Godfather: Michael's Opus, The

Wraith's fanedit of The Godfather Trilogy has been lovingly rebuilt to showcase the linear narrative. As with his other creation - The Godfather: Don Vito's Opus - the misery and suffering of the protagonist, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), is shown in its full clarity. Like his father before him, Michael's attempts at living a peaceful and honest life were thwarted by the corruption of every other powerful man around him. In the end, despite his best efforts at living an honest life, the scheming, craven and abhorent behaviour of other families eventually robbed Michael of his own daughter.

Wraith's inclusion of the numerous deleted scenes add to the character development of this gut-wrenching and heartbreaking story, but by far the most moving of all the added scenes was the final one - the coda - showing Michael as an old man. As a 77-year-old, he sits in his wheelchair outside in the garden, triumphantly living in the residence of his last adversary/victim. He possesses all the wealth and power that he could possibly desire, but is nevertheless an empty and broken man, with nothing to live for... haunted by the murder of his older brother (that he arranged), the disintegration of his marriage, and the loss of his ownly daughter. Only his son, who left the crime 'business', survives... he alone survives because he rejected the legacy of his father...

That coda, with a duration of only one-minute, effectively summarises the entire epic movie masterpiece. (If the coda had been included in the original cinema cut back in 1990, The Godfather: Part III might have won the academy award for best picture... but now, we will never know.)

Lastly, despite her lack of acting skill, I still found Sofia Coppola's performance as least passable. Certainly, the acting heavyweights all around her and their sterling performances overshadowed her own efforts. Regardless, she conveyed the necessary innocence and fragility that was necessary for the role - you could believe that she actually was Michael Corleone's daughter... a naive young woman lacking the strength and experience of her father (just as Sofia Coppola lacked the acting experience and charisma of Al Pacino).

This is a brilliant fanedit of a wretched family's tormented existence in the criminal underworld.

Well done Wraith!

Very accomplished and serious effort. In Michael's Opus the tragic story of a man conflicted between two cultures is seen from a different angle offering a broad view of Vito's successor's rise and fall. Nevertheless, I believe that a non-chronological narration of the story is preferable as it better showcases the deep contrast in mentality and character between the two Dons (Vito and Michael).

Nevertheless, the inclusion of additional scenes - especially in the case of Godfather 3 - is a big plus as character motives and plot points are further clarified but I think their placement in some cases like Fabrizio's death and Al Neri's visit to Klingman is unsound as they disrupt the flow of the opening scene on Lake Tahoe's mansion and chronologically don't seem to make much sense, in that particular case at least.

As regards the sound quality, it's ok overall, although I observed a disturbing clipping noise in loud scenes in the second half of the film. The color grading in the scenes from Godfather part 3 is a welcome addition as the annoying reddish hue of the original film is thankfully extinguished.

In general, from a technical point of view, Wraith's fan edit is very noteworthy. The editing is flawless and, to the best of my knowledge in some cases superior to the one of the original film(s). Wraith has attempted to smooth the transition between the second and third Godfather, however the impression remains that the scenes originate from different films shot years apart, as the tone and the atmosphere changes somewhat abruptly (ignoring, of course, the self-evident aging of the actors involved). So the illusion that one watches a single film narrating a complete and overarching story is unavoidably shattered. Maybe if the scene of the dilapidated mansion was shown before Michael's visit to the archbishop the change would be more seamless, dunno.

All in all, it is a fan edit for hardcore The Godfather lovers who want to plunge themselves in the story and enjoy the "big picture", the whole tragic affair. Recommended for every dedicated fan of Coppola's opus.

As with Don Vito's Opus it is hard for me to decide which approach to the narrative structure best serves the story, which goes to show how strong the material is in being able to survive in two very different forms. The extra material never felt amiss, the runtime may be long but these films are among those (for me at least) that cannot overstay their welcome, even Part III!

Thanks Wraith for putting this together, yet another instance where one would think that an official HD release would have been made to suck as much money out of the fans as possible!

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.

The Godfather in sequence-who could ask for more. See the Don Corleone Opus and then Michaels and your life is complete. Perfectly edited in sequence with no issues but pure unadulterated pleasure. Another great job by the editor and my go to version. So grab a cannoli and watch both edits in fabulous HD.