:
Martin Sheen,
Martin Sheen,
Marlon Brando,
more...
:
Francis Ford Coppola,
Francis Ford Coppola
see all cast/crew...
: 
: Paramount
: Action, Cult, Wilderness & Nature, War, Vietnam War
: 202 min.
: English
: English
see additional details...
|
|
Francis Coppola had more than his share of production difficulties while shooting his epic-scale Vietnam War drama Apocalypse Now, including disastrous weather conditions, problems with his leading men (Harvey Keitel was fired after less than two weeks on the project and was replaced by Martin Sheen, who suffered a heart attack midway through production), and a schedule and budget that quickly spiraled out of control (originally budgeted at $10 million, the film's final cost was over $30 million). But Coppola's troubles didn't end when he got his footage into the editing room, and he tinkered with a number of different structures and endings before settling on the film's 153-minute final cut in time for its initial theatrical release in 1979. Twenty-two years later, Francis Coppola returned to the material, and created Apocalypse Now Redux, an expanded and re-edited version of the film that adds 53 minutes of footage excised from the film's original release. In addition to adding a number of smaller moments that even out the film's rhythms, Apocalypse Now Redux restores two much-discussed sequences that Coppola chose not to include in his original edition of the film -- an encounter in the jungle between Willard (Martin Sheen), his crewmates Chief (Albert Hall), Clean (Larry Fishburne), Chef (Frederic Forrest), and Lance (Sam Bottoms) and a trio of stranded Playboy models on a U.S.O. tour, as well as a stopover at a plantation operated by French colonists De Marais (Christian Marquand) and Roxanne (Aurore Clement). Apocalypse Now Redux received a limited theatrical release in August of 2001 after a well-received screening at the Cannes Film Festival -- the same month that the film finally reached theaters in 1979, after a rough cut received a Golden Palm award at the Cannes Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
|
| once again.. without the words
by psychodrama311
May 20, 2003 - 7:07 PM PDT
|
|
|
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
|
watching this movie the first tyme around when i was around 15.. i was awestruck.. i never really imagined the inner depths of the soul like brando portrayed. duvall, hopper and sheen are mere students watching the teacher. it was amazing.
with redux.. scenes are added to which lengthens the movie considerably. the infamous playboy playmates scenes brings a debauchery factor to the film. while the french plantation scene adds the look of film noir with the dinner part. although the tyme adds considerable more tyme spent with visual/narrative aspects.. i found it all worth it. still an epic of deep soul searching. |
| Leave well enough alone.
by FOlmstead
January 9, 2003 - 7:14 AM PST
|
|
|
7 out of 10 members found this review helpful
|
When I first saw Apocalypse Now twenty some years ago, it blew me away. I was never in Vietnam, but I absolutely believe this is what it was like. Nobody really knowing what was going on. Soldiers out there on their own, with no CO, stoned out of their minds, firing at nothing in the darkness. Craziness, like Robert Duvall's obsession with surfing, even under enemy fire. Missions that made sense to no one.
At the time I was working at ABC News and I asked Ted Koppel, who was there, about it. First off, he said he hadn't seen the film because he wasn't ready to revisit it all. Then he told me a story about being dropped off on a beach somewhere with a group of newly arrived totally green soldiers, and as the chopper flew off, realizing that somehow, there was no commanding officer with them. Suddenly they came under fire, and Koppel took command, because he was the only one there who'd seen combat.
Anyway, I hadn't seen this film since it's original release, but it certainly ranked up there on my list of all-time greats.
In this new version, "Redux", I don't know what was added, but I do know it seemed way too long. Also, I don't know if any of the music was redone, but there were some scenes where it came off pretty sappy. Maybe those were added scenes? Or, maybe music styles and my tastes have changed.
Granted I'm borderline ADD, and have problems with any film that's over 2 hours, but 202 minutes is just too much. The performances and depiction of the Vietnam insanity were still great, but it just didn't hold me till the end. I finally decided I'd watch the last hour or so the next night, but couldn't bring myself to come back to it. I tried the night after that, but I still couldn't do it. I finally gave up and mailed it back.
In the end, I wish I had rented the original. For anyone who's never seen this picture or who wants to revisit it, that's what I suggest. Why take something that was really great and turn it into something that's just pretty good? |
|
|
GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.67)
310 Votes
add to list 
|
|
|
Your cart
sert8475
© 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. Portions of content provided by All Movie Guide®,
a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.