Time Magazine's 1974 review of GFII says 'Editing, always a trial, threatened to go out of control. With whole plots altered or dropped, there was substantial doubt that the film could meet its opening dates at the theaters.
At a sneak preview in San Diego on Nov. 27, just two weeks before the world première, Coppola, his wife Eleanor, John Cazale (who is superb as the hapless Fredo), a crew of film editors and a contingent of buddies watched a packed house respond enthusiastically. But the assembled loyalists all knew the film was seriously flawed; the last hour seemed jumbled, confused, cold. All during the showing Coppola muttered notes to himself into a pocket tape recorder. Some scenes needed lengthening, others were dropped. The idea of an intermission was scrapped.

Coppola says "Never, never, never again will I work under such chaotic conditions. If I had three more months on this one, I'd have a great film."

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911562-3,00.html


I wonder if things like the Aiello ad lib('Michael Corleone says hello'), are the type of things that would have been eliminated if FFC 'had three more months.'

ANY THOUGHTS???

If FFC had taken three more months, the film would have gotten longer and more complicated. Look what happened to "Apocalypse Now."

I think that it is very probable that that line just skipped by editing. Yes, with three more months, anything was possible. It's just like a football game - with just 30 more seconds we could of won.

It seems something always go wrong for Coppola.

The stories of what happened off-screen during the filming of Apocalypse Now is now legendary. I know that Coppola had a difficult time convincing the studios about his preferred casting for the original Godfather. I never knew he had difficulties with The Godfather: Part II.

Apocalypse Now is arguably the greatest film ever made.

No arguments flucko, it is the greatest film ever made

svsg plz save your 'absolutes' for the minions and masses. Here we deal w/ a crazy man named Socratic Logic. You have not seen enough movies if you make a statement like that my friend.

(Although who would have known that a movie called Apocalypse Now could be such a D-light )

Ice, it was the fan in me that wrote that, obviously(or so i thought) in jest