Posted on 09/08/2023 5:43:10 PM PDT by nickcarraway
In 1977, The Godfather Saga was released, bringing together the first two movies in chronological order, with extra scenes and some censored ones.
-Francis Ford Coppola turned The Godfather into a miniseries called The Godfather Saga to raise money for his film Apocalypse Now.
-The Godfather Saga toned down violence, language, and sex to be shown on TV, but also added footage that didn't make it to the original films.
-The Godfather Saga received disappointing ratings and criticism for messing with the pacing of the original versions and making the final product unnecessarily long.
The Godfather trilogy has gone through a couple of edits and recuts, making way for different versions and cuts of the film series, including one where Francis Ford Coppola put together the first two movies in chronological order. Although Francis Ford Coppola has explored different genres in his career as a filmmaker, he continues to be best known for his work in the gangster genre with The Godfather trilogy. Based on Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel of the same name, The Godfather introduced the audience to the Corleone family, led by Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando).
Set in 1945, The Godfather followed the transformation of Vito’s youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino), from family outsider to ruthless mafia boss, but the road to the throne of the Corleone family was full of tragedies and betrayals. Two years after the release of The Godfather, Coppola delivered The Godfather Part II, a prequel and sequel to the first movie as it picks up the story of Michael Corleone while also going back to cover the rise to power of a young Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro). Three years later, Coppola combined and recut both movies into The Godfather Saga, a miniseries with changes to both movies and an interesting story behind its making.
Coppola Turned The Godfather Into A Miniseries To Pay For Apocalypse Now Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part 2 The Godfather movies were a major boost for Coppola’s career, and following Part II, he started working on his next big project: the war movie Apocalypse Now. Although Apocalypse Now is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made, the production process wasn’t smooth or easy. Coppola went way over budget, and in order to raise the money needed to complete the film, he came up with a new cut of The Godfather combining the two films in chronological order (via The New York Times).
Along with editor Barry Malkin, Coppola reorganized the events of the first two The Godfather movies and formed what’s now known as The Godfather Saga. Released as a miniseries, The Godfather Saga aired on NBC in 1977 over four consecutive nights, formed by one three-hour segment and three two-hour parts. However, re-editing the films into one in chronological order also meant toning down the violence, language, and sex so it could be shown on TV, but it also added footage that didn’t make it to the original cuts.
Censorship affected some of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II most memorable scenes, among them the scene when Woltz finds the dead horse in his bed, Sonny’s murder, and Vito killing Fanucci and Don Ciccio. However, other, non-violent scenes were also censored, such as Michael kissing Apollonia after their wedding and baby Fredo being treated for pneumonia. The Godfather Saga also had a long list of additional scenes, totaling around 75 minutes, though not all of these scenes actually added to the stories.
The most notable additional scenes are Michael’s reunion with Vito after his return from Sicily, Michael’s vengeance upon Fabrizio for Apollonia’s death, Sonny taking charge of the family after Vito was wounded, Vito killing Don Ciccio’s henchmen, Vito visiting a man named Agostino Coppola, and Vito’s first encounter with Hyman Roth, as well as how the latter got his name (via American Film Now: The People, the Power, the Money, the Movies).
Ratings For The Godfather Saga Were A Disappointment For NBC
While a supercut of the first two The Godfather movies in chronological order and presented as a miniseries sounds interesting, especially with all the added footage, The Godfather Saga wasn’t that well received. The miniseries failed to achieve the expected ratings, which is attributed to both films having already aired separately on NBC in previous years. Critics weren’t that welcoming of this special cut either, as most found it messed with the pacing of the original versions, and the additional scenes only made the final product unnecessarily long.
How Many Different Cuts There Are Of The Chronological Godfather Saga
The 1977 cut of The Godfather Saga isn’t the only version of it, as in 1981, there was a shorter video release known as The Godfather 1902–1959: The Complete Epic, and another one titled The Godfather: The Epic 1901-1959 was released in 1990, with additional scenes. A third edition of The Godfather Saga was released two years after The Godfather Part III came out, titled The Godfather Trilogy: 1901–1980, and it’s nine hours and 43 minutes long. This third version of The Godfather Saga changed the introductory scene of Part III, showing the Corleone house in Lake Tahoe in ruins rather than Michael in a meeting with Archbishop Gilday, which was moved to later in the film.
In 2012, a new version, titled The Godfather: A Novel For Television, was released on AMC to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Godfather. This version was broadcast in high definition and didn’t have some of the exclusive scenes from the 1977 cut. The most recent version of The Godfather Saga was released on HBO in 2016, titled The Godfather: The Complete Epic 1901-1959, with most of the known deleted scenes, thus being longer than the previous Epic version. There are different ways to enjoy The Godfather trilogy, and the Saga cuts are some interesting options for those interested in the most complete versions of the films.
Sources: The New York Times, American Film Now: The People, the Power, the Money, the Movies
Okay, cool. I prefer Coppola’s wines to his movies.
I wish it was on one of the streaming services. I check every once in a while but would love to see it. I know it can be purchased on DVD but I don’t have a player anymore.
A friend recently gave me the dvd and I bought a player for it. Worth the bucks. Lots of additional material
I really enjoyed the recut onto DVD. It was not as spectacular as the OG, but it helped place things in my mind. There is nothing wrong with what he did, people are such nitpickers sometimes.
I enjoyed seeing Fabrizio getting his just desserts.
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