An Offer Coppola Didn’t Refuse : Paramount gets the director to re-edit his three ‘Godfathers’ into a six-cassette trilogy.

Moviegoers who didn’t like “The Godfather Part III” will probably consider this sacrilege, but Francis Ford Coppola, who directed the film and its two predecessors, has interwoven them into a trilogy for home video.

“The Godfather Trilogy 1901-1980,” which came out Wednesday, is a nine-hour, 43-minute epic on six cassettes. The cost is steep: $200. The package includes a leather-bound case, a booklet and a documentary about the making of the films.

The venture began with Paramount. “When ‘III’ was coming out, we immediately started thinking about this videocassette package,” said Hollace Brown, senior vice president of advertising and promotion at Paramount Home Video. “We pitched the idea to Francis, who liked the idea.”

Coppola then “went back and re-edited the three movies together,” Brown said, “moving things around and making changes here and there to make it flow seamlessly as one piece.”

Previously, Coppola edited the original “Godfather” and “Godfather II” together, adding extra footage to create an epic TV miniseries that started from the Corleone family’s origins in Italy. That re-editing made sense, since the historical footage in “II” made a logical prelude to the action in the original.

In the new trilogy, “III” benefits from the association with the other, far superior movies. “III” plays far better as part of the trilogy than it does alone. (There is no extra footage in the trilogy beyond the nine new minutes of film that were woven into “III” when it was released on video last fall.)

At the moment, Brown said, there are no plans to put the trilogy on TV as a miniseries. But that could happen eventually since, at $200, sales will undoubtedly be limited to hard-core “Godfather” buffs.

The booklet in the package contains 28 pages of photos and previously unreleased “Godfather”-related materials, such as storyboard sketches and screenplay drafts. But the 73-minute documentary about the making of all three movies isn’t new. It’s “The Godfather Family: A Look Inside,” originally a cable-TV special that was previously available as part of a video set including the three individual movies. The documentary has never been sold separately.

Paramount is marketing another package, “The Godfather Collection,” which includes three separate films for $90--without the documentary. They can also be purchased separately at $30 each. This is the first time that “III,” which sold at about $100, is priced for the sales market.

The trilogy is available on video only, for now. In December, Pioneer will release it on laser disc at $200. That package will include the booklet but not the documentary.

Upcoming on video: Jan. 6 is the release date for Disney’s “Honey, I Blew Up the Kid” and Warner’s “Christopher Columbus: The Discovery,” starring Marlon Brando and Tom Selleck.

Also: “Beauty and the Beast” (next Friday), “Far and Away” and “Deep Cover” (Nov. 4), “Encino Man” and “City of Joy” (Nov. 11), “Sister Act” (Nov. 13), “Article 99” (Nov. 18), “Alien 3” (Nov. 18), “Patriot Games” (Nov. 24), “Prelude to a Kiss,” “Housesitter,” “Lethal Weapon 3” and “A Midnight Clear” (Dec. 2), “Universal Soldier” (Dec. 9) and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (Dec. 23).

What’s New on Video: Among the new releases:

“Batman Returns” (Warner, $25). To many fans, this didn’t measure up to the original, which is more faithful to the comic-book genre. The loosely plotted sequel is more of a series of black-humored set pieces about the interaction of three misfits: Batman (Michael Keaton), the Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer).

“Shadows and Fog” (Orion, $92). A strangler is terrorizing an Eastern European city in the ‘20s in this bizarre, largely unfunny, black-and-white, Woody Allen comedy (he’s writer, director and star). Mia Farrow co-stars, with a host of cameos, including Madonna, Jodie Foster and Kathy Bates.

“The Babe” (MCA/Universal, no set price). Though supposedly showing the dark side of baseball hero Babe Ruth (John Goodman), this is a shamelessly whitewashed account of his life, fictionalizing key events. Basically a corny, made-for-TV style, movie but Goodman’s impressive performance keeps you interested.

“The Cutting Edge” (MGM/UA, $92). Gooey, predictable romantic pap, geared to teen-age girls, about the pairing of opposites--a blue-collar hockey player (D.B. Sweeney) and a rich skating queen (Moira Kelly)--who become an Olympic figure-skating duo.

“The Graduate” (Columbia TriStarcq, $20). Dustin Hoffman became a star in this 1967 comedy, written by Buck Henry and directed by Mike Nichols. His character, a confused college graduate--torn between aging, sexy Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) and her daughter (Katherine Ross)--was one of the heroes of that era’s youth.