have to pay for being a murderer. In ‘Reflections,’ Kenshin seeks the ability to be at peace again. And Kaoru, the genuine wife of his later years wants desperately to be as valuable a share of his life as his first savor, Tomoe, who sacrificed her life at his hands so that he could go on to fight the Shogun.
The pressures of their lives drive them apart on more time, as Kenshin travels to China to assist the living. But the accurate legend is the retelling of their relationship and it’s themes in carefully interwoven flashbacks. The threads of destiny and duty wind tighter and tighter as the drama, reminiscent of Greek tragedy as well as Noh plays, comes to its bittersweet conclusion.
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It is almost glum that ‘The Cross-shaped Wound’ (the last episode of the previous OVA volume) reached such a high standard of artistry. ‘Reflections’ is extraordinary, beautifully written, illustrated and scored, but it lacks the bid magic of its predecessor. I can’t fault it though, it is the disagreement between obliging and perfection, and I am blissful to have experienced both in the same series.
Part of the stories charm is the maturing of not impartial Kenshin and Kaoru, but many of the supporting cast. Yahiko Myojin, a dependable friend, is a legend unto himself, and several villains also accomplish surprising developments. All of this gives the narrative a compelling multi-dimensionality that is infinitely satifying.
Because Rurouni Kenshin is a historical romance surrounding true events, as well as a epic with deep samurai roots, it appeals to a immense audience. In a sense, it stands at the apex of the exhaust of anime as classical Japanese drama. Thus, it is worth seeking out for many reasons, illuminating and uplifting as well as arresting. Above all, it will become an unforgettable memory.
One of the most disturbing images in the unique Kenshin OVA Reflection, is to seek Kenshin failing in the grip of some sort of disease. This illness however, is a reflection of two obvious things: in the account presented here, Kenshin is not afflicted with some earthly disease such as leprosy or turberculosis. Megumi tells Kaoru that Kenshin is only a man, and that all of the fighting he has done will eventually buy its toll. Kenshin also talks about having given up his sword and suffering in a different procedure to continue atoning for his past – and that is what I have causes his illness. The lesions are an outer reflection of his inner turmoil and guilt, feelings that his once strong body can no longer supress. Kaoru doesn’t contract it because it’s communicable, but rather because her soul is so jog up in Kenshin’s that she shares all of his wound, spiritual as well as physical. She willing shares his burden out of her gargantuan admire for him.
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The myth of Reflection takes a beloved character and reflects a flawed view of impartial who Kenshin was and what his sage was about. His famous nature has always been that of a deeply scarred man attempting to atone for his past. He has always suffered and felt guilt for the killing he has done, yet he is also the wanderer who has cared for many people. A man who never abandoned his principles such that his very example has helped other sorrowful and guilty souls pick up peace and purpose (i.e. Megumi, Sano, Saitou, Aoshi, even some of Shishio’s Juppengatana) . To own that this man would, after all his been through – even after making his peace with Enishi – Aloof be wandering around Japan, abandoning Kaoru and their son, is honest fantastic. The whole point of the yarn as I understand it is that Kenshin finally finds a home with Karoru at the Kamiya dojo since it was a situation where he was well-liked for both his past and show selves. He has found peace by defeating (or accepting) his past demons in the build of Shishio, and ultimately Enishi. Not only did Kenshin obtain rest from his wandering, but also a chance at happiness. The corruption of Kenshin’s body is simply a reflection of how harmful the narrative of Reflection ultimately is.
It’s hard as a Kenshin fan to secure that this is the latest, and presumeably last, installment in Kenshin’s sage. I absorb that while there are some minor trustworthy things – such as seeing Kenji (his fight with Yahiko was the highpoint of the tale) and finally getting to contemplate Enishi’s arc (if only briefly) were minor pleasures in what is ultimately a bittersweet ending. I bear that the current name, Year of Frost, was well very chosen. This is the wretched version of how Kenshin’s yarn might have turned out if things had been different. I personally capture the anecdote where Kenshin not only finds peace and forgiveness for himself, but happiness too.
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Good Luck Chuck Discount.
