New Godfather master being prepared for Bluray. Twice the resolution of HD.

[Rman]

Widely regarded as an American classic and a landmark achievement in cinematography, Paramount Pictures’ The Godfather (1972) is identical to most films of its era in one respect: it was not properly preserved. Paramount, like most Hollywood studios, did not create a preservation program — “asset protection” in industry parlance — until the home-video boom of the 1980s proved film libraries could have indefinite, lucrative lives. Before that awareness took hold, original negatives were typically used as printing negatives, which meant the original negatives for popular pictures took a lot of abuse. The Godfather was not only popular, it was Hollywood’s first blockbuster, and over the years, “the neck of the golden goose was certainly wrung out,” says the film’s cinematographer, Gordon Willis, ASC, with typical candor.

Now, a new batch of golden eggs is in the offing. At director Francis Ford Coppola’s request, film-preservation expert Robert A. Harris and associate archivist Joanne Lawson of The Film Preserve recently spent a year digitally restoring The Godfather and The Godfather Part II (1974) with Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging (MPI). Harris’ key collaborators in the endeavor were ASC associate member Jan Yarbrough, MPI’s technical director/senior colorist; Daphne Dentz, MPI’s vice president of digital services; Willis, who shot the pictures and gave advice by phone; and Allen Daviau, ASC, who paid many visits to MPI to lend the effort a cinematographer’s eye.

After working through The Godfather and Part II, the team turned to the much more recent Part III (1990), which required no restoration at all; they did a digital intermediate (DI) to create the director’s cut, a version that previously existed only on home video. For all three films, there are now new 4K preservation negatives, separation masters from which new printing elements can be derived, and backup data tapes. Shepherding the project to completion was Martin Cohen, Paramount’s executive vice president of feature postproduction. “Marty’s support was vital,” says Harris. “He is a postproduction executive who truly understands film restoration — he gets it.

http://www.ascmag.com/magazine_dynamic/May2008/PostFocus/page1.php

From American Cinematographer Magazine Online

The article is pretty lengthy and technical for those interested.  4k images can't even be played back by contemporary technology. 

Some images below

Before

After remastering

Before

After

[Howard Alan Treesong]

let me buy you on bluray

[CajoleJuice]

DO WANT

(New DVDs of the trilogy will be released in September.)

WHAT THE FUCK

WHAT'S THE POINT

[Phoenix Dark]

looks like i'm buying a ps3



Godfather: Michael Mann cut?

[Rman]

DO WANT

(New DVDs of the trilogy will be released in September.)

WHAT THE FUCK

WHAT'S THE POINT

There also releasing it for DVD, using these new masters, however, they will not have image quality of the Blu-rays, obviously.  DVD is still the leading video format so it's going to get milked for awhile.

[CajoleJuice]

Also? I don't see any mention of a hi-def release in the article? Granted, I just scanned. (Actually, I Crtl-F'd) I don't know where you got the "being prepared for Blu-ray" from. Obviously, they'll come out eventually, but why say DVD and not Blu-ray?!?!

[Rman]

It's a forgone conclusion.  The new masters are 4k images.  Bluray is half that--2k.  The article itself talks more about the about the process of restoring the films.  It's more of a trade publication than an entertainment publication.

[CajoleJuice]

The Blu-rays better come out at the same time as the DVDs. 

[Rman]

Do you have a PS3, Cajole?

[CajoleJuice]

I have an HD-capable laptop...which has made me realize how badly I need an HDTV + PS3.

I can't believe my laptop has a Blu-ray drive, but doesn't have an HDMI port. It's so pointless

(I did not choose it since I got it as a gift, so I can't complain -- and Blu-rays do look pretty amazing on it)

[BlueTsunami]

Totally getting Godfather I on BD omfg

I love how they retained the 4k transfers too, this thing is going to be a beauty

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Before
(Image removed from quote.)

I sorry, but while I have no doubt the Blu-Ray of The Godfather will look great that looks nothing like the version of the film I have on DVD.  It seems  someone turned up the blue spectrum and smeared vasoline on the TV.

[Rman]

The before shots are from the original film masters.  The VHS and later releases were color corrected.  This is actually an industry practice.

[Powerslave]

Yeah, no way that blue screen is real.

[Joe Molotov]

I'm glad they're finally giving The Godfather the complete remastering it deserves. The original DVD release looked a little rough around the edges.

[Bloodwake]

YES YES YES YES YES YES

DO WANT NOW

[DJ_Tet]

The Blu-rays better come out at the same time as the DVDs. 

Yes.  Right now it almost seems like this is going to end up just like the Indy 4k restoration that is only coming out on DVD (right now anyway.)

I hope the blu-rays come day one, but considering they aren't even confirmed in the article I'll assume the worst right now.

[Phoenix Dark]

Before
(Image removed from quote.)

I sorry, but while I have no doubt the Blu-Ray of The Godfather will look great that looks nothing like the version of the film I have on DVD.  It seems  someone turned up the blue spectrum and smeared vasoline on the TV.

Michael Mann cut

[Bloodwake]

Before
(Image removed from quote.)

I sorry, but while I have no doubt the Blu-Ray of The Godfather will look great that looks nothing like the version of the film I have on DVD.  It seems  someone turned up the blue spectrum and smeared vasoline on the TV.

Michael Mann cut

It's been a few years since the DVD release... the film could have deteriorated a lot in the past few years.

[Mupepe]

Before
(Image removed from quote.)

I sorry, but while I have no doubt the Blu-Ray of The Godfather will look great that looks nothing like the version of the film I have on DVD.  It seems  someone turned up the blue spectrum and smeared vasoline on the TV.

Michael Mann cut

It's been a few years since the DVD release... the film could have deteriorated a lot in the past few years.

I'm sure the DVD version was restored or color corrected for DVD.  That picture is most likely untouched from the original print.

or are you guys doing a joke?  I'm confused

[Rman]

The DVD versions were color corrected, Moops, not digitally remastered.  You're correct about the origin of the before pics.

The new digital remastering is shown in the after pics.

[BlueTsunami]

Color Correction

I'm personally digitally remastering a bunch of old family photos from the 80's and 90's, right now

[Smooth Groove]

Misleading titles FTL.  Where is 2160P? 

[Rman]

Misleading titles FTL.  Where is 2160P? 

Sorry for bump.

The restoration set is out this week on Bluray.

http://www.amazon.com/Godfather-Coppola-Restoration-Giftset-Blu-ray/dp/B000NTPDSW/ref=pd_cp_d_1?pf_rd_p=413864101&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0018CMJSU&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0CPASR28FS3BY837BAMT

Smooth, twice the resolution is based on the masters which cannot be played back on conventional AV equipment.  Technically speaking, the 1080p transfers are downscaled from the cleaned up masters.

[BlueTsunami]

Omg, thats awesome. I wish they offered them separately so I could just get 1 and 2 but shit, $20 per BD is not bad at all.

[Bloodwake]

Purchase FUCKING CONFIRMED

[DJ_Tet]

If I had a PS3 the decision between this for $60 or a game for $60 would be no decision at all.

Want.