# The Godfather Part III - New Edit, Complete With Different Ending, Coming to Theaters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [October 29, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240 "2020-10-29T20:46:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/1 "2020-10-29T20:46:38Z")
Well, what a coincidence. Last week I decided to watch III again. Saw it in the theatre with great anticipation and was disappointed, then again when the DVD set came. Felt about the same way. Watching for the 3rd time I thought it was mostly very good, with some classic lines and scenes, except for the ending. I will never understand the shot of an open-mouthed Michael with no sound, but more importantly it just seemed a cheap way to end the trilogy. A professional hit man tries to kill Michael and instead shoots his daughter in the heart. After seeing a violent opera, no less. There are many ways Michael could have ended up alone in Sicily, maybe because Mary would not have anything to do with him because he broke the romance. Anything except what happened. A lot of people hated Sofia Coppola, and while there is a reason she became a director and not an actress, she wasn’t so bad, the character had nothing to say, her most significant lines were, “I love you, cuz.” I have read that Coppola did not have final cut. I wonder if the final scene was his choice. In any case, I would like to see the new version. But not in the theater > **[‘The Godfather Part III’ New Edit, Complete With Different Ending, Coming to...](https://variety.com/2020/film/news/godfather-part-iii-ending-new-version-theaters-1234758590/#article-comments)** > > Paramount Pictures will release a new edit and restoration of Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather Part III” in theaters in December, followed by a digital and DVD debut. The film, whi… ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/2 "2020-10-29T21:05:28Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > I have read that Coppola did not have final cut. How the heck did that happen? I know he only made the movie because he was cash strapped. Were they so bad off he accepted a non-final-cut contract? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/3 "2020-10-29T21:10:59Z")
This is a case where I think it could only help. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/4 "2020-10-29T21:14:54Z")
I feel the first two movies told the entire story: the rise and the fall of Michael Corleone. There was nothing really left to say in the third movie and its meandering narrative was the result. I don’t see this as something that can be fixed with an edit. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/5 "2020-10-30T03:11:17Z")
ninja’d a while back 🙂 [Coppola gets another shot at fixing godfather III - #2 by nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coppola-gets-another-shot-at-fixing-godfather-iii/920008/2) ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/6 "2020-10-30T03:30:46Z")
where is the thread merging button? Not a lot of interest in either one ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/7 "2020-10-30T04:15:30Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/UPw-3e_pzqU/hqdefault.jpg "Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPw-3e_pzqU) ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/8 "2020-10-30T04:37:19Z")
I’ve just learned he gets the last quote wrong. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vCFVfwJZJT8/hqdefault.jpg "The Sopranos - Silvio's Al Pacino Impression") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCFVfwJZJT8) ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/9 "2020-10-30T05:10:34Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > There are many ways Michael could have ended up alone in Sicily, maybe because Mary would not have anything to do with him because he broke the romance. Anything except what happened. Well, that is more or less what happened, it’s just that it was Anthony who rejected Michael, not Mary. But the ending still makes thematic sense, even if no one was really satisfied by it’s execution (sorry). Mary, the last vestige Michael had of a loving family, is condemned to pay for his sins. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/10 "2020-10-30T09:54:30Z")
“I feel the first two movies told the entire story: the rise and the fall of Michael Corleone. There was nothing really left to say in the third movie and its meandering narrative was the result. I don’t see this as something that can be fixed with an edit.” I agree. The plot was frankly ludicrous and a number of scenes were bad remakes of Godfather I. And Sofia Coppola really was embarrassingly bad. IMHO, it would have been better if that movie had never been made. ---
**Author:** ![thdudescar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thdudescar/32/4638_2.png) [@thdudescar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thdudescar)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/11 "2020-10-30T19:54:10Z")
Personally, I had no problem with the ending. As you mentioned, some of the middle scenes just didn’t sit well with me. The reintroduction of some of the characters was terrific: Calo and Don Tomasino. Kay, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/12 "2020-10-31T01:46:11Z")
the portrayal of kay in the movies is a bit off than the book … especially in the second movie as at the end of the first book michael gives kay an out whenever she wants it and she knowingly goes back so what they had her do in the 2nd movie confused me, ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/13 "2020-10-31T13:18:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I feel the first two movies told the entire story: the rise and the fall of Michael Corleone. There was nothing really left to say in the third movie and its meandering narrative was the result. I don’t see this as something that can be fixed with an edit. I have never seen Godfather III but I distinctly remember a comment in the review in Newsweek back when it first came out. “One of the Godfather movies has to be the worst, and this is it.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/14 "2020-10-31T14:47:36Z")
If only they could edit out the stupid helicopter. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/15 "2020-10-31T20:17:02Z")
I haven’t seen it in forever. What stupid helicopter? ---
**Author:** ![CoconutPete](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coconutpete/32/5294_2.png) [@CoconutPete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoconutPete)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/16 "2020-10-31T20:40:39Z")
All the guns and canolis will be replaced with walkie talkies. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/17 "2020-10-31T22:35:43Z")
(From faulty memory) There’s a big meeting around a big table in what looks like a boardroom. A helicopter with a machine gun hovers outside and mows them all down. It was something better suited to a 80s action flick. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/18 "2020-10-31T23:01:12Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > (From faulty memory) There’s a big meeting around a big table in what looks like a boardroom. A helicopter with a machine gun hovers outside and mows them all down. It was something better suited to a 80s action flick [Is this it? “My coat, my lucky coat!”](https://youtu.be/Td8eEM9KDig) ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/19 "2020-10-31T23:13:21Z")
That is it. Without that stupidity (there were actually 2 shots of him saying that), I might not have minded the scene that much. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-godfather-part-iii-new-edit-complete-with-different-ending-coming-to-theaters/924240/20 "2020-10-31T23:14:49Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > That is it. Without that stupidity (there were actually 2 shots of him saying that), I might not have minded the scene that much I’d forgotten it, but man…that was lame. So lame, it clearly should have not made the final movie.