Godfather: Don Vito's Opus, The

Quite simply one of the best Fan Edits I have ever watched in my life. It's simply one of those that will be spoken off for years to come.

When you have such a masterclass like The Godfather, great care and attention is needed to compile such a mammoth project.
Wraith's precise and delicate editing of this masterclass film deserves to be watched by all movie fanatics alike.

Do I recommend it?
Yes, absolutely! I think most people are not able to watch the full thing in one go, however there are intermission points within the films that people can pause and come back to.

Fascinating to see the additional material and chronological ordering, certainly does make you look upon the story differently, but am torn as to whether this works "better" than the original structure.

That is hardly the point though and as far as I can tell Wraith has characteristically assembled everything flawlessly, looking forward to watching Michael's Opus.

Having wanted to see Wraith's Unbreakable Glass Split edits, but not having the sources themselves yet, I decided to opt for Wraith's Godfather edits instead, since the trilogy is in my blu-ray collection (as it should be if you wish to call yourself a fan of cinema), and because the first one is in my top 5 favorite films. It's taken me forever to watch and review this one, because at just over 4 1/2 hours, it's one of the longest things I've ever seen! Finding the right time to watch it in the middle of my busy schedule was a challenge. I had to watch this one over the course of a couple of days, because it was so long. And the next one is even longer at 5 1/2 hours!

But with my annoyances in trying to see this, The Godfather: Don Vito's Opus is a great edit and one that lives up to its name. I still hold the theatrical release in high regard because of its mercifully shorter 3 hour running time, but I can never hate this edit. It's too darn good, and I appreciate the structural changes that have been made. Just be prepared to schedule a big chunk of your day, is my only issue.

The edit is basically all the Don Vito scenes from Part II, followed by an extended version of Part I, making this the most linear and chronological take on the franchise yet. In a nutshell, I like it! Moving Don Vito's early days to the beginning gives this edit a true rise and fall feeling to the Corleone empire, and the extra additions gave me some extra insight I never noticed before. For example, during Michael's escape to Italy, I didn't notice that the Italy we saw in Part I was the same Italy in Part II, and that Michael was hiding at the place of his father's childhood. It's a simple realization, but one that adds yet another new layer of depth to one of the greatest films of all time.

All in all, the constant planning and searching for a good timeframe to watch this edit was worth it! Now to find a good timeframe for Michael's Opus...

I love both versions of these mixes, although the original films are very good, I feel that these versions develop the characters more and give a deeper understanding of their motivations. Very good job

Amazing detail put into this edit, cannot rate it highly enough for any fan of the Godfather series