Apocalypse Now Redux

Last updated

Apocalypse Now Redux
Apocalypse Now Redux.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Written by
Narration by Michael Herr
Produced by
  • Francis Ford Coppola
  • Kim Aubry
Starring
Cinematography Vittorio Storaro
Edited by
Music by
Production
company
Distributed by
Release dates
  • May 11, 2001 (2001-05-11)(Cannes)
  • August 3, 2001 (2001-08-03)(United States)
Running time
202 minutes [2]
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • French
  • Vietnamese
  • Khmer
  • Spanish
Box office$12.5 million [3]

Apocalypse Now Redux is a 2001 American extended version of Francis Ford Coppola's epic 1979 war film Apocalypse Now . Coppola, along with editor and longtime collaborator Walter Murch, added 49 minutes of material that had been removed from the initial theatrical release. It is a significant re-edit of the original version.

Contents

Production

Francis Ford Coppola began production on the new cut with working-partner Kim Aubry. Coppola then tried to get Murch, who was reluctant at first. He thought it would be extremely difficult recutting a film that had taken two years to edit originally. He later changed his mind (after working on the reconstruction of Orson Welles' Touch of Evil ). Coppola and Murch then examined several of the rough prints and dailies for the film. It was decided early on that the editing of the film would be like editing a new film altogether. One such example was the new French plantation sequence. The scenes were greatly edited to fit into the movie originally, only to be cut out in the end. When working again on the film, instead of using the heavily edited version, Murch decided to work the scene all over again, editing it as if for the first time.

Much work needed to be done to the new scenes. Due to the off-screen noises during the shoot, most of the dialogue was impossible to hear. During post-production of the film the actors were brought back to re-record their lines (known as A.D.R. or dubbing). This was done for the scenes that made it into the original cut, but not for the deleted scenes. For the Redux version, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Sam Bottoms, Albert Hall, Frederic Forrest, and Aurore Clément were brought back to record ADR for the new scenes.

Music

New music was recreated and recorded for the remade film by San Francisco Bay Area-based composer Ed Goldfarb, specifically the added tracks "Clean's Funeral" and "Love Theme". [4] [5] For example, it was thought no music had been composed for Willard and Roxanne's romantic interlude in the French Plantation scene. To make matters worse, composer Carmine Coppola had died in 1991. However, the old recording and musical scores were checked and a track titled "Love Theme" was found. During scoring, Francis Coppola had told Carmine, his father, to write a theme for the scene before it was ultimately deleted. For the remake, the track was recorded by a group of synthesists. [4]

Cinematography

Vittorio Storaro also returned from Italy to head the development of a new color balance of the film and new scenes. When Redux was being released, Storaro learned that a Technicolor dye-transfer process was being brought back. The dye-transfer is a three-strip process that makes the color highly saturated and has consistent black tone. Storaro wished to use this on Redux, but in order to do it, he needed to cut the original negative of Apocalypse Now, leaving Apocalypse Now Redux the only version available. Storaro decided to do it, when convinced by Coppola that this version would be the one that would be remembered.

New scenes and alterations

The film contains several alterations and two entirely new scenes - one of which has the boat meeting the Playmates farther up the river, and the other with the boat meeting a family of holdout French colonists on their remote rubber plantation. Also included are new scenes with Colonel Kurtz. [6]

Cast

Reception

Apocalypse Now Redux originally premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. [7] The screening marked the anniversary of the original Apocalypse Now screening as a work in progress, where it won the Palme d'Or. Coppola went to the festival, accompanied by Murch, Storaro, production designer Dean Tavoularis, producer Kim Aubry and actors Bottoms and Clément.

Box office

The film was given a limited release in the U.S. on August 3, 2001, and was also released theatrically around the world in some countries, grossing $4.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $7.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $12.5 million. [3]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 93% rating based on 84 reviews, with an average rating of 7.80/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "The additional footage slows down the movie somewhat (some say the new cut is inferior to the original), but Apocalypse Now Redux is still a great piece of cinema." [8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 92 out of 100 based on 39 critics. [9] Some critics thought highly of the additions, such as A. O. Scott of The New York Times , who wrote that it "grows richer and stranger with each viewing, and the restoration of scenes left in the cutting room two decades ago has only added to its sublimity." [10]

Some critics, however, thought the new scenes slowed the pacing and were too lengthy (notably the French plantation sequence) and added nothing overall to the film's impact. Owen Gleiberman wrote "Apocalypse Now Redux is the meandering, indulgent art project that [Francis Ford Coppola] was still enough of a craftsman, in 1979, to avoid." [11] Despite this, other critics still gave it high ratings. Roger Ebert wrote: "Longer or shorter, redux or not, Apocalypse Now is one of the central events of my life as a filmgoer." [12] Anthony Lane wrote, "if you have never watched Apocalypse Now in any form; if you know it well and wish to bend your Jesuitical attention to the latest addenda; if you have grown to love it on scrumbled videotape but failed to catch it on the big screen; if you were out of your head during a pre-dawn college screening, duly noted the movie as a trip, and find yourself unable to remember whether the trip in question was Coppola's, America's, or yours; in short, however relevant or rocky your relations with this film—see it now." [13]