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Good Luck Chuck
Product: Good Luck Chuck Discount. List Price: —- Amazon Price: $2.99 Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available |
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- Amazon Sales Rank: #738 in Movie
- Released on: 2010-02-14
- Rating: NR (Not Rated)
- Running time: 102 minutes
Pass….
Having seen Dane Cook as a stand-up comedian and been entertained by his humor and delivery, GOOD LUCK CHUCK seemed like an innocuous brainless evening entertainment. Unfortunately the story and script and direction are so sub par that even the most devoted of potty mouth movie fans will likely find this dud a bore. Hopefully Cook will be given better material for his next outing.
The story is meager but deals with a childhood hex placed on Cook’s character, dentist Charlie Logan, which prevents him from finding lasting love: every woman with whom he sleeps (and there are countless encounters in the buff on endless multi-screen images) will marry the man she meets after her liaison with ‘good luck’ Charlie Logan. His obnoxious breast augmenter best friend Stu (Dan Fogler) sees Chuck’s hex as a godsend for open sex, but when Chuck meets Klutz penguin trainer (Jessica Alba) and falls in love, there are problems – the solutions of which are so disgusting and unfunny that hardly need repeating.
This is a film, apparently with an audience (!), that is gross and so over the top that it completely wastes the talents of Cook and Alba. The film is being advertised as the ‘chance to extensively see Dane Cook in the buff’, but even that is an overstatement. Maybe if the viewer is on strong drugs….No, probably not even then. Pass on this one. Grady Harp, January 08
hysterical
Crude? Yep! So what! The movie was hysterical. My boyfriend AND my 62 yr old mother were laughing, and so was everyone in the theater. Its fun! The 1st thing my mom said when the credits started to roll was, “I’m buying that – THAT was funny, and not the stupid funny either – really funny!”
This is not a romantic comedy because there is not that much romance in it
“Good Luck Chuck” is not a romantic comedy, but rather a raunchy comedy that is sort of about romance. If there was some notion of romance at the heart of this movie, it would have a chance of working, but of the different organs and body parts that are prominent in this 2007 film, the heart would not be one of them. When we get to the big moment at the end of “Good Luck Chuck,” compare it to the same scene in “The Wedding Singer,” and you can see how short this one falls of the mark. In other words, this is really not a date film, because first-time director Mark Helfrich’s final product is slanted way towards the male of the species. You might check this film out for Jessica Alba, but the focus is on Dane Cook and that along should tell you this movie is going to favor comedy over women, and comedy that favors men over women.
That is not to say that the premise is not promising. The titular Chuck is Charlie Logan (Cook), and, no, the film is not bothered by the fact that nobody calls him Chuck. Because of what happened during an adolescent game of Spin the Bottle, Charlie is cursed: any woman he loves will leave him and immediately find and marry the man of her dreams. As Charlie comes to realize his peculiar situation there is good news–women are throwing themselves at him in order to leap out of his bed and find the guy for them–and bad news–he meets Cam Wexler (Alba), who is cute, a klutz, and works with penguins, allowing the film to show how far the penguin fever of “March of the Penguins”, “Happy Feet,” et al., has fallen. More importantly, she looks like Jessica Alba, so we instantly understand why Cam is a keeper from Charlie’s perspective, even if his best friend Stu (Dan Fogler), a plastic surgeon whose practice is limited to boob jobs, probably thinks too little of her. This creates the ultimate paradox for Charlie, because to love this woman is to lose her, which is a pretty interesting Catch-22.
I am sure that if I added up the minutes that Charlie really does spend more time with Cam than he does with Stu, but it sure does not feel that way. But the real problem in this film comes in the sequences that it is proudest of: the sex montage. There is a whole special feature devoted to it as the “Sex Matrix.” My immediate reaction to all of this was to wonder if I had ever seen a motion picture with more naked women in it than this one, and while I am sure I have this is a concerted effort in “Good Luck Chuck” to prove otherwise. But when you are watching a guy have sex with dozens of women, it is hard to lend credence to the idea that he is really in love with the woman he is not having sex with. To offer a rejoinder to Stu, while it is true that sex without love is still sex, it is still without love, and love is supposed to be at the heart of a romantic comedy, which is why this film is not one.
