Apocalypse Now 4K UHD (1979)

[Liquid_Swords]

Originally Posted by TheSweetieMan

Just wanted to come in here to say **** Movie Reedem's customer service.

When I redeemed the digital copy, it was supposed to be in UHD for all available cuts for the film, but it only redeemed in HD.

I contacted their customer service, they replied a day later, requesting photos and receipt information, which I provided. I hadn't gotten a return e-mail, so I've e-mailed them once a day in the last 3-days to see what progress is being made, and I'm getting nothing but radio silence.

Trash. Absolute trash.

Do they have a phone number?

[HotTastyChili]

Watched it last night. The 4K of The Final Cut looked pretty stunning. The 1979 Theatrical Cut is still my favorite though. I was glad to see he left out that awful scene of Kurtz reading Time magazine to Willard in this cut. I wish he'd done the same with the surfboard scene which is tonally off and the French Plantation sequence. I'd forgotten just how bad that French Plantation sequence is, how it totally ruins all the tension in the film and comes completely out of left field with that terrible love scene and the soundtrack. It is the pretentious crap that Coppola worked so hard to avoid for the movie the first time around as described in Hearts of Darkness. Really, I don't think anything added after the Theatrical Cut has ever improved the movie, only made it worse.

[pbz06]

If I haven't seen the movie in like 20 years and don't remember any details, and basically coming into it fresh...which version to watch? And why?

I understand seems people complaining about a French plantation and a surfboard and playboy scene...

But I need more explanation than "it sucks "

[OutOfBoose]

Originally Posted by pbz06

If I haven't seen the movie in like 20 years and don't remember any details, and basically coming into it fresh...which version to watch? And why?

I understand seems people complaining about a French plantation and a surfboard and playboy scene...

But I need more explanation than "it sucks "

Watch Final Cut, because it's Coppola's (currently) preferred version.

[Eye Candy]

Originally Posted by TheSweetieMan

Just wanted to come in here to say **** Movie Reedem's customer service.

When I redeemed the digital copy, it was supposed to be in UHD for all available cuts for the film, but it only redeemed in HD.

I contacted their customer service, they replied a day later, requesting photos and receipt information, which I provided. I hadn't gotten a return e-mail, so I've e-mailed them once a day in the last 3-days to see what progress is being made, and I'm getting nothing but radio silence.

Trash. Absolute trash.

When I redeemed at VUDU, I got to select the UHD "Triple Feature" vs. just the Final Cut. I didn't consider redeeming at movieredeem. I never follow those instructions. I just try VUDU or MA.

[Alister_M]

Theatrical, then Final. Enjoy the trip down memory lane before you go with having to process all the new stuff.

[Alex82]

Originally Posted by pbz06

If I haven't seen the movie in like 20 years and don't remember any details, and basically coming into it fresh...which version to watch? And why?

I understand seems people complaining about a French plantation and a surfboard and playboy scene...

But I need more explanation than "it sucks "

If I were you, I would watch them as they were released: Theatrical, then Redux, then Final, in order to appreciate the changes that were made over time.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by pbz06

If I haven't seen the movie in like 20 years and don't remember any details, and basically coming into it fresh...which version to watch?

Theatrical.

[zallapo]

Originally Posted by larrygeller

This worked!!! Thank you SO much.

No worries, glad it worked

[Mandalorian]

Don’t mean to parrot what has already been stated, but goddamn this transfer is immaculate.

[professorwho]

For those asking about the theatrical/Redux UHD- no, it isn't full of compression artifacts. It's the 1080p equivalent disc that does. The only real difference between the 2 UHD discs is the bitrate- the opening scene averages around 50 mbps on the Final Cut UHD, and around 40 mbps on the other. I could see no loss in clarity between the two discs, so choose your favourite cut and you'll get an equally amazing experience.

[Agent Kay]

Originally Posted by pbz06

If I haven't seen the movie in like 20 years and don't remember any details, and basically coming into it fresh...which version to watch? And why?

I understand seems people complaining about a French plantation and a surfboard and playboy scene...

But I need more explanation than "it sucks "

Theatrical as it was a classic at the time and now.
The added stuff just slows it down.

