Redux is outstanding

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 2002)

For years Apocalypse Now has been one of my favorite films of all time. Now I have seen the director's cut.
The original theatrical release is a very good story, well told. The director's cut is a much better story. I must downgrade the original version to 9/10, to make room for my vote of 10/10 for the director's cut.
I think the plantation scene is a bit didactic, and somewhat out of place with the rest of the film, but still very useful in illustrating a particular view of Vietnam from the French standpoint.
The concluding scenes, after Willard meets Kurtz, were very confusing in the original version. In fact, I was under the impression that Willard called in an airstrike after he killed Kurtz; there is no airstrike. The director's cut is far superior.
But I think the best thing about the director's cut is the character development of the PBR crew: the Chief, Chef, Mr Clean, and Lance. In the original, we hear what Willard thought about each crewman, but in the director's cut we can see more clearly for ourselves. In one memorable scene, we get to see that Mr Clean received a military funeral at the plantation.
What I liked in particular was the character of Chief Phillips in the director's cut. There is nothing flashy about him, he is just a good man doing his duty. But he could be a model for all chief petty officers in the Navy, or senior NCO's in any branch. Every other character has visible flaws.
One last thing about the director's cut: it show up more shortcomings in Martin Sheen's acting ability. Although he was in all the scenes at the plantation, and he hears about five different versions of Vietnamese society from five different French colonists, he says little and appears not to be paying attention.