Apocalypse Now on DVD and Blu-ray

[oldsheperd]

Got my copy in the mail yesterday. I've watched most of the original and it looks pretty good. A lot of stuff in the film I hadn't noticed before. Comes in a digipack that's the same size as a normal dvd.

[Roger Ryan]

...A lot of stuff in the film I hadn't noticed before...

That "stuff" doesn't happen to be near the left-and-right edges of the frame, does it?

[oldsheperd]

Not really. It's just that the image is much crisper so you get to see the image overlaps more clearly. I didn't make a conscious effort to check out the edges under the 2:35/1 format but it does look like there is more information. The film actually benefits from the 2:35/1 since Coppola is pretty competent at being able to weight the frame at that aspect ratio.

[zedz]

The film actually benefits from the 2:35/1 since. . .

that's the way it was shot?

[oldsheperd]

The film actually benefits from the 2:35/1 since. . .

that's the way it was shot?

That too.

[manicsounds]

dvdbeaver's take on it

[MoonlitKnight]

I see once again the film is split over both discs. Great -- my worst fear comes true.

[Ashirg]

Hmm, not sure if I'm reading this correctly - "the two films (79' cut and Redux) share the first disc and are seamlessly branched"

[MyNameCriterionForum]

Wait -- the new set is only BluRay, not DVD? So I still can't get the right AOR on this sumbich? I realize it's the 21st century, but it's gonna be a while before I upgrade to HD.

[MoonlitKnight]

Hmm, not sure if I'm reading this correctly - "the two films (79' cut and Redux) share the first disc and are seamlessly branched"

Oops, I read the 'Complete Dossier' specs without realizing it...

[Roger Ryan]

dvdbeaver's take on it

Looks great! According to "Capture 3", we've been given an extra helicopter (previously cropped out) thanks to the return to 2.35:1. The wider AR just looks more elegant to my eyes.

I'm a little surprised that the on-screen credits have been removed, but this returns it to the way the film was shown in theatres. I still remember walking out of the theatre after seeing REDUX in 2001 and having an usher hand me a glossy fold-out containing the film's credits - I assume the Blu-ray booklet contains those credits now.

[aox]

Just so I understand, and completely disregarding Redux, does the original cut still end with Willard motoring off, fade to black, and then the words "Apocalypse Now" appearing on the bottom right corner of the black screen? I don't remember if there were 'credits' after, but does it maintain this?

I always thought this was one of the most excellent subtle touches. It was missing on previous DVDs and restored on the Complete Dossier.

EDIT: To be clear, I am about 99% positive this was never at the end of Redux, in the theater or on disc.

[manicsounds]

I watched Redux theatrically, and there were no ending credits at all. But what are the missing 6 minutes from Redux on this new BD edition?

[Peacock]

The dvd of Redux had end credits added

[Roger Ryan]

I watched Redux theatrically, and there were no ending credits at all. But what are the missing 6 minutes from Redux on this new BD edition?

To clarify, Beaver was talking about the six minute running time difference between the REDUX DVD and the new Blu-ray edition. The DVD issue added six minutes of credits at the end; the Blu-ray eliminates those credits resulting in the shorter running time.

[aox]

I finally got a chance to sit down and watch Apocalypse Now and oh man, it is brilliantly restored. I think this restoration bests the Godfather trilogy even. And when you keep in mind that not only is this exhibiting the film for the first time in 1080p HD, it is also presenting the film in its proper aspect ratio, it really is a revelation. I have seen this film maybe 30 times since I was age 7 (and only on home video, never in the theater), and tonight felt like I was seeing it for the first time. I almost want to watch it again. With the clarity of Blu and the original aspect ratio showing so much more (new) information, I saw things I had never seen or noticed. The framing now seems wide....really wide. It's scope feels so natural and epic.