My favorite romantic comedy of recent vintage is probably “50 First Dates,” and I gave that one only four stars because the raunchy stuff with Rob Schneider took away from the wonderful stuff happening with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. But “Good Luck Chuck” is following more in the steps of contemporary comedies like “Knocked Up” and “Superbad,” where the goal is to produce a unrated DVD edition. So “50 First Dates” is now looking more like a classic romantic comedy to me. If “50 First Dates” had been made the way they made “Good Luck Chuck,” then the opening montage of past lovers in the former would have been in the middle, in which case they are no longer past lovers and the decks are not cleared for a real romance. By the time Charlie and Cam get to anything remotely like the romantic part, it is too little too late. When you get to the last in a long line of women, it is hard not to focus on the long line rather than the last woman. The screenplay by Josh Stolberg (“Kids in America”) does come up with a decent enough way of resolving the dilemma, but given everything that has come before it, the ending fails to redeem this movie.
Buy The Godfather Part III The Coppola Restoration At Amazon!
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Buy The Godfather Part III The Coppola Restoration At Amazon!
Compare & Purchase The Godfather Part III The Coppola Restoration at Amazon by clicking here! List Price: —- Amazon Price: $5.99 |
The Godfather Part III The Coppola Restoration Description:
- Amazon Sales Rank: #949 in Movie
- Released on: 2008-09-23
- Rating: R (Restricted)
- Running time: 171 minutes
Customer Reviews:
The New Restoration Collection does not disappoint!
The new transfers for The Godfather Parts I and II are stunning. It really is like seeing them for the first time. All of the murky, faded colors have been restored to their original glory while still retaining the warmth of the film stock. Gordon Willis’ then-controversial cinematography can finally be seen they way it was intended on these new discs. If you have the original box set, it is worth it to double dip if only for the restoration job on these two films.
Carried over from the original set are all of Francis Ford Coppola’s commentary tracks for the three films. On The Godfather one, he appropriately enough, starts off by talking about the film’s famous opening scene and how it was supposed to start with the wedding but a friend suggested he do something else. Coppola talks about how he organized the elaborate wedding sequence and shot it only 2-3 days! He talks about the pressure he was under by the studio and in read danger of being fired because they didn’t like what he was doing. This is pretty solid track that we’ve come to expect from the veteran filmmaker.
Coppola’s contributes another excellent commentary for The Godfather Part II. Initially, he had no interest in doing a sequel and dealing with studio bureaucracy. He suggested Martin Scorsese for the job. The studio balked at this idea and accepted all of Coppola’s terms. The veteran filmmaker talks at length about the development of the Corleone family from Part I. Coppola is engaging and very articulate, delivering a top notch track that is well worth a listen for any fan of this movie.
Finally, there is Coppola’s commentary for The Godfather Part III. One of the heated debates the filmmaker had with the studio was over Pacino’s hair. He wanted Michael to look older and like a man in crisis, while the studio didn’t want to mess with Pacino’s distinctive looks. Coppola defends his casting of Sofia and feels that she delivered a “real” performance because she wasn’t an actor. He also addresses the scathing criticism she received as in fact an attack on him. This is a solid track with good observations and analysis by Coppola — better than the film itself.
The rest of the supplemental material is spread out of two discs. Thankfully for those who did not buy the first box set all of the extras from it have been carried over with a whole other disc of brand new material.
The fourth disc features all the brand new material and starts off with “Godfather World,” which takes a look at how The Godfather films influenced popular culture, including parodies on The Simpsons and South Park, and how it informed the characters on The Sopranos. All kinds of celebrities, from William Friedkin and Alec Baldwin to author Sarah Vowell who sing its praises with clips of shows and films that reference it.
“The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn’t” tells the story of how Hollywood had changed at the end of the 1960s with the demise of the studio moguls and the rise of the film brats, the first generation of film students who became filmmakers. One of them, Coppola, ended up being picked to direct The Godfather. This is an excellent look at how the director almost didn’t get the gig and why.
