Gaffer Tape wrote:
There is a marked difference between an unrelated, random person accidentally screwing something up, after which a comprehensive restoration is made, and the creator deliberately going out of his way to keep his original films out of the way.
Oh absolutely----but one forgets that Coppola re-edited both Godfather I and II into one movie which was aired over 3 or 4 successive nights on NBC in 1977-----in the pre-home video world ---- that was as good as redefining how the Godfather would be presented to an audience(the vast majority of which had no access to the new Betamax format or the more conventional Umatic video systems----the Theatrical edit of the Godfather on VHS would not become available until circa 1980/81)
Here is Talia Shire(who starred in the film and is Coppola's sister) presenting this re-edit it as the "complete" version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm6-Ss6BmHI
At that point(late 1977/1978)----the only way to experience the Godfather in it's original form was to patiently wait for another theatrical re-run-----a situation not disimilar to what OUT fans are in now.
Whilst the TV version was met with mixed reviews from the critics I doubt there was no where near the same level of fan backlash to Coppola for "altering"the films the way he did.
It has nothing to do with "narrow-mindedness" (unless you're talking about George) or over-dissection of the movie.Being mad at Coppola over that would be like being mad at Lucas because an intern spilled Coke on the Yoda puppet.
Remember the humdinger glitch---- I seem to remember Lucas(and Lucasfilm) getting some tongue in cheek bashing!
But that's not a fair comparison because you're comparing something Coppola had no control over to something Lucas has every control over and wondering why no one is mad at Coppola. To use marketing speak, it's the difference between, "Oh, shit, we screwed up. Sorry about that," and, "It's a deliberate, creative decision."
The Godfather was released in 1997 to mark the 25th anniversary----the editing "misassembly" from the early 1980's could and probably should have been spotted and rectified for this same 1997 re-release------(and Coppola was involved in 97').
I do, however, see what you're getting at, although I have a different reaction. I say it's a shame that it wasn't widely documented back then, and that tools like home video and the Internet have made it much more difficult to get away with crap like that.
That's fair enough and understandable-----but it just seems to me there are 2 sets of standards----one for Lucas...and another for his contempraries/peers