Friday 9 March 2012

"APOCOLYPSE NOW" . . . . INTENSE MOMENT #67 . . . . FROM A GREAT FILM CHOCK FULL OF MANY INTENSE MOMENTS . . . .

JUST QUICKLY . . . . I'M NOT REALLY SUCH A HUGE FAN OF THE 'REDUX' VERSION, FOR ALL THE ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE, IT ADDS NOTHING TO THE FILMS CHARACTER AND POSSIBLY DIMINISHES THE INTRIGUE FACTOR . . . . .

Beside the point . . . . I remember studying Conrad's "Heart Of Darkness" at school in 1979 and was fully psyched to see this film which was based on the novel . . . . . the movie at this point had been recieving some degree of press in the lead up to it's release in 1980 for all the wrong reasons . . . .

The whole point of the film . . . . the further 'up river' Captain Willard travels in pursuit of the totally unhinged/sociopathic/cult figurehead Colonel Kurtz, the more he becomes like the man he's been sent to assasinate . . . . the river being the conduit into the "Heart of Darkness" . . . . .

When it finally arrived, I ended up going to see it five times at the cinema . . . . I was mesmerised and gobsmacked . . . . rivetted from go to whoa, it still nails me everytime . . . . definitely a top five all time bit of celluloid for this little brown dog !!!!

****** To view this intense exchange between Brando's Colonel Kurtz and Martin Sheen's Captain Willard, click on the link below or on post title

Apocalypse Now: Brando to Sheen - 'Are my methods unsound?' - YouTube

4 comments:

  1. ey up whitey, deep man, deep! great film, going to have to dig my copy out again, what you saying about kubrick's 'full metal jacket' and 'platoon'? another couple of 'nam film's in my locker, the blog is going from strength to strength mate, good work fella, let me know if your'e struggling to get that 'closer to the edge' dvd in oz, if it's the same region as here i'll get you one sorted, keep your tongue out mate, lovey.

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    1. Gidday Lovey . . . good to hear you're still in the land of the living dead and not totally self exiled to "The Shed" on Secret Mens Business. Looks like the rocketship is getting incredibly close to completion, you should be rightly chuffed lad, it's been a treat watching it grow, utterly impressed with the Loveless School of Engineering and it's chief graduate !!! Huge fan of "Full Metal Jacket", especially given the directorial input, dark, brooding and malevolent . . . sadly, "Platoon" has always been a bit 'Archies' meets 'Risky Business' for mine, something about Ollie Stone that just doesn't do it for me . . . mate, thanks heaps for the kind words re the blog, just remember though, it was stumbling upon yours that convinced me that persisting with the the written word caper was the right thing to do, and nothing has changed, love reading your stuff !!! Re the dvd, my local specialist assures me they will be getting it shortly, but, if shortly becomes whenever I would be only too happy to take you up on the offer, ta muchly mate. Now, get off and hook into the final stages of the Buzz Bomb man, it's not even mine and I'm feelin like I used to in the shop when we were gettin to the end of a cool customer resto or such like, it's gonna be so fucking cool !!! Take it easy Lovey, keep the bastards on their collective toes, cheers, Whitey.

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  2. I remember the first time I saw this film, great stuff.
    Redux...not so much.
    If you have never seen the making of documentary "Heart of Darkness," as a fan of the film you should.

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    1. Thanks for the comment mate, yeah, I feel the same way about the Redux job, like most re-makes/re-jigs, they never exceed the original . . . saw the doco when it was released,[Mrs Coppola I believe if memory serves correctly] and it gave such an insight into the trauma, drama and complexities in making the flick . . . the story surrounding Sheen, Brando, Hopper and even the more secondary actors was bloody amazing, talk about a tough shoot, I seriously doubt if it's ever been passed as far as degree of difficulty in getting the thing together !!! Once again JB, thanks for taking time to check it out, say hello to your gorgeous friend Pooter Girl for me, keep the rubber side on the deck and enjoy it, later man, Whiteline.

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