The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration Comes to Blu-ray in September

The Godfather is coming to Blu-ray, and it’s doing so in style. Paramount announced this morning that The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration will see the complete The Godfather trilogy restored and presented in high-definition, with the movies scheduled to ship September 23. A DVD version will appear on the same day.

All three films will be available individually, in a four-disc Blu-ray collection or in a five-DVD collection. You can pre-order them here from Amazon.

Completely restored to their original glory (a process overseen by Francis Ford Coppola himself), The Godfather Collection: The Coppola Restoration not only includes the bonus material from the original box set, but it also a bevy of all-new extra features. An extensive frame-by-frame restoration that took more than a year to complete ensures that The Godfather films look just as great as they did the day they premiered in theaters.

The Blu-ray version of The Godfather Collection: The Coppola Restoration will be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and English Mono (except The Godfather: Part III) and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. The special features are outlined below.

The new special features explore the complexities of the restoration process and provides new insights about how the original film almost didn’t happen. “The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn’t” relates the unlikely events that put together an unknown director with an unwanted cast. Other featurettes include “…When the shooting stopped” and “Godfather World,” both of which take a look at The Godfather’s influence modern pop culture. Each film also includes a commentary by Coppola. Here’s the full run-down of special features:

• Disc One
  • The Godfather feature film, plus commentary from director Francis Ford Coppola
• Disc Two
  • The Godfather, Part II feature film, plus commentary from director Francis Ford Coppola
• Disc Three
  • The Godfather, Part III feature film, plus commentary from director Francis Ford Coppola
• Disc Four
  • Godfather World (HD)
  • The Masterpiece that Almost Wasn’t (HD)
  • …When the Shooting Stopped (HD)
  • Emulsional Rescue — Revealing The Godfather (HD)
  • The Godfather on the Red Carpet (HD)
  • Four Short Films on The Godfather
    • The Godfather vs. The Godfather, Part II (HD)
    • Cannoli (HD)
    • Riffing on the Riffing (HD)
    • Clemenza (HD)

    The Family Tree

  • Crime Organization Chart
  • Connie and Carlo’s Wedding Album<
  • 2001 DVD Archive
    • Behind the Scenes:
      • The Godfather Family: A Look Inside
      • On Location
      • Francis Coppola’s Notebook
      • The Music of the Godfather
      • Coppola & Puzo on Screenwriting
      • Gordon Willis on Cinematography
      • Storyboards from The Godfather, Part II
      • Storyboards from The Godfather, Part III
      • The Godfather Behind the Scenes 1971
  • The Filmmakers
    • Francis Ford Coppola
    • Mario Puzo
    • Gordon Willis
    • Dean Tavoularis
    • Nino Rota
    • Carmine Coppola
  • Additional Scenes
  • Acclaim & Response
  • Trailers (HD)
  • Photo Gallery
  • Rogues’ Gallery