Apocalypse Now: A Bloomsbury Movie Guide (Bloomsbury Movie Guides) [Paperback]

Karl French (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1582340145 | ISBN-13: 978-1582340142 | Publication Date: January 15, 1999 | Edition: 1st

The Bloomsbury Movie Guides feature scores of entries on all aspects of the making and meaning of movies and include historic, cinematic, and literary references; profiles of the actors and directors; and interviews.

Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, received eight Academy Award nominations in 1980. In this book, film critic Karl French provides a critical analysis of a movie that has established itself as one of the greatest films of all time. He provides the reader with insightful behind-the-scenes stories about daily workings on the set. He examines the importance of every character and their contributions to the movie. Also included in this edition are interviews with William Hokanson, a Vietnam veteran, Stephen Bach, a United Artists executive, Richard Marks, Walter Murch, and John Milius.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Bloomsbury's new Movie Guide series looks like being easily the best idea to have assaulted the cinema bookshelves . . . Exhaustive, affectionate, commited, intelligent, flip, provocative, and, above all, personal . . . Having read them it's guaranteed that the next time you see these movies, something will have changed, and changed for good."--Uncut

About the Author

Karl French is the co-author of Cult Movies and the editor if The Oficial Spinal Tap Companion.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; 1st edition (January 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582340145
• ISBN-13: 978-1582340142
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,788,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The essential a-z of the essential Vietnam war movie, March 13, 2001

By 

R. Griffiths "bookchoice" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apocalypse Now: A Bloomsbury Movie Guide (Bloomsbury Movie Guides) (Paperback)

I strongly disagree with one reviewer who said this is hardly worth buying. My advice is: buy it - you'll love it.

OK, I'm probably biased in that I tend to enjoy the 'encyclopaedia' format of books like this. I read one entry, then follow the links to another, and another until I'm totally immersed in the arcane and amazing information on offer. Linear readers might find it a bit annoying, I guess. However, even for them, this book is well worth reading. It's an essential companion to Apocalypse Now, and has certainly enhanced my viewing of the film. I love Karl French's terse, opinionated style.

My only complaint is that with a tiny bit more effort the references could have been complete enough to make this a useful academic work as well as the popular paperback it already is. For example, I would have loved to follow up Nguyen Khac Vien's essay 'Apocalypse Now Viewed by a Vietnamese', quoted on p. 230, but couldn't since it doesn't appear in the bibliography. Having said that, there are plenty of leads here that I *am* going to follow up.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good guide to a great film, March 26, 1999

By 

Buck Leonard "Buck" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apocalypse Now: A Bloomsbury Movie Guide (Bloomsbury Movie Guides) (Paperback)

While French's encyclopedic approach to the story is a bit limiting, overall this is a good introduction to one of the greatest war movies ever made. The mythology surrounding "Apocalypse Now" and its chaotic making could consume several books and has spawned one brilliant documentary. While a chronological telling of the story and more indepth examination of the personalities would have been ideal, this book serves as a good collection of the essential information one would like to know about the film and its genesis. One good feature of this book is its ability to point to certain aspects of the film that may or may not be links or homages to other movies and books. It is literate in its sensibilities and the prose is very crisp. A very good read for the curious moviegoer. I'm anxious to look at the three other movie guides in this Bloomsbury series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vietnam War Clasic, November 4, 2006

By 

W. H. McDonald Jr. "The American Author Assoc... (Elk Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apocalypse Now: A Bloomsbury Movie Guide (Bloomsbury Movie Guides) (Paperback)

This is my favorite all time Vietnam war movie - so naturally I would have to read something like this on the background of the movie. This is of course, a cult favorite even for us Vietnam veterans. The orginal film left out some important elements in the telling of the story - so it was great to see the later version come out in DVD and video.

I still love the smell of naplam in the morning and I love this book as well. It works. Although there is a mis-quote in the book (or two) - over-all, I rate this as good and entertaining information. It is not enlightening or profound nor does it deliver some words of wisdom - but it is what it is and that is very much okay!