Apocalypse Now Redux

From its superb opening sequence of helicopters laying down napalm in the jungle forests while The Doors' song "The End" plays on the Dolby Digital 5.1 enhanced soundtrack, to its haunting images of heads impaled on sticks in the Cambodian kingdom of renegade American colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), whom Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent to "terminate with extreme prejudice," Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam epic Apocalypse Now, loosely based on Joseph Conrad's anti-colonial novel Heart of Darkness, remains, above all, a visually strikingly film--whether we're talking about the original 153 minute version or this new recut edition with an additional 49 minutes. Few may recall the brooding Brando's cryptic monologues on the meaning of this, that, and the other during the final act, but no one forgets the images: a helicopter raid with speakers blaring Wagner, a surrealistic night fight seen by the light of flares, or Robert Duvall sucking pungent air into his lungs on the beach ("I love the smell of napalm in the morning"). While critical reaction to Apocalypse Now Redux's extra footage--consisting of a few slightly extended scenes and a trio of longer new sequences built around an intimate encounter with the Playboy centerfolds, a turgid political discussion over dinner at a French plantation house, and an additional face-off between Willard and Kurtz--has been generally favorable, I personally thought that (like most deleted scenes) these cuts were warranted, overall. Still, there's bound to be plenty of interest from cinema buffs wanting to compare the two versions, and the otherwise extra-less DVD's chapter listing helpfully highlights the new material in yellow. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman) [Blu-ray Review—Oct. 26, 2010—Lionsgate, 3 discs, 451 min., R, $59.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1979's Apocalypse Now sports a great transfer with DTS-HD 5.1 sound. Compiling the original film, the extended director's cut Apocalypse Now Redux, and the documentary Hearts of Darkness, Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by filmmaker Frances Ford Coppola on the two Apocalypse Now films and audio commentary on Hearts of Darkness by Coppola and his filmmaker wife Eleanor, 'A Conversation with Martin Sheen' (60 min.), 'An Interview with John Milius' (50 min.), a 2001 interview of Coppola with critic Roger Ebert (39 min.), the original 1938 radio reading of Heart of Darkness by Orson Welles (37 min.), additional scenes (36 min.), 'A Million Feet of Film' featurette on editing (18 min.), 'The Hollow Man' vintage featurette with star Marlon Brando (17 min.), 'Heard Any Good Movies Lately?' on sound (16 min.), 'Fred Roos: Casting Apocalypse' (12 min.), 'The Birth of 5.1 Sound' featurette (6 min.), a 'Ghost Helicopter Flyover' scene featurette (4 min.), 'Apocalypse Then and Now' on the film's impact (4 min.), a 'PBR Street Gang' cast featurette (4 min.), production featurettes on 'The Color Palette of Apocalypse Now' (4 min.) and 'The Final Mix' (3 min.), 'The Synthesizer Soundtrack' text info, Milius script excerpts with notes by Coppola, galleries (storyboard, photo, marketing, radio ads, press kit, and poster), and a 48-page booklet. Bottom line: a winning Blu-ray debut for a classic war film.] [4K Review—Sept. 10, 2019—Lionsgate, 6 discs, 183 min., R/not rated, 4K: $34.99—Making its debut on 4K, 1979’s Apocalypse Now features a great transfer and a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. This set includes several versions of the film on 4K Ultra HD: the 1979 original, 2001’s Apocalypse Now: Redux, and 2019’s Apocalypse Now: Final Cut, with all three versions on Blu-ray as well, and the 1991 documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse on Blu-ray. In addition to previously released extras ported over, extras new to this release include a 'Final Cut Intro' by director Francis Ford Coppola (5 min.), a Tribeca Film Festival Q&A with Coppola and filmmaker Steven Soderbergh (48 min.), a 'Dutch Angle' segment with war photographer and contributor Chas Gerretsen (32 min.), Super 8MM behind-the-scenes footage (22 min.), production segments on 'Remastering a Legend in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos' (3 min.) and 'A Forty-Year Journey' (3 min.), and bonus digital copies of the film. Bottom line: the 4K versions of Coppola’s classic film truly shine in both visual and aural senses.]