Day 89: July 28th, 2010

Apocalypse Now: Redux



Stick with the original, Redux Bores.

I decided to give the Redux another try and yet I still find myself being bored to death every single time everything he added in comes in. The French Plantation sequence is what puts me to sleep because the film comes to a stalling pace of death. I would strongly suggest to stick to the original version over the Redux.

It's no secret that the tiresome road to get this film made is that of cinema legends. I applaud Coppola to no end, this film is without a doubt an achievement. Yet I still find myself not loving it as much as I probably should. There are moments of greatness yes, but the overall effect is not one that makes me want to talk about it to other people.

It is a flawed film that with the added scenes makes it even more flawed, severely with it's pacing. The redux doesn't ruin a classic film it simply makes it longer and boring. The cast all work well, even to the small roles given to Brando and Ford. Hopper stands out as the photojournalist is genius and is one of his more memorable roles in a list of eccentric characters.

Coppola is far from a favourite director of mine. I find his films overly long and tedious. He is talented, no doubt about that and deserves his place in the legends of filmmakers, but to me he should have left Apocalypse Now alone and not George Lucas it up. Pretentious or not, you decide.

6/10