Customer Reviews

Apocalypse Now Redux

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is an excellent CD and one that I've wanted for many years. I, like others who've reviewed the "Redux" CD, once had the soundtrack from the _original_ version of the movie, which was basically the entire movie, complete with all dialogue. I liked that "soundtrack," but what I really wanted was _only_ the music, without dialogue, because if I really wanted the dialogue I'd just as soon watch the movie. Fortunately, the "Redux" CD does indeed have _only_ the music, which is eerily beautiful and haunting. I should point out to potential buyers, as I didn't learn this until I actually listened to the CD, that the version of The Doors' "The End" is actually the interesting remix heard in the movie, complete with synthesizer enhancements, chirping jungle crickets, and Jim Morrison's Oedipal vulgarities brought to the surface, instead of buried under the instrumentation as on The Doors original recording (in which the vulgarities can barely be heard). "Suzie Q" sounds to me an awful lot like the version in the movie, though I'm unsure it's exactly the same; it doesn't matter, it's so darn close. What's really nifty is the intro and conclusion of "Suzie Q," which contains the synthesizer effects heard in the movie as a sort of musical segway. In short, if you love "Apocalypse Now," and what you want is _the music_ from the movie, this CD is perfect. To my ears, the music doesn't sound dated at all; it could've been done yesterday for a new movie.

I've noticed some griping that this new version of the soundtrack does not contain dialogue, unlike the original 2 disc version that came out originally. well, you can't please everybody. one of my other favourite soundtracks, "Blade Runner" often gets slagged in reviews because it contains some dialogue, which some people find intrusive. if you want to hear the dialogue, watch the movie. this disc is about the music, which is as dark and forbidding as any synth music i've heard, perfectly evoking the chaos and hellish atmosphere shown on screen. track seven, "nung river" has a particularly sinister feel, making that trip up river feel inexorable. "do lung" has a nightmarish carnival sound to it, appropriate to the scene's images of a place spiralling out of control. overall, if you like dark, atmospheric soundtrack music, (it is also very rhythmic) you will enjoy this, even if you haven't seen the movie.

I have yet to see the Redux as it hasn't opened in Tokyo but I was able to obtain the soundtrack. I have been a big fan for 20+ years of both the movie and the original soundtrack. Love it or hate it, Coppola (and the soundtrack) captured the zeitgeist of that war and its clash of cultures. The original soundtrack follows the movie with audio scenes taken directly from it together with Willard's running dialogue -- in the Redux soundtrack these are gone. I cannot rate the new material but can comment on track numbers 11 and 17. Track 11 is titled _Clean's Funeral_ and is billed as "previously unreleased". In fact, a version of it did appear on the original soundtrack as _Clean's Death_ (Disc Two, Track 3 of the "Definitive Edition"). The original soundtrack version was very beautiful with the inclusion of female vocals, the Redux version lacks this and comes off as rather antiseptic with synthesizer and trumpet only. Track 17 is a gem, entitled _Finale_, and includes the music from the final scene of the movie which was previously missing, it not being included in the original soundtrack. This scene (to me) is the most powerful of the entire movie and the music accompanying it equally so -- it alone being worth the price of the CD. The Redux soundtrack is worthy of your money and attention, my only complaint being that certain tracks were shortened and others did not blend well together.

The soundtrack to "Apocalypse Now" has probably undergone as much remixing, remastering, revising and restoring as the film it's derived from. According to the liner notes, director Francis Ford Coppola originally approached Japanese composer Isao Tomita to do an all-electronic score for his epic Vietnam film. But due to prior commitments and the laborious nature of his work, that was impossible. Instead, he collaborated with his father Carmine on a symphonic score that would then be played into the latest (for 1979) synthesizers. With additional sounds courtesy of the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Wagner, and U.S. Army helicopters. Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead also contributed various percussion effects that eventually became an album of its own ("The Apocalypse Now Sessions"). The result is music just as strange and hypnotic as the movie. The Doors got a major career revival thanks to this film and the version of "The End" here gives you a true sense of the journey you, as a listener, are about to undertake. Coppola remixes the original song with electronically treated sounds of helicopters flying across your speakers, jungle crickets and generous use of echo. The "Redux" version pares everything down to the music alone, adding 2 tracks not on the original double album ("Love Theme" from the French Plantation sequence, and "Clean's Funeral") But the MAJOR drawback here is the absence of Martin Sheen's spooky narration from the film that really underscored everything happening and gave you a better context as to where you were in the film's story. I can only imagine what Coppola could do with the samplers and computers of today. But knowing Francis, as we read this he's probably in his underground bunker/wine cellar hunkered over a KEM editing machine with Hendrix on in the background preparing the "absolute final cut" (for now) of "Apocalypse Now".

now we finally have all of the instrumental soundtrack remastered, without the narration or the sound effects. This should be an industry option for other great movies as well

I, too, like the other reviewers, had the original soundtrack recording (on 2 cassettes!) I enjoyed listening to it in the dark of my New York City apartment to re-experience the film and to also learn the dialogue.