The colors really stand out. I wasn't prepared for this. Color-wise, it is a drab film. But when there is a bright color, it simply jumps off the screen. Notice the three different kinds of smoke as the helicopter lands on the beach. The patch on Clean's arm as we are introduced to him brushing his teeth. The handwriting of Kurtz in the very last scene written on a random page in his journal; it is so incredibly red. The scenes using closeups on Kurtz's dossier are just Earth-shattering. You can see the fine texture of the leather.

I can't say enough about this set.

[MyNameCriterionForum]

Color-wise, it is a drab film.

crazy talk

[aox]

Color-wise, it is a drab film.

crazy talk

A lot of it takes place at night, and everything from the water, to the jungle, to the boat, to the uniforms, to the Kurtz compound is brownish green. This isn't the Fifth Element or Pierrot le Fou.

[JMULL222]

If THAT'S how you judge color, you really shouldn't be watching anything that isn't like a pre-1970 Technicolor picture.

[zedz]

If THAT'S how you judge color, you really shouldn't be watching anything that isn't like a pre-1970 Technicolor picture.

If you've got a dictionary handy, I suggest you look up the word 'drab.' D-R-A-B. Drab.

[Roger Ryan]

aox - As I'm sure you already know, there is no "Apocalypse Now" title in the bottom corner of the frame after the final fade out on the new Blu-ray edition, just the copyright line (dated "2000" even on the '79 version). As mentioned earlier, there are no credits at all on either version. The credits can be found superimposed onto the "Kurtz Compound Destruction Footage" featured on Disc 2 (as they were during the initial 35mm release and, later, on broadcast airings). Surprisingly, there is no option to view the destruction footage without the superimposed credits nor to hear the end credit score without Coppola's voice-over commentary. This is reason enough to hold on to the earlier DVD issues which featured the footage sans credits and allowed the viewer to turn off the commentary track (I'm fond of the six-minute end credit music cue and am a bit disappointed it can't be heard properly on this release).

Another odd choice this time 'round is to use the same 19 chapter selections for both the original cut and for REDUX. Since Coppola's 2000/2001 re-edit contains over 45 minutes of new footage, the chapter options become increasingly inadequate as the film progresses. For example, when you select the "Arrow Attack" chapter while watching REDUX, you end up waiting 20 minutes before the actual arrow attack scene begins! Since the last DVD version was able to have additional chapter selections for REDUX, I figured Blu-ray would be able to handle this without a problem.

Apart from these quibbles I think the new set is fantastic. As others have mentioned, the picture quality is excellent and the 2.35:1 aspect ratio a real revelation; last night I was comparing the new image to the one found on the "Complete Dossier" and I can't believe how many beautifully composed shots were compromised or wrecked completely by the cropping done for the earlier issues. The new interview material is also top-notch. When I first read about this, I figured we'd get 8-10 minutes of talking heads; instead we get two hours of actual conversation between Coppola and Sheen/Coppola and Milius shot in a multi-camera set-up.

The HEARTS OF DARKNESS documentary also looks better than ever before. This time I did notice a little bit of historical sleight-of-hand at the doc's beginning. Thanks to the inclusion of Orson Welles' 1938 radio version of THE HEART OF DARKNESS in this set, I now realize that the excerpt included in the documentary is actually taken from Welles' 1945 radio version of Conrad's story (even though a title card identifies what we're hearing as a "1938 Broadcast").

[aox]

aox - As I'm sure you already know, there is no "Apocalypse Now" title in the bottom corner of the frame after the final fade out on the new Blu-ray edition, just the copyright line (dated "2000" even on the '79 version). As mentioned earlier, there are no credits at all on either version. The credits can be found superimposed onto the "Kurtz Compound Destruction Footage" featured on Disc 2 (as they were during the initial 35mm release and, later, on broadcast airings). Surprisingly, there is no option to view the destruction footage without the superimposed credits nor to hear the end credit score without Coppola's voice-over commentary. This is reason enough to hold on to the earlier DVD issues which featured the footage sans credits and allowed the viewer to turn off the commentary track (I'm fond of the six-minute end credit music cue and am a bit disappointed it can't be heard properly on this release).

