Rating: 
Summary: The Maiming of a Masterpiece
Review: In 1995, I attended a pre-release screening "In the Mouth of Madness", which was preceded by an audience Q&A with John Carpenter. He was asked for his comments on the then new trend of "Director's Cut" video releases. His response was, "It's all about going to the video store, taking your wallet out of your pocket, and putting your money on the counter AGAIN". While this is not always true, in the case of Apocalypse Now Redux, his words are particularly apt. Had I never seen the original, I would have written this film off as self-indulgent, rambling, and unfocused. The expanded scenes added insight into some of the supporting characters, but none of that did anything to move the story forward. The Playboy bunny scene's comic tone was distracting, and the Plantation scene was so out of place, it felt like it had been taken from an unrelated screenplay. I am a big fan of this film, but Redux is not a version that I would watch again - in my opinion, this film's greatest contribution is as a learning tool for film students as a demonstration of what can go wrong in the editing room. If you don't already own Apocalypse Now, go buy the original. If you do, I recommed renting this from your local video store - it is a curiosity, but it doesn't stand out as a good film on its own.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the Greatest Movies Ever
Review: I love this movie. There isn't a dull moment in it. It keeps you gripped from beginning to end. As a creative writing student, I admire this movie greatly. The writing coupled with the superb talent of all those who appear in this film make it the great that it is. The only downside to this DVD is that there are no extra features. There's just the film and the movie trailer. Nothing else. I was surprised. But I still strongly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to take a peek at the madness of war.
Rating: 
Summary: Five-Star Film, 0 Star DVD......
Review: What can I possibly sat about Apocalype Now that hasn't been said a billion times before, and probably more eloquently than I ever could? Captain Willard's journey upriver into the heart of darkness to "Terminate" the command of the insane Colonel Kurtz is a cinematic legend, and with good reason. The "Redux" version restores some forty-odd minutes to the film, making a Director's Cut that any fan NEEDS to see. I have to say that even though I had seen Apocalypse Now many times before, Redux hammered home a point I had never really considered: In addition to being just a visually gorgeous piece of work, it's also the BIGGEST film I've ever seen. The scope and depth of the film are just amazing, especially considering that everything you're seeing on screen REALLY HAPPENED.....Coppola didn't have the luxury of computer generated graphics in those days. He actually had to stage all of those epic sequences right there in the jungle. The mind boggles.... And that's part of the problem with the DVD.....There are absolutely NO extras, and Apocalype Now is a film that cries out for better treatment. Where is the Coppola commentary track? Interviews with the cast & crew? The legenday documentary "Hearts of Darkness" is long out of print and unavailable on DVD...Why not include that? I'm sure that at some point Apocalypse Now Redux will be issued in a "Deluxe" edition, to force fans to buy ANOTHER copy.....If you don't own this already, you'd probably be better off waiting for that.
Rating:
Summary: Trolling For Dollars - Redux
Review: There is only one reason to have released this version of the modern classic Apocalypse Now -- $$$$. The scenes brought back from the cutting room floor should have stayed there. The stolen surfboard scene breaks the somber, single minded intensity that is the Willard character. The French plantation scene drags and drags (though the funeral portion IS good). The additional bunny encounter is pure drivel. If you have a copy of original, don't waste your money on this one. If you don't, don't waste your money on this one - find the original. It's too bad that all re-released "Director's Cut" editions aren't required to contain a copy of the original as a part of the package.
