Apocalypse Now - Blu-ray Review

Details: By Loron Hays; 24 October 2010

Apocalypse Now Blu-ray Review

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The journey begins with a series of hallucinations; a smoky reefer-saturated mess of colors that spiral out as the jungle setting is surgically snipped by the blades of helicopters crisscrossing the image. Then, the landscape suddenly explodes. Fireballs shoot up from the ground and the frame dissolves into the bleary eyes of a soldier. The Doors playing 'The End' off-screen accompanies the destruction. Madness. Pure madness…with nowhere but up into a funnel of smoke and char to go. Beginning with the now classic napalm blast that decimates a flat plane of jungle terrain, director Francis Ford Coppola, opens his statement that is Apocalypse Now as the whoop-whoop of the thundering chopper blades slowly dissolves into a slow moving ceiling fan.

It’s all a memory – a painful expression from the recesses of a broken mind – as a soldier awaits his next mission in a Saigon hotel. Captain Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen) has no home - at least not anymore. He’s divorced and teetering on the edge of mental stability; ceremoniously punching mirrors containing his own reflection in an attempt to strike out against his guilt. He is the paradox; the afterbirth of blind faith. Affected by his tour of duty in Vietnam, Willard finds no home and no hope in America. The endless chase is his home; the hunt is now everything. And for that reason alone, Apocalypse Now is the most psychological of all of Coppola’s work.

A soldier no more, Willard, in a screenplay by John Milius, has become the quintessential detective assigned to slip into Cambodia and kill a decorated soldier gone psycho named Kurtz (Marlon Brando). He follows the “upriver” assignment without question – only documenting what he sees - not what he becomes - inside a film noir-like narration that saturates the audio with the hardboiled helplessness of a gnawing absurdity. His journey – and maybe only he knows this - will take him to the very edge of his own sanity, placating its mud-caked uneasiness with the flesh of those unfortunate soldiers assigned to the same river boat – actors Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Laurence Fishburne and Sam Bottoms - in its way.

The darkness that soaks through the landscape of Coppola’s shoot is only a hint of things to come for Willard and his companions. The light that shines through is saturated with the greasy smoke from flares and explosions and the limited spark of fireworks – even the high-strung bulbs the sexy Playmates supply the men don’t last for long in “the asshole of the world”. Based on the engrossing novel “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, Milius’s narrative is part Vietnam ravishes and part jungle journey. Both – no matter the choice in interpretation - find Willard crossing a savage land without any hope of a merciful God. Voices of the faceless enemy echo through the pitch black nights, bombs and purple haze-filled bongs are hit in the hopes of providing some alleviation, yet, with no one in charge of the illogicalities surrounding them, it seems Kurtz might be the sanest man alive. He's definately the film's acting Father Figure.

In spite of the lunacy choking his very breath, Kurtz took charge. He tamed the loose tiger in the jungle. He even found himself some paparazzi in the non-stop talking American Photojournalist known only as Green Beret (Dennis Hopper). Beret’s enthusiasm for Kurtz’s power to “enlarge” one’s “mind” is certainly a fully fleshed glimpse at the madness inherent in a cynical society reflecting on the poetry of its past. Hopper is the court jester – the neo-romantic harlequin – performing figurative cartwheels and back flips for his own amusement upon Kurtz’s stage – enjoying the limelight before everything burns to the ground.

Yet, the shifting landscape – the juxtaposition of ideas – is only part of the brilliance of Apocalypse Now. It’s a brutal film, filling the cinematography from Vittorio Storaro’s camera lens with surreal images that challenges the preconceived notion of what a “war” film should look like – eventually weaving perplexing movement into each narrative passage that somehow makes sense. Coppola’s film – his last true masterpiece – isn’t comfortable with the label of just being a war film. It isn’t solely about war. It can’t be. Not when Colonel Killgore (Robert Duvall) mixes his Patton-like charisma with brazen pop culture sensibilities. He’s equal parts friend and stranger, but certainly memorable with his “Charlie don’t surf” comments and Napalm-sniffing nose. There’s poetry to his colorful garb, even if he doesn’t get to surf the six-foot waves surrounding the Viet Cong village and blast Wagner at the same time. Yes, Apocalypse Now is so much more than a simple war film. Bucking sentimentality, Coppola gives us a confrontation between murder and guilt, setting it on the peripherals of an unending war, but playing itself out more like a work of detective fiction.

