About the Event
Apocalypse Now: Final Cut
(1979/2019, USA, 182 min.)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Saturday, December 5, 7:00 p.m.
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic war film set during the Vietnam War. Special Operator, Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen), is sent into the jungle to assassinate the rogue and presumably insane special forces Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando). Kurtz has set up his own fiefdom in the jungle and reportedly massacred hundreds of innocent people. Willard and his crew encounter strange sights and people on their surreal journey deep into the jungle. Based on Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness, the film became notorious in the entertainment press due to its lengthy and troubled production; Marlon Brando showed up to the set overweight, Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack, extreme weather destroying sets, and Philippine Air Force helicopters regularly called away mid-production to fight real counter-insurgency campaigns in the region. In addition, the release date of the film was delayed several times as Coppola struggled to come up with an ending and to edit the millions of feet of footage that he had shot.
The film won the Cannes Palme d’Or and was nominated for the Academy Award for
Best Picture and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture.
Apocalypse Now: Final Cut version is the Coppola preferred 2019 remastered re-edit which serves as a middle ground between the fast-paced 1979 Original Theatrical Cut (153 minutes) and the massive, slower-paced 2001 Redux version (202 minutes). The first restored version that used the original camera negative in 4K Ultra HD with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos sound.
Free and open to the public. Discounted parking available in West Lot 4, credit card required, $6 flat rate.
