The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration Blu-ray Edition (Paramount, $124.99)

The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration Blu-ray Edition (Paramount, $124.99)
Now that Blu-ray has officially won the high-def war, studios are rushing to transfer recent and classic titles onto the format before the next big innovation in home entertainment comes along.  Paramount came fairly late to the party, having sided with Blu-ray’s competitor HD-DVD until they went belly-up last spring.  But the studio is making up for lost time, releasing sparkling Blu versions of titles like Iron Man and Transformers.  But Paramount’s best high-def release is also widely considered to be the best Blu-ray currently on the market: Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy.  Working closely with cinematographer Gordon Willis, Coppola sought to recreate the experience of veiewing a theatrical print of The Godfather on a shiny disc.  Critics have justifiably raved about this collection’s superb image quality, which shows off all of the strenghts of the new format.  While the collection’s extras are nothing to write home about (to be honest, they all feel rushed and slapped-together), if you’re looking to convert your buddies to Blu-ray, these are the perfect test discs to throw in your player or PS3.

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