Accolades

AwardYearNominated workCategoryResultRef.
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2001Apocalypse Now ReduxBest FilmRunner-up
Taurus World Stunt Awards 2002 Kerry Rossall, Steve Boyum Best Water WorkNominated [14]
Terry Leonard, Chuck WatersBest High WorkNominated
Dick White, J. David JonesBest Aerial WorkNominated
Kerry Rossall, Joe Finnegan, Terry Leonard, Steve BoyumBest Work With a VehicleNominated
Terry Leonard, Kerry Rossall, Steve Boyum, Joe FinneganBest Fire StuntNominated
Terry LeonardBest Stunt Coordinator and/or 2nd Unit Director: SequenceNominated
Terry LeonardBest Stunt Coordinator and/or 2nd Unit Director: Feature FilmNominated

Soundtrack

A soundtrack was released on July 31, 2001, by Nonesuch. The soundtrack contains most of the original tracks (remastered), as well as some for the new scenes ("Clean's Funeral", "Love Theme"). The score was composed by Carmine and Francis Ford Coppola (with some tracks co-composed by Mickey Hart and Richard Hansen). The first track is an abridged version of The Doors' "The End". All songs written by Carmine Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola, except where noted:

  1. "The End" – The Doors
  2. "The Delta"
  3. "Dossier"
  4. "Orange Light"
  5. "Ride of the Valkyries" – Richard Wagner
  6. "Suzie Q" (Dale Hawkins) – Flash Cadillac
  7. "Nung River", Mickey Hart
  8. "Do Lung", Richard Hansen
  9. "Letters From Home"
  10. "Clean's Death", Mickey Hart
  11. "Clean's Funeral"
  12. "Love Theme"
  13. "Chief's Death"
  14. "Voyage"
  15. "Chef's Head"
  16. "Kurtz' Chorale"
  17. "Finale"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Ford Coppola</span> American filmmaker (born 1939)

Francis Ford Coppola is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood film movement and is widely considered one of the greatest directors of all time. Coppola is the recipient of five Academy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Palmes d'Or, and a BAFTA Award.

<i>THX 1138</i> 1971 film by George Lucas

THX 1138 is a 1971 American social science fiction film co-written and directed by George Lucas in his directorial debut. Produced by Francis Ford Coppola and co-written by Walter Murch, the film stars Robert Duvall and Donald Pleasence, with Don Pedro Colley, Maggie McOmie, and Ian Wolfe in supporting roles. The film is set in a dystopian future in which the citizens are controlled by android police and mandatory use of drugs that suppress emotions.

<i>The Conversation</i> 1974 film by Francis Ford Coppola

The Conversation is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, and Robert Duvall. Hackman portrays a surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential murder.

<i>The Godfather Part III</i> 1990 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola

The Godfather Part III is a 1990 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from the screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo. The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy García, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, Bridget Fonda, George Hamilton and Sofia Coppola. It is the third and final installment in The Godfather trilogy. A sequel to The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), it concludes the fictional story of Michael Corleone, the patriarch of the Corleone family who attempts to legitimize his criminal empire. The film also includes fictionalized accounts of two real-life events: the 1978 death of Pope John Paul I and the Papal banking scandal of 1981–1982, both linked to Michael Corleone's business affairs.

<i>The Black Stallion</i> (film) 1979 film by Carroll Ballard

The Black Stallion is a 1979 American adventure film based on the 1941 classic children's novel of the same name by Walter Farley. The film starts in 1946, five years after the book was published. It tells the story of Alec Ramsey, a boy who is shipwrecked on a deserted island with a wild Arabian stallion that he befriends. After being rescued, they are set on entering a race challenging two champion horses.

<i>Rumble Fish</i> 1983 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Rumble Fish is a 1983 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the 1975 novel Rumble Fish by S. E. Hinton, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. The film stars Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Vincent Spano, Diane Lane, Diana Scarwid, Nicolas Cage, Chris Penn, and Dennis Hopper.

<i>Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse</i> 1991 American documentary film

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is a 1991 American documentary film about the production of Apocalypse Now, a 1979 Vietnam War epic directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Murch</span> American film editor and sound designer

Walter Scott Murch is an American film editor, director, writer and sound designer. His work includes THX 1138, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather I, II, and III, American Graffiti, The Conversation, Ghost and The English Patient, with three Academy Award wins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vittorio Storaro</span> Italian cinematographer

Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C., is an Italian cinematographer widely recognized as one of the best and most influential in cinema history, for his work on numerous classic films including The Conformist (1970), Apocalypse Now (1979), and The Last Emperor (1987). In the course of over fifty years, he has collaborated with directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Beatty, Woody Allen and Carlos Saura.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmine Coppola</span> American composer (1910–1991)

Carmine Valentino Coppola was an American composer, flautist, pianist, and songwriter who contributed original music to the films The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, The Black Stallion, and The Godfather Part III. He is the father of film director Francis Ford Coppola. In the course of his career, he won both the Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, with BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media nominations.

