"Hearts of Darkness" may finally be coming to DVD
06-26-04, 01:06 AM
#1
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"Hearts of Darkness" may finally be coming to DVD
Director George Hickenlooper was one of the guests on Jon Favreau's "Dinner for Five" tonight on the Independent Film Channel. He said he's been trying to get Francis Ford Coppola to let him release his documentary "Hearts of Darkness" on DVD.
The hold up is that Coppola wants him to make a few changes, particularly a comment Coppola made after Martin Sheen's heart attack, "He's not dead until I say he's dead." Coppola isn't opposed to the line being left in, but he feels it was out of context.
Hickenlooper said he was willing to make the changes Coppola wants, so he's optimistic "Hearts of Darkness" will finally be released to DVD.
The hold up is that Coppola wants him to make a few changes, particularly a comment Coppola made after Martin Sheen's heart attack, "He's not dead until I say he's dead." Coppola isn't opposed to the line being left in, but he feels it was out of context.
Hickenlooper said he was willing to make the changes Coppola wants, so he's optimistic "Hearts of Darkness" will finally be released to DVD.
06-26-04, 01:44 AM
#3
I hope this does come out soon. I'm surprised that the reason it hasn't been released yet would be on account of Coppola holding it up, especially considering it's been released to theaters, TV and VHS.
06-26-04, 08:54 AM
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I haven't seen this in many years... back when it was first released on VHS. So long ago ... in a format far far away 
I always thought it would make a nice companion disc to a 3-disc SE of Apocalypse Now.
I always thought it would make a nice companion disc to a 3-disc SE of Apocalypse Now.
06-26-04, 09:04 AM
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Since there are many of us who've never seen "Hearts of Darkness" because it's just not available anywhere in most European countries, I'm really opposed to anything being changed. But if that's the only way to get the film out, then so be it. But screw Coppola's rampant megalomania.
06-26-04, 07:12 PM
#7
I certainly hope that the documentary dosen't have to be changed. The recording of Coppola yelling
'If Marty dies, I don't want to hear he's dead till I say he's dead" is an amazing moment. You really
feel the sense of how out of control everything is at that point. It's really small, but it would hurt the movie.
I understand that Coppola feels embarrassed about that, but I never felt he was a bad person for saying
that. That moment shows how vulnerable and afraid he is at that point, not that he's callus.
'If Marty dies, I don't want to hear he's dead till I say he's dead" is an amazing moment. You really
feel the sense of how out of control everything is at that point. It's really small, but it would hurt the movie.
I understand that Coppola feels embarrassed about that, but I never felt he was a bad person for saying
that. That moment shows how vulnerable and afraid he is at that point, not that he's callus.
06-26-04, 09:03 PM
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Hickenlooper, since I'm sure you are reading this, how about putting the context for the scene as an "extended scene" in the deleted scenes section of the disc. That way the original work of art is preserved and Coppola gets to all the context he needs.
06-27-04, 10:06 AM
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This is great news, it's a fascinating documentary.
I know this will never happen, but I'd love to see "Hearts of Hotshots" included as a bonus feature. (Or just released as an extra on some future Hot Shots edition) Does anyone else remember this little "behind the scenes" featurette?
Saw it on HBO I think. I'm not sure if it was for Hot Shots part 1 or part deux. It was made as a kind of spoof of Apocalypse Now and Hearts of Darkness. In addition to Charlie Sheen, Martin appears as an agent sent to investigate and stop them from making the movie. Better and funnier than the actual Hot Shots movie.
I know this will never happen, but I'd love to see "Hearts of Hotshots" included as a bonus feature. (Or just released as an extra on some future Hot Shots edition) Does anyone else remember this little "behind the scenes" featurette?
Saw it on HBO I think. I'm not sure if it was for Hot Shots part 1 or part deux. It was made as a kind of spoof of Apocalypse Now and Hearts of Darkness. In addition to Charlie Sheen, Martin appears as an agent sent to investigate and stop them from making the movie. Better and funnier than the actual Hot Shots movie.
