Would Apocalypse Now have been better if it ended with Martin Sheen's character ...

[cgannon64]

... standing on top of the steps facing all the natives?

I think - I'm not positive - that somewhere in a commentary Coppola says he considered doing this. Whether or not, I just caught the end of it and I thought that would be a much better ending. It leaves open the interpretation that Martin Sheen's character becomes Kurtz.

But anyway what do you think?

 

[Mescalhead]

No, the ending was fine. Cpt. Willard was misanthropic so it fit well. But the scrapped alternate ending I definately would have liked to have seen was where the entire 'Kutz coumpound' gets napalmed while 'Light My Fire' plays in the backround.

 

[cgannon64]

So that's the scrapped ending I was thinking of...

 

[nonconformist]

It was fine.(BTW check out my avatar) Especially when Willard opens a book, and finds Kurtz has written him a message like "Blow them all up". Then, as Mescalhead, the compound is blown up.

There are several versions of Apocalypse Now:
two cinematic
and the Redux
In the Redux the film ends, but in the cinematic version it is napalmed.

@Mescalhead: are you sure that it was "Light my fire" and not "The End"? The Doors sung both.

 

[Mescalhead]

I know my Doors. It was definately supposed to be 'Light My Fire'. I have only seen one cinematic version (I only though that there was one) and I have seen Redux, but I never saw the napalm ending.

 

[cgannon64]

The End plays in the beginning right?

 

[Garbarsardar.jr]

End in the beginning LMF in the alt end scene...
CpT willard as in the book(Heart of Darkness) identifyies with Curz. the journey is what(through the snakelike river ) brings him closer to his target in space, but also reveals the similarities between the two. For me in the end willard becomes his victim/mentor so I wouldn't change the ending for nothing...

 

[cgannon64]

I just realized I've never seen the normal ending.

I rented the normal one but the DVD broke, so we had to rent Redux to finish it. And Redux was on TV yesterday, not the other one.

 

[King Alexander]

The ending, was JUST perfect. That was the hole point in the movie. If you didn't understood the ending, you didn't understood the movie.
Maybe you see it again.
It's one of my favorite movies(I've seen it, at least 4-5 times).

 

[nonconformist]

@Mescalhead: ah, ok. .The napalm ending is just all the houses blowing up.
The begining is absoulutely perfect-the thumpig of Hueys, the slow strined guitar strings, the forest erupting in flames, Jim Morrisson "This is the end.....beautiful friend. This is the end...my only friend, the end". Classic.
he movies would have been better if Colonel Bill "I love the smaell of napalm in the morning" Kilgore turned up.
The film is perfect. When you look at it, especially the Redux, the drugs, madness and Rock 'n' Roll make you realise the snaest person in the film is infact Kurtz himself.
He gets some of the best lines:
"You're just an errand boy, sent by gocery clerks, to collect the bill"
"Horror and moral terror are your friends. If not, they are enemies to be feared".
"The horror............the horror.".

 

[cgannon64]

"You're just an errand boy, sent by gocery clerks, to collect the bill"
"Horror and moral terror are your friends. If not, they are enemies to be feared".
"The horror............the horror.".

He makes some good points too:

"How come our soldiers can kill civilians but can't right **** on their airplanes?"

 

[nonconformist]

Yeah he does. Though he has been corrupted, he is the only sane person in the whole film!
Did you know Francis Ford Coppola has a cameo in the film?

 

[cgannon64]

No. Although I don't really know what he looked like back then, I wouldn't be able to tell.

 

[nonconformist]

You know when Willard and the guys meet up with Kilgore in the village they have just attacked? They go past a camera crew, and the director shouts something like "Go past, and don't look at the camera!". Coppola is the director.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

Brilliant movie, but I only saw the redux version, so I never got to see the ending in the cinematic ones. Naped huh?

I absolutely love the sound track for that movie.

 

[nonconformist]

Yeah, the End is cool. Plus watching a Huey attack to Ride of the the Valkyries? Classic.
"Outstanding, red team. You case a case of beer when we get home!"

 

[Speedo]

There are several versions of Apocalypse Now:
two cinematic
and the Redux
In the Redux the film ends, but in the cinematic version it is napalmed.

As I recall Coppola's commentary from the DVD, thats NOT the way it is. The "napalming the village" scene was just that they decided to film it when they blew up their set then tacked it on the credits because it looked cool. Been a while since I've seen it though..

 

[nonconformist]

I found this online:
There are four different treatments of the end credits, all four are available in different VHS, laserdisc, DVD and TV prints of the film......

* When the film premiered in a limited 70mm format, it had no beginning or end credits, nothing but a one-line Omni Zoetrope copyright notice at the end. Programs were passed out to theatre goers in lieu of any credits.
* When the film went into it's wide release it's format was 35mm. This version included end credits rolling over surrealistic explosions and burning jungle, showing the Kurtz compound being destroyed.
* When Coppola heard that people were assuming that the explosions during the end credits of the 35mm version meant that an air strike had been called in on the Kurtz compound (which is not what he wanted audiences to think) he quickly re-edited the 35mm version to have the end credits rolling over a simple black background and a slightly altered musical score.
* The "Redux" version also has the end credits over a black background but in different screen fonts and including additional "Redux" inserted cast members.

Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078788/alternateversions