September 12, 2001
MarkBernstein.org
 

Apocalypse Now!

See the new cut. Do not put it off, no matter how fresh the original cut is in your memory.

Unlike the recut Blade Runner, which remains quite close to the original release, the new Apocalypse Now is a far broader, more ponderous, and even stranger movie. The experience of seeing an old movie remade is itself a strange kind of remediation, rendered stranger because our attitudes toward Vietnam, toward government, toward madness have all changed. It's changed, too, because we've seen Hearts of Darkness and know so much about how this movie came to be made.

I saw the new Apocalypse at the new Boston Common complex: this is a film that merits the outrageous ticket price ($10!) for true widescreen, first-class sound, and a projector that isn't artificially dimmed.