FILM REVIEW: Apocalypse Now (1979)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

~ Greatest Favorite ~

In the cinema, there are times when the viewer will see the first five minutes of a movie, and from there, they just know they are in the hands of an exceptionally great film. It is a rare occurrence, and one where the viewer must keep their excitement in check; if the film does not live up to that promised greatness, the disappointment that would follow is soul-shattering. But then, even more rare, does the movie not only live up to its promise, but delivers on a level that could only be described as explosive, like a payload of napalm rapidly descending to melt and incinerate your senses, leaving its smell to linger long after impact.

If there is at least one movie in this world I can apply this thinking to, it is Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola’s trippy and chaotic Vietnam War epic. First released in 1979, it has since charged its way into cinematic influence and pop culture to the point of legend, not to mention landing a spot in my top 10 favorite movies of all time. Apocalypse Now has ravaged on for four decades now, and to celebrate its 40^th anniversary, Coppola has re-released his masterpiece in theaters with a brand-new version dubbed the Final Cut.

Desperate to get back into the jungles of Vietnam, Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is on the verge of total mental breakdown when he is issued orders for his next mission: Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). Once one of the most outstanding officers ever produced with a career that can only be described as perfect, he has slipped into insanity beyond recognition. Now, Kurtz has gone renegade, holing up in the deepest depths of the jungle with an army of Montagnard natives at his command. In turn, Willard is placed on a small patrol boat that will ferry him miles up a river that will take him straight to Kurtz’s compound. Upon arrival, Willard has only one task: terminate the Colonel.

There’s not much to say that hasn’t already been said about Apocalypse Now, so I want to keep this as brief as I can: I have seen Apocalypse Now dozens of times within the past 10+ years, and it still feels fresh to this very day. Coppola’s masterpiece is nothing short of a visceral spectacle. From the scenery to the sound, it is an awe-inspiring experience of moviegoing (see it in the theater, if you can). For me, personally, this is the kind of film that could go on for another 2-3 hours, and I would still be completely hypnotized by its spell – while scenery and sound play a big part in this, I credit this to Martin Sheen’s battle-weary voiceover that narrates throughout, topped off with Francis & Carmine Coppola’s horrifyingly psychedelic score, which I feel never gets nearly as much credit as it deserves.

I think what is even more amazing is how modern Apocalypse Now feels. As much as I hate to use a phrase as cliché as the following, Coppola was truly ahead of his time with Apocalypse Now, so much so that I’m sincerely convinced if a casual passerby walked into Apocalypse Now with no prior knowledge of the film, they would never know it was made in 1979.  I cannot think of another film from this time (or prior) that has held up quite like this has. I think this is double impressive considering Coppola’s use of psychologically psychedelic techniques (this was the ‘70s, after all), and not only is Coppola’s take on psychedelia so perfectly fitted for the film, he never overindulges in these tropes.

But you’ve heard all of this before – what does the Final Cut have to offer, in particular? Well, as you may have noticed, it’s roughly a half-hour longer than the 1979 theatrical version, and shorter than the 2001 Redux. The biggest difference I’ve noticed is the complete omission of the Playboy Bunny-fuel exchange, previously shown in the Redux. Granted, while I welcome this scene and its uneasy sexual madness that so suits the movie, I can admit that it’s not particularly necessary. What has been retained, however, is the French Plantation scene, which drags the pacing down just a hair as it did in the Redux (although it gets less grueling with each watch), but it is an extremely vital scene in its thematic application to the rest of the movie (a conversation for another time), so I’m ecstatic that Coppola left this one in. Other than those two big scenes, there’s a good handful of light trimming throughout, and the final result is 183 minutes. I can confidently tell you that the film does not feel like 3 hours whatsoever.

Coppola has gone on record to say that this Final Cut is his favorite version of Apocalypse Now. My heart will always lie with the Redux, but that’s just a point of personal preference – I would actually recommend the Final Cut, as it has everything Apocalypse Now needs. I don’t think it matters what version you watch, anyway – contrary to, say, Blade Runner and the five or six cuts that have followed its 1982 release to perfect it, Apocalypse Now was a masterpiece from the very beginning, and has only been tweaked here and there to further refine it. Apocalypse Now has been nothing short of an odyssey into mankind’s heart of darkness that’s been worth experiencing for 40 years, and I don’t see that odyssey ending anytime soon, if at all.