Overly Long and Overrated?

Rating: 8/10 (20 July 2009)

The Redux version of Apocalypse Now is just way too long. There I said it.
The hellish road to get this film made is not a secret. The film turned out to be a success and people described it as the most honest depiction of war put to film, until Private Ryan came along that is.
My views on the film are different, because the only version I have seen is the Redux one. I apparently have a knack for watching the lesser version of supposedly great films. Redux is a good film, hurt by those added scenes, or so I'm told. I can say this though, what was cut for the original film should have remained on the cutting room floor. We get it, the French were there, did we really need to spend all that time with them.
Just when I found myself getting interested in the film it began to bore me, again I'm mainly talking about the French Plantation scene. This added nothing to the overall arc of the film and just stalled the viewer getting to the final climax. Suffice to say I'll place my money on saying this, Apocalypse Now is a better film if it were left alone.
It's a flawed film that inches on greatness. Memorable characters with real life problems? Awesome, I'm there. A cast that work well together and embody the characters? Even better. The film is epic and sits near the top of the important films of our history. Redux doesn't ruin a classic film, it just makes it boring.
Coppola is far from a favourite director of mine. I find his films overly long and tedious. He is talented, no doubt about that and deserves his place, but to me he should have left Apocalypse alone and not George Lucas it up. Pretentious or not, you decide.
I would still love to see the original though.