My favorite movie of all time has NEVER been shown in movie theaters – at least not completely shown. No, it’s not a Netflix movie. My favorite movie is also technically the only movie to win 2 ACADEMY AWARDS FOR BEST PICTURE. It’s “The Godfather The Complete Epic”. (aka “The Godfather Saga” or “The Godfather: A Novel for Television” – which is what it’s called on IMDB).
In 1977, a couple years after “The Godfather Part 2” came out Francis Ford Coppola re-edited “The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part 2” in chronological order, altered some scenes to tone down the violence or sex, and added a few scenes. Then it was shown on television as a mini-series on NBC. It played 2 hours a night for 4 nights (without commercials, the total runtime was approx. 7.5 hours).
If it was just the 2 movies edited chronologically, it wouldn’t be that special, but the “extra scenes” make it so much better. The extra scenes include things like….
- The two people who searched for the very young Vito Corleone at the start of “The Godfather Part 2” (which is the start of this movie) – when the older Vito Corleone (Robert DeNiro) returns to Italy. They’re both killed in separate scenes.
- The two people who were Michael Corleone’s (Al Pacino) bodyguards when he was hiding in Italy and possibly planted the car bomb which killed his wife Apolonia (in “The Godfather”). They’re killed in separate scenes.
- There is a little bit more to the scene where Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) meets with the studio head Jack Woltz (John Marley) in Los Angeles (in “The Godfather”). I don’t want to spoil that scene.
- There’s a fight in a Las Vegas casino that spills into a showroom rehearsing a full Las Vegas show (lots of showgirls with big headdresses) which is a very impressive. If this was in one of the movies, I believe it would have been in “The Godfather Part 2”. There is a scene where Michael Corleone speaks to Senator Pat Geary (G.D. Spradlin) about owning other casinos.
The “mini-series” was later shown on cable channels like AMC as a movie (they put back most of the violence and sex removed from the mini-series version I believe). That’s where I saw the movie. They even showed it at least once with “The Godfather Part 3” added to it and called it “The Godfather Saga”.
The TV miniseries was released on VHS (you can still buy it on Amazon here) and I think it may have been released on laserdisc in Japan or China. However, the movie has never been released on video on demand, streaming, or DVD. There are some bootleg versions you can find on Ebay (I think they were recorded from a television broadcast). From what I understand, Coppola never liked it. He only made the mini-series to raise money to make “Apocalypse Now”.
Maybe the new owners of Paramount might consider FINALLY releasing it on DVD, Blu Ray, or on Paramount+. The 50th anniversary of the “mini-series” is in 2027. However, if they’re going to release it, PLEASE RELEASE THE UNCENSORED AND UNCUT VERSION. Also, if you decide to show it in movie theaters, I will be there to see all 7 and a half hours of it.
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 