06-27-04, 11:23 AM
#11
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Originally posted by Jah-Wren Ryel
Hickenlooper, since I'm sure you are reading this, how about putting the context for the scene as an "extended scene" in the deleted scenes section of the disc. That way the original work of art is preserved and Coppola gets to all the context he needs.
Hickenlooper, since I'm sure you are reading this, how about putting the context for the scene as an "extended scene" in the deleted scenes section of the disc. That way the original work of art is preserved and Coppola gets to all the context he needs.
I've never heard of that "Hearts of Hotshots" but I'd certainly like to see it!
06-27-04, 06:56 PM
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Originally posted by PopcornTreeCt
Interesting. pretentious crap but interesting.
Interesting. pretentious crap but interesting.
Amazing film. I hope it's released in it's original version intact. Why would Coppola care about that line and not the scene where he's holding a gun to his head?
Chill the F out, Francis.
06-29-04, 02:11 PM
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Originally posted by Playitagainsam
Wow, Europe couldn't see this, not even on tv, much les home video? Hmmm. that gives me an idea....
Wow, Europe couldn't see this, not even on tv, much les home video? Hmmm. that gives me an idea....
I also remember seeing reviews for it in UK film magazines at the time. While I think it's OOP in the UK now, I believe the latest vhs release there was about 4 years ago (together with AN).
That it's not easily available in Europe now isn't the same as Europeans not having been able to see it.
06-29-04, 03:50 PM
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I've got a good story about this excellent film. I'm probably flubbing some details but it's still a good story.
I once had the opportunity to have dinner with George Hickenlooper and I asked him why the film has no footage of Harvey Keitel in Apocalypse Now! (since he played Willard for about 2 weeks before being fired). He said that when they started to cut Hearts of Darkness they found everyone's original signed release from the original shoot except for Keitel's. That meant that if they wanted to use him in the film they'd need to get his permission all over again. Knowing that this was a sore spot for Keitel, George tried to go about this in a smooth manner. He asked Keitel to do an interview for the doco and planned to then ask for permission for the footage once Keitel was already involved, telling his own side of the story.
Harevy, of course, was suspicious so he told Hickenlooper to call Fred Fuchs and Francis Coppola and find out why they fired him and report back. Then he'd decide if he wanted to be in the doco. So Hickenlooper calls Coppola and asks why he fired Keitel. Coppola, being very savvy, says a bunch of stuff about how Harvey is too strong of a personality and too much of a character actor and was drawing too much attention to himself rather than being the empty vessel for the audience to view the insanity of the film through etc... Hickenlooper reports this back to Keitel. Then he calls Fuchs and asks the same question. "Because he was an f***ing a**hole" is the response. Hickenlooper repeats this to Keitel who then says "That's it! F*** you, f*** Coppola, f*** Fred Fuchs, f*** Apocalypse Now! I'm not doing your stupid documentary!" End of story...
Until some time later Hickenlooper receives an invitation to a bar-b-q at Keitel's house. Not sure why, he goes. He finds Keitel and his Reservoir Dogs buddies all hanging out in the backyard. Now, Hickenlooper is a pretty modest fella. No tough guy compared to the Madsens and Penns of the world. Apparently Keitel backed Hickenlooper into a corner and stuck his finger in his face, screaming "I was a Marine! I was THERE! I know what it was LIKE! Martin Sheen wasn't in the service! I WAS! I'm Willard! I'm Willard! I'm Willard! I'M WILLARD!!!!"
Now, at this point in the telling of the story Hickenlooper has worked himself up into a fury. His eyes are bugging out, spit is flying everywhere, and he's screaming at the top of his lungs with his finger right in my face. Other people in the restaurant are turning around to see what the hell is going on. It was scary, only moreso when you try to imagine Harvey Keitel doing that to you. Hickenlooper tells a damn good story. It was a memorable experience. Maybe he'll tell it on the DVD!