Rating:
Summary: The Horror Has A Face
Review: Darkness, madness and hallucinatory images of Hell pervade this stunning, mind-blowing film set in the Vietnam War. Herein Francis Ford Coppola has rendered a beautifully surreal work of art. So much has been said of the original 1979 release, as well as this 49-minute more substantial REDUX, recently released on DVD. It has been studied, discussed, and pondered over; it has been abhorred, feared, and embraced. Undeniably, APOCALYPSE NOW has always packed a powerful punch, and nearly a quarter of a century of time has only served to intensify its transcendent force. Based symbolically upon Josef Conrad's novel, HEART OF DARKNESS, this movie not only delves deep into the psyche of war, but also explores the vast facets of evil and indistinct limits of sanity. Such are the themes that Capt. Willard (Martin Sheen) must grapple with when assigned to dispatch "with extreme prejudice" a lunatic Green Beret, Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) - a rogue officer bunkered in an absurdly gruesome renegade outpost on the far reaches of a river in Cambodia, the outer fringes of the war. His trek down that river is an utterly absorbing, terrifyingly bizarre odyssey marked with all sorts of surreal, often nightmarish encounters. Willard commences his mission with a small unit of men in a Navy patrol boat. Along the way, they come across a number of variously strange, disconnectedly horrid and uproariously erratic entities - the most memorable of which is Robert Duvall's Lt. Kilgore, a surfing fanatical, riotously brash helicopter commander who takes Willard and his men on a riveting aerial assault in a hot area. Choreographed under a blaring rendition of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries," this scene just takes your breath away. It is Kilgore the cowboy who raps out the best quotes of this movie, which I need not even repeat, as they've all been repeated over and over here already - but the REDUX version gives him more ample air time, highlighted by his amusingly desperate attempts to get back his surfboard, which Willard and his men had stolen. Duvall's performance earned him an Oscar nomination. The REDUX version also includes an exquisitely ethereal encounter with the French at a rubber plantation in the midst of the jungle. Willard and his remaining men have dinner with the Frenchmen, and the conversation essentially courses through the many sundry themes of the movie entire. Afterwards, Willard sleeps and smokes opium with a young French war widow. The aesthetic, dream-like qualities of these plantation scenes are such that it becomes somewhat unclear whether or not these French expatriates are actually just ghosts. The film reaches its climax when Willard reaches Kurtz's cult-like camp-"the farthest outpost on the river." It is here that the American patrol boat floats right into some horrid apparition of Hell - dead bodies dangling from trees, decapitated heads swarming the landscape. It is here that The Doors' ominous opening number, "The End," gains its relevance. The dead are omnipresent here, yet strangely far removed. Indeed, this is the way the world ends. The remaining living population is veritably brainwashed, worshipping their leader, Kurtz, like he's some kind of mystic divinity. At this point, the film takes on an almost mythical quality. Yet, though the tone is confoundedly serious here, there out of the blue comes Dennis Hopper's maniacal photojournalist, a steadfast Kurtz apostle, to lighten things up. The performances in this amazing motion picture are simply tour de forces in every single aspect of the art of acting. Martin Sheen exudes all the unfathomable depths of his intellectually contemplative, poignantly resolute hero through both the mediums of voice-over narrative and sublime corporeality. He is nothing short of astounding. Then there's Brando, who, no matter who he is or what he's doing, cuts an unabashedly amazing figure on the screen. Whether you like him or not, it seems impossible to avert your attention from him whenever he's in view. In APOCALAYPSE NOW he truly becomes the embodiment of all that there is in the whole vast world to dread, confound and disinherit. He is the destination of the trip that everyone metaphorically takes, in some form or to some degree or other, down the winding river of life, cutting into the vast, pulsating heart of darkness.
Rating:
Summary: A rumble in the jungle!!!!!
Review: I seen this movie many times but the Redux version is possibly as good as it gets. With the extra scenes the movie totals to almost 3 hours and I gurantee that it is a very fast three hours. The characters that Martin Sheen, and Laurence Fishburne play show their strengths and just one reason why they are still acting in films today. It is truly a war-epic/thriller film in a catastrophic atmosphere where at night the sky glows brightly from all the fires shot out from all different weapons and in the daytime all types of threatining force hide out and wait to attack. This is a movie for the serious watcher.
Rating:
Summary: Great!!!
Review: Outstanding, pulls the original together. Color much better than the VHS version. More intellectual depth than original. Very telling of the times. I have seen the original about 20 times, I was very glad I bought Redux.
