>>REVIEW
APOCALYPSE NOW: THE COMPLETE DOSSIER
DIRECTED BY Francis Ford Coppola
1979, 2001, Paramount Home Video
There are few who would argue that Apocalypse Now is one of the best war pictures of all time. Nor can they argue that the making of it is one of the most interesting stories in Hollywood history.
When Francis Ford Coppola went into the jungles of Southeast Asia with a half-finished script and an ego as big as Marlon Brando, few would have predicted the result. An audacious adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now was a devastating condemnation of the Vietnam War told through a psychedelic lens. Even now, it stands as the last great film Coppola made.
That must be why he went back in 2001 to recut the already-epic film into a three-hour monster. Apocalypse Now Redux is indeed longer, but the extra footage unnecessarily bloats the film to an almost unwatchable degree. The original was brilliant self-indulgence. Redux was just grandstanding.
The fact that both versions have been collected in The Complete Dossier is good news for fans, but since both films have already been issued on DVD, one would hope there is something special about this one. To its credit The Complete Dossier is loaded with interviews, documentaries and commentaries that were missing from previous editions. Since the making of Apocalypse Now was chronicled in Eleanor Coppola’s excellent documentary Hearts of Darkness, the bonus features wisely focus on the process and methodology of the film. Interviews with editor and sound designer Walter Murch are particularly intriguing. And for those of you who watched Redux and still haven’t had enough, there are deleted and extended scenes.
The fact that even with a 200-minute running time there was still more footage is quite telling. It’s no secret that Coppola is self-important to an almost egomaniacal degree, but hearing him wax nostalgic about his glory days is sad, not interesting. If Coppola had something more to offer cinema than faded memories, then this DVD would be worthwhile. Instead it comes across as a once-great artist trying to prove his importance. Worse still, it seems Coppola won’t be satisfied until everyone on the planet has not only seen Apocalypse Now, but owns it, too. |
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.