Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9244 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-08-25
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 147 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
In the tradition of such obsessively driven directors as Erich von Stroheim and Werner Herzog, Francis Ford Coppola approached the production of Apocalypse Now as if it were his own epic mission into the heart of darkness. On location in the storm-ravaged Philippines, he quite literally went mad as the project threatened to devour him in a vortex of creative despair, but from this insanity came one of the greatest films ever made. It began as a John Milius screenplay, transposing Joseph Conrad's classic story Heart of Darkness onto the horrors of the Vietnam War, following a battle-weary Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) on a secret upriver mission to find and execute the renegade Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has reverted to a state of murderous and mystical insanity. The journey is fraught with danger involving wartime action on epic and intimate scales. One measure of the film's awesome visceral impact is the number of sequences, images, and lines of dialogue that have literally burned themselves into our cinematic consciousness, from the Wagnerian strike of helicopter gun-ships on a Vietnamese village to the brutal murder of stowaways on a peasant sampan and the unflinching fearlessness of the surfing warrior Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), who speaks lovingly of "the smell of napalm in the morning". Like Herzog's Aguirre, The Wrath of God, this film is the product of genius cast into a pit of hell and emerging, phoenix-like, in triumph. Coppola's obsession (effectively detailed in the riveting documentary Hearts of Darkness, directed by his wife, Eleanor) informs every scene and every frame, and the result is a film for the ages. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Synopsis
Francis Ford Coppola's masterful film about the moral madness of the Vietnam War was inspired by Joseph Conrad's novella, Heart of Darkness. Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent into the Cambodian jungle to terminate with extreme prejudice Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has become insane and now runs his own fiefdom. Traveling downriver on a patrol boat, Willard encounters an air cavalry commander, Lt. Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), whose love of war is matched only by his love of surfing. Coppola almost went bankrupt and Sheen suffered a heart attack during the making of the film, but the rigorous shoot paid off in this unforgettable film. For the first time ever, the Apocalypse Now "Complete Dossier" is available in the UK. This very special Steelbook edition features both the original and "Redux" cuts, never before seen bonus footage and standout packaging.

Customer Reviews

The Special Features
This beautifully presented steelbook DVD contains both films...

Apocalypse Now: original 1979 release.
Apocalypse Now Redux: 2001 version with 49 additional minutes.

Introduction by Francis Ford Coppola.

Disc One:-
The Hollow Men (17 min):
-- A complete reading of T.S.Eliot's poem by Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando)
Monkey Sampan (3 min):
-- A lost scene from the original shooting.
Additional Scenes (26 min):
-- 12 never-before-seen sequences.
A/V Club Featurettes:
-- A special section of bonus extras for young filmmakers and fans.
The Birth Of 5.1 Sound (6 min):
-- A brief history of film sound.
Ghost Helicopter Flyover (4 min):
-- An audio demo of the sound effects used in the film.
The Synthesizer Soundtrack (by Bob Moog):
-- An article by the inventor of the Moog Synthesizer.
Technical FAQ:
-- 6 of the most frequently asked questions about the film... with answers!

Disc Two:-
The Post Production of Apocalypse Now:
-- 4 featurettes covering the fascinating stories of editing, music and sound;
A Million Feet of Film (18 min):
-- The editing of Apocalypse Now.
The Music of Apocalypse Now (15 min).
Heard Any Good Ones Lately? (15 min):
-- The sound design of Apocalypse Now.
The Final Mix (3 min).
Apocalypse Then And Now (4 min):
-- Cannes Film Festival, May, 2001. Coppola reflects on the reaction.
PBR Streetgang (4 min):
-- The crew of the Navy Patrol Boat gathers to celebrate the launch of Redux.
The Colour Palette of Apocalypse Now (4 min):
-- Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro discusses the film printing process.
Redux Marker:
When this special DVD feature is turned on by the viewer, an on-screen icon appears only during footage that was added to make the 2001 version called Apocalypse Now Redux.

Just a shame it's not a triple DVD that includes Hearts of Darkness.

Finally a proper release of a modern classic war film
I had the original release of Apocalypse Now Redux and it is one of my favourite modern war films. When they release such an important film without extras I am disappointed, but after a six year wait it is finally here and in a steelbook as well. There are a wealth of extras including a commentary by Francis Ford Coppola, deleted scenes and featurettes about the making of the Redux version along with other features about the sound and video and Marlon Brando's full reading of T.S. Eliots poem "The Hollow Men" which featured briefly in the film

I would just like to let you know that the film is split onto two discs unlike previous releases. I don't know how many people are bothered by this. The only reason I mention this is that the previous release of Redux was on one disc, and like the King Kong Deluxe Extended Edition dvd, they split the film on two discs with extras on each to bulk them out. I thought it may have been better to put the film on one disc with the extras on the other. When they re-released the Godfather boxset, part 2 was moved on to one disc rather than two which it used to be on in the previous release

Also the Hearts of Darkness documentary is not included and is not easy to find on it's own, so it would have been a nice feature, perhaps on a third disc, but as I said there are enough other extras so you will have to track it down separately

With this version, you can have an on screen marker to show when the extra footage from the Redux version is on. Thankfully this is optional. If you don't want to watch the extended cut of the film, you can just watch the original instead. I have only received it today so haven't been able to compare if the picture quality is any better, but the sound is still 5.1 so it looks like no change on that front. I only paid £5.99 so a bit of a bargain, even just for the extras alone

I love the smell of napalm in the morning

A relatable version of "Heat of Darkness"
The basic story is that Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who was sent to Vietnam (60's era) to correct a problem, now sees the problem differently and has exceeded his authority in the correction. Therefore Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen) is dispatched to dispatch the colonel. In this Joseph Campbell ("The Hero with a Thousand Faces") type adventure, he meets with many situations that help him grow and understand the problem that Colonel Kurtz faced. Will he complete his mission or succumb to the came forces as the colonel in the heart of darkness?

This is basically an updated version of Joseph Conrad's book "Heart of Darkness" with a lot Francis Ford Coppola thrown in. The location is Viet Nam, instead of Africa, and as with any update; they thought it would be more relevant than trying to explain the Congo. Toss in some songs from the 60's era ("The Best of the Doors"- `The End'), and some classics (Wagner - "Die Walkure: Ride of the Valkyries"), and you have a movie. Too bad it is not that easy.

I would not worry too much whether this looks like Vietnam or if certain events really take place, as that is not the point of the picture or the intent of the story telling. The feel of the book was conveyed. And I would not worry if it does not match the book story word for word as this is a different media. If you come away with the question "what would I do if it were me?" it worked.

Not to distract from the movie review, however I was in Viet Nam (1967-1968) in an armed reconnaissance organization. And the Vietnam I was in did not have the surrealistic scenes. We did get to see Bob Hope and Martha Ray "The Big Broadcast of 1938" (1938). Before that I always thought it was a bunch of hype. However it did make a difference having them take the time to go there. So I could see something as weird as the bunny scene happening.

Besides the movie there are the Scenes of the destruction of the Kurtz compound set. They were required to clean up after the movie was made. Coppola says that these scenes were removed from the end of the movie so people did not think that it was part of the story. However I saw this on TV and they left the scenes in and I did think it was part of the story.

Another movie interpretation of, "Heart of Darkness" was made later. Not quite as moving as Apocalypse Now, but you should see it to compare to the original, "Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death "(1988). Adrienne Barbeau is Dr. Kurtz.