Even allowing for the achievement of pulling off this gargantuan editing assignment, The Godfather Saga is a lumpy affair which seems to stop and start at irregular intervals and never truly picks up momentum.' Nielsen ratings Īccording to the entry in Les Brown's Encyclopedia of Television, the Nielsen ratings for the special were supposedly not as high as expected, possibly because both films had already aired (albeit separately) on NBC in previous years. The inclusion of scenes previously removed from the theatrical prints also stretched out what was already an overlong project. Hal Erickson summarized the results as follows, 'While this rearrangement was reasonably coherent, the rhythm and pacing of the original theatrical versions of the two films was severely damaged. The previously deleted scenes totaled almost 75 minutes. The television film incorporated additional footage not included in the original films, including Don Fanucci being attacked by street thugs, Vito Corleone's first encounter with Hyman Roth, Vito killing two of the mafiosi who worked for Don Ciccio and were instrumental in his family's death, Michael Corleone's reunion with his father after his return from Sicily, Sonny Corleone's taking charge of the family after his father is severely wounded, and Michael's vengeance upon Fabrizio for killing Apollonia. Malkin also toned down the violence, sex, and language for a television audience. The Godfather Part II had cut back and forth between scenes in the early 1900s and the late 1950s, and was therefore both a prequel and a sequel to The Godfather. The resulting film was in chronological order.

4.3 The Godfather Part III additional scenesįrancis Ford Coppola asked his editor Barry Malkin to make a seven-hour version for television Coppola reportedly did this project to raise money for Apocalypse Now, which was severely over-budget at the time.

4.2 The Godfather Part II additional scenes.

2 The Godfather 1902–1959: The Complete Epic.

Following the release of The Godfather Part III in 1990, a third unified version was released to video in 1992 entitled The Godfather Trilogy: 1901–1980. The television version was the basis for a shorter, 1981 video release known as The Godfather 1902–1959: The Complete Epic. The Godfather Saga is also known as The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television, The Godfather: A Novel for Television, The Godfather Novella, The Godfather 1901–1959: The Complete Epic, and The Godfather Epic (on HBO). It originally aired on NBC over four consecutive nights (one three-hour segment and three two-hour segments) in November 1977.

The Godfather Saga is a 1977 American television miniseries that combines The Godfather and The Godfather Part II into one film. 1977 television miniseries directed by Francis Ford Coppola The Godfather Saga

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