Apocalypse Now Redux

Rating:
Summary: Heart of Darkness
Review: An epic anti-war statement, Apocalypse Now is quite possibly one of the best movies of all time. Loosely based upon the novel Heart of Darkness, it is set within the Vietnam war, where Cap. Willard (Martin Sheen), a disenfranchised and tired soldier who drinks too much, is sent by his leaders deep into Cambodia to find a rogue Colonel who's gone insane (Marlon Brando).
The movie's heart and soul is not in its plot though, but its intense characters. A scent-obsessed surfing commander who sees a battlefield as nothing more than gunfire next to open surf, a New Orleans sensitive fighter, and (of course) Colonel Kurtz. The characters all show a little of the insanity that goes with war situations, and enter you into the battlefield.
The plot itself is reason to show the horrors of war. Brutality is the name of war, and we're constantly suprised while viewing at how cruel humans can be. Even the main character is no hero, but a constantly flawed man, operating from pure orders. Kurtz is a genuine madman, whose blown mind allows him to both read poetry to himself aloud, and decapitate innocents to prove a point.
Albeit disturbing and most-graphic, Apocalypse Now is an essential movie for anyone to see. It is truly a message of what humans under specific circumstances are capable of, and the effect war has on the psyche.

I firmly believe in preserving the director's original vision, and this is why I've chosen to review the Redux edition.

Rating:
Summary: Longer, more interesting movie. But that's it.
Review: I borrowed Apocalypse Now Redux from a friend when I finally got a DVD player of my own. I love this movie, and thought I'd check out this version before I bought it for my collection. Whether you liked them or not, the added scenes are interesting, though the music and sound quality in some of them is just terrible. This is understandable, since they might not have had any music associated with those scenes before they were cut. The new scenes were marked in the scene-selection menu, which is nice.
What I can't understand is WHERE ARE THE EXTRAS? This DVD has nothing. Just the film.
Apocalypse Now is a great movie. It's definitely a good one to own on DVD, as it's visuals are outstanding. But I can't recommend this version unless it's about the same price as the standard edition or you're just dying to see the deleted scenes. Maybe Paramount will release a "special" or "collector's" edition that has EXTRAS? Like maybe with both versions and the making-of documentary? Is that a crazy idea? Redux gets 3 stars, for being a poor release of a great movie.

Rating:
Summary: Better off with the original
Review: Mon dieu, a sad redux. Willard is redefined as a prankster, is out looking for some tail, what the hell was Coppolla thinking? The original cut still is the best.

And there are few added features to this DVD, makes me suspect there will be a Platnium Edition to be released soon, sort of like what Cameron Crowe did with Almost Famous, a double disk with the Original/Director cut/and all the good added features. Just rent this one if you are really curious.

Rating:
Summary: Less is more
Review: I'm one of the few Vietnam vets who actually liked Apocalypse Now. Most vets hate this movie because it isn't realistic. Those vets who hated the original are REALLY going to hate this version - and those of us who liked the original are going to be disappointed. The added scenes increase the unreality of the movie without enhancing it's deeper qualities. For example, when Willard steals Kilgore's surfboard and Kilgore then pursues Willard with a psy-ops chopper, asking for the board back, I found myself shaking my head. Coppola has chosen to try and make war appear insane by having his people be insane - and those of us who were there are bound to resent that. Worse, it distorts what was a valiant, but failed attempt to show what war is really like. Some of the added scenes might have been enhancing, but to use them effectively Coppola should have trimmed some of the more offensive (to vets) scenes. For example, in the original we see the villagers living a nice peaceful life right before Kilgore's battalion attacks. In the background, we see the North Vietnamese flag flying in the square. The impression is the NVA and VC were helping the peasants have a wonderful life until those nasty Americans screwed it up. Clip that out, and put in the French plantation stuff. Using Heart of Darkness to portray the human impact of war was brilliant, even if the attempt failed in the original. It really fails in the revised version. The nice thing about the "Redux" DVD is that the added scenes are listed, so you know which ones to skip to get the original back.

Rating:
Summary: Film Editing 101
Review: This extended version of Apocalypse Now is only of note for film students. The original edit of the movie is by far better. However, it's interesting to see how much of a film you can cut out and not effect the final output. I ran both versions at the same time on two DVD players. While continuity has been restored in the Redux version, the interest of the plot is lost. The longest cut scene is of French renegades holding out on their Vietnam plantation. This diversion adds nothing to the plot and contains another dining scene. The other long scene cut from the film is about Chef and Lance each making with a Playboy bunny from the earlier stageshow scene. It is totally unbelievable. Also, Marlon Brando's character seems less frightening in the Redux version because we see him in the daylight. A lesson learned in film editing.