“…When the Shooting Stopped” examines the post-production phase of the first film. Coppola battled with the studio over the length of it. Executives initially did not like Nino Rota’s score for the film and samples of some of his original and revised cues are played.
“Emulsional Rescue: Revealing The Godfather” takes a look at the newly restored transfers for Part I and II and how they preserve Gordon Willis’ gorgeous cinematography. This featurette takes us through the restoration process, showing before and after examples.
“The Godfather on the Red Carpet” is a forgettable featurette shot during the premiere of Cloverfield with various minor celebrities gush about the films.
“Four Short Films on The Godfather” features celebs citing which one they prefer, Part I or II. Another one has Richard Belzer, and the man who adapted the films for the stage, quote their favourite lines, which turns out to be quite funny. The third one sees Coppola talk about his love of cannoli and how made it into the film. Finally, Coppola answers the question about what happened to Clemenza in Part II and why he died.
The fifth disc starts off with “A Look Inside,” a feature-length documentary about The Godfather trilogy done when Part III was being made. As a result, a lot of the major players were interviewed. We see Coppola at work on this film with on-set footage of the director working with Pacino. We also see Coppola working on the script with author Mario Puzo. The doc then goes back to the first film with Coppola’s battle with the studio over casting Brando, Pacino, et al. with fascinating vintage screen tests and rehearsal footage. This is an excellent extra that goes into great detail.
“On Location” revisits key locations in the lower east side of New York where they shot parts of all three films and how they transformed them into various historical periods.
“Francis Coppola’s Notebook” examines how he adapted Puzo’s book into the first film. Coppola shows us his notebook that he used as his master document that he would constantly refer to. This featurette provides fascinating insight into the man’s creative process.
“Music of The Godfather” features an audio excerpt of a conversation Coppola had with composer Nino Rota about the music for the film. Also included is footage of composer Carmine Coppola (Francis’ father) working on Part III. Francis talks about working with his father.
“Coppola and Puzo on Screenwriting” features the author talking about the origins of his novel while Coppola discusses adapting it with Puzo into the films.
“Gordon Willis on Cinematography” features the man talking his approach to the look of the film and the choices he made and why.
“Storyboards – Godfather Part II and Part III” allows you to see sketches for the look of both films and see how Coppola planned to shoot them.
“The Godfather: Behind the Scenes 1971″ is a vintage promotional featurette done at the time of the production of the first film. This is a fantastic snapshot of the times.
“The Filmmakers” are text biographies of key crew members.
Also included are 30 additional scenes from the four eras, spanning the entire trilogy. Much of this footage was inserted into the first two films when they were shown on television.
“The Family” gives you a handy organization chart for the Corleone family. You can see who everyone is and how they are related.
Finally, there are “Galleries” with trailers for all three films, stills, a collection of portraits of enemies of the Corleone family, and footage of the Academy Awards wins for the first two Godfather films.
THE GODFATHER, The Coppola Video Game Giftset
This Review is based on The Standard DVD format Restoration, not The Blu-ray Version.
I’m on the fence about this New Restoration Box Set(The Restored GODFATHER III is a cleaner version), but I’m leaning towards an all-out PAN of this New Restoration. Unfortunately, I listened to some of the reviewers here and purchased this Set. (A couple of you owe me a few bucks.) It doesn’t look like any of the reviewers here did a side-by-side comparison test of The New Restoration and The Original Versions of these films on DVD. I did mine on a 50″ Panasonic plasma.
Yes, the New prints have fewer scratches, dirt, and grain than The Original Set, (which is not as bad as some reviewers suggest). But, the COLOR ENHANCEMENT of The New Restoration Set is OVERLY saturated in many parts. Especially, in the Red Scale. Yellows and orange flesh tones are extremely pronounced, overly brilliant, and unnatural looking in this Set. And it still contains scratches, dirt, and grain. Not as much as The Original Set, but it’s still there. A lot of the grain in certain frames has been removed, while other frames remain untouched and appear to be just as grainy as The Original Version. A very uneven transfer in my opinion.
