"Apocalypse" Again

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Here's a fairly good review of Apocalypse Now: The Complete Triple Dip, the DVD containing both the original theatrical and the Redux versions of Francis Coppola's 1979 classic. I'm kidding about the DVD's subtitle -- it's actually called The Complete Dossier.

The most exciting extra for a lot of people will be a full 17-minute reading of T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men" by Marlon Brando. There are also 13 deleted scenes, including one called "Monkey Sampan" One, deemed "a notoriously hard-to-find relic from the film’s original construction" plus 12 additional sequences are not available in either the original or Redux versions

Apocalypse Now was shot in 70mm and was initially shown in the correct widescreen 70mm aspect ratio of 2.21 to 1. This new DVD has Apocalypse trimmed down to 2.35 to 1, which sounds like they've chopped off the tops and bottoms slightly. I saw it in 70mm at the Ziegeld 27 years ago and I know they showed it at 2.21 to 1 during that engagement and they wouldn't have done this if it hadn't been cool with Francis and the powers-that-be, so anyone who says a 2.35 to 1 presentation is somehow better or more complete is wrong. I'm always disagreeing with people who think it's better to show a film with the tops and bottoms chopped off. Give it air, I always say. Give the actors a little headroom.

To be a really complete Apocalypse dossier, of course, George Hickenlooper and Fax Bahr's Heart of Darkness -- a brilliant documentary about the tortured making of the film -- should have been included, and of course it hasn't been

comment #1

travis b. says ...

i loved redux...but adding another 12 sequences may be overkill

comment #2

says ...

2.21:1 would've been the 70mm aspect ratio. But for 35mm it would've invariably had to be screened in an anamorphic 2.35:1, cause that's standard widescreen (though technically it's really 2.4:1). Confusing, yes.

This is actually really good news. Because all previous DVD/laser disk versions had the sides cut off so it played at roughly 1.9:1.

comment #3

Kristopher Tapley says ...

What a wasted friggin' opportunity on Hearts of Darkness. What the hell? That doc is SO good, yet it still isn't on DVD. Ridiculous.

Get those italics under control, Jeff. ;)

comment #4

says ...

Actually, you misread it. The DVD IS going to be in the 2.0:1 aspect ratio of the other disks. Storraro doesn't like 2.35:1 letterboxed because he thinks the image is too small.

So yes, we're stuck with forever a cropped Apocalypse Now on video. Not wider. Taller.

comment #5

gh says ...

I'm a little confused... the current DVD of the theatrical cut is more like 1.85:1

so is it just the 2.35:1 version with the top and bottom of the frame exposed... or the sides cropped? or what?

I remember the laserdisc was definetly 2.35:1

comment #6

gh says ...

Sorry I missed the above comment that answered my question... and I guess the laserdisc was cropped after all.

This is good news.

I hope they release it on HD soon.

comment #7

gh says ...

Well I just read the 4:15 comment...

so the sides are still cropped? Storraro you bastard. What's the definitive answer on this.

comment #8

says ...

Read the review. It explains it. The DVD will be in 2.0:1, not 2.35:1. Same aspect ratio as previously released DVDs and laser disk.

comment #9

gh says ...

So when they finally release this on HD will Storraro still think the vertical resolution is too low? If it's not 2.35:1 then It's not the definitive version no matter what Storraro says.

After all the Redux was a disfigurement and they chopped the original negative to make that. pricks.

comment #10

sprofessor says ...

I'm really sick of Storraro and his "univision" crap. Smells like cheap revisionism to me. But i'll probably pick up the dvd for the Coppola commentary.

comment #11

says ...

It's unfortunate when once-great technicians become outdated...

comment #12

Aaron says ...

From what I know, we will now and forever be seeing the film in 2:1. It's incredibly ridiculous, I know, and I have four version at home, all in the incorrect aspect ratio (I keep buying them cause I keep hoping they are going to fix it). VHS, Laser, Both DVDs... all wrong.

But you know what DOES have the correct aspect ratio? The film clips used in Hearts of Darkness. That's when I noticed the gaffe in the first place (and yes, it is a gaffe. I don't understand this vertical resolution mumbo jumbo he's been pushing on us for years.)

comment #13

Chris says ...

Apocalypse Now is one of the greatest movies of all time.

comment #14

Chris says ...

Seriously it is a great film.

comment #15

says ...

It's just .35 not as good on DVD...

comment #16

James says ...

The dirt on HofD has been that FFC didn't ever want to see it out on home video again because of stuff he said about Martin Sheen, but Hickenlooper told me he could talk Francis out of that. Hickenlooper would love to see Criterion release it. He may still be holding his breath for that (Criterion didn't seem that interested in - this was before they released Burden of Dreams and thats the "making of" doc they really love and really went after), or FFC might still be ashamed of it.

comment #17

George Hickenlooper says ...

I am trying to get Francis to release HEARTS OF DARKNESS on DVD. He feels that it is not a flattering portrait of himself. I have told him it makes him look heroic. Any die-heard fans out there of Coppola or APOCALYPSE NOW, I all encourage you to write fan letters to Francis telling him to put out the doc. The Criterion Colletction wants it. All they need is the okay from Francis. I have done everything I can do to persuade him.

comment #18

George Hickenlooper says ...