Rating:
Summary: Unqualifiedly a Masterpiece
Review: Personally I did not think that this film could be made even better as it consistently holds its place in my top ten all time film slot since it was made in 1979. Well, I was wrong. Coppola topped himself by heightening his artistry by adding the footage originally cut. I suppose it was just too much of a commercial risk to release it in this longer format decades ago. This seems a particularly good time for its release too since we find ourselves engaged in an equally surreal war event in Afghanistan. Coppola gives his dream-nightmare evoked version of the Vietnam War using as his underlying structure Joseph Conrad's novel "Heart of Darkness." Martin Sheen, in his absolute finest performance, is a captain sent by his higher ups in the army to kill the renegade Colonel Kurtz who it can no longer control. Kurtz is upriver in Cambodia in his own encampment of horror and atrocity. He is magnificently played by Marlon Brando in a performance equal to his in "Streetcar" and "Last Tango." Every performance in this film is top notch though from Robert Duvall as the surfing obsessed commander who bases his every Vietnam mission on where it is best for his men to surf to Dennis Hopper who is based with Kurtz and has equally lost his mind plus a score of others. The soundtrack is magnificent and Jim Morrison's Doors' performance of "The End" suits this film to a tee. The cinematographer won the Oscar for his efforts and deservedly so. Every image from this film could be hanging in the Museum of Modern Art were they paintings instead. I did not hesitate for even a second over buying this on dvd the moment it became available.

Rating:
Summary: Deeply Flawed DVD
Review: It's great to own the film on DVD but clearly either they didn't care about the film when they issued this quickly or are planning a bigger budget boxed set similar to the Godfather DVDs. It really would help to have commentary on this as the making of the film obviously is legendary and it would flesh out the Heart of Darkness documentary well. That aside, the new scenes are obviously a mixed bag. I don't have as much trouble as some other commentators about the new material and in some cases, I think it does bring in new elements about the war in general that weren't visible in the first go around - especially the discussion of nationalism and colonialism in Vietnam during the plantation scene. Brando reading Time Magazine is also quite interesting. The bunnies aren't really necessary the second time around, however. But 10,000 extra feet of footage isn't going to help the fact that a) Coppola didn't have an ending and b) had Brando to deal with. The two problems in themselves kept this from being fully framed. He can polish this all he wants but you won't make it the film we all see it can be at its greatest moments - the attack on the beach, the meeting over roast beef - the opening montage, etc. So take it as an interesting exercise and enjoy it for what it is - monumental filmmaking interspaced with a lot of problems.

Rating:
Summary: I hate the cliche, but, it seems more complete now
Review: The added footage to the classic Coppola movie make the movie unfold into a darker and stranger area than previously. None of the added footage seem "thrown in just because". All of the new minutes, 49 of them, add to the movie, none detract. You will be aware that you are watching a significantly longer version than previously, but it is a good thing in this case. The journey up the river to kill Kurtz is just as strange of a ride as the ride up the river in Heart of Darkness. When you finally meet Kurtz in the Redux, you meet a much different person than you did in the shortened version. This version has a much more colored in Kurtz, not the "this is the guy who has gone over the edge, we got to kill him" we saw in the shorter version.
This cut surpasses the previous the other movie, a feat I did not think was possible. This is not a Star Wars style redux, with added effects, cleaned up effects, things added that you say to yourself, "Yeah, they really should have left that one on the cutting room floor."

Rating:
Summary: Not great, but still Apocalypse Now
Review: The original Apocalypse Now was a darkly themed masterpiece about the horrors of war and the battle for ones sanity. It is also a masterpiece directed by one of the greatest directors of all time. With that being said, after seeing the new version I couldn't help feel that Coppola should have left it alone. It's not that it's a bad movie, per se, but it just didn't click for me as much as the original. The added scenes seemed to disrupt the flow of the movie and sent it off into lighter territory.
The original movie was extremly focused and intense and the additional scenes took away from that aspect. The extended Killgore scenes established his character to a greater extent but made Willard out to be buddys with the crew. Part of the genious of the original is the tension between Willard and the crew, and it is all but lost here. And the parts where they do get under each others skin seems forced and altogether not geniune.
The playboy bunnies scene seems alittle far out and is pretty poorly acted. The scenes with the french people living in the jungle seemed horrendously out of place and really disrupted the flow of the movie.
But saying that, it's still Apocalypse Now, and it's still a visual stunning and mostly well acted movie.
The other gripe I have is the DVD itself. This has rush job written all over it with nothing but the trailor as a special feature. I think i'll hold of until Paramount decides to put out a decent DVD. How about one with both cuts of the film, alternate takes, the academy awarding winning making of documentary, some comentary, interviews with the cast members and so and so forth.
So one star off for the new scenes, and one star off for the dvd. I can't in good conscious give this classic less than three stars.

Rating:
Summary: Worthy Effort
Review: The last time I saw this film was 20 years ago. I watched Redux and I thought the movie held it's own against the original version.
I did not particularly like the French Plantation diatribe at the dinner table and found it a waste of time. They could have shortened that to 3-4 minutes. Boring and too long.
However, I found the added Playboy scene worthy. Robert Duval was excellent. Martin Sheen was awesome. Brando creepy.
Redux was a good effort and actually I am glad Coppola completed the film the way he wanted. I wish they had more special features or documentary material. This was a major weak point. Coppola makes great movies and great wine to boot!