Search - Apocalypse Now on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Nudity, Not For Children, Profanity, Sexual Situations, Drug Content, War Violence Movie Release: 1979 DVD Release: 11/23/1999 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 33 mins Studio: Paramount Members Wishing: 9 Genres: War, Adventure Drama, War Epic, Jungle Film, Anti-War Film

One of a cluster of late-1970s films about the Vietnam War, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now adapts the Joseph Conrad novella Heart of Darkness to depict the war as a descent into primal madness. Capt. Willard (Martin Sheen), already on the edge, is assigned to find and deal with AWOL Col. Kurtz (Marlon Brando), rumored to have set himself up in the Cambodian jungle as a local, lethal godhead. Along the way Willard encounters napalm and Wagner fan Col. Kilgore (Robert Duvall), draftees who prefer to surf and do drugs, a USO Playboy Bunny show turned into a riot by the raucous soldiers, and a jumpy photographer (Dennis Hopper) telling wild, reverent tales about Kurtz. By the time Willard sees the heads mounted on stakes near Kurtz's compound, he knows Kurtz has gone over the deep end, but it is uncertain whether Willard himself now agrees with Kurtz's insane dictum to "Drop the Bomb. Exterminate them all." Coppola himself was not certain either, and he tried several different endings between the film's early rough-cut screenings for the press, the Palme d'Or-winning "work-in-progress" shown at Cannes, and the final 35 mm U.S. release (also the ending on the video cassette). The chaotic production also experienced shut-downs when a typhoon destroyed the set and star Sheen suffered a heart attack; the budget ballooned and Coppola covered the overages himself. These production headaches, which Coppola characterized as being like the Vietnam War itself, have been superbly captured in the documentary, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse. Despite the studio's fears and mixed reviews of the film's ending, Apocalypse Now became a substantial hit and was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Duvall's psychotic Kilgore, and Best Screenplay. It won Oscars for sound and for Vittorio Storaro's cinematography. This hallucinatory, Wagnerian project has produced admirers and detractors of equal ardor; it resembles no other film ever made, and its nightmarish aura and polarized reception aptly reflect the tensions and confusions of the Vietnam era. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Martin Sheen - Capt. Benjamin Willard
Marlon Brando - Colonel Kurtz
Robert Duvall - Lt. Col. Kilgore
Frederic Forrest - Chef
Dennis Hopper - Photo Journalist

At first glance, the non-special edition DVD release of Apocalypse Now might seem like a letdown, but closer inspection shows that the disc was made with much care and thought by American Zoetrope. While some may be disappointed that the film is presented here in a 2:1 aspect ratio instead of the mass release 2.35:1 ratio, the ratio presented here is closest to the original 70 mm presentation made prior to the film's nationwide release in 1979. The anamorphic widescreen is breathtaking, and the Dolby Digital Sound does wonders for the film's eerie score. To complement the feel of the original 70 mm presentation, the film is presented without any credits -- beginning or end -- as Coppola originally envisioned, instead supplemented by a digital version of the theatrical program that was given out at those initial screenings. While the "lost" destruction of the Kurtz compound footage with commentary by Coppola is merely explosion footage of the set, it has to be some of the most beautiful explosion footage ever filmed and stands as a work of art on its own. Coppola plans to release a new cut of the film with 53 additional minutes, which will surely find its way to DVD, but this presentation of Apocalypse Now is still worth owning and remains a unique DVD experience. ~ Oliver Thornton, All Movie Guide