Almost as epic as the films themselves are the
stories surrounding the production of the films. You'll learn quite
a bit just from listening to Coppola's commentary tracks, but there's
plenty more -- and that's where this bonus disc comes in.
First up are the deleted scenes. There are 34
different scenes and they run about an hour. The arrangement of
the scenes is at once interesting and a little frustrating. Rather
than list them according to which film they are were deleted from,
they are presented in chronological order. It isn't too difficult
to figure out which scenes came from which films, but a little bit
better documentation would have been nice. Hardcore fans of the
series probably won't find a whole lot of new material in these
deleted scenes as most of them have appeared in television versions.
Also included with the deleted scenes is a text chronology of events
from the Godfather saga.
The Godfather Family Tree is a feature that compliments
the chronology nicely. Just as it sounds, the Family Tree documents
the lineage of the members of the Corleone family. This section
also includes filmographies and biographies of the actors who played
the various characters.
The Godfather Family: A Look Inside is a rather
infamous documentary of the films that was produced about the time
of The Godfather Part III. This feature runs about 75 minutes and
is loaded with behind-the-scenes information. In the commentaries,
we learned of some of the troubles during the production of the
three films. This documentary also looks at some of those problems,
which is refreshing when compared to most behind-the-scenes features
that amount to little more than extended commercials. The documentary
contains interviews with most of main stars, as well as rare rehearsal
footage. If anything, the documentary is weakest concerning the
third film, which was still in production at the time the documentary
was being made.
The Music of The Godfather, Puzo and Coppola on
Screenwriting and Gordon Willis on Cinematography are a series of
featurettes taking a look at the more technical aspects of the disc.
Music is split into two separate featurettes about Carmine Coppola
(Francis Ford Coppola's father) and Nino Rotta, who did the main
score. The screenwriting segment is comprised of video interviews,
audio clips and image galleries discusses what went into developing
the three films. Finally, the Cinematography section takes a quick
4 minute look at the visual choices and style of the film.
When you have a film series as epic and important
as The Godfather Trilogy, it's not surprising that the films would
receive many awards. The Acclaim and Response section documents
some of those awards by including clips from various Academy Awards
presentations. Also in this section are theatrical trailers. Since
my background is in graphic design and marketing, I always find
it interesting to see the original trailers of older films. This
is no exception and the trailer for The Godfather, in particular,
is unique in that most of it is comprised of still images.
Francis Coppola's Notebook is a 10 minute interview
feature in which Coppola discusses how he converted the novel into
a screenplay. This feature also looks at how the final film differed
from Coppola's notes and screenplay.
Locations of The Godfather runs approximately
6 minutes and takes us through some of the infamous crime scene
locations in New York.
An original behind-the-scenes featurette for The
Godfather that was produced in 1971 is also included. Though produced
30 years ago, this featurette will seem very familiar to those who've
watched any HBO First Look feature. There is little here of substance
and is, in effect, an 8 minute trailer for the film.
Rounding things up is an image gallery that has
20 or so stills from the films and a rogues gallery filled with
publicity stills for most of the characters.
There is a lot of material presented here, but
most of it is interesting and worthwhile. Between this and the commentary
tracks, you'll learn just about everything you could ever want to
know about The Godfather Trilogy. If that weren't enough, there
are a few extras tucked into this bonus disc that are a lot of fun,
one of which includes some "helpful" DVD maintenance tips
from members of The Sopranos.
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