The Godfather why didn't they do any restoration on this title ?

[fusion]

This is just inexcusable how could paramount not restore The Godfather for this DVD box set. It certainly can look alot better then this. Lot's of scratches and the colour timing is off too.

It's very strange indeed that such a big company as Paramount didn't do any restoration work on such a major title.

When Warner Brothers can produce perfect editions of North By Nortwest (1959) and Citizen Kane (1941). I think they should be really ashamed that they didn't do anything to one of their biggest titles ever.

Especially in the light of really small companies like Hong Kong Legends and Criterion who have produced outstanding DVD editions of movies that are in far worse shape then The Godfather.

This comes down to lazyness from Paramount plain and simple they know that it will sell and can't be bothered to restore this timeless classic.

And it shows that at the end of the day they simply don't care for The Godfather much at all and it's becoming increasingly obvious that none of their other back catalogue titles will get any proper restoration work done on them either.

Maybe paramount should hand over the films to Criterion or HKL so they can give them the proper treatment they deserve :)

[rjgn]

I didn't find the quality to be that bad. It's better than the laser disc release from a few years ago. Sure it's not a reference quality disc but it's also nowhere near as bad as you seem to be making out. IMHO of course.

[Kevin Harper]

I have to agree - it could have looked a lot worse. If major studios aren't going to look after their negatives and master prints then this is the best we can expect. After all, film stock of that period wasn't brilliant to start with and many films have deteriorated to such a state that they are beyond restoration.
I am more than happy with The Godfather as it is - it is the best I have ever seen it. If everyone is going to compare films of this age to say the Fight Club DVD then they are going to be very disappointed. It is true that DVD as a medium brings out the best in an excellent movie print but also shows up it's imperfections more than VHS, laserdisc or even broadcast TV will do.
Also you have to remember that films like Citizen Kane were shot on nitrate based film stock that whilst it yeilded better results was far more susceptible to rapid deterioration. We should be happy that a lot of these films are here in the state they are. Look what almost happened to Vertigo.......

[Panic]

I supose they'll release a superbit one in future for us to spend more money for a restored print !!

[Morpheus2000]

Very bad on Paramount's part not to have it remasterd after such a long wait for a major release. Disappointing :(

This is worrying, will they do the same with Raiders of the Lost Ark when they finally decide to release it? It should be in better condition since it's not as old. Although, Lucasfilm own the rights to ROTLA so maybe it'll be alright.

[Grover]

Originally posted by Morpheus2000
Although, Lucasfilm own the rights to ROTLA so maybe it'll be alright.

Assuming, that George Lucas doesn't decide to turn it in to a 'special edition'! ;)

[MattCapes]

Just wondering, where does the idea that there was no restoration done from come from?

I only ask because I was just reading this post (http://www.hometheaterforum.com/uub/Forum15/HTML/031338.html) over on the HTF. To cut to the chase, the quote that is relevant is from the owner of the forum:

I do want to stick up for Paramount only because
of the things I have heard over the years concerning
the condition of The Godfather prints. If what I
have heard is accurate, the film has looked pretty
subpar in every format it has been on. Some say
the print needed so much restoration that it may
have been impossible or too expensive to make it
look any better than it does.

I had the opportunity to talk with Ron Smith, one
of the people responsible for the restoration. He
had told me how hard Paramount worked on that film
and how proud the restoration team was with the final
results.


Any thoughts?

[Tristan H]

i also read various threads at The Home Theater Forum and it would appear that over a years work went into restoring the film. the problems seem to be related to the poor condition of the source material as opposed to the lack of any effort in the restoration.

[Ben Martin]

Originally posted by Grover
Assuming, that George Lucas doesn't decide to turn it in to a 'special edition'! ;)

indeed. and to a degree he already has because regardless of whether any other changes are made to it or not it has already been retitled for home video release to "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark"! :rolleyes:

and Panic, maybe paramount will one day re-release the godfather if they decide to start their own 'superbit'-like range. but it won't be getting a 'superbit' release for now as that isn't a dvd standard but rather a product line exclusive to columbia tristar studios (sony pictures).

[Cap'n Al]

It's not up to the standards of, say, Spartacus' Criterion release, but the transfers for the first and second films are about as good as you could realistically hope for IMO.

[Michael Brooke]

Do also bear in mind that <I>The Godfather</I> is an exceptionally dark film - so much so that cinematographer Gordon Willis even admitted that some shots were blatantly underexposed! (You can watch his confession, and some damning examples, in the documentary <I>Visions of Light</I>).

So even if we ever got hold of perfect source materials, it's never going to look as good as <I>Citizen Kane, North By Northwest</I> or <I>Spartacus</I>, whose cinematography is rather more DVD-friendly.

<I>Lost Highway</I> is another film that really defies transfer to a digital medium - again, because the film-makers were trying to push celluloid to its limits in terms of recording information.