Michael_Elliott Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991) **** (out of 4)Excellent documentary about the madness that Francis Ford Coppola put himself through trying to make the epic APOCALYPSE NOW.It turns out that Coppola's wife was shooting during the entire production of the movie so directors Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper took this footage, added new interviews with the cast and crew and turned it into a terrific example of what lengths certain people will go to in order to reach what vision they have. I think the film falls a tad bit short of BURDEN OF DREAMS but there's no question that this film is quite addicting.I think the greatest thing about this movie is that it gives you a great idea of what it takes in order to get what you want. Throughout the shooting of the film we see Coppola slowly losing his mind as all sorts of production troubles happen. There are typhoons, a war where the helicopters he's paying for are needed for battle, Martin Sheen has a heart attack and then there's Marlon Brando getting paid a million a week but refusing to shoot anything until he understands his character.It's fascinating to see the effect all of this has on Coppola and how he eventually begins to crack. My only complaint on the film is that it didn't run longer because I would have sat through another hour or so worth of material. The film also benefits from the terrific behind-the-scenes footage and especially the stuff with Brando. I've never been overly thrilled with the ending to APOCALYPSE NOW but after watching this it all makes sense.

Daniel Cancela A documentary that only shows one thing: Coppola being an immature and pretentious child that acts like he did not know what he was in for.The tapes of the discussions between Coppola and his wife just contributes to this child play.One hour and a half with complaining that are everything but surprising.There are better behind-the-scenes documentaries than this.Instead of wasting your time seeing this, use it for a second viewing of the movie it was based on, "Apocalypse Now".---------------Good movies!

Jackson Booth-Millard Apocalypse Now, from director Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, The Conversation, Bram Stoker's Dracula), is considered one of the greatest war films of all time, it features in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, as does this documentary about the making of the film, which was rated well by critics. Told mostly from the point of view of Coppola's wife Eleanor, with interviews from Coppola himself (including without his knowledge) and the cast and crew, this film chronicles the ups and downs, high and lows and generally the sensational events during the making of Apocalypse Now, based loosely on the book Heart of Darkness. It shows the director's frustration with the various occurrences on and off set, problems during scriptwriting and filming, the firing of Harvey Keitel and replacing him with Martin Sheen, Sheen drunk on set, injuring himself and having a heart attack, trying to secure the casting of Marlon Brando or any big name in the part of Kurtz, funding and distribution for the film, and the tabloids capturing all this. With contributions from Sam Bottoms, Gia Coppola, Roman Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Robert Duvall, Laurence Fishburne, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Dennis Hopper, George Lucas and Martin Sheen. It is interesting to see what really goes behind the scenes during all the aspects of making a film, before and during the production, and it goes to show that filmmaking really is not an easy process, a great documentary. Very good!

ntvnyr30 This is a fascinating documentary of all the legendary problems that occurred during the filming of "Apocalypse Now." It is a must-see for all those who love films, as it documents the vicissitudes of a major film project.As I wrote in my review of "Godfather III", I believe that Francis Ford Coppola is the modern-day incarnate of Orson Welles. Welles would sell off his personal assets and go into the red just to complete his film, just like Coppola. Welles' most famous account was during the filming of "Othello," which was filmed over 4 years! Welles would frequently run out of money, would act in a film (most notably "The Third Man") and use the proceeds to continue filming "Othello." He would also try to obtain financing through other sources. The amazing thing is that despite the sporadic filming of "Othello," it won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1952 and is still a great film.Like Welles, Coppola sold off his assets to complete "Apocalypse Now" and endured such legendary problems as Brando's obesity, Sheen's heart attack, a typhoon and an ever-changing script, to name a few. The fact that he completed the film is in itself a feat, but he made a classic film that will endure for years. I admit that this an arty, surreal depiction of Vietnam as opposed to other realistic films ("We Were Soldiers" for one) that probably are better examples of that war. However, the images in "Apocalypse Now" (i.e. Col. Kilgore, Dennis Hopper's photo-journalist, et al.) are exemplary.Maybe it's not so much of a coincidence that Coppola based "Apoclypse Now" on "Heart of Darkness"--which was the chosen piece for Orson Welles' first film.I had to bring up the Marlon Brando debacle: he didn't read the book on which the script was based like he was supposed to, he showed up grossly out-of-shape, he shut down production to find his character and didn't know his lines. In addition to that, he refused to be malleable during the shooting process, threatening not to show up but yet keeping his 1 million dollar bonus. My only question is: where can I find a job like this?