[Nothing371]

I would never suggest the longer versions to anyone whom is new to the film.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by HotTastyChili

Watched it last night. The 4K of The Final Cut looked pretty stunning. The 1979 Theatrical Cut is still my favorite though. I was glad to see he left out that awful scene of Kurtz reading Time magazine to Willard in this cut. I wish he'd done the same with the surfboard scene which is tonally off and the French Plantation sequence. I'd forgotten just how bad that French Plantation sequence is, how it totally ruins all the tension in the film and comes completely out of left field with that terrible love scene and the soundtrack. It is the pretentious crap that Coppola worked so hard to avoid for the movie the first time around as described in Hearts of Darkness. Really, I don't think anything added after the Theatrical Cut has ever improved the movie, only made it worse.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the music in the plantation love scenes was absolutely cringe worthy. It's so cheesy.

[rdodolak]

Boy does the quality control on this set suck. The first copy had a smashed digitray and the second has a broken front tab on the digitray. 0/2. Wish I knew this was going to be a digipak.

[HotTastyChili]

Originally Posted by pbz06

If I haven't seen the movie in like 20 years and don't remember any details, and basically coming into it fresh...which version to watch? And why?

I understand seems people complaining about a French plantation and a surfboard and playboy scene...

But I need more explanation than "it sucks "

Watch the theatrical cut. I'll go one by one for you.

The French Plantation scene sucks because it adds twenty unnecessary minutes of run-time to a movie that was paced pretty well in the original incarnation, but now feels bloated and off balance because of its inclusion. It simply delays the Kurtz reveal to a point that it's annoying, and the French really don't have anything of value to say whatsoever. Nothing that the rest of the movie doesn't clearly articulate anyway in a much more subtle way. Plus it disrupts the flow of the journey upriver, and kills the tension that is kept alive in the original theatrical cut due to the absence of the scene.

The playboy typhoon scene is only in Redux, not the Final Cut. But it happens after the surfboard scene and I dislike them (think they suck) for a similar reason, so let me address the surfboard scene first.

Captain Willard stealing Kilgore's surfboard and laughing like a frat boy is awful, completely out of character, and ruins the distrust between Willard and the crew. It's a bonding moment for them in the film, but they're not supposed to bond. In the beginning of the movie they view Willard as a hard-ass, until they rendezvous with the boat with the puppy, and then they mistrust him even more, coming to view him as a monster. The stupid prank just doesn't fit, and there's absolutely no reason for it to be there at all. It's so pointless which makes it even worse. At least with the Plantation sequence Coppola was trying to say something, the surfboard crap serves no fuction. It also disrupts the great edit of Kilgore's chilling comment "Some day this war is going to end", and Willard addressing that statement in his narration directly after. In the theatrical cut, he addresses the statement almost immediately after Kilgore says it. In Redux and The Final Cut, he does the surfboard prank first. Then a lot of time goes by before talking about Kilgore's comment from scenes earlier. It just seems out of place and strange. Again, it doesn't mesh at all with the mood of the film.

The playboy thing is similar. When they run back into the models in Redux during the typhoon, there's just no reason for it to happen. It also is a tonally inconsistent bonding moment between Willard and the crew, since Willard gets them laid in exchange for gas. Just totally against Willard's character, particularly jarring after his comment during the first playboy encounter "No wonder Kurtz put a weed up Command’s ass. The war was being run by a bunch of four star clowns who were gonna end up giving the whole circus away." If he thinks that kind of recreation is reprehensible in one scene, why would he suddenly want to indulge the crew a few days later? Just stupid, bad, and never should have been put back in.

I think Francis Ford Coppola knows deep down in his heart that the theatrical cut is clearly the best and least messy version of the film. Obviously all opinions are valid, I just personally don't understand why he made any of the additions found in the new versions of the film, or how anybody could think they improve upon the original masterpiece. I presume Coppola enjoys the cash flow increase generated by exploiting an old classic by pumping it full of crap it doesn't need and saying it was always supposed to be that way. I don't really blame him that much, the production was awful for him, who wouldn't want to milk it for every cent that it's worth?

[Nothing371]

I've never known rich, old, senile directors to have unconventional opinions before.

[HotTastyChili]

Originally Posted by OutOfBoose

Watch Final Cut, because it's Coppola's (currently) preferred version.

