One of the greatest films ever made, in any language. Based upon Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, with a screenplay written primarily by the great John Milius (Jeremiah Johnson; Dirty Harry; Red Dawn).

Worthy of repeated viewings and deep analysis. In my opinion, this is Coppola's greatest work, surpassing The Godfather and The Godfather II, though I do like those films more and find them more viewable and enjoyable, if that makes any sense.

The Redux version of this film is an absolute masterpiece.

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Originally posted by parabellum:
Of the greatest films ever made, in any language.

Ok, no arguments from anyone there. Phenomenal movie.
From the main plot, then dig a little deeper to Capt Willards struggle with his morality, Col Kurtz' justification for his insane behavior in an insane world, "Chief" trying to keep it together and keep his naïve crew alive...

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In my opinion, this is Coppola's greatest work, surpassing The Godfather and The Godfather II,

Why do you say that? I know you're a huge cinematic junkie, impeccable taste and that "eye" for subtleties in Acting, Direction and Cinematography. I'm interested in your view.

Personally, Godfather I and II exceed Apocalypse Now.
Yes, the flashbacks in GFII work, but IMO would have worked better if it followed in chronological order. But GFI and GFII dot all of the "i's" and cross all of the "t's" (Clemenza's death could have been explained a little better, but that's my opinion).

I'll probably tackle this in depth tomorrow. It's late and I'm hitting the hay soon, but the short answer to your question is this:

Everything in the Godfather films is superficial. What you see is what you get. There is no metaphor. The motivations of the characters in these films are, for the most part, apparent, or if not immediately apparent, they are made so in the course of the film (Carlo physically abusing Connie Corleone in order to draw Sonny into an ambush; Fredo betraying Michael).

I love the style of the Godfather films and Gordon Willis' cinematography and the story line and the dialogue, but when you get right down to it, these are gangster films. The gangster, representing the 20th Century "man of action", predates the sound era and the tale has been told many times. The Godfather films undeniably represent the pinnacle of the gangster film, but that's all they are. Even the stuff about the oranges prefiguring death- no, it was not so. The art director dispelled this myth. In GF III, however, Coppola seems to have adopted the myth and used it as it was originally (and incorrectly) interpreted (a bowl of oranges sits on the table of the meeting at the helicopter hit, the most violent scene of GF III; Vincent Mancini holds an orange at a meeting in Italy which determines who the Corleone family must kill).

Apocalypse Now, on the other hand, is based upon a story that has been studied, analyzed and interpreted for all of the 20th Century and continuing into this century. I don't know how many books have been written about Heart of Darkness, but it has to be several dozen, and I own a few myself. Though the film was never made, it was the intent of Orson Welles to make a film based upon Conrad's story, using a subjective camera (the camera represents the POV of the protagonist). This was in 1939/1940- before Citizen Kane, and as James Naremore pointed out, if Welles' film had been made (a screenplay exists and is available online for viewing), it would have qualified as the very first Film Noir of the classic period.

For this reason, I have sought out written analysis of Heart of Darkness and in the course of doing so, discovered the fascination Conrad's story holds for those in the field of literary criticism.

So, you have this perpetually analyzed, metaphorical story, adapted into a metaphorical film, rife with symbolism and a thousand nooks and crannies in which to delve.

Maybe I'll point out some of that stuff tomorrow.

I haven’t watched it in a few decades so this new version may be a good way to brush up my memory on it.
I was the age when that could have been me there (but wasn’t fortunately) and lots of crazy stuff going on so the movie really was great for me.
That whole era had so many lessons that seem to be forgotten or never learned by many.

I'm going to have to read "Heart of Darkness" again!

Seeing the film on the big screen was one of my best cinema experiences. The Airmobile assault on the village was one of the best war depictions put on film. It made me understand why Wagner was Hitlers favorite composer.

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Originally posted by 220-9er:
I haven’t watched it in a few decades so this new version may be a good way to brush up my memory on it.
I was the age when that could have been me there (but wasn’t fortunately) and lots of crazy stuff going on so the movie really was great for me.
That whole era had so many lessons that seem to be forgotten or never learned by many.

Apocalypse Now; Redux far surpasses the original theater release, in my opinion, to the extent that I find it baffling that Coppola allowed his film to be diminished on the cutting room floor. I believe that if you haven’t seen Redux, you haven’t seen Apocalypse Now.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TMats,

For me - I have watched that Do Lung Bridge clip well over 50 times the past few years.

At the surface the whole scene seems to be about war and the pointlessness and waste that it is but after several viewings it is a lot deeper. The whole scene seems to show a version of hell that is complete chaos. There is no commanding officer...nobody seems to know what they are doing...several of them are trying to escape with suitcases.

But The Roach has it all together. He is in the movie very briefly but leaves a lasting memory. He understands exactly where he is at and knows what he is there for. He is so calm about killing it no longer shocks him. Just like Colonel Kurtz which is at the end of the river. They have the ability to adapt and exceed rather than just trying to get back home.

The lighting is just incredible in this scene. The sound is so well done and so clear.

I watched this movie for the first time when I was in the 8th grade on network tv. This scene made me very uneasy than and it still does. I know everybody remembers the helicopter attack but this is the best scene.