However, when the Redux version came out on DVD, I also was looking forward to a newer re-issue of the soundtrack that highlighted the music and left the dialogue out.

I find the synthesized passages and some acoustic instrumentation in their impressive for their time surround sound-like quality quite amazing. The inclusion of the finale where Martin Sheen's character steps out in his "transformed assassin shadow glory" haunting and very moving. It is one of the great moments in modern cinema and in music soundtracks.

The only confusing aspect, which I eventually was able to figure out, was why this soundtrack did not include the really cool and disturbing end credits music. Then I learned that that piece and the others like it used throughout the film were recorded separately on a CD entitled, "The Apocalypse Now Sessions" by the Rhythm Devils. The end credits music appears on the end of that disc on the final track entitled "Napalm for Breakfast." Both these discs make an all around great soundtrack for what I judge as one of the great cinematic works of art.

This is a great sound track. If your a Viet Nam Vet like I am, get a copy, and a copy of the movie, (I have 4 copies of both versions)

Nice soundtrack. I like how "The End" was blended in the opening track. Music is strange. The movie was strange as well. Would be interesting to hear this music done with an orchestra rather than the electronics. Might sound like Bernard Herrmann. I'm glad they dumped the "dialogue" business from it. I buy soundtracks to hear music not the actors; I'd pop in the movie to hear dialogue. I would highly recommend this CD as a unique soundtrack experience. My only gripe was the inclusion of "Suzie Q" - I usually skip this track. The Stone's "I can't get no satisfaction" would have worked much better, if the intention was to add a rock n roll element to the soundtrack.

To complete the sound experience, I highly recommend getting Apocalypse Now Sessions to complement the standard soundtrack. Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead did an excellent job in filling out the dark, jungle atmosphere of the film. No electronics, just lots of percussion - hard to say if this qualifies as an official soundtrack. Companion piece might be best. The jungle, as a character, is captured perfectly by Mickey Hart's Rhythm Devils. The Carmine Coppola soundtrack captures the "mission/story" aspect of the film - military, high-tech trying to combat low-tech - that sort of thing. Either way - both worth checking out. Really gets you right there, back in the jungle...

xcellent! Got to me within a couple days. Plays great. Definitely, buy again from this seller.

This was a bold soundtrack, for a very bold film. I'm not going to try to review it's merit as much as explain the thought processes to what went into what you hear, and the differences between the two soundtracks.

This soundtrack contains some of the songs from the film, plus the full score by Carmine Coppola. It also contains almost none of the dialog and sound effects that are on the original score put together by multi-Oscar winner Walter Murch. That soundtrack could prehaps be considered a narrative, like listening to the film, and it's interesting owning them both, and listening to both.

As to the score itself, Francis Coppola originally asked Isao Tomita to score the film with his synthesized orchestral sound. Synthesizers had started to find a use in film scoring at the time, other than just a fad with composers such as Gil Melle, Giorgio Moroder, Vangelis. However, Tomita passed, and in stepped Coppola's father, Carmine, known mostly for creating orchestral scores. Well, Carmine stepped up to the task, and scored the film as if he were writing for an orchestra, but hired the likes of Patrick Gleeson as a "master synthesist", Nyle Steiner to play his EVI and EWI wind synthesizers (best heard on Chef's Death and Voyage), Bernard Krause, Shirley Walker, Ed Goldfarb, Don Preston, Mickey Hart and Airto Moreina to aid with percussion, plus actual choirs, Randy Hansen playing guitar, and Carmine himself playing flute. The blend is actually a little dated now, especially if you're used to hearing mock orchestration, and electronic/orchestral blended scores by people like Hans Zimmer or James Horner, etc. But for what it is, and the time it created, it does contain some very beautiful passages that fit the film perfectly, almost like a time capsule, and one of the most bold and full electronic scores ever, certainly for that time.