The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980

The final image in PART 2 said it all! After that, it was just 'more of the same'.

And it's still missing about 20 more minutes (deleted from the theatrical versions) of great footage from the broadcast of "A Novel for Television" (or the retitled "Godfather Saga") that combined 1 & 2. Most notable is James Caan's 'Sonny' that was more prominent following the Don's assassination attempt. Plus...why take out scenes that were in the theatrical release. No matter what version is shown, it's either censored (for TV) with added scenes that further fleshes out the story and characters, or the theatrical release seems edited.

Coppola has said that he doesn't mind taking out scenes (according to his whim) because he can always put them back. What a way to keep the cash cow forever flowing. And...at the expense of depriving movie lovers the definitive version of 'The Godfather Saga'.

Just look at how many versions of 'The Godfather' there is...

1)'Godfather', 'Godfather PART II', 'Godfather Part III' (546 minutes)

2)'The Godfather: A Novel for Television' (1977) (434 min. not including the 171 min. of Part III) [434 + 171 = 605 min.]

3)'The Godfather Epic: 1902-1959' (3 tapes on VHS) (402 min. not including Part III) [402 + 171 = 573 min.]

4)'The Godfather Trilogy' (laser disc) (583 min)

Every version has some scenes that the others don't have. I think I'll wait till all the footage that the viewing public has been exposed to is all included in the film from beginning to end because all that footage is great cinema. For once, it'd be nice to sit back and enjoy the entire story without your concentration being interrupted by missing scenes (you know exists) that causes gaps in the narrative.