| Reviewed by Glenn Gaslin Starring Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Released by Paramount Home Video. Production Budget: $31 million (estimated). Box office: $78.8 million (U.S.). War is hell, but at least now you get a choice of two tripped-out, metaphorically fiery infernos. Here is the original two-hour-thirty-three-minute cut of the hypnotic voyage Martin Sheen's Capt. Willard takes up-river through Vietnam, colonial history, the nature of manhood and the human mind itself. If you prefer the longer, windier trip through Hell, with more sex and one jarring scene featuring a sweaty Brando in sunlight, this two-disc set also packs the 2001 "Redux" version, a remix that adds 49 minutes and a rich new layer of madness. The extra scenes reinstate Willard's dreamy stopover at a French plantation, originally cut so as to not freak the Cannes crowd, and a borderline unnecessary Playmate encounter. With two versions of perhaps the greatest war movie ever made, plus even more cut scenes and Coppola's commentary, you'd almost feel guilty asking why the excellent, harrowing making-of documentary Heart of Darkness isn't in this "Complete" set, too. Maybe that's a Hell better saved for another day. |