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Originally posted by TMats:

Apocalypse Now; Redux far surpasses the original theater release, in my opinion, to the extent that I find it baffling that Copala allowed his film to be diminished on the cutting room floor. I believe that if you haven’t seen Redux, you haven’t seen Apocalypse Now.

Because at the time, a 205 minute movie was waaayyyy tooooo long to show in a theater.
I caught a few clips from articles and interviews from Copala about the making of Apocalypse Now and Apocalypse Now Redux, If I remember, there was still a lot that was left out of Redux.

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Originally posted by TMats:
I find it baffling that Coppola allowed his film to be diminished on the cutting room floor.

At the time, Coppola was in a lot of trouble with the studio, with financing, having to put up his house and Godfather money as security to borrow more money (some of it from George Lucas) because he went drastically over budget and the studio would not give him any more money. He constantly changed the script on location, he would do rewrites at the drop of a hat, much of it instigated by Brando. I think he considered it a major miracle he got the cut that went to the theaters. Releasing a 3 1/2 hour movie to the theaters in 1979 would have been a box office disaster for the film, and a financial disaster for Coppola.

I saw the film when it first appeared, playing in only a few theaters, one of them was at the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles in 70mm. My brother and I went and it was eerily quiet in the theater when the film ended, the ending went to black, no credits whatsoever. I later saw it again, and the new ending had the explosions added.

Last year, I bought the Apocalypse Now Final Cut 4K box set and it features a "final cut" release for the Tribeca Film Festival by Coppola that streamlines the Redux cut a bit, tightening up different scenes including the plantation, the Playgirls, and scenes with Kurtz. He claims this is the "definitive" cut, and to an extent, maybe he is right, it does change the pacing a bit, scenes flow a bit better IMO. But also included in the DVD set is Eleanor Coppola's documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse which shows how fucked up the production was, the incredible stress Francis Coppola was experiencing. A must see.

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Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Seeing the film on the big screen was one of my best cinema experiences. The Airmobile assault on the village was one of the best war depictions put on film. It made me understand why Wagner was Hitlers favorite composer.

I saw it at a midweek morning matinee just before Christmas toward the end of its run. I had to use a vacation day or lose it so decided to finally see the movie.

I was the only one in the theater.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Blackmore,

I saw it in the theater, I have the original in VHS, DVD, and the Redux in BluRay. This thread has caused me to order the Final Cut. I am looking forward to watching this again. It was very deep and dark.

Heart of Darkness is one of the most influential works of literature in the 200 years. Especially when you think about it’s relatively short length. It is dark and scathing and heavy and compelling. It reminds me of McCarthy and Faulkner and Hemingway and Bukowski. The topics and themes are remarkable imo.

And then the idea to take this story and adapt it to Vietnam is pretty amazing, imo. It’s not often a story can be adapted to a different setting and different political climate and still be so effective. It’s a cynical view to say what we were doing in Vietnam was similar to what the Colonists were doing in Africa in HoD, so I don’t believe that. But plenty of people do.

Lastly, not only do the two stories adapt really well, then you have to have someone capable of making the film that conveys that darkness and actors who can act it. Well, mission accomplished. Obviously Brando is amazing but Sheen and Duvall play their parts remarkably well and the little details are all there.

It is not a book or a film that make you feel great when reading or watching but you can’t take your eyes off of them, imo.

The Critical Drinker does an excellent analysis of the making of this movie, part of his Production Hell series. The shenanigans that went on behind the scenes are too bizarre to make up.

I saw the original in a small theater in Danvile VA with a couple of my Uncles and a Cousin,,

the tiger scene got everyone,, as in every one jumped,


I did not get all the movie at first, I was a young teen,

now, after seeing it a few times, I get parts of it, and need to watch it again,

it is one of those movies you get more and more everytime you watch it,

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Originally posted by TMats:

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Originally posted by 220-9er:
I haven’t watched it in a few decades so this new version may be a good way to brush up my memory on it.
I was the age when that could have been me there (but wasn’t fortunately) and lots of crazy stuff going on so the movie really was great for me.
That whole era had so many lessons that seem to be forgotten or never learned by many.

Apocalypse Now; Redux far surpasses the original theater release, in my opinion, to the extent that I find it baffling that Coppola allowed his film to be diminished on the cutting room floor. I believe that if you haven’t seen Redux, you haven’t seen Apocalypse Now.

What is the "Redux"? I saw Apocalypse Now back in the early 1980's I think when it was released on VHS video tape.

Does the Redux version ever show up in theatres?

Redux version airing tonight at 8PM Eastern on TCM

Also, I want to say that, along with Robert Townsend's script for Chinatown, I consider John Milius' script for Apocalypse Now to be the very best ever written for film, in any language.

Former Vietnam War correspondent Michael Herr has a screenwriting credit for the film, and no doubt, his real-life experiences in the war contributed greatly to the film.

Coppola himself also has a screenwriting credit, and his penchant for on the spot, last moment re-writes assured that his contributions also made it into the film, but the Apocalypse Now script is Milius' baby, and the film marks a high point in American cinema. There's nothing else like it.

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I've actually never seen it. Will need to remedy that.
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