Widescreen: New version of 'Apocalypse Now' is both shorter and longer
“My film is not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam.”
Director Francis Ford Coppola infamously said that in 1979 about “Apocalypse Now,” the nightmarish, psychedelic riff on Joseph Conrad's “Heart of Darkness” in which Martin Sheen's Capt. Willard is assigned a secret assassination mission in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. It was nominated for eight Oscars, won two of them, and became a gateway drug of sorts for young cinephiles across the globe. (At least, it was for me after seeing it in Don Tantillo's film class at Wheeling High School.)
Forty years later, Coppola is channeling his inner Ridley Scott and releasing a newly edited and restored version of the film.
Entitled “Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut,” this 183-minute, hi-def restoration from the original camera negative is 30 minutes longer than the original theatrical release, but also 19 minutes shorter than Coppola's last revision, “Apocalypse Now Redux.”
According to Hollywood Elsewhere, this new cut includes a long sequence set at a French Indochina rubber plantation — the most significant and controversial of the “Redux” additions. When I saw “Redux” in 2001 on the giant screen at Chicago's dearly departed McClurg Court Cinemas, the scene's political debate killed the forward momentum of what is otherwise a masterpiece. I'm eager to see how the latest revision works.
We can see “Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut” — along with the two other versions of the film, the incredible documentary “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse,” and enough bonus features to justify your Blu-ray player's existence — on Aug. 27 when a four-disc, 4K Ultra HD combo pack hits stores at a retail price of $34.99.
But if you don't have a giant 4K TV, the best way to see “The Final Cut” is on the big screen. A limited theatrical release is scheduled for Aug. 15, but details are scant; Aug. 15 is a Thursday, not a Friday, so it's reasonable to expect a one-night-only digital presentation in select theaters.
Whether you're in a Dolby ATMOS theater or listening with headphones, that helicopter sequence is going to rock your eardrums.
• Follow Sean on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.