The Godfather Saga[a] is a 1977 American television miniseries that combines The Godfather and The Godfather Part II into one film. It originally aired on NBC over four consecutive nights in November 1977.

<i>One from the Heart</i> 1982 film by Francis Ford Coppola

One from the Heart is a 1982 American musical romantic drama film co-written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinski, Lainie Kazan, and Harry Dean Stanton. Set entirely in Las Vegas and made independently by Coppola's own Zoetrope Studios, the film was a critical and commercial failure, though it has since received a positive critical reappraisal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gian-Carlo Coppola</span> American film producer and actor (1963–1986)

Gian-Carlo Coppola was an American film producer and actor. A scion of the Coppola family associated with the film industry, he was the oldest child of Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, and elder brother to Roman and Sofia Coppola.

Gerald Bernard "Jerry" Greenberg was an American film editor with more than 40 feature film credits. Greenberg received both the Academy Award for Best Film Editing and the BAFTA Award for Best Editing for the film The French Connection (1971). In the 1980s, he edited five films with director Brian De Palma.

<i>Apocalypse Now</i> 1979 epic war film directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, with the setting changed from late 19th-century Congo to the Vietnam War. The film follows a river journey from South Vietnam into Cambodia undertaken by Captain Willard, who is on a secret mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz, a renegade Special Forces officer who is accused of murder and presumed insane. The ensemble cast also features Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, and Harrison Ford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Malkin</span> American film editor (1938–2019)

Barry M. Malkin was an American film editor with about 30 film credits. He is noted for his extended collaboration with director Francis Ford Coppola, having edited most of Coppola's films from 1969 to 1997. In particular, Malkin worked with Coppola on four of the component and compilation films of the Godfather trilogy, though he did not edit the first film, The Godfather. Film critic Roger Ebert called the first two Godfather films a "cultural bedrock".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Ford Coppola filmography</span>

Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and film composer whose career spans more than sixty years. Coppola has directed twenty-three feature films to date.

Lisa Fruchtman is an American film and television editor, and documentary director with about 25 film credits. Fruchtman won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for The Right Stuff (1983). With her brother, Rob Fruchtman, she produced, directed, and edited the 2012 documentary Sweet Dreams.

<i>Megalopolis</i> (film) 2024 film by Francis Ford Coppola

Megalopolis is a 2024 American epic science fiction drama film written, directed, and produced by Francis Ford Coppola. The film stars Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D. B. Sweeney, and Dustin Hoffman. Set in an alternate, 21st-century New York City, it follows visionary architect Cesar Catilina (Driver) as he clashes with the corrupt Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Esposito), who opposes Catilina's plans to revitalize New Rome by building the futuristic utopia "Megalopolis". The film heavily references Roman history, particularly the Catilinarian conspiracy of 63 BC and the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.

<i>The Conversations</i> 2002 book by Michael Ondaatje

The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film is a book of interviews between novelist Michael Ondaatje and film editor and sound designer Walter Murch. Ondaatje met Murch when he was editing the adaptation of Ondaatje's novel The English Patient. Throughout the book, Murch offers insight into films he worked on, including The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now and Apocalypse Now Redux. The book is divided into five "conversations" and contains contributions from directors and producers Murch has worked with, including George Lucas, Coppola, Rick Schmidlin and Anthony Minghella and stills from the films discussed.

References

  1. ↑ Levy, Emanuel (May 18, 2001). "Apocalypse Now Redux". Screen International . Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  2. ↑ "APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX". Roger Ebert . Retrieved July 4, 2020
  3. 1 2 "Apocalypse Now Redux (2001)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  4. 1 2 Ken Hughes, "Ed Goldfarb: Synthesizing the Apocalypse" (2001), Keyboard, Vol. 27, No. 9, pp. 54-56, 58. Article reprinted at https://madcaplabs.com/portfolio/apocalypse-now-redux.
  5. ↑ Blake, Larry (August 1, 2001). "Apocalypse Now REDUX". Mix.
  6. ↑ "'Apocalypse': Once More, With Extra Footage". washingtonpost.com. August 10, 2001. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: Apocalypse Now Redux". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved October 24, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Apocalypse Now Redux (2001)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Apocalypse Now Redux (2001)". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  10. ↑ Scott, A. O. (August 3, 2001). "Aching Heart of Darkness". New York Times. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Apocalypse Now Redux | EW.com". www.ew.com. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  12. ↑ Ebert, Roger. "Apocalypse Now /Redux Movie Review (2001)". Roger Ebert. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  13. ↑ Lane, Anthony (August 6, 2001). "Darkness Revisited". The New Yorker .
  14. ↑ "Winners & Nominees". Taurus World Stunt Awards . Archived from the original on November 2, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.