Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1350 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-10-18
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French, Vietnamese
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 153 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 was 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" into 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 war-time 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 gunships on a Vietnamese village to the brutal murder of stowaways 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 Coppola's wife, Eleanor) informs every scene and every frame, and the result is a film for the ages. --Jeff Shannon

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

DVD Description
Francis Ford Coppola's stunning vision of man's heart of darkness revealed through the madness of the Vietnam War.

Customer Reviews

Redux or Original?
The question is "do you buy Redux or the original"?. The additions to Redux detract from the storyline. It loses some of the urgency of the journey upriver to find Kurtz. The crew of the boat stealing Kilgore's surfboard is childish. The scene with the Playboy bunnies after their helicoper breaks down feels like it was filmed and added later. Also I don't think Capt Willard would trade diesel for the crew's turns with the bunnies, it slows down his mission. The scene in the French colonialists' house breaks the up river journey and feels out of step with the story.
To sum up, if you want to watch this classic war film buy the original.

BUY IT, buy it buy it buy it
This is an utterly brilliant, utterly unforgettable film, by some distance my preferred movie of all time and likely to remain so. No other film ive seen has the capacity to probe so deep into the human conscious with its stark imagery, climactic storyline and maddening atmosphere. Duvalls performance is possibly the best ive seen in a supporting role from any actor, perfectly grasping the arrogance of the perceived american presence in Vietnam, whilst also delivering several laugh out loud classic lines flawlessly.The military attack on the Vietnamese village is as exhilarating an experince as you will find in any motion picture, but from here on the film submerges itself in darkness as we travel up river, all the time the myth of colonel kurtz looming over the piece with a heightened sense of impending doom and anticipation.The whole film builds to the meeting of Kurtz, and as we finally approach the truly haunting closing setting we are as intrigued to meet him as Sheen. Whilst Brando is undoubtedly ott, it is a credit to his sheer aura that he is able to live up to this mythical character without us being dissappointed. Cinematically this film is a dream, every shot would make a fine still photo, and the ending will have you gripped to your seat. The images in this film will haunt your mind for days on end i assure you. It is ,of course, the best war movie ever made, but it is far more than that, it is a study in human nature and enthralling psychological viewing. If you dont like this film, you have to ask yourself, do you really like movies at all?

The "anti-Private Ryan" movie, but still excellent!
This is a Vietnam war film based on the short story "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad. Originally set in the Congo back in the beginning of the ivory trade there, director Coppola has translated it to Vietnam in the 60s. Like "Saving Private Ryan" it is the story of soldiers journeying on a mission through a war-torn country. However, unlike Private Ryan, the film does not stand out for its exciting battle scenes, or message of redemption. In fact there is only one real battle scene in the movie, and if anything, it ends with an anti-redemption.

The story goes: A top US Colonel, played by Marlon Brando, who was "one of us", is now a loose cannon and has disappeared into Cambodia and is committing atrocities with his own loyal private army. A seriously screwed-up and shell-shocked special forces soldier played by Martin Sheen is sent up the river by the US military on a secret mission to assassinate the Colonel. The director had a hellish time making this movie apparently, including going millions over budget (he put some of his own money in), and a lot of trouble with the actors. However what came out of the sometimes improvised filming was a brilliant journey into the heart of darkness, as Sheen travels up the river.

A series of "set pieces" occur during the journey up the river, some of which were removed in the original theatrical cut, and have been returned in the Redux cut. Some of these set pieces have become famous, for example the helicopters swooping in to attack a Vietcong occupied village, playing "Ride of the Valkyries" at full blast. The most satisfying parts of the movie however, are when Sheen reaches the true heart of darkness, the Colonel's camp. What transpires here cannot really be described adequately in words. You have to watch the whole movie to appreciate the end of the journey.

Another aspect of this movie worth mentioning is the soundtrack. It is a product of the times chronicled by the movie, with the Doors and the Rolling Stones included. Actually the first part of the movie is a great chronicle of some of the spirit of 60s.

Things to watch out for: a brief appearance by Harrison Ford, the reading of the "Heart of Darkness"-related TS Eliot poem "Hollow Men" by Marlon Brando, and Sheen's alcohol-induced breakdown scene in his bedroom at the beginning (the actor was not acting at the time!)

Overall, this is great. A spectacular intelligent, beautifully filmed, rock-and-roll, poetic journey, with an ending that will echo in your mind.