Rating:
Summary: Boobies! Boobies!! Boobies!!
Review: ..."Apocalypse Now" is the flawed masterpiece that broke Coppola. Hallucinatory and mesmerizing, it's basically an analysis of the American involvement in the Vietnam War on LSD, if you will. What the "Redux" does is restore about 1 hour of footage cut from the original 1979 release. In terms of length, "Apocalypse Now Redux" is about as long as "The Godfather Part II", and the new scenes don't necessarily add all *THAT* much, although some of the gratuitous nudity is nice! :-) Kilgore (Robert Duvall) is fleshed out a little bit and isn't quite the bloodthirsty tyrant he appears to be, although that isn't saying a whole lot. The last 1/3 of the film with Kurtz (Marlon Brando) is still a bit muddled. Finally, the two biggest "new" scenes are rather pointless, but are filled with blessed gratuitous nudity. First, a weird scenario where Willard (Martin Sheen) trades fuel for some time with some wacked-out Playboy Playmates. Second, a visually interesting but tedious diatribe from some angry French colonials who are still P.O.'d that they lost Dien Bien Phu back in 1954. However, the beautiful French widow who later seduces Willard rescues the scene. YOWSAH!! YOWSAH!!! :-) Anyhoo, since I've never seen the original 1979 version, I can't really compare it to the "Redux". However, while this movie still has it's flaws, it's a fascinating piece of American cinema ...
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent Now
Review: By reworking his original film, Francis Ford Coppola takes a good film with flaws and turns it into a major work of art. The original version contains vivid images and great sequences, but wore me down and finally became tedious because Kurtz and the horror he represented were never clear. Apocalypse Now Redux answers all these questions. The river journey is now complete; the additional scenes show Williard's rebirth and apotheosis much more clearly. The breakdown of order also becomes more frightening. Consider in the original cut, we go from Kilgore to USO show to the Do-Long bridge to the boat massacre to Kurtz. There is no breakdown of order or perception here. In the Redux version, we see the breakdown; the insane outpost where the Playboy Bunnies/sirens wait amid corpses and choas, and where this is no commanding officer (this plays against the Bridge sequence), the soldiers refuse to answer questions, wear their hats sideways. After this encounter, the Do-Long bridge makes so much more sense; the last very last outpost is not only leaderless, but in utter disarray. The Roach tells Willard he knows who is command, with a knowing smile of insanity. Past the Do-Long bridge Willard and the crew find the ghosts of the French. Once again the perception shifts: these people may or may not be real. Roxanne, the French woman who sleeps with Willard, smokes opium with him, and then closes him in a shroud of gauze; he can't really touch her, as if he too were dead. When finally we come to Kurtz and his madness, all civilization is dead. Kurtz is savage, powerful, and insane. It's not just the gibberish Kurtz says, its the living among the severed heads, the brilliant eyes, the heavy face that hesistates. Kurtz is the breakdown of order personified, and Willard understand that his order is broken down as well. He must kill Kurtz not because he was ordered to, but because Kurtz wants to be sacrificed to the Horror. This is a work of art, a masterpiece of cinema, and redemption of Francis Ford Coppola's career. Don't make the mistake of thinking this film is about US involvement in Vietnam. It is not, the movie is set there, but the story is now universal. Apocalypse Now Redux achieves the mythic resonance that Coppola and co-writer John Milius tried for in 1979. I remember the orignal New Yorker review of Apocalypse Now. Pauline Kael said that film failed because Coppola tried to show not just evil, but Evil. AP Redux remidies that mistake: there is no question that Kurtz is Evil. Too bad Kael isn't around to see this stunning version. Possibly the second greatest American film after Citizen Kane, now, in my humble, humble opinion.
Rating:
Summary: Please REMASTER the ORIGINAL movie!! This is [bad]...
Review: I hate the new footage. It ruined the flow of the movie and didn't add anything at all to the overall experience. I returned this movie and I won't be buying it until the original is remastered properly. Thanks for nothin.
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