Apocalypse Now Redux

Apocalypse Now ist ein sehr schwieriger existenzieller Film, der Ihnen für ein paar Tage den Magen belasten wird. Man muss darüber nachdenken, was man gesehen hat. Eine depressive Fahrt durch die heiße Hölle. In anderen Kriegsfilmen sieht man das Böse, das der Krieg verkörpert. Hier spürt man es. Und auch wenn es uns unangenehm schmerzt und belastet, schaffen wir es nicht, ihm den Rücken zu kehren. Ein hypnotisches, atemberaubendes Werk. (13.02.2003)

An almost hypnotic journey to hell, or a different take on the Vietnam War. Coppola at his very best. The unforgettable Robert Duvall and his line "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." (13.04.2003)

Dies ist kein Film über den Krieg, sondern eine erschütternde Darstellung der Hölle der menschlichen Seele vor dem Hintergrund Vietnams. Wie Conrads Marlow in "Heart of Darkness" folgt Coppolas Willard dem Fluss auf einer Reise durch das Fegefeuer, nur um am Ende die Hölle zu finden. Apocalypse Now ist als eine Abfolge unterschiedlicher Geschichten konzipiert, die das Grauen aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln beleuchten. Horror ist das Schlüsselwort des Films. Dabei spielt es keine Rolle, ob es sich um einen Horrorfil aus der Sicht der Tommies, der Gooks oder der Franzosen handelt... es ist derselbe Schrecken, den Kurtz in seinem apokalyptischen und heidnisch brutalen Versteck verkörperte. Es ist derselbe Schrecken, der Willard von Anfang an gepackt hat... Leere. Entmenschlichung. Coppolas Film ist in einem fast zynischen Ton gedreht. Die Absurdität erinnert in ihrer Macht oft an Hellers "Catch XXII"... Die Abstufung, trotz der Länge, ist erstaunlich... Ich habe keine Schwachstelle gefunden. Jede Einstellung, jede Rede, jedes Geräusch schafft ein eindringliches Bild des Grauens auf der blutigen Leinwand des vietnamesischen Dschungels - Leid, Verlust der Menschlichkeit, Verlust des Selbst. Ich zögere zu schreiben, dass Apocalypse Now eine Metapher ist. Nein, es ist beängstigend wörtlich und eindeutig. Es handelt sich um ein direktes Bild, das mit allen eingesetzten Mitteln trifft. Ein cineastisches Meisterwerk in jeder Hinsicht. Was die Suggestivität betrifft, so kenne ich kein stärkeres Kriegswerk. Die Schauspieler machen einen unglaublich naturalistischen Eindruck - ein wahnsinniger Brando, ein wahnsinniger Sheen... es ist, als hätte die Hölle sie verschlungen. Apocalypse Now ist auch in dem Sinne meisterhaft, dass sie zwar viel über die Art des Vietnamkonflikts aussagt, ihre Wirkung aber universell ist. Sie offenbart etwas von der Dunkelheit der menschlichen Seele... Und was die oft erwähnte Unvollständigkeit der Handlung angeht... ist es möglich, etwas zu beenden, das noch im Gange ist? Coppolas Apocalypse Now endet nicht mit den Untertiteln... in der Filmwelt vielleicht. (04.02.2005)

Conrad's “Heart of Darkness” is one of those timeless books, and it's not bad at all. It is all the more remarkable that Coppola's adaptation does not fall short in any respect, it even surpasses it in many ways. At least in the director's cut, it is an equally riveting probe through the darkness of the soul and madness. (14.09.2006)

