If you think Redux's scenes are unnecessary, you know little of film

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2007)

This film is special on many levels and for multiple reasons in both the original and the redux cuts but what makes this a GREAT film is that in essence it is not a war film but a film about war and what it does to people. This theme is portrayed well in the original cut but in redux makes this even clearer. Through the added length, and what some have viewed obnoxious length is purely purposeful to add to this element. As the film is watched you yourself begin to break down just as captain Willard in the movie. The film with the Frenchmen and the woman also add a sense of surreality that the original didn't. The scene with the playboy bunnies also serves this purpose. The extra scene with Kilgore and the laughing and extra surfing add to this also. As a director Coppola was disappointed with the original cut because he didn't believe that it totally brought across the surreal and trippy element he wanted the film to be about. These scenes do nothing but add a human element to the film, as emotion passes from the screen into the viewer. Some people watch movies for pleasure but the redux version is an experience and if you can't handle the awkwardness and discomfort of these added scenes and the experience therein then we know which kind of movie viewer you are.