Apocalypse Now - The Complete Dossier (1979)

The Horror...

Where could I possible start with this movie. First of all i don't think my head has stopped spinning. Apocalypse Now is an odd movie to say the least and nothing like i have ever seen. It was strange, disturbing, violent, seemingly immoral, and guess what, i loved it. From the very first scene it becomes obvious this isn't your typical war movie. The farther in you go the more it plays out like a psychological horror film. Francis Ford Coppola achieves this style many different ways. Everything from Martin sheen's inner monologue, to the films striking cinematography to its intense plotting works cohesively to bring this films intensity and brilliance

In a large sense, it is an extremely artistic film. The entire movie is immensely visual and surreal. The filmmakers used a fascinating array of colors and textures in their shots. The camera gets everything from sweeping shots of helicopters flying over the Vietnamese landscape to ominous close-ups of men covered in shadow.
Another striking component to the film is its foreboding soundtrack. I usually find that music play an extremely important role in the quality of the film and Apocalypse now doesn't disappoint.

The sensual aspects a film can only take you so far unless the subject matter holds your attention as well. As if the effect this film has on your senses isn't commanding enough, Apocalypse Now's effect on the mind takes it to an entirely new level. I left the film utterly confused on the moral message of the film but i think that was more or less intentional. So many of the actions of the different characters are appalling but Coppola brings you so deep into the world of the Vietnam war that it is hard condemn them.

Apocalypse Now is an extremely representational film. I think the only way for a film to even come close to conveying the horrors of the Vietnam war is to show it with a surreal darkness. Apocalypse Now does its job phenomenally and holds your attention long after the film is over. As it turns out, Marlon Brando's famous quote encapsulates the essence of this film exquisitely. September 30, 2008

Stick With the Original Version.

First, I'll join with those who are criticising Coppola for not releasing this movie in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio as well as spreading each movie over two discs. Both were staggeringly incompetent decisions and I'll leave it at that.

***

I'm starting to get weary when I hear the term "director's cut". Sometimes they're well done like Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner." Other times the director's "original vision" ends up being a weaker film as in when William Friedkin completely screwed up the ending of "The Exorcist" in his restored version.

"Apocalypse Now" was very well made and it seems that Coppola who was in his creative prime when he made this film (having completed "Godfather I & II" and "The Conversation" and then fading away into mediocrity) simply decided to go back and desicrate one of his masterpieces. He should have realized that he was a much better director in the 1970s when he made "Apocalypse Now" then he is at present, and that many of the scenes that he cut out he did so for good reason.

- I like the extra footage of Col. Kilgore, however having Captain Willard steal his surfboard and then laugh with glee like a frat boy was totally not in his character and it was best left on the cutting room floor.

- The playboy bunnies extra scene is beyond ridiculous. It wasn't even inserted into the movie correctly. One minute it's a sunny day Willard is reading Col. Kurt's letter to his son and looking at a photo of Kurtz and then suddenly it's raining and they come across a washed out army compound. Willard offers two drums of deisel fuel in exchange for sex for the boys on the boat. Again this is totally out of character for Willard, and completely unbelievable as a whole. Then we have to watch a ridiculous scene with the men and the playboy bunnies which aside from the boob value adds absolutely nothing to the film. The scene then very abruptly ends and suddenly everyone is back on the boat again, it's not raining anymore and Willard is staring at the same photo of Kurtz?? The sequence was slapped into the movie in a completely awkward way and feels as if Coppola simply pounded it into place with a hammer without any regard to the scenes surrounding it. What's worse is it damages the credibility of the very next scene where they come across the Vietnamese supply boat and kill the passengers. The impact of this atrocity is taken away as the motivations of the crew are not quite as understandable anymore because they've just had the best R&R that any G.I. in any war could possibly ever have. Also the portion where Willard kills the injured Vietnamese woman because he's in a hurry to get moving doesn't make any sense now. He apparenly wasn't in too big a hurry in the previous scene having made the deal for the men to have sex with the bunnies??

- The French Plantation sequence is simply to long and irrelevant. Willard and the crew have dinner in the home of a French family. He inquires as to why the family is still in Vietnam to which he gets a TWENTY MINUTE answer by everyone at the table as they yell back and forth at one another. He then suddenly ends up with a French woman while the soundtrack spews very sappy and inappropriate music. After watching this awful sequence I started whispering to myself "the horror, the horror."

- The extra scene with Brando reading Time Magazine is also pointless. What's even more bizarre is there is an excellent scene that was cut from the film where Kurtz talks to Willard in the bamboo cage. This scene is very well written and helps explain the mindset of the Kurtz character yet it was left out in favor of the Time Magazine scene which again adds nothing to the film.

The only thing the "Redux" version has in comparison to the original version is extreme length. I tend to like long movies but not when they seem overly padded. Stick with the original version! As far as "Apocalypse Now Redux" goes, for me, this version does not exist...nor will it ever exist.




September 23, 2008

Give Me A Break !!! :-(

Sorry, but how can this be "complete" when it does not include "Hearts of Darkness" ??? Get a life. Coppola's wife directed it, and he produced it (as far as I know), so where are the rights problems ??? One thing that really annoys me about these 60s-70s directors, who went on about "changing the world", when they were younger, but who are now more money-grabbing than the worst studio system. Hey, I've bought two DVD versions of Apocalypse Now already, how many more do you want me to buy??? Maybe I'll just transfer my "Hearts Of Darkness" VHS to video, as I'm not so well-of I can afford it all. Thanks, Coppola. ps, your wine stinks too.




August 5, 2008

If God and Wagner had teamed up to make a film about Vietnam, starring a 400-pound bald Marlon Brando, this is what you'd get

Holy smokes. Where to begin. This film is epic. This film is amazing. This film is wild. Nobody makes films like this anymore. Powerful, mind bending, insane. Coppola famously said that this wasn't a film about the Vietnam war, this is the Vietnam war. If you haven't seen this yet, see it. So many classic scenes, so many classic lines, and such a powerful film. Great stuff. July 29, 2008

Great Movie

Its great it has both versions, the only problem is that the extended version is a little bit long. But its Great. July 14, 2008

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