Apocalypse Now (Three-Disc Full Disclosure Edition) (Apocalypse Now / Apocalypse Now Redux / Hearts of Darkness) [Blu-ray]

The basic story flows vividly yet mysteriously up the river into the dark jungle. Coppolla, as you may have heard, adapted the story from Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" with the exception that H.O.D. is set in the African jungle based on a journey that Conrad took into the Upper Congo, then controlled by Belgium as a colony, whereas A.N. is set in the jungles of southeast Asia during the height of the Vietnam war.

For Redux, Coppolla went back to the raw footage, or dailies, and re-edited the entire film from scratch. The added scenes enhance rather than detract from the film, I felt. The film is set during the Vietnam War, but it is more about the dark side of human nature, and also how those in power often try to twist and distort the truth to fit meet their own ends. Is there a "method" to Col. Kurtz's madness? See the film and decide for yourself. It is interesting to watch the profound transformation that Capt. Willard (Sheen's character) undergoes.

The big questions on your mind may be:

1. Did Coppolla considerably improve the film?
2. Did the 45+ extra minutes of film enhance the flow and thematic development of the film?
3. Are the special effects and battle scenes spectacular?

The answer to all three of these questions is a resounding YES!
(except perhaps for those closed-minded "purists" out there who vehemently object to ANY change from the original release. To those of you whom fit this description, I remind you- Coppolla himself adapted the movie more closely to what HE originally envisioned, with FULL creative license- not with some big brother film exec looking over his shoulder and pressuring him to edit it in a certain way).

Overall improvements:

-the panoramic shots are more spectacular (of course this was my first time seeing it on the big screen so I'm sure that makes a difference)...

-some of the battle scenes are more realistic, allowing us to see the face of human suffering, not just the awe of exploding napalm bombs.

-the scenes at Kurtz's compound are more visually dazzling, and also a bit more shocking and graphic (some may feel this is gratuitous; but I believe Coppolla did that intentionally to communicate the devastation of man's violent nature, and the vicious cycle that we find ourselves in as a race).

Moral of the story:

Evil is rooted in lies; we all have a dark side to our human nature that we try hard to deny and keep in the shadows.
For more on this theme read Conrad's novella "Heart of Darkness" (a concise 130 some pgs) or delve into some of Carl Jung's writings about the shadow side of human nature.

Interesting tidbits:

-Mr. Clean, the teenage soldier on the gunboat was played by a 14 yr old Laurence "Larry" Fishburne.

-Much of the film was shot in the Philippines on location

-Coppolla had to personally mortgage virutally everything he owned to secure financing to complete the film which ran well over the studio budget.

-Coppolla makes a cameo appearance as a wartime journalist in the film

Apocalypse Now Redux is a cinematic masterpiece- well worth the journey upriver.


"Apocalypse Now - Redux" -- IT WORKS!   August 15, 2001
R.D. Monsoon
71 out of 83 found this review helpful

The original cut always felt incomplete. It was a bunch of great vignettes which were just thrown together. The new footage has helped give the film breathing room which was much needed. No longer is the ship raced from one surreal incident to the next. At the same time, the new footage also helps strengthen some of the films themes.

Before I continue, it's worth noting that "Redux" isn't your typical directors cut, where new footage is simply just shoved into the film. Coppola and editor Walter Murch created an entirely new cut of the film using the original negatives. The film has also been beautifully restored using Technicolor dye-transfer prints, giving the film the Technicolor look of movies from the 40's and 50's. The colors are vibrant, rich, lush and blacks and truly black. "Apocalypse Now" was always one of the most beautifully photographed films and this new transfer helps justify that. The Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro said he cried when he saw the transfer. The remasterd sound is also spectacular. Murch has done an excellent job of putting the audience in the jungle. Now back to the film.

The first bit a new footage was an extension of the last scene with Robert Duvall's character, Lt. Kilgore. After giving his famous napalm speech Kilgore is informed that the waves at the beech aren't going to be as big as he expected because the napalm strike has disturbed the wind. This is a nice little touch showing the cause and the effect of the US's actions; no matter what they do, there is a negative effect. After that, Martin Sheen's character Willard, steels Kilgore's surfboard. This was another nice addition. The original version always lacked scenes of Willard before his transformation from going up the river. The scene also helped reinforce the relationship Willard has with the men on the boat; they of course all get a kick out of what Willard does.

The next big addition is the Playboy Bunny scene. This scene helps show how the war has even dehumanized sex. Lance (Sam Bottoms) is in a mud filled tent and is painting the face of the bunny he is with. I thought it was great how Coppola showed how dirty sex had become. Meanwhile, Chef (Frederic Forrest) is transforming the bunny he is with into another bunny by having her wear a wing and pose the same way this other bunny did in her spread. This was a masterful way of showing how incredibly impersonal sex has become.

The last big addition I'll talk about is the infamous French Plantation scene. The scene started off well, but slowly went down hill. In the first part of it, the French help Willard and the men conduct a funeral for Clean (Fishburne). The men do their best job to conduct a funeral, but it's not exactly up to what a typical army funeral is. There's some great imagery in there, like the small shredded American flag which is used. The funeral scene also makes a great comparison to how Chief (Albert Hall) death is handled. By that time in the film, they are so far up the river that the Army's and American values have vanished; Lance is having a fun time with the body (the body's final resting place is the river, not the earth) while Willard and Chief are totally preoccupied.

The plantation scene also helped reinforce the going back in time theme, something which came up a lot in "Heart of Darkness" but never panned out so well in the '79 version of "AP".

After the funeral there is a dinner scene with the plantation heads, and this is where things go down hill. There is just way too much dialogue in this scene and Coppola's intentions are quite transparent. The French basically give a recap of the West's involvement in Vietnam and then talk specifically about the US's presence there. It was like Coppola was saying "Incase you don't know what the film is about and why the US are the bad guys in this war..." Worst of all the scene dragged out and hurt the pacing of the film. Coppola spent the last two hours communicating his anti war message visually and suddenly he just had someone blurt it all.

There's some new stuff at the Kurtz compound, nothing too important but it helps give us some more time to take in the last 3rd of the film; again helping to reduce that rushed feeling.

The end still doesn't quite work, but there is no way to fix this. The Vietnam war had no real ending, there was no climax, there wasn't one last big battle. The US simply accepted it was a war which couldn't be won and pulled out. The ending actually reflects this fairly well. Once the mad Colonel Kurtz is killed, Willard walks down to the boat, leading Lance out, who has become totally wrapped up in the madness. They then peacefully go back down the river. While something like one last battle would have given the film more of a sense of finality, that wouldn't have been staying true to the war.

Overall, "Apocalypse Now - Redux" is an extraordinary film. Coppola never wastes a even a single frame (well there was the dinner scene...) Since this film was made, I don't think anyone has ever asked so much of the audience.