Currently being the operative word here. Here's my prediction for Coppola's output in the next ten years based on his output during the last few decades.

2020 - Godfather III (The 30th Anniversary Super Duper Extended Cut) - 4 hrs
2023 - Godfather (The 50th Anniversary Special Cut) Runtime - 4 hrs 25 mins
2024 - Godfather II (The 50th Anniversary Enhanced Edition) - 12 hrs 10 mins
2025 - Rumble Fish (The 42nd Anniversary Colorized 3-D IMAX Power Cut) - 7 hrs
2029 - Apocalypse Now (The 50th Anniversary Definitive Cut) 3hrs 2 mins

I imagine they'd be accompanied by a quote like this.
"See these movies how I originally intended them to be seen, even though it's not how I released them at the time! I'm embarrassed that I let the first two Godfather movies exist the way they did for so many years. I was never satisfied with them, so here's all the stuff that wasn't good enough to make the cut half a century ago, but is suddenly crucial to the story now! Rumble Fish was also always supposed to be in color, but the studio pressured me into making it black and white because we all know that black and white does so well at the box office, particularly in the 1980s. In Apocalypse Now I trimmed a few seconds from The Final Cut of Martin Sheen walking towards Kilgore. I believe this new version truly represents my original vision! Those few steps in the old versions undermined everything I was trying to do, but now you get to see it like you've never seen it before. Enjoy, and thank you for your money."

[Geoff D]

As much as I agree with Chili's sentiments, let's all be thankful that Coppola's "senility" didn't preclude him from featuring the original '79 and Redux cuts in this package.

[bfrazer1]

I’ve been looking for a detailed list of changes in the final cut, but couldn’t find one. So I played the Final Cut on my TV and the Redux on PC and made my own list. The final cut is clearly based on the Redux, but with some trims. It’s possible I missed a few minor details because I based this on when the two versions went visibly out of sync. For differences between the Theatrical and Redux, which are extensive, see here: https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=769

All timecodes are from Redux on Vudu.

0:54:49-0:54:56: One shot of moving the surf board removed: “How am I gonna shoot him next time he comes around? Hey chef make some room back there for the board.” Fixes a jump cut at 0:54:56. (-7 seconds)

1:22:35-1:33:10: Major cut. Second encounter with the playmates removed. (about -10.5 minutes)

1:39:25: ADDITION, sort of. The fade to black that lasts just a second in the Redux is a full 10 seconds long here in the final cut, like the theatrical. (+10 seconds)

1:54:45: Another semi-ADDITION. The fade away from the crashed plane is about 5 seconds longer in the Final Cut. (+5 seconds)

FRENCH PLANTATION:
1:56:37-1:57:23: A few shots landing at French plantation have been cut. Chief telling Lance to “cover the captain” removed, which makes more sense for the character at this point. (about -30 seconds, but not continuous)

1:58:23-1:58:33: Panning shot of plantation soldiers removed. (-10 seconds)

1:58:55-1:59:10: Removed some of the standoff before Willard says “we lost one of our men.” (-15 seconds)

DINNER:
2:05:50-2:06:30: Old man’s history lesson cut. (-40 seconds)

2:07:30-2:08:10: Man storming off, accordion player entering, and more history lesson cut. (-40 seconds)

2:08:43-2:09:23: Dien Bien Phu history lesson by the window and accordion playing star spangled banner cut. (-30 seconds, because a few lines in the middle are preserved)

2:11:40-2:12:20: More history of the plantation cut. (-40 seconds)

2:12:50-2:13:10: Cut saying they will help fix the boat. (-20 seconds)

Rest of the sequence plays out the same. PERSONAL COMMENT: While small, these cuts do help the scene move faster, and re-focuses it slightly from overt history/politics to characters. The subsequent love scene still feels out of place to me, however.

2:47:40-2:53:05: Major cut. Willard in the shipping container and Kurtz reading from Time Magazine. (about -5.5 minutes)

3:11:00-3:11:20: Shot of Willard sitting at Kurtz’s desk has been cut. Surprising because this was in the theatrical. (-20 seconds)

The final cut has end credits while the Redux does not. Credits start at 2:55:50. So compared to Redux's 3:15:55 runtime, the final cut is 20:05 shorter.