I was pleased with the disc overall, though it was annoying that it was framed at 2 to 1 instead of 2.35. The picture quality was very good--excellent in some parts, only fair in a few others. The sound was good. There aren't a great deal of extras, but they are pretty nice: a good trailer, text from a program distributed at 70mm showings, and a 5 minute scene of the destruction of the Kurtz compound, with commentary by Coppola.

I had never seen this movie before I got the DVD the other day. And all I gotta say, WOW. they should rename the movie Apocalypse Wow! This has got to be one of the greatest movies I've ever seem. Even considering the godfather movies, I think Apoc now is COppola's best.

It's without a doubt, the most surrealistic movie I've ever seen, its like an escape from reality, and pure awesome. I don't know about you, but I think Kurtz got the shaft by the Army.

Zizz, I'm with you, what the f@#! is up with the aspect ratio? The movie is great, I like the transfer, but it just doesn't look right in 2:1. I want my .35:1 that's missing!!!!!!!!!

[This message has been edited by Tuco (edited 12-12-1999).]

I think this is the way Coppola wanted it released. I don't really think you are missing much when watching the movie. I don't remember any paticular scenes where it seemed like people were cut out or something was missing from a scene. I thought the quality was excellent considering this is one of the first releases from Coppola's DVD production studio. I hope to see more coming from his DVD studio. Maybe the Godfather films soon.

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My DVD List

I had the VHS widescreen version & I'm pretty sure it was 2:35:1 (I gave it to a friend when I ordered the dvd though, so I'm not sure). I didn't really see too much that got cut off, but some shots did seem a little crowded. Coppola says in the commentary that there was a 35mm & 70mm version. For some reason they chose the preview screening version without the opening & closing credits that was 2:1. It is annoying but not enough to make my friend give back my tape.

I also had never seen the movie and was impressed....I can only bet that FFC and American zoetrope is going to spend quality time on Godfather I,II,III also. This was the best picture and sound I have seen for a 20 year old movie. GREATNESS!!!

That's the impressive thing about it. The disc looks and sounds awesome. Great treatment for one of my favorite movies and, IMHO, the best Vietnam war flick to date.

I remember seeing this movie when it was originally released in the theater. It was so heavy that I walked out of the theater with a headache.

I had also read "Heart of Darkness," and immediately recognized that this movie was a very close adaptation of that story.

The combination of the imagery and cerebral nature of literature with a contemporary commentary on war, specifically the Vietnam War, makes this movie worth seeing, even though it is quite disturbing.

I only wish there had been more in the way of special features on the DVD.

Hoc: What did you think of Heart of Darkness? I have to read it later this year for my English class.

I thought it was one of the more readable pieces of literature around. Freaky, though not as much so as One Hundred Years of Solitude (which I recommend for people who like strange books).

The essential theme is that man is, at his very core, a violent, brutal animal, and put in situations involving survival, he will revert to that mode.

Heart of Darkness was set in Africa, not in Vietnam, BTW.

Thanks, Hoc. Maybe I'll check out One Hundred Years of Solitude--I love strange books.

Marquez' 100 Years of Solitude is one of my favorite novels-- you know, one of those ones that you re-read every few years...

It pretty much defined the South American genre of "magical realism"--so it's often studied and read in classes, etc. It's a dense book, though-- thick, filled with huge page-long paragraphs and almost no dialog.

It reads sort of like a legend, or a camp-fire tale version of one family's multi-generational history. (Forgive me if you knew all this, but you know how it is with favorite books...)

Unfortunately, I'm not a big Heart of Darkness fan. (Or Apocalypse Now, for that matter). Be forewarned: the writing style of the time is rather verbose. Reading Joseph Conrad is a little taxing.

If I liked the story better, it would've been worth it (Dickens, for instance, is always an interesting read to me despite being a bit taxing)...

Well, I don't have much of a choice with Heart of Darkness, unless I want to fail my AP English class. I hope it's not much more taxing than the book I just finished, The Sound and The Fury.

Just be happy they aren't making you read Jude the Obscure for your AP English Class. I think they stopped that torture...

Anyway, yeah, read Marquez, particularly if you obsessed with death in any way. Also read Umberto Eco.

To get back on the subject, how is the DVD Apocolypse Now compared to the LD? I'll have to assume its better, but enough to warrant getting a duplicate?

Zizz--

I'll take Conrad, Dickens and Marquez over Faulkner any day. In fact, I would take any author over Faulkner. I think that "As I Lay Dying" is one of the most tedious books ever written, followed up by "The Sound and The Fury" and anything else Faulkner ever wrote.