Trumping reason alone, Coppola’s film serves to bring us closer to the ugliest parts of ourselves; the brutal indulgences of human conquest. We are – like Willard – a two-faced monster barking at others while hiding from ourselves. He discovers truths he probably didn’t want to uncover. The horror of the dead-end journey does this. Just like a turned-loose dime, there are two sides to our humanity – one the cares and one that kills. The truest side will also turn on itself – this is the ‘Apocalypse’ in our hearts. The ‘Now’ is of our own choosing.

There are no unsound politics to be discovered here about the Vietnam conflict. That’s not its purpose. it accepts that war happens. Coppola’s film gets its legendary status from its story that complicates the setting with natural purpose: one character vs. another. Kurtz and Willard are two differences that couldn’t be more alike. This is a classic film noir scenario not unlike simple shadow play from flickering camp fire light. The narrative complication comes when we realize – after watching the horror surrounding them which sees the idea of “nirvana” getting airlifted out of the jungle - how easy it would be to slide from one man's conscience to the other. We are the myth of Kurtz. We are the meaning behind Willard. For war-torn debters and errand boys, Apocalypse Now is the only true statement that could possibly be made that both halves of our sordid humanity could ever understand. Yet, Willard and Kurtz don’t agree on their methods, suggesting an monumental encounter whose darkened dénouement will rock the very foundation of your soul.

Apocalypse Now isn’t the recreation of experience, it is the experience. It’s epic filmmaking that has yet to be toppled by any working director. Hollywood references it all of the time – in surprising ways sometimes – but, as a whole, nothing since its premiere dares match the eloquent statement Coppola made back in 1979.

Component Grades
Movie		Blu-ray Disc


Blu-ray Experience

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - October 19, 2010
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (2 BDs)

Consistent with their original aspect ration, Apocalypse Now and Apocalypse Now Redux are presented in 2.35:1 widescreen. Their blu-ray transfers are both impeccable examples of the effect blu-ray can have on classic films. There are no red flushes to skin tones and the grain sustains a perfect balance, giving the film its due age and affect. The color palette – especially the blues and the greens – are quite brilliantly rendered with the technology giving the film a tonal quality unseen previously. Yet, the dark, the pervading smoke swirls are also graphically captured and fully textured giving the look of this film a certain depth unmatched by anything produced in this day. Apocalypse Now is a masterpiece and it looks that way. The sound is also of the highest quality and those rotating chopper blades – sound effects provided by Walter Murch - will certainly give your sub and low-end speakers a much-needed workout. Both versions of the film are presented in a stunning DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack that will surround you in a stunning blanket of sound, perfectly completing the experience of the film.

Supplements:

Commentary:

Francis Ford Coppola provides an honest and detailed insight into both versions of his film with an insightful commentary that runs over both films. This is found on Disc One.

Special Features:

Most of the features can be found on Disc Two of the Two-Disc Set for a total of 9 hours of featurettes. This is an exhaustive list of features and the information they contain will do more than heighten your awareness of the film’s power; it might just blow your mind at what the power of money can do to a film crew. Yes, the shoot of the film was disastrously long. And, for our benefit, it is all documented entirely on film. The features from Apocalypse Now also define the very notion of supplemental: from Brando reciting T.S. Eliot’s ‘The Hollow Man’ to Orson Welles’ own production of the radio show version of Heart of Darkness. They are as follows: