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Author Topic: Man I'm a dork....Saw "The Godfather" for the first time tonight Richard Greco Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1180 From: Plant City, FL Registered: Nov 2003 posted 12-16-2006 02:11 AM                     I know...I'm 23 and never have seen it. I sat down from 12:00 to 3:00am tonight and watched the whole damn thing. I must say, it is one of the best movies I have EVER seen. Anyone know how many reels this was? My guess is about 10-12?  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 12-16-2006 03:55 AM                        It's OK.  |  IP: Logged Demetris Thoupis Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1240 From: Aradippou, Larnaca, Cyprus Registered: Apr 2001 posted 12-16-2006 06:38 AM                     Godfather trilogy always gives me the creeps! Especially the ending of Part 3. They are all classics. Marlon Brando is unbeatable in the first one and the second and third get better and better. There is a lot of contrantiction about the third one. Some either love it as the best, or hate it as the worst. I love all three and yes I am one of the "love the third part" people!  |  IP: Logged Jason Winn Expert Film Handler Posts: 131 From: Mesquite, TX, USA Registered: Jan 2006 posted 12-16-2006 11:16 AM                     Well, Richard, I'm glad I'm not the only one. I'm 22 and I have never seen The Godfather. Yeah, I know. I'm living under a rock. I might go rent it sometime, if I feel like it.  |  IP: Logged Kenneth Wuepper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1026 From: Saginaw, MI, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 12-16-2006 11:59 AM                     Richard, How lucky you are! Only seeing it ONCE! I was the projectionist on opening night and as the 'swing man' out of 5 in the booth. I had the privilege of showing it 254 times. Running it reel to reel we all got to know the changes by heart. The opening is very different as there are white letter credits on an entirely black screen. I got a call from the manager to come down to the office for a phone call. The lab was calling everyone to let us know that someone had spliced the 'watermelon girl' color test into the opening credits, thinking it was just blank negative. When it left our booth after over 1,260 performances, that was the only patch in the entire print. KEN  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 12-16-2006 12:16 PM                    I've NEVER seen it and I'm over 23... I can't say that I even want to see it. Seems like a real fest.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-16-2006 12:21 PM                        I'm with Frank on this one. I am 50 and I haven't seen it either. We ran a special showing of it a few years ago (in DTS, even) and I didn't even see it then. It's just not something I care to see. (I have the 4-minute trailer for Part 3 in my collection; I've seen that.)  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 12-16-2006 02:45 PM                     I supposedly saw this at a drive-in when I was a few months old. Don't remember a thing though. I've had it on Selectavision disc for over 10 years and last year someone gave me the laserdisc set, but I've never watched them. I keep meaning to watch both the first and second movies together when I have time, but I never get around to it. (Going through the Brady Bunch DVDs instead!) The LD set has parts I-III, but I heard they added stuff to part III that wasn't in the theatrical release so not sure if I'll ever watch it.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Mehocic Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 804 From: New Castle, PA, USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-16-2006 08:44 PM                     My grandmother has a box set of Parts I and II that I'm sure she hasn't watched in about 15 years or so. The films themselves are OK. In truth, I find more Italians enjoy them more so than non-Italians. quote: Demetris Thoupis Godfather trilogy always gives me the creeps! Especially the ending of Part 3. Strange that you say that. I was just thinking about that scene last Tuesday night for no apparant reason whatsoever.  |  IP: Logged Cameron Glendinning Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 845 From: West Ryde, Sydney, NSW Australia Registered: Dec 2005 posted 12-16-2006 08:51 PM                     I ran it at an outdoor venue probably 2 years ago, 2000 in the crowd. It was great to finally see this movie as a shared experience, the large audience reactions added so much to a film that I already considered a classic.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 12-16-2006 09:42 PM                        I doubt that "Italians" enjoy the films more than "non-Italians". These films (at least the orginal parts 1 and 2) are recognized as true classics everywhere. I think they are timeless masterpieces on many levels, from the storytelling to the acting to technical aspects. Interestingly, "the Godfather" was voted #2 "best shot" movie of the second half of the 20th century a few years ago by American Cinematographer, because of the expressive, eerie lighting and stylish color schemes. (#1 was "Lawrence of Arabia, BTW.) They are much more than just "Mafia flicks". That's what Paramount originally wanted when they started the production as a low budget project with the then little known Coppola as director because they could find anybody else who wanted to do such an insignificant "gangster movie". Coppola and Puzo instead gave them an American mythology which incorporated all the classic themes of leaving the "old country" for reasons of economic hardship or persecution and coming to the "new world" with nothing but a name (which then gets changed by the Ellis Island officer), growing up in the "jungle" of the immigration slums and making it to the top by nothing but determination and ruthlessness. I thought the 3rd part wasn't quite as bad as some found it, but it doesn't quite rise to the level of the original two movies either - part 2 hadn't originally been planned, but the material was already outlined in the book. Still, it has some good elements and it manages to close the circle with Michael Corleone dying rich, old and lonely in the village that his father had fled from, hidden in a basket, many decades before.