10 Alternate Versions Of Films To Watch Before The Snyder Cut
6. Apocalypse Now Redux
Apocalypse Now is one of the greatest films of all time, made even more so by the troubles that it had gone through in the course of its production. Francis Ford Coppola had been on board from the beginning, initially as producer but when George Lucas became unavailable to direct, he stepped in.
It would be easy to imagine the amount of times he wished he hadn't.
The weather shut the production down. Their lead actor quit. Their other lead actor turned up late and grossly overweight for the role. The film ran over budget. Their replacement lead actor had a heart attack.
Despite this, after 238 days, principal photography wrapped and Coppola got to work on putting the film together. There are several versions of the film now available to watch.
The original theatrical release ran at 146 minutes without credits. The Redux edition released in 2001, runs at 202 minutes, restoring a lengthy scene taking place on a French plantation in Indochina. This scene was a source of great frustration for Coppola originally, as the technology to create it the way that he wanted to letting him down. This was amended for the Redux. Several other scenes restored were the second encounter with Playboy Bunnies and the Surfboard scene.
There also exists the Assembly Cut, which is more of a bootleg and runs at 249 minutes. The Final Cut is Coppola's definitive edition, which is something of a pared down version of the Redux. Where in the Redux, the French plantation scene runs a little too long, this trims it back.