Apocalypse Now Redux (DVD) (Widescreen)

Some 49 minutes longer, with the addition of a number of fabled extra scenes, Francis Coppola's hugely ambitious Vietnam war epic Apocalypse Now is now presented under the title Apocalypse Now Redux . Martin Sheen's mission (to terminate Marlon Brando's renegade Colonel Kurtz 'with extreme prejudice') remains the same, but among the extra scenes we witness Sheen stealing Colonel Kilgore's (Robert Duvall) beloved surfboard, while a few more clicks up river the guys on the boat share some quality time with the Playboy Bunny Girls. The longest addition is a ghostly French plantation sequence that allows Coppola to thrash out the colonial background to the conflict. Finally, in Colonel Kurtz's hideout we are treated to an extra daylight encounter with Brando. Apocalypse Now Redux has been beautifully restored by the expert hands of Walter Murch, highlighting his own brilliant use of sound and the rich, hallucinatory cinematography of Vittorio Storaro. At over three hours, this is a very long but engrossing trip into the heart of darkness. This return visit to Coppola's green inferno makes for essential viewing.