I am trying to get Francis to release HEARTS OF DARKNESS on DVD. He feels that it is not a flattering portrait of himself. I have told him it makes him look heroic. Any die-heard fans out there of Coppola or APOCALYPSE NOW, I all encourage you to write fan letters to Francis telling him to put out the doc. The Criterion Colletction wants it. All they need is the okay from Francis. I have done everything I can do to persuade him.

comment #19

George Hickenlooper says ...

I am trying to get Francis to release HEARTS OF DARKNESS on DVD. He feels that it is not a flattering portrait of himself. I have told him it makes him look heroic. Any die-heard fans out there of Coppola or APOCALYPSE NOW, I all encourage you to write fan letters to Francis telling him to put out the doc. The Criterion Colletction wants it. All they need is the okay from Francis. I have done everything I can do to persuade him.

comment #20

George Hickenlooper says ...

I am trying to get Francis to release HEARTS OF DARKNESS on DVD. He feels that it is not a flattering portrait of himself. I have told him it makes him look heroic. Any die-heard fans out there of Coppola or APOCALYPSE NOW, I all encourage you to write fan letters to Francis telling him to put out the doc. The Criterion Colletction wants it. All they need is the okay from Francis. I have done everything I can do to persuade him.

comment #21

says ...

I could see Coppola objecting to the original release of the documentary, but the cat's out of the bag now. Everyone who's interested in the film has seen it, so why keep it off DVD?

comment #22

Bob McKenzie says ...

So, Hearts of Darkness will be released on DVD four times, eh ?

comment #23

Aaron2 says ...

"Apocalypse Now was shot in 70mm..."

No, it was photographed in 35mm anamorphic. It's easy to tell: you can see the oval-shaped lens flares and all that. It was cropped to 2.20:1 (not 2.21, why do people say that?) for 70mm blow-ups.

I actually saw the last surviving original 70mm print at the Castro last August. Despite the fact that it had faded pink, it still looked and sounded surprisingly good.

comment #24

Aaron2 says ...

Also, that guy at DVDFile is an idiot. He says the DVD looks better than prints from 1979. Yeah right! A 720x480 image in the NTSC colorspace looks better than a 70mm print? Suuuure...

Why do people even listen to DVD reviewers anyway? Most of them don't know squat about film, and it really shows in reviews like this.

comment #25

Josh Ehrnwald says ...

Of course -- the whole aspect-ratio foofaraw notwithstanding -- I'll still be picking this one up for the Coppola commentary alone (and the Brando-reading), but I doubt the new DVD's sound mix will ever stack up to the one on the earlier laserdisc...the very definition of "reference quality."

One of my utter cherished darlings.

comment #26

gh says ...

"It's just .35 not as good on DVD..."

Horseshit!

comment #27

gh says ...

There's no way I'm gonna buy yet another butchered version. I'll rent it for the commentary.

Coppola and Lucas need to get out of their retreats more often.

comment #28

Richard Huffman says ...

Yeah; it was NOT shot on 70mm. Back in the late 70s and 80s 70mm meant to the average filmgoer 6 channel sound; the 70 mm filmstrip was capable of holding 6 different sound tracks (I think). So they would blow up 35 mm films. There really isn't any 70mm films to speak of (If I remember right). There are about 20 or so films filmed in 65mm (like Ryan's Daughter and Far and Away), but that's as close as you can get to "filmed in 70mm". It really wasn't until digital sound came into being about 10 years ago that the sound from 70 mm shows were surpassed and you pretty much stopped seeing films in 70mm.. I remember seeing it in 70mm at the Stanley in Vancouver when it came out; when that tiger jumped out of the jungle it scared the crap out of me! I for one am VERY excited about this DVD, I just hope he does a commentary track like he did for the godfathers. It is AWESOME to read Hickenlooper's comments; just knowing that someone is prodding coppolla to release hearts of darkness is good news. His doc is one of the very best ever made; probably the best doc ever made about filmmaking. Coppolla does come across as crazy in the movie; but so does everyone else and it is an amazing movie profiling a brilliant director at his height.

comment #29

Scott says ...

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=22951

much better review

comment #30

berg says ...

So does this set have the Cannes edit ... the original Doors temp track ... the helicopter sequence that lasts forever ... Dennis Hopper being shot by Scott Glenn? I would pay to see that ...

comment #31

ShowsOn says ...

I don't think I've ever read such confusion about the technical details of film making in a single blog post.

The film was not shot in 70mm, it was filmed in 35mm anamorphic (Technovision). Which means that 70mm prints are slightly cropped ON THE SIDES from about 2.39:1 down to to 2.21:1.

The concept that films should be reframed in post production so that actors have more head room is just bizarre. Not to mention impossible in both 65mm and 35mm anamorphic cinematography. So I have no idea what Wells is getting at...

Film makers since the mid 1970s have loved shooting lots of tight close-ups, primarily to make their films play better on television (which is where most viewers watch films).

In the case of Apocalypse Now the comment makes even less sense, because 35mm anamorphic isn't a matted format, nor is 65mm (what Wells means when he writes 70mm). Which means there is not matting to open up... Wells really has no idea.

Fans of the film want to see the full anamorphic width and height, which by current standards would imply a transfer with an aspect ratio close to 2.39:1. Even though most DVD cases refer to this incorrectly as 2.35:1.

comment #32

Rich S. says ...

What's perhaps most amazing is that this thing is going for less than $15 on Amazon. Proving once again that you should never, EVER, buy the first DVD edition of anything.

comment #33

outsider says ...

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comment #34

outsider says ...

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