Apocalypse Now

[Sleepless]

I've only seen Redux once, but every time I've watched the original since, I find myself missing the French Plantation scene.

[wilder]

A Face of War (1968) by Eugene Jones - a vietnam war film that acted as major inspiration for the visual style of the war scenes in Apocalypse Now. Part 1 of 10

[wilberfan]

Well, I just handed over 26 bucks to see this so-called "Final Cut" of Apocalypse Now at the Universal City IMAX theater on Aug 18th.  At  these prices it better be in "Feel-Around" as well as IMAX.

[Sleepless]

This article from May is a good read.

Francis Ford Coppola: How Winning Cannes 40 Years Ago Saved 'Apocalypse Now,' Making 'Megalopolis,' Why Scorsese Almost Helmed 'Godfather Part II' & Re-Cutting Three Past Films

[Alethia]

Saw the "Final Cut" back in May or so at the Beacon Theatre with Coppola in attendance, Q&A'd by Steven Soderbergh. Honestly, it's my least favorite version of the movie. The French Plantation material - which, on its own, amounts to an intriguing, if overlong, sequence - grinds everything to a terrible halt right when it needs to keep chugging (though I don't recall it having such a dulling effect in Redux the one and only time I saw it years back). The mix was really harsh too, the dialogue frequently unintelligible, especially during the Duvall scenes, which is hard to forgive. Could have been the venue but somehow I don't think so.

I still think the original theatrical cut is the perfect version of this film.

Most memorable portion of the evening: The movie's over, Soderbergh and Coppola come out and take their seats, and Soderbergh begins, "Okay, Francis, before we start, is there anything you want to ask me?"

[wilberfan]

Thanks for the heads up.  $26 or not, I will walk if I'm not enjoying myself.  I'm getting too old for cinematic nonsense anymore.

[Shughes]

I watched the "Final Cut" at Edinburgh International Film Festival in June and it was a treat. The mix sounded good to me coming through the multiplex sound system. In fact it's the best I've heard it. Admittedly my only other cinema viewing was in a smaller arthouse cinema with a good, but not great, sound system (for Redux).

I prefer this cut to Redux - it's less unwieldy and more focused while still including abridged versions of most (all?) of the redux material. I too have a problem with the French plantation sequence in any form - it's lavish and interesting in its own way but takes away from the drive of the story.

And I have to agree that the original theatrical cut is the best version - it retains the focus and momentum of the journey/story. The other versions are always interesting to see, but new material seems to change the tone and distract more than it reveals.

[wilberfan]

I saw the film in the first week of it's original release at the Dome in 70mm.   The opening audio mix of the helicopters swooping in over our left shoulder is one of the peak movie moments in my entire moviegoing career.   It will be interesting to see (and hear) how this compares to that memory.  I would assume that sound reproduction has improved a lot in the last 40 years.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Thanks for the heads up about the IMAX showings! I'm very excited, this is an all time favorite and I've never seen it in a theater.

[Alethia]

I saw the film in the first week of its original release at the Dome in 70mm.   The opening audio mix of the helicopters swooping in over our left shoulder is one of the peak movie moments in my entire moviegoing career.   It will be interesting to see (and hear) how this compares to that memory.  I would assume that sound reproduction has improved a lot in the last 40 years.

Oh man I've heard about those initial Dome screenings, how lucky you got to be there.

[wilberfan]

https://youtu.be/VyNwha5hrAo

[wilberfan]

Well, it was wonderful to see this film again on a particularly big screen, but I think still prefer the original cut. I didn't think any of the add'l material really added anything to the experience.

Spoiler: ShowHide

There's a surfboard stealing scene, for example, that I thought showed Willard in a way that was inconsistent with his character.  The French Plantation Scene feels like it belongs to a completely different film, and it felt like there were too many additional minutes added to the Kurtz Compound stuff at the end.

Turns out the guy sitting next to me had NEVER seen ANY version of the film, so I had the pleasure of encouraging him to find Hearts of Darkness to complete his experience.

I also happened to speak with a sheriff's deputy outside (this was at a crowded Universal City Walk), who was VERY excited to hear that this film was back on the big screen.  It was nice to meet a fellow enthusiast.

[Alethia]

Well of course, seeing it in IMAX changed my opinion. Still think he should lose the French Plantation scene, or at least just confine it to the burial perhaps, but the visual and aural disappointments I experienced at that first screening at The Beacon were totally absent this time. IMAX now feels like the only way to experience this movie. What a charge.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Seeing this on the IMAX was an incredible experience. It's never looked or sounded better. Those beads of sweat on Matin Sheen's face blown up to such scale, it was hypnotic.

That fucking French plantation sequence though. I was really happy with everything else in the new cut, and then the pull into this fucking cul de sac of a sequence that robs the movie of all its tension. It just flat out doesn't work and should not be in the movie. The endless bickering, the big lush romantic Hollywood score, the woman spelling out for Willard the theme of the movie in such a basic ass way, Willard taking a break from losing his mind to chill and smoke some opium -- it just makes no sense for the movie at all. If you watch Hearts of Darkness, Coppola is really unhappy with the sequence, and he should have just stuck with his instinct. I think it plays great as a deleted scene, a curio to check out outside of the context of the film, but it has no business being in the Final Cut.

That one thing aside, it's an untouchable masterpiece.