Turner Classic Movies and Fathom Events are bringing some classic movies back to the big screen. They call it the Big Screen Classics series .

I recall a recent thread where a good many forum members said they had never seen The Godfather. For anyone who wants to see it and hasn't (or those of us who've never seen it on the big screen), catching it in a theater would be great.

For the 2017, the remaining movies that TCM is releasing are:

The Godfather, June 4 and 7
Some Like It Hot, June 11 and 14
Fast Times at Ridgemont High, July 30 and Aug. 2
Bonnie and Clyde (50th anniv.) Aug. 13 and 16
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Sept. 17 and 20
The Princess Bride (30th anniv), Oct. 15 and 18
Casablanca (75th anniversary), Nov. 12 and 15
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (50th anniv)Dec. 10 and 13

Sweet! I'm going

Still wish for someone to release the version with all the extra scenes

I am Enzo!! The baker!!

Yes, as much as I loathe the modern cineplex, I'll have to see this on the big screen.

 
I saw it in a theater in England. The audience chuckled during the scene where they described hiding the gun behind the "old fashioned" water closet in the bathroom of the restaurant, as many of those type water closets are still in use there.
 

Thank you. Our favorite movie of all times, will definitely catch this!

Wonderful!

I think I can make June 7 work. Might take my son (age 14). He will love it.

I remember seeing it when it was released in a small amount of theaters for the 25th anniversary using honest-to-goodness 35mm film projectors. I don't expect the same this time around, but I will see it, why not.

"It's a Sicilian message........"

I just got reserved seats for the June 7 matinee.
Thanks for the heads up!

Bruce

This is going to work out perfectly. I have a friend who's a film buff. His tastes run more towards the eclectic. He's a real artsy-type guy, plays in a band, does his own recording and mixing. It's always interesting to talk film with him because our interests are so different. He's in his thirties. On a hunch, I called him up and asked him if he's ever seen The Godfather and it turns out he has not.
I told him I envy him, because he has the opportunity to see of the the greatest films ever, up on the big screen where it should be seen. So, I'm gonna take him to see it. I really do envy him about this. Like just about everyone here, I first saw this film on TV set. Here's a guy who gets to do it right.

Granted, it's no longer film, it's all digital projection, but, it is a cinematic presentation.

I saw the Godfather in the theater with my Italian girl friend (who became my wife) when it came out in 1972.
It was like nothing I had ever seen before. My wife translated the Italian dialogue for me, which added to the experience.
If I wasn't busy, I'd love to see it again on the big screen.

quote:

Originally posted by two-two-niner-romeo:
"It's a Sicilian message........"

"Rossano Brazzi won't do the dishes"

So freaking cool

"Luca Brasi Sleeps with the Fishes"

For those that would like a teaser...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7RMKq8RQj4

Yeah, my version's funnier.

"It's a Victorian message. It means Charlotte Bronte sleeps with some swishes."

I saw The Godfather this evening in Pittsburgh, PA. It was outstanding on the big screen. Sadly, there were only about 18 folks in the theatre.

I saw The Godfather today with my son (age 27), my brother, and his son (25). It was of course all of our first time viewing on the big screen. I made the 2 hour drive north to meet those three so we could experience this wonderful film together. However, unlike the experience of the poster above, the theater in Louisville was about 75% full. I was pleasantly surprised at how much more detail both visually and audibly I was able to discern by watching it in a theater setting. The others expressed the same as we discussed the film as we ate dinner (sadly at a Mexican Restaurant and not an Italian one!)after the movie. The experience was well worth my drive!

Funny how the passage of time changed my perception of the most intense scene.

When I first saw the movie in 72-73, I forget exactly when, Sonny's demise at the toll booth was it.

Today, Clemenza at Paulie's hit, "Leave the gun, take the cannoli" is the one. The definition of business is business.

I attended the afternoon showing yesterday. There were perhaps 25 or so people in the theater.

I had forgotten my earplugs at home, which I now bring with me if ever I'm faced with the seizure-inducing sensory assault known as "Coming Attractions". Thankfully, there were no previews, just Ben 'I got this job because my grandpa was famous' Mankiewicz running his suck.

The cinematographer for The Godfather was Gordon Willis, who was nicknamed by fellow cinematographers as "The Prince of Darkness", because he liked to push the limits of darkly colored and minimally lit sets (Klute, The Parallax View, All the President's Men). The film opens, of course, in Vito Corleone's study, with the undertaker Bonasera emerging from the black frame, saying "I believe in America."
This scene, as projected yesterday, was full of noise; not grain from the film, but rather, digital noise. Instead of the cavernous blacks of Willis' cinematography, there was this dark gray noise. I have no idea if anyone else in the theater paid any attention to this, but it jumped out at me. Again, this presentation was digitally projected, not film, which I regret very much now.
Other scenes in the film which were more brightly lit did accurately reproduce shadows and so forth but from a purists point of view, I am disappointed.

Additionally, the audio is not only stereo, it's mixed as Dolby. This film was released in 1972 with a monaural audio track. As an old audiophile, I did appreciate the nicely calibrated Dolby system in the theater (the tollbooth execution scene is mixed beautifully and leaves an impression- those Thompsons really bark), but it's out of place for this film. I understand why Warner Brothers remixed the audio when they digitally restored this film in 2008, but the audio cues of what goes to left, center, right and rear channels are not those of Coppola or his original sound mixer. They are the work of some Warner Brothers technician a decade ago.
I know, I know, they want to sell DVDs. I understand. Nevertheless...

Speaking of audio- you know, I've always seen this film on the small screen. I used to maintain a very nice home theater setup, but no more. I don't think I've ever heard the audio track of this film on a high quality system. In the hospital scene where Michael realizes his father is alone, there is a bass track, a very intense and foreboding low end, and it really changes this scene for me, this scene I've viewed scores of times. It was very odd to hear this. I was thinking 'That's not right. Is that coming from an adjacent theater?'

Other things I had not noticed before when viewing on the small screen- I never noticed the Oscar sitting on Woltz's nightstand in the horse head scene.
I noticed more oranges. If you are a true fan of this film, you may know that oranges signify death or great misfortune. I noticed oranges in more scenes. Y'know, I should sit down and go through this film and count all the scenes with oranges and who appears in the scenes.
For those of you who aren't aware of this symbolism in the film, what's Vito Corleone doing right before he gets shot?

Lastly, and of no great consequence but it made me chuckle: after Michael shoots Solozzo and McCkuskey, there is a shot of McCluskey (Sterling Hayden) lying on the floor on his back. In between the legs of a chair, you can see his eyes. This guy who has just been shot in the throat and the forehead with a .38 Special is blinking his eyes. Ol' Sterling was a cantankerous guy and I guess he got bored laying there on the floor waiting for Willis to get his shot. You really have to look for it, but it's there.

As I said before I took a friend to see it who had never before seen The Godfather so I don't regret going, but being the film snob I am, it could have been better.

My friend did make an interesting observation after the film. He said that he felt like he had already seen parts of the movie, given how this film has become truly a part of pop culture. For instance, the scene of Sonny beating Carlo was parodied in The Simpsons, with Marge opening the whole can of whoopass.

So, there you have it. My preference would have been to view a restored 35mm print with a monaural audio track but that's just not going to happen.

So it sounds like, you aren't saying this isn't a case of "you can't go home again" but rather they attempted to improve it with newer technology when they should have just left it as it was.