Of the many classic film anniversaries that serve as an opportunity for a 4k restoration, critical re-evaluation or celebratory re-release, one which might otherwise have flown under the radar is the 30th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part III. Although the original was released to huge anticipation in 1990, it proved to be a maligned, messy excuse for an ending to one of the greatest American film series ever made.
For this anniversary, however, the 81-year-old Coppola has not only restored the film, but totally re-edited it, altering both the beginning and the end. The plot beats will still be familiar, but it has been renamed The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, and it presents a tighter, more effective epilogue than its previous version.