I received the Blu-ray disks today. I've watched about one half of Part I. I'm sorry to say that I'm a little disappointed. I'm far from being blown away by it. Now I know I was expecting too much, but I was still hoping for more than this. The biggest difference I can see is that the movie is "brighter". Detail is not that much better. There is still a lot of graininess. Is it terrible? No. But if I had not known it was a Blu-ray disk, I'd think it was a DVD. Basically it looks like the DVD version with contrast and brightness turned up on my HDTV. I'll have to watch all the films in their entirety. Maybe I'm being too harsh, and just expecting way too much from a 35+ year old movie.

OK. This was really bothering me, so I took out the original Godfather DVD and popped it in my up-converting DVD player. I have it, and my Blu-ray both hooked up to my HDTV via HDMI, so I can pretty much watch the same scenes back to back. When you see both versions back to back, the Blu-ray is a big improvement. Was I still hoping for more? Yes. But at least now, I've seen the difference between it and the original DVD.

Im still REALLY looking forward to a GF blu-ray marathon on my PS3 this weekend. lol

I had to take a break from the movies. I want to watch the breaking political news. I'm looking forward to see if GF II looks better than the original.

I don't have HD but that sums up what I see as the difference between this new re-mastered DVD and the old one. It's SLIGHTLY brighter, and that's about it.

If you're not fanatical about the minor cosmetic changes, don't waste your money on this new version. Sure, the "extras" disk is nice, but it's not worth the $45+.

JL, please keep us posted on how Part II looks in HD.

Has anyone seen both the restored DVDs and the Blu-ray, and could comment on how better, if at all, the Blu-ray looks when compared to the DVDs? I got GF1 of the restoration yesterday, but if the Blu-ray is that much better looking than the DVD version, I might just go back and get it instead.

I can't see much difference. The "restored" dvds are a bit brighter than the 2001 set, and I'm watching it on a 50 inch flat screen plasma tv with the HD. I'm still glad I bought it, for the extra bonus disc, but I really don't think the upgrade is essential if you're not a big fan of dvd "extras."

Everybody, please keep us informed!

I had planned to watch Part II tonight, but the Mets got me sick to my stomach so it isn't happening right now.

This morning, I watched parts of Part II and Part III. The first thing I noticed about Part II was that colors are more vibrant than the original DVD.
Like Part I, it is also a little brighter with a little more contrast. It still suffers from the same graininess.

As for Part III, it looks very good, but so does the original DVD. I found even less difference from it and the original DVD version.

One other side note, the set came with a $10 rebate that I didn't expect. So for about $50, the Blu-ray collection is a great deal.

Ok, I watched Part I today on blu-ray. Overall, I was pleased. I mean, you cannot expect the kind of quality possible if the movie was shot with a modern-day HD camera - so, all in all, the restoration (of I, at least) was pretty good.
Though, while some of the scenes blew my mind (particularly outdoor scenes), a few scenes looked like they weren't restored at all (a scene with Michael and Enzo the Baker still had those lines every now and then that older movies seem to have).
Still looking forward to II tomorrow and III the next day!

Question: I have the old GF DVD box set. I have a one-year old, 52" DLP Samsung - Great picture in HD broadcast. I played the DVD through my old SONY DVD (which has the HD cable connections) and the picture was stretch out. Is this a function of the old DVD, the old player, or an option on the TV.
PS. I tried changing options on the TV, but nothing was appropriate or worked. Before I invest in the DVD (or Blu Ray) or buy a new player, ....any advice is appreciated.

I don't have HD yet, but my guess would be a setting on the TV and/or DVD player for anamorphic widescreen, although I would think it should detect it automatically.

Try seeing if there is a "Setup" menu for the DVD player (after you put the disk in).

Interestingly, Amazon says that the Restoration on DVD and Blu-Ray have an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, while the original DVD set is 1.85:1 -- both are widescreen, but one wider than the other. Maybe JL can chime in here since he has both...

There is nothing with the disks that says what the aspect ratio actually is.