The Godfather: Part III vs The Godfather Coda

 

Sometimes, it's amazing how an alternate version of a film can affect its quality: The Hobbit extended editions made them somewhat tolerable, Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut) is vastly superior to what was released in theatres in every aspect, Ridley Scott with Blade Runner (The Final Cut) has also released his definitive version of that film, and the Zack Snyder version of Justice League looks to right some of the wrongs of the Joss Whedon-finished version.

And so we come to the third Godfather film.

As mentioned, there are two versions of it: the original release, which was released cinematically, called The Godfather: Part III, and this new re-edit of it called The Godfather Coda. As evident from the introduction given by Francis Coppola (segments of this were used to promote the film on social media) you can tell that this is the version - and title - that he initially intended to come out. He seems to be very firm on his stance that this is his preferred, definitive version of the film. He also thanks Paramount for giving him the chance to revisit the film. You get the impression that he's very proud that he was able to do his original intentions for the third film.

OK, so how does it compare?

If you haven't seen Part III in quite a few years, and you see this, you may not think that not much has changed. It is here that I would like to mention that this is a re-edit, not an extended version. The footage that is in The Godfather Coda exists in The Godfather: Part III, and Coda offers no new footage. There are definitely some similarities, as they both follow the same story. It's also shorter than Part III so some scenes were removed. Some scenes were also re-organized to allow for a better telling of the story. With seeing Part III and Coda within a day of each other, I was able to spot some differences. They are subtle, yet noticeable to those who are watching for them, or are REALLY familiar with Part III.

What I noticed is that Coda has a much better narrative flow. It feels smoother. It's also tighter, with being about 20 min shorter than Part III. Had this release existed back in the VHS days, I believe that Coda would've fit onto one VHS Tape. The film is, to me, an improvement in all areas over Part III, which I also enjoyed.

2022 is the 50th anniversary of The Godfather. It'll be interesting to see what the 4K release will look like. Going forward at this point in time, can we expect the 4K release (and all future versions) of the films to contain Coda instead of Part III? I wouldn't be surprised. This is also why Coda came out on blu-ray and digital, not on 4K as well I believe.

I've often said that it'll be neat to see what future releases will look like, with regards to Part III vs Coda. This is THE version of the third Godfather to watch, and the director himself (in addition to Al Pacino and Diane Keaton) express their thoughts reflecting this, so it appears likely that future sets will have The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II and The Godfather Coda. It'll be interesting to see if Part III ever appears again (on 4K and beyond), and in what form. I'm not saying that it Part III should be 'erased' but given the director's stance and general feedback, it looks to REPLACE Part III. Coda is just too new to tell at this point if we'll ever see another release of Part III.

As Coda improves Part III, I give Coda a solid, well-rounded 8.5 / 10. It doesn't magically fix ALL of Part III's problems, though it IS an improvement, and one significant enough to warrant this version's attention to those who weren't fond of Part III. It's also significant enough of an improvement to change my rating of Part III from an 8 into an 8.5.