almost okay

I remember seeing this movie at the time of its release in 1979 and suffering through a lengthy intermission with the lights turned up and the herd headed towards the lobby to relieve themselves and replenish their popcorn and sugar water supply. The two-and-a-half-hour epic directed by Francis Ford Coppola didn't divide neatly into halves and there was little finesse by the house projectionist when the scheduled break occurred. End of reel...film off... lights up. It was jarring, to say the least, and interfered with the story's flow.

Of course nowadays movies routinely run over two hours without any intermission whatsoever and there's a near-constant parade of slack-jawed morons into and out of the theater the entire time. Huge, all-you-can-eat tubs of popcorn and all-you-can-drink cups of pop are refilled. Lots of bladders are emptied. Sometimes folks even arrive more than a half hour after the feature has begun, plopping their fat asses and big heads right the fuck in front of you and asking somebody nearby if they've 'missed something'. Of course you have, you idiots! The beginning of the movie! But I digress...

Even though there were some shortcomings in the screening I saw, I was profoundly affected by the film, which perfectly captured the violence, confusion and horror that was the Vietnam War experience. Saigon had fallen just four years prior to the film's release and all the pain and anxiety about the war was still fresh in the psyche of the American public. Despite mixed reviews and troubling subject matter, 'Apocalypse Now' played to packed houses around the country due in large part to the success of Coppola's earlier 'Godfather' movies.

This double disc soundtrack LP was designed to aurally replicate the movie going experience, so you not only get the music here, but snippets of narration and dialogue as well, all in chronological order. When I listened to it before I sat down to write this it brought back powerful images from the film and the incidental music by Coppola and pop Carmine reinforced the action to full effect. Performed on electronic instruments, including the famous Moog synthesizer, the music was then separated into quadraphonic sound and processed into the now familiar Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound, the first ever use of the format in a movie. The spooky Doors number 'The End' also perfectly matched the mood of the film and the use of Wagner's 'Ride Of The Valkyrie' called up that helicopter sequence as though I'd just seen it yesterday.

Some memorable quotes from the script that have become part of our pop culture landscape...

A couple by Robert Duvall's character Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” and “Charlie don't surf!”

One by Dennis Hopper as the crazy photojournalist: “Did you know that 'if' is the middle of the word 'life'?”

And finally, Brando as Colonel Kurtz: “The horror. The horror.”

A director's cut of the movie, 'Apocalypse Now Redux', was released in 2001, restoring more than an hour's worth of footage that was trimmed for the original theatrical release. A soundtrack is available for that version as well, but from what I've read it features music only and no dialogue.

No great shakes in the value department, this LP would still fetch thirty bucks if it were in pristine condition. My VG copy is worth about half that and cheap copies in playable shape are commonplace. Do yourself a favor and find one.