Maybe he'll also talk about how Fax Bahr (codirector and later creator of MadTV (!)) didn't do any work on Hearts of Darkness. Hickenlooper is nothing if not candid in person (ask him about Sling Blade too... He's got a LOT to say on a lot of topics!)
(George, if you're reading this, drop me a line!)
I once had the opportunity to have dinner with George Hickenlooper and I asked him why the film has no footage of Harvey Keitel in Apocalypse Now! (since he played Willard for about 2 weeks before being fired). He said that when they started to cut Hearts of Darkness they found everyone's original signed release from the original shoot except for Keitel's. That meant that if they wanted to use him in the film they'd need to get his permission all over again. Knowing that this was a sore spot for Keitel, George tried to go about this in a smooth manner. He asked Keitel to do an interview for the doco and planned to then ask for permission for the footage once Keitel was already involved, telling his own side of the story.
Harevy, of course, was suspicious so he told Hickenlooper to call Fred Fuchs and Francis Coppola and find out why they fired him and report back. Then he'd decide if he wanted to be in the doco. So Hickenlooper calls Coppola and asks why he fired Keitel. Coppola, being very savvy, says a bunch of stuff about how Harvey is too strong of a personality and too much of a character actor and was drawing too much attention to himself rather than being the empty vessel for the audience to view the insanity of the film through etc... Hickenlooper reports this back to Keitel. Then he calls Fuchs and asks the same question. "Because he was an f***ing a**hole" is the response. Hickenlooper repeats this to Keitel who then says "That's it! F*** you, f*** Coppola, f*** Fred Fuchs, f*** Apocalypse Now! I'm not doing your stupid documentary!" End of story...
Until some time later Hickenlooper receives an invitation to a bar-b-q at Keitel's house. Not sure why, he goes. He finds Keitel and his Reservoir Dogs buddies all hanging out in the backyard. Now, Hickenlooper is a pretty modest fella. No tough guy compared to the Madsens and Penns of the world. Apparently Keitel backed Hickenlooper into a corner and stuck his finger in his face, screaming "I was a Marine! I was THERE! I know what it was LIKE! Martin Sheen wasn't in the service! I WAS! I'm Willard! I'm Willard! I'm Willard! I'M WILLARD!!!!"
Now, at this point in the telling of the story Hickenlooper has worked himself up into a fury. His eyes are bugging out, spit is flying everywhere, and he's screaming at the top of his lungs with his finger right in my face. Other people in the restaurant are turning around to see what the hell is going on. It was scary, only moreso when you try to imagine Harvey Keitel doing that to you. Hickenlooper tells a damn good story. It was a memorable experience. Maybe he'll tell it on the DVD!
Maybe he'll also talk about how Fax Bahr (codirector and later creator of MadTV (!)) didn't do any work on Hearts of Darkness. Hickenlooper is nothing if not candid in person (ask him about Sling Blade too... He's got a LOT to say on a lot of topics!)
(George, if you're reading this, drop me a line!)
Last edited by Gil Jawetz; 06-29-04 at 03:52 PM.
06-29-04, 04:11 PM
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I've never seen this docu-film, what's it about? I know it was basically a behind-the-scenes docu of the making of Apocalypse Now, but is there a, shall I say, political message or tone about it?
I mean we're not talking Fahrenheit Apocalyspe now are we? Forgive the pun.
I mean we're not talking Fahrenheit Apocalyspe now are we? Forgive the pun.
06-29-04, 06:48 PM
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Originally posted by Mike Lowrey
I've never seen this docu-film, what's it about? I know it was basically a behind-the-scenes docu of the making of Apocalypse Now, but is there a, shall I say, political message or tone about it?
I mean we're not talking Fahrenheit Apocalyspe now are we? Forgive the pun.
I've never seen this docu-film, what's it about? I know it was basically a behind-the-scenes docu of the making of Apocalypse Now, but is there a, shall I say, political message or tone about it?
I mean we're not talking Fahrenheit Apocalyspe now are we? Forgive the pun.
For Christ's sake, let it go.