I first saw Apocalypse Now practically at the same time as the similarly famous film Platoon. While Stone impressed me, I had a reserved attitude toward Coppola's war drama. I couldn't help but feel a certain disappointment, which partly came from exaggerated expectations - according to many movie fans, it should have been the greatest war film of all time. The execution is undoubtedly luxurious - Coppola showcases cunning filmmaking full of suggestive scenes, the camera works wonders, and the visual compositions send shivers down your spine. Everyone interested in film direction could learn from the effective use of double exposures and crossfades (the opening scene is characteristic, where the camera focuses on the detail of a helicopter propeller and then transitions to a hotel room, where we observe the spinning fan propeller). The gloomy jungle, the fascinating panoramic shots of tropical landscapes - it all creates what we call atmosphere. The quality actors portray intense characters exposed to extreme conditions. At this juncture, everything was fine and the reputation of Apocalypse Now was not a lie. However, I have a problem with the story. Coppola took it from Joseph Conrad's novel "Heart of Darkness." Its plot takes place in Belgian Congo and anyone familiar with the history of the Congolese genocide and bloody wars of the 20th century regarding the local natural riches will understand that the story of a deranged officer who escapes any control fits perfectly. The same narrative set in the Vietnam War, combined with an American officer, seems inappropriate and exaggerated. Not to mention that Coppola is so carried away by his artistic vision that it seems like he is not shooting a war drama, but rather staging a theater. This theatrical overexertion culminates in the execution of a rebellious officer, reminiscent of a pagan ritual, and it disturbs me to such an extent that the film didn't even come close to a five-star rating from my perspective. Overall impression: 75%. (06.02.2015)

With his depiction of the war in Vietnam, Coppola managed to show all of the influences that slowly turned a regular man into a deranged madman. The dark aura built around Colonel Walter E. Kurtz is entrancing and Coppola’s style of gradually revealing his personality is just perfect. Also equally perfect is Marlon Brando himself who in his acting shaves the essence of man down to the marrow in his acting. Martin Sheen as Captain Willard superbly captured the transformation of a person scarred by war. His dilemma and inability to live as before. A breathtaking experience. A masterpiece. (01.12.2006)

A film as shrouded in legend as the Vietnam War itself. An immortal classic and true horror. (02.11.2004)

A thought-provoking and emotional opus that is unparalleled in the world of cinema and that lives up to its name not only because of everything that happened during the shooting, but mainly because it actually added a completely new, spiritual dimension to the concept of the Apocalypse. The horror and futility of war in all its glory, supported by masterful direction, unbelievable performances and the best cinematography I have ever seen in a film. Naturalism of the coarsest grain, which makes it hard to breathe and makes our conscience so hungry that we have to think for a long time about what and HOW we just saw, heard and FELT. BEST OF THE BEST:-) 100% (25.09.2013)

[Final Cut] While it's great to see people staring in disbelief at some scenes from this movie again for the first time in the theater, as a native of the Redux version, the seat beneath me was cracking down the middle with the weight of my righteous anger. If Coppola and Co. wanted to work on the fluidity of the plot, they could have cut out the French, whose scene may have some amazing architecture and work with the transformation of the intense evening light, and yet is just a bunch of terrible lines spoken with terrible music. At the same time, getting rid of the rainy camp scene is a great misfortune, as the artificiality and futility of that sequence strikes me as iconic for an illustration of war that was nicknamed "The Bog". I suspect the intention was more that they didn't really want to defend a scene to the contemporary audience that was essentially gang rape with comic relief. The next deleted scene, with Kurtz reading a newspaper article and laconically cleaning off the enthusiastic children around him, is indeed a sequence I fell asleep to twice, but that's more likely due to the protagonist's palpable feverish exhaustion that comes across to the viewer at the end. At the same time, this scene gives another interesting insight into the incomprehensible ecosystem of Kurtz's camp. (29.07.2022)

I was excited about this movie, I was looking forward to it for a long time. And it didn't disappoint me at all. I saw the director's cut, which is extra long, but it's worth it. This is a beautiful example of war madness, which turns into a journey into the depths of the human soul. Dark, incredibly dark with great performances and captivating direction. (19.11.2015)

A perfectly apt title for one of the most intense and memorable films about the Vietnam War. The iconic Martin Sheen as Captain Willard is subjected to what is essentially a double apocalypse in a hard-to-describe atmosphere of Vietnamese hell that at times resembles surreal imagery. For, apart from the external dangers, he is forced to face a stiff internal battle with himself to save not only his neck but also his sanity. Martin Sheen's acting, with his expression often oscillating precisely between total madness and fickle sanity, is simply phenomenal. Art-wise, Apocalypse Now is a total triumph (especially on an OLED TV in UHD), and the surfing sequence with Robert Duvall will probably stay with me forever. (27.10.2020)