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| Directors: Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper
Actors: Marlon Brando, Colleen Camp, Francis Ford Coppola, Gia Coppola, Roman Coppola
Studio: Paramount
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $1.85
You Save: $13.10 (88%)
New (5) Used (30) Collectible (4) from $1.85
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 10704
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Hifi Sound, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 96 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 6302414016
UPC: 097368308138
EAN: 9780792123293
ASIN: 6302414016
Theatrical Release Date: November 27, 1991
Release Date: January 1, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION. TAPE EXCELLENT, CLEAN AND LIGHTLY VIEWED. ORIGINAL BOX IS MINT!
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 30
Deep into the darkness of film and man October 24, 2007
Don Eldredge (Sherman, TX United States)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
It took a lot of guts on the part of the Coppola family to release this documentary in the first place. Not many people would make public filmed footage of a family's patriarch losing his mind and coming dangerously close to total mental meltdown while making a movie. And in this case we are talking about a highly respected and honored director.
Francis Ford Coppola's descent into madness during the plagued filming of "Apocalypse Now" wasn't entirely the fault of the Philippines Army, horrific weather, Martin Sheen's heart attack during filming, or Marlon Brando's prima donna attitude. It wasn't just the rampant use of pop drugs on the set. Much of the trouble, including the lack of a cohesive script, falls directly on the shoulders of the director. And "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse," shot by the director's wife, Eleanor Coppola, and released 12 years after the original movie, never turns away from the truth. It is a fascinating account of how everything went wrong and still a remarkable film ascended from the madness.
Anyone who believes FF Coppola either botched or somehow missed great opportunity with the compound segment of the film can upon viewing this begin to understand how chaos during those dark days on the set in the late 1970s led to the final outcome. The director said, his film isn't about Vietnam; it is Vietnam. That statement is somewhat validated with this documentary.
It is amazing that such a powerful piece of filmmaking could come out of such a calamity. But, flaws and all, it is among the best films produced out of Hollywood. And this companion piece is a vital part of the story. It is a MUST SEE for fans of "Apocalypse Now." It is engrossing for all.
The late coming DVD release (November 2007) reportedly includes an update piece ("CODA: Thirty Years Later") that is most welcome. It's icing. Buy this one.
Going insane somewhere down the crazy river June 20, 1999
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
With so much written about Francis Ford Coppola's landmark Vietnam epic the question arises as to whether we need to witness another account of the ill fated production of arguably the greatest post World War 2 American film. Well, yes as a matter of fact, as Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper's film about the making of "Apocalypse Now" remains the definitive version. The documentary combines the footage shot on set by Coppola's wife Eleanor, with interviews with the cast and the principal members of the production team, and a large contribution by Coppola himself. What began in March 1976 as a 16 week shoot soon mushroomed into a production that lasted almost three years. John Milius' original screenplay became devoured by Coppola's unique vision, a "work in progress" which slowed filming to a snail's pace. The documentary catalogues the major calamities that plagued the film - the problems with the Philippine government, the abominable weather that destroyed huge sets, Martin Sheen's heart attack, bad press back in Hollywood and Marlon Brando who refused to play an elephantine Colonel Kurtz. Contributions from the cast are by turns funny and informative. The archive footage of Coppola and some clandestine recordings of the self doubts he confessed to his wife are extraordinary, as we see a film-maker who decorated the seventies with some wonderful motion pictures, crumble and dip his toes into the waters of madness as the budget for the movie soared into absurdity. "Hearts of Darkness" is also essential as it shows much of the footage that was left on the cutting room floor - the so-called "French Plantation" sequence, some of Brando's improvisations and the destruction of Kurtz' compound which never made the director's cut. Unfortunately there are some omissions. No light is shed on Harvey Keitel's firing from the movie after just two weeks of shooting. And Brando refused to contribute to the documentary. Finally what is so great about "Hearts of Darkness", is that it sends you scrambling back to view "Apocalypse Now" with new insights and a greater appreciation of Coppola's cinematic alchemy. For those interested, film fans should seek out the similar "Burden of Dreams", Les Blank's 1982 chronicle of the troubled production of Werner Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo," another film that almost succumbed to the ravages of the jungle...
Get this to see a great documentary (shown without cuts) not for DVD "extra" November 24, 2007
The Rocketman (Los Angeles, CA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
HEARTS OF DARKNESS is one of the few documentaries on film making where you get to see a true artistic process. After watching this, you will find nearly all "Making of..." pieces found on DVDs for what they really are: marketing fluff. As a result, I eagerly watched HEARTS OF DARKNESS on DVD after last seeing it more than 10 years ago. I was very nervous that Coppola would be releasing a butchered form of the documentary. After all, he bares his soul in a way that few real artists do in public -- the picture of him holding a gun to his head (and not all in fun) is pretty intense stuff.
I am happy to report that the whole film is here, there doesn't appear to any cuts and the run time (96 minutes) matches that of the official times listed on the Internet. Thank you, Francis!
Now to the DVD extra, an hour-long documentary called CODA: THIRTY YEARS LATER. It's this new documentary (40% of the total DVD content!) which explains why Coppola is finally re-releasing HOD. The title "CODA" it misleading (especially in this context) because CODA has nothing to do with Apocalypse Now. Rather it is a documentary on Coppola's newest film YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH. Perhaps because YWY looks to be an essential parlor piece with lots of dialog, CODA is, unfortunately, tedious. In fact, YWY has not yet been given a wide release in the US, so what we really have here is a (you guessed it) "Making of..." film for marketing purposes. Sure, it would have made a great extra on the YWY DVD, but it is a huge letdown after HEARTS OF DARKNESS. In fact, CODA didn't leave me wanting to see YWY and initial professional reviews reveal that the film itself is a letdown.
Instead, rejoice that Coppola decided to re-release HEARTS OF DARKNESS to home video to market his new film. Every single student of film should see HOD -- it is also a perfect companion piece to Lost in La Mancha, another documentary that shows that most of Hollywood isn't the glitz that it sells. (Fun fact: both HOD and LLM are documentaries about people trying to make films that eluded Orson Welles -- though Coppola succeeded where Terry Gilliam failed.)
Life As Art As Life As Art As Life As Art... May 31, 2001
David Bradley (Sterling, VA USA)
5 out of 11 found this review helpful
It's truly a shame that this amazing documentary is now out of print. Hunt down a used copy or find it at your local video rental place. It's well worth the effort.The amazing thing about the Coppola's efforts is the circular karma that seemed to go into overdrive: Francis tries to make a film based on "Heart of Darkness", a story about a man and a country that gets lost in his mental interior while probing the interior of an alien land. He uses the story to try and tell the story of a different man and a different country getting lost in their mental interiors while probing the interior of another alien land. In the process Coppola, trying to deal with his lead actor getting lost in his mental interior while probing the interior of an alien land, loses himself in his mental interior while probing...well, you get the picture.
Almost as good as the film itself October 30, 2007
Howard Bleach (earth)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Like many others, I searched and searched for years only to find a beat up VHS copy of this extraordinary documentary. This overdue DVD release and rumored '30 years later' segment' is cause for real celebration - Hearts of Darkness examines the pathos and obsession of man almost as well as the film on which it is centered. Can't wait!
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