The finale of a gangster icon: While the reactions to EA’s adaptation of the gangster film The Godfather were mixed, a former main character agreed to collaborate on the project. Marlon Brando dedicated the last performance of his life to the game.
What game is it? The Godfather is a game by EA, which was released on March 21, 2006. While it drew inspiration from games like Mafia or GTA, its storyline is mostly tied to that of the original film. Players complete missions, earn respect, and can upgrade their abilities through collected experience points.
During the development, EA integrated actors from the film, such as Robert Duvall, James Caan, and also Marlon Brando, into the game, who lent their voices to their characters through newly recorded dialogue. However, with the latter, there were some difficulties due to his health.
Here you can see the trailer for the original film, which was shared for the 50th anniversary by Paramount Pictures:
Mixed enthusiasm from the participants
How could a sick Marlon Brando contribute to the project? At the time of production, Brando was in a fragile health state but still agreed to record lines for the game. Therefore, EA visited the actor at his estate on Mulholland Drive in February 2004 to work with him on site.
However, the recordings would have been unusable due to the buzzing of the oxygen tubes in his nose, as audio producer Ken Felton admits. For this reason, a professional impersonator ultimately had to be hired to voice Vito Corleone.
Nevertheless, one of Brando’s recordings was incorporated into the final version of the game, preserving his last performance, even if it is hardly understandable.
Where can you see Brando’s final performance? A scene in the seventh mission of the video game shows Vito Corleone lying in a hospital bed after an assassination attempt, reflecting on the game’s situation. Thus, the last recorded lines are Brando’s final appearance: “Well, that’s life. Everyone has their own story of suffering.”
Brando died on July 1, 2004, just under a year and a half before the game was released. One of the estate administrators of the actor revealed that Brando was fascinated by technology in general and experimented with all sorts of things. He simply found the idea amusing.
What was the reaction of the actors and filmmakers of the original? Almost all the actors from the main cast of 1972 agreed to participate in EA’s adaptation. James Caan told the New York Times that he would love for his children to be able to continue playing with him in this way after his death.
Al Pacino is the only actor from the ensemble who declined to participate in EA’s game, which is why a different face and voice were created for his character Michael Corleone.
But Coppola, the director of the Godfather trilogy, also criticized EA for the lack of prior warning about its production. He did not participate in the realization in any way, nor does he like or approve of what he has seen of the result. (Source: Vida Extra)
Anyone wanting to read more about new and older films can find it here on MeinMMO. Just recently, we published an article ranking all 9 films by the popular filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. Here you can read the ranking: All 9 films by Quentin Tarantino ranked – Which is the best?