Another odd choice this time 'round is to use the same 19 chapter selections for both the original cut and for REDUX. Since Coppola's 2000/2001 re-edit contains over 45 minutes of new footage, the chapter options become increasingly inadequate as the film progresses. For example, when you select the "Arrow Attack" chapter while watching REDUX, you end up waiting 20 minutes before the actual arrow attack scene begins! Since the last DVD version was able to have additional chapter selections for REDUX, I figured Blu-ray would be able to handle this without a problem.

Apart from these quibbles I think the new set is fantastic. As others have mentioned, the picture quality is excellent and the 2.35:1 aspect ratio a real revelation; last night I was comparing the new image to the one found on the "Complete Dossier" and I can't believe how many beautifully composed shots were compromised or wrecked completely by the cropping done for the earlier issues. The new interview material is also top-notch. When I first read about this, I figured we'd get 8-10 minutes of talking heads; instead we get two hours of actual conversation between Coppola and Sheen/Coppola and Milius shot in a multi-camera set-up.

The HEARTS OF DARKNESS documentary also looks better than ever before. This time I did notice a little bit of historical sleight-of-hand at the doc's beginning. Thanks to the inclusion of Orson Welles' 1938 radio version of THE HEART OF DARKNESS in this set, I now realize that the excerpt included in the documentary is actually taken from Welles' 1945 radio version of Conrad's story (even though a title card identifies what we're hearing as a "1938 Broadcast").

Excellent post! I am saddened that the words "Apocalypse Now" don't appear in the bottom right corner of the 1979 cut since that is how I have always seen the film, but if that was how it was originally, then I won't complain. I am also confounded by the 2000 copyright appearing at the end of the 1979 cut.

You also bring up a good point about the chapters which are terribly assigned and underused. Additionally, I also hate the scrolling. You can only go down and if you accidentally go past the last chapter, you have to start scrolling from the beginning down again. I still don't get the 'effects' scroll bar on the menu options and what it does (and this is also the first DVD/BD I have seen where you can even tweak the menu itself).

But I agree, besides these minor quibbles, this is a wonderful set, and I dare say that the restoration matches the integrity of the Godfather BD set.

More on the aspect ratio: as I said above, this is a film I know very well; inside and out. And the original AR change on home video did destroy this film more alarmingly than I had originally imagined. Having never seen this film projected, I wrote the complaints off as sort of minor at best. Now with this revelation, I am instantly frustrated by Criterion's release of The Last Emperor and join the others before me who were angered by this decision to embrace Storaro's revisionism. I have never seen that film in its original AR, and now after the Apocalypse Now revelation, I feel almost as if I have never seen it. And it is a film I very much like.

[stwrt]

The 2010 Coppola/Sheen chat on the Blu-ray disc is a gem - don't think I've seen FFC so relaxed as he is in this feature, so entirely without any of the pomposity of his youth; he even tries to coax Sheen to be more candid about what he really thought of the director back when they were shooting the movie ("Go on, you can say."), but Sheen doesn't take the hint.

[Roger Ryan]

...(and this is also the first DVD/BD I have seen where you can even tweak the menu itself).

I finally got around to checking this feature out and, unless I'm completely missing the application, it's pretty much useless. The "menu option" simply allows the user to change the speed in which they can scroll to a menu item. At the lowest end of the scale, the menu item glides slowly across the screen before being highlighted; at the highest end of the scale, you can scroll to the item and click on it almost immediately. Well, guess what? After waiting two-to-three minutes for the Blu-ray to finally load, I want to click the "play" button as fast as possible! But for those who want to wait a bit longer...

[Guido]

So I've tried picking this up at numerous stores here in Montreal, and every one has mentioned a recall. Any fellow canucks know the reason?