Francis Ford Coppola Apologizes For Starting Hollywood’s Sequel Obsession: “I’m Embarrassed”

Deadline ^ | Glenn Garner

[BipolarBob]

Am I the first to point out the idiocy of The Godfather part 3? Now, that was a worthless movie.

[pnut22]

Not really my area but I will opine anyway. Sequels that are written for the sole purpose of being a sequel will not fare well.

[Dr. Sivana]

Yes, the hints of the black girl’s girlfriend just started. Ugh. So far it’s low-key, but it never EVER stays low-key.

I mostly enjoyed Amazon's "Man in the High Castle" until they had to make a preternaturally decnt character (Ed). When he kissed some cowboy on screen I turned it off. I hope Amazon tracked that.

In modern movies/series, the pervert is always otherwise perfect, or at least otherwise extremely competent (Gus in "Breaking Bad"/"Better Call Saul"). At least with Gus, nothing explicit was shown. The homos in Hitchcock movies were always presented in such a way as to not scare the horses (Robert Walker as Bruno in "Strangers on a Train", Martin Landau as Leonard in "Strangers on a Train", Branson and Philip (Farley Granger, John Dall in "Rope").

[No name given]

That’s correct.

[Dr. Sivana]

Am I the first to point out the idiocy of The Godfather part 3?

You are not the first. I believe Paramount pushed on the schedule way too hard, and some of the repeated themes that were intriguing in Godfather II were getting worn out in Part III. Sofia Coppola was in the movie because Winona Ryder bailed out at the last minute with no suitable replacement. Whole movie was rushed and forced, and cinematography was below ordinary Coppola standards.

[Rummyfan]

I blame him for ‘Highlander 2’ and ‘Caddyshack 2’.

No, I don't blame him. In Hollywood nothing succeeds like success. How many hits have generated a sequel and then multiple sequels. You can go back to The Thin Man series, the Andy Hardy flicks, The Saint movies... and now we have had Rambo and Rocky and Fast and Furious and The Terminator etc etc etc .... These sequels come with built-in name recognition so they are easier to market (never mind that each sequel tends to lose quality from issue to issue...). And less creratrivity is required. and sometimes the sequel is better than the original - The Road Warrior versus Mad Max for instance....

[Vision]

Hollywood has been making sequels since the beginning. Coppola had nothing to do with it.

[Rummyfan]

I am a person who thinks the first one was better, but some people do think the second one is.

I think the first is better - better cast and better story. My only complaint is Diane Keation in both. I never 'got' her.

[basalt]

incredibly, the same 2 people, Puzo and Coppola wrote the screen play for Godfather 3...and it was a train wreck. They changed the main characters, the costumes and “look” were just awful. The “hit” by helicopter was absurd, you see that in Bruce Willis action movies. Hes tried to salvage it over the years, but its still a wreck. Ive tried 20 times to watch it all the way thru, cant make it. The first 2 were masterpieces.

[basalt]

especially her hair in part 3...looked like a wet birds nest.

[Rummyfan]

There was a “Caddyshack2”?

Yes and it sank without a trace thankfully.

[basalt]

its a very good sequel...but the flash back scenes make it a masterpiece, along with the first one.

[dfwgator]

And Al Pacino played Michael completely different, it wasn’t the game guy from the first two. I realized he tried to get legit and all, but his personality was totally different.

[basalt]

omg...he looked dumb with that spiked hair...he was cracking one liners. What a wreck.

[SaveFerris]

I loved Rocky 38

[dfwgator]

That was from Airplane II.

[Dr. Sivana]

My only complaint is Diane Keaton in both. I never 'got' her.

She didn't fit in the Corleone world. She was the "outsider". Michael was in part attracted to her because in the WWII era it would be easy to try to buy into the promise of America, and she represented WASP mainstream USA at the time. She was also naive without realizing it.

Michael was trying to make his own way, but then finding out both that his family had its own plans for him, and that ultimately, his family seemed to need him in a role that only he could fill. Intelligent, he picked up the idea of the operations of the Family without really being part of it at first, by design. Even well into GF II he is trying to make peace with the U.S. system, but could not do so without turning his back on his family, which he considered to be impossible.

I believe Kay saw something in the family that was attractive, and she got along fine with Mama Corleone. Ultimately, she couldn't deal with what her life had become, and what Michael had become. By the time of Godfather III, Kay comes to terms with Michael being who he is, but that gets disrupted. It wasn't his world. Michael had hurt Connie, too, but she eventually bought into the Corleone way in a way that Kay never could.

[SaveFerris]

Rocky looked great!!

[dfwgator]

My only complaint is Diane Keation in both. I never 'got' her.



How could he even think of going back to her after Apollonia? (Damn you, Fabrizio!)

[usurper]

This is not so much about sequels, it’s about naming the 2nd “Part II” and the next “Part III”.

Yes and we need to take into account that some stories can't be expressed in an hour and 50 minutes. 'Lord of the Rings' series are good examples. Multiple full length major motion pictures were required and still they had to leave half the source material out for time constrains.