Apocalypse Now Redux (Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall) 1/2
The original Apocalypse Now was released in 1979 and remains one of the true greats in all of cinema. It also happens to be a personal favourite of mine. I adore watching its gorgeous photography, or feeling the shivers go up my spine as the primal Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) mumbles in his deluded state, or even viewing the phenomenal documentary that outlines its making, Hearts of Darkness. Certainly the trivia alone is fascinating to take in.
Well, one interesting facet to that vast trivia (although not much of a surprise given the format of many of today's DVDs) is that some of the scenes that were shot during the tumultuous filming never made it into the final commercial release. Apocalypse Now Redux attempts to integrate these sequences into the original story and it fails miserably in pretty much every instance.
One scene has Capt. Willard (Martin Sheen) arriving at a French plantation, joined by the shipmates on his patrol boat. Willard has been on the hunt for Kurtz, who is to be apprehended by whatever means necessary for his part in alleged acts of inhumanity against some civilians. Willard and his crew have supper and talk about the colonial history of Vietnam. Boy, do they talk. Perhaps if it came at an earlier point in the film, it might have fit a bit better. As it stands though, the plantation scene ruins everything the movie has worked up to at that point. By the time Marlon Brando finally appears onscreen, you start to feel a tad homicidal yourself.
The other notable addition is an extended visit by some Playboy bunnies to the crew after a stressful jaunt at sea. It's not as painful to sit through as the plantation scene, but it too is out of place and disturbs the rhythms which director Francis Ford Coppola mastered so successfully in the first place.
I suppose the best reason to watch this release is to experience an even greater restoration of the original sound and picture quality. To be fair, it has never looked better than in this version. The only trick is you'll need to have your hand on the scene selection button to really enjoy it.
So, Apocalypse Now is a five-star film, a glory to behold, and a movie which I will officially review at a later date. Redux, with its dragging footage, is an exercise in patience and boredom. Leave those longlost scenes somewhere on a second disc for preferential viewing by film buffs and keep them out of the original movie. Because they're not welcome.