In the opening shot of THE GODFATHER, the Undertaker is so overly saturated with yellow that as the camera pulls back to reveal Don Corleone’s desk, it renders The Undertaker almost out of focus. Trust me, this shot looks far better in The Original Set. Compare the shot in THE GODFATHER of Luca Brasi in his apartment, donning his bulletproof vest, in preparation for his meeting with Sollozzo. The colors in The Original Version look natural, while The Restoration renders Luca’s apartment in a blazing wash of bright sunshine yellow. These frames are entirely over-saturated with color. I assure you, certain frames of this Restoration DO NOT look anything like the Original film stock print. The warm and natural looking sepia tone of The Original film has been blasted away with digital color in many frames, almost making them look unreal.
THE GODFATHER II has been compressed onto one disc, while The Original Version was compressed onto 2 discs.
(By the way, I could care less about The TV Saga Version. It’s not the way these films were shot, and it’s not the way they were intended to be seen.)
Some frames of The New Restoration look very grainy, some look incredible, while other frames make these films appear as if Ted Turner Colorized them. At times, I wasn’t sure if I was watching THE GODFATHER, or SPEED RACER.
Is this version worth a Double Dip? I’m still on the fence about that. But, I think I prefer The Original Box Set over this half-baked attempt at improving this Classic with an over-saturation of color.
I get the feeling that The Blu-ray Version must look really odd. Blu-ray is great technology for newer films. Older films tend to suffer from over-saturation with this technology. The public is so enamoured with Blu-ray, they don’t realize some of the classic older films don’t resemble their original celluloid color exposures anymore. And that’s a shame. It’s going to take some more time before remastering technicians understand the remastering treatment that some of these classic older films deserve. Sometimes less is more.
If you must have The Restoration, turn the brightness and color way down on your TV.
I’m calling this THE GODFATHER: THE COPPOLA VIDEO GAME GIFTSET.
Act accordingly.
UPDATE:
There is no question that this Standard DVD Remastered Version is overly saturated with color. Here is a pretty SIMPLE ADJUSTMENT SOLUTION that seems to work quite well, reproduces truer color, and makes these Remastered films much more enjoyable. At least it did on my 50″ Panasonic Viera plasma. (I also use this for The Anniversary Remaster of SCARFACE which is also overly saturated with color.) Stay away from the VIVID and CINEMA Picture Settings. Use the STANDARD Picture Setting which will give you the following numbers: Picture 50, Brightness 50, Color 50, Tint 0, and Sharpness 75. Simply tune the COLOR setting down from 50 to 35. I found that changes to the other settings were not necessary. This should take care of the overly saturated playback color issue. I do not know whether this adjustment will work as well with an LCD, Projection, Tube TV, or Blu-Ray Disc.
Too bad I didn’t refuse the offer for the original release !
I don’t really care that much about the new extras, the real need to double-dip for this release is the improvement of the video for the three films. If you own the original release you’ll have noticed just how un-watchable the three movies were, specially because of the incredible amount of specs and marks which I’ve found distracting and downright intolerable; there’s not a +/-5 second period in which a spec does not appear on I & II while the video in III is affected by terrible color and brightness.
While watching the new release of the Bond fims a few months ago I concluded I couldn’t be long before the GODFATHER series received a similar treatment and sooner rather than later, here we are. I really hope the price for this edition is brought down by Amazon from the 62.99 it currently stands but, even if it doesn’t, two of the greatest films of all time are worthy of just swallowing and making such expense. I like III very much too but obviously it isn’t in the same league with the first two, just about no other film ever made is.
10/13 UPDATE TO THIS REVIEW: Having finally seen this DVDs: fantastic picture, much improved sound. There are plenty of images and sounds there to find which simply couldn’t be appreciated in past editions. But you’d think that for $62.99 they’d get the labels on disc 4 & 5 right ! $62.99 !!!! You can find this collection on e-bay for half the amount. Very sorry to say that for the last several months, Amazon has been pricing themselves out of being considered the best option in DVDs.