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Mehocic Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 804 From: New Castle, PA, USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-16-2006 10:46 PM                     Well said Michael. quote: Michael Schaffer I doubt that "Italians" enjoy the films more than "non-Italians". These films (at least the orginal parts 1 and 2) are recognized as true classics everywhere. For clarity purposes, the word "Italians" signifies those people of ethnic orgins who haven't figured out that it is now the 21st century and grandpa came here 100 years ago. They know nothing of Italy's history (other than wrong answers about Rome) and /or nothing of the Italian language (other than how to tell somebody to shove something up their ass). Most think gangsters are cool because, hey, after all, their Italian. No disrespect should be implied to Italian-Americans here unless you think you fall into that catagory.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 12-16-2006 10:55 PM                     I like The Godfather and The Godfather Part II a lot. They're not on my short list of favorite movies of all time, but I do admire both a great deal -especially the first movie for all the hell Coppola endured at the hands of Paramount executives while shooting it. He was busting his ass trying to get as much of the film in the can as fast as possible out of fear he was going to be fired at any time. I think it's a miracle the film came together as great as it did. This is going to sound morbid, but the special effect where Mo Green gets shot in the eye has to be one of the best all time gore effects in movie history. I'm still at a loss on how they put together that effect. Actor Alex Rocco flinched from being startled by that charge going off in the eye glass lens. And that made the effect even more real looking. I really wanted to like The Godfather Part III (Paramount even struck a bunch of 70mm prints for the release), but the movie just couldn't really get its legs under it. And there was a noticeable "been there, done that" feel to it as well. Sophia Coppola's lifeless acting marred a few scenes. Her talents are far more formidable in directing. The worst moment is the death of Michael Corleone at the end. It just looked ridiculous when Pacino fell out of that chair. Was I supposed to laugh at that? Goodfellas probably helped amplify the negative feelings critics had for The Godfather Part III. Scorsese's film was still playing in some theaters at Christmas of 1990. Goodfellas set a new gold standard for mob movies and I think it obviously served as a template for HBO's highly successful Sopranos series. If you like mob movies the DVD box set of The Godfather films is definitely worth adding to the collection. But I think the 2-disc special edition of Goodfellas needs to come along for the ride. Casino is an honorable mention. I like Scarface, but it is shamelessly operatic and as shamelessly 1980's as a Miami Vice TV episode.  |  IP: Logged Will Kutler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1506 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 12-17-2006 12:10 AM                     Jackie Mason had a great joke that he used on the "Borscht Belt" "How could the Italians have ever concocted something like the Mafia without the Jews to show them how? Meyer Lansky...he was their Henry Kissinger!!" And as Robert Lacey pointed out in his biography of Lansky "Little Man", shortly after the release of GFII actor Lee Strasberg recieved a personal phone call from Lansky complementating him on his performance. After all, both men came from the same neighborhood during the same time period. And it was Rabbi Judah L. Magnes and the Kehilliah that first documented crime and vice on New Yorks Lower East Side, coining some of the "slang terms" still popular today. Interestingly, Jewish mobsters, who were closly associated with the Italian Mafia, were probably more violent than both the Italians and Irish put together! But actually, all ethenic groups have had their organized crime gangs. And as for organzied crime in America, lest we forget that the Irish were there long before the Jews and Italians. Anyhow, back to the Godfather triology. The 1st film closly follows the book, but there are differences and omissions. THe book has a definate ending. GF Part II does a good job of explaining Vito's early life, but that is the only similarity to the book. Pat III has nothing to do with the book at all. One thing about part III that most people have agreed on: Sophia Copolla just about ruins the film. K  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 12-17-2006 12:44 AM                     And Russian mobsters make Jewish mobsters look like a bunch of pansies.  |  IP: Logged

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