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The Apocalypse Now Book (Paperback)

~ Peter Cowie (Author) "Tracing the genesis of a masterpiece like Apocalypse Now yields no easy eureka..." (more)
Key Phrases: French Plantation, Fred Roos, Michael Herr (more...)

3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"When you've seen "Apocalypse Now Redux," you should read Peter Cowie's "Apocalypse Now Book" ...It has far richer detail." -- ---New York Times 5/13/01

Product Description

A cinematic legend: The making of Francis Ford Coppola's epic about Vietnam and the folly of war, based on unprecedented access to Coppola's private archives.

The movie took years to be filmed and edited, and was the subject of endless stories, rumors, and speculation. At a screening at Cannes in May 1979, Francis Ford Coppola said simply, "There wasn't a truthful thing written about [the film] in four years." That year at Cannes Apocalypse Now won the Palme d'Or, going on from there to worldwide acclaim and etching itself in the memories of audiences with unforgettable sequences like the dawn helicopter attack scored to Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" or Lt. Colonel Kilgore's chilling "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Here, generously illustrated with evocative stills from the film and revealing photographs from the set, is the story behind the movie where Vietnam met Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. It is the extraordinary saga of Coppola and his crew and actors-who included Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Harvey Keitel, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, and Harrison Ford-battling hurricanes in the jungles of the Philippines, the calamity of a lead actor's heart attack, crises both psychological and financial ...and in the end giving rise to a modern film classic.

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Product Details

Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Da Capo Press; 1ST edition (April 10, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0306810468
ISBN-13: 978-0306810466
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #599,555 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Tracing the genesis of a masterpiece like Apocalypse Now yields no easy eureka. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
French Plantation, Fred Roos, Michael Herr, Martin Sheen, United States, San Francisco, Dean Tavoularis, Tom Sternberg, Francis Coppola, United Artists, Los Angeles, Walter Murch, John Milius, Marlon Brando, Vittorio Storaro, Green Berets, New York, Dennis Hopper, Frederic Forrest, Gray Frederickson, Hau Phat, Doug Claybourne, Eleanor Coppola, George Lucas, Nha Trang

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 35 books:

Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola on 69 pages
Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions) by Joseph Conrad on 23 pages
Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad on 23 pages
"Apocalypse Now": The Ultimate A-Z (Bloomsbury Movie Guide) by Karl French on 14 pages
Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker by George Lucas on page 1, page 5, and page 6

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6 books cite this book:

Revolution!: The Explosion of World Cinema in the Sixties by Peter Cowie in Front Matter
The Coen Brothers' Fargo (Cambridge Film Handbooks) by William G. Luhr on page 30
Film and Authorship (Depth of Film) by Virginia Wright Wexman on page 111
Shooting Stars: Drugs, Hollywood and the Movies by Harry Shapiro in Back Matter
Revolution!: The Explosion of World Cinema in the Sixties by Peter Cowie in Front Matter

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Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Apocalypse Now by Karl French

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	47% buy the item featured on this page: The Apocalypse Now Book 3.7 out of 5 stars (3) $16.20
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	6% buy Notes on the Making of Apocalypse Now 3.3 out of 5 stars (3)

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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wealth of information, with some glaring omissions, May 9, 2003

By	Joe Kenney "buttergun" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Talk about bad timing. After years waiting for a good Apocalypse Now book, Peter Cowie's comes out, right around the same time as "Apocalypse Now Redux." The irony being that Cowie wrote the book in 2000, a full year before Coppola unveiled his reworked masterpiece. This means that, due to how long the publishing process takes, the book has hardly any information about Redux, which is a shame. As Cowie's interview with Coppola took place in 1999, there are no quotes or thoughts from the director about what lead him to create Redux.

That being said, the rest of the book is very informative, in some cases too informative. The background, pre-production detail is nearly staggering. I would have liked to have learned more about screenwriter John Milius' original script idea, "The Psychedelic Soldier," which, after he was inspired by the idea to do a modern tribute to Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," became Apocalypse Now. Cowie, however, does do a great job of mentioning many of the early drafts of the script, even quoting from the rarely-seen first draft, in which the VC speak in goofy subtitles, and Colonel Kilgore is known as Colonel Kharnage.

The level of research Cowie has performed leaves me wondering over many glaring omissions. For example, the highlight of the book is a chapter titled "Buried Treasure," in which Cowie goes over the 5 � hour work print. Though he gives detailed descriptions of the major scenes that are in the work print, but were not included in the original version (or the Redux), there's no mention of the Photojournalist's death scene, which is a major revelation of the work print. Likewise, Cowie doesn't mention how deadly Martin Sheen's Willard is in the work print; for example, in it he kills a child in the climax.

Cowie also fails to cover little bits and pieces that are interesting in the film. For example, he doesn't mention that Lee Ermey, who would later make film history as the drill instructor in "Full Metal Jacket," plays one of Kilgore's helicopter pilots, during the beach raid sequence. And there is no detail about what scenes, exactly, Harvey Keitel filmed during the few weeks he spent on the set. But these little matters are trivial. The fact is, the book is a pretty good compendium of information about my favorite movie. There are no color photos, but there are some nice behind-the-scenes shots and stills, including a very nice one of Willard's head coming out of the swamp, enshrouded in fog.

The main thing I found interesting in the book was that cinematographer Storaro advised Coppola to end the movie on a pessimistic note. Watching one of the early edits, Storaro urged Coppola to integrate the scenes of Willard hacking at Kurtz with the caribou sacrifice, as well as the shots of Kurtz's compound exploding. The way Storaro envisioned it, Willard would kill Kurtz at the exact same time as the air strike, which would obliterate all of them. A very dark ending, but Coppola obviously didn't like it. The footage of Kurtz's compound being destroyed, by the way, is included as an extra on the Apocalypse Now (original version) DVD.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fun, Entertaining and Insightful Look At The Creation Of A Masterpiece, February 21, 2008

By	Vladdy Trout (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This book is a must read for any fan of Apocalypse Now. It goes into detail about the creation of the movie and offers interesting insights into the pre-production process, including excepts from transcripts of conversation between Coppola and Brando about the Kurtz character. The rest of the book is filled with a ton of information. There is a great section on the different cuts of the film, including a look at the 5 hour rough cut. This book makes a great companion when viewing Apocalypse Now Redux.

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18 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Inappropriately named - -, September 2, 2008

By	Georgia L. Jenkins "home business enthusiast" (Freeport,IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A person coming from a Christian point of view, and interested in study of the "last days" can be very fooled by this title.
I was, and so was partially handicapped relative. Intended to return it, but misplaced address.
May read as connections could be of interest.

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