Apocalypse Now - The Complete Dossier (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning...That smell,that gasoline smell....It smells like...victory." Robert duvall


Only to be surpassed by the integral version   July 15, 2001
Pisellopoulos (Italy)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

An absolute must - can't wait to have the new uncut "Apocalypse now" DVD. Beautiful. Even better.


Not so much a war epic as an art film with an huge budget   June 26, 2001
Eric A. Nilsen (Santa Clara, CA United States)
On the last day of shooting, Francis Coppola stood before the entire cast and crew and said, "I've never seen so many people so happy to be unemployed."

The film itself is true art, an exploration of the thin line that seperates genius from the insane--but the movie is so closely grounded in the system that we are familiar with (i.e. Hollywood), that it's overshadowed, labeled and marketed as a "Vietnam War Epic."

Most complaints I hear are about how it drags through the third act. The great, enormous battle sequence with Col. Kilgore at "Charlie's point" is almost totally out of proportion with the rest of the movie--but is so well done that some may find it a bit of a letdown when another stunning action sequence doesn't materialize. I think this is a rather shallow way of looking at it, since the emotional journey is really what this movie centers around, and when Willard is inside the Kurtz compound--those are some the most emotionally intense moments I've ever seen put to film.

Apocalypse Now is based loosley upon the Joseph Conrad novella, "Heart of Darkness," which should encourage you to dig a bit deeper into the film to witness the awsome power and scope of the journey Captain Willard takes with his intrepid river boat companions.

Francis Coppola and Marlon Brando both lost their minds after making this film. Martin Sheen begged his son Charlie not to do "Platoon" for fear he wouldn't be able to handle the intensity that gave his father a heart attack on the set. Robert Duvall found Jesus. I think it's safe to say that this is one powerful motion picture.

As for the DVD, I liked it--though I would have really enjoyed a compilation of this movie and "Hearts of Darkness," the documentary that Coppola's wife shot about all the work that went into the production of this film. Also, the only director commentary was for an extra piece of footage not used in the film. That is somewhat disappointing, but not enough to keep me from giving this movie 5 stars.


Why the South Vietnamese lost   June 24, 2001
Terrence P. Urbanis (Downey, CA United States)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful

I finally understood why South Vietnam was lost when Brando's character related the story of Charlie cutting off the arms of children who had received shots from American corpsmen. This may be considered just a movie but merge this film clip with the pictures of beheaded American Marines published in Hustler magazine and we can get the picture that our Christian ethics have no place in war if we want to win and save our sons lives. It really is a great film*****


Terminate With Extreme Prejudice   May 31, 2001
David Bradley (Sterling, VA USA)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful

Quite possibly the greatest film of all time, APOCALYPSE NOW was sniggered at in pre-reviews and, upon release, dismissed as "really wierd" by one prominent film critic in my area.

Van Gogh wasn't recognized during his time, either.

For all the trouble Coppola had bringing his masterpiece to the screen (documented in a fantastic documentary, HEARTS OF DARKNESS) including star Martin Sheen having a heart attack and the Marco's continually repossessing helicopters to fight Philipine rebels, the final product is an amazing amalgom of war film, psychological introspection, and updating of "Heart Of Darkness."

This film works on every level. I consider it the absolute pinnacle of filmmaking. I simply cannot recommend it highly enough.