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Francis Ford Coppola is one hell of a filmmaker. The man was at the forefront of the New Hollywood movement as it was becoming a massive concoction of original thinking and huge, tentpole releases like Star Wars and Jaws by cohorts George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. A tremendous leader for those and other filmmakers, Coppola might not have found himself with an Amblin-like franchise film, but maybe he’s better off in the jungle.
Marking its 40th anniversary in 2019, Coppola’s magnum opus Apocalypse Now is set to return to theaters for a series of limited shows. But it isn’t just a stroll down memory lane. Presented in the trailer above, Coppola and his editors have assembled the Final Cut, following the original 1979 release and the 2001 Redux version.
As mentioned in the trailer by the man himself, Final Cut sounds as if it’ll be striking a middle ground between the two previous versions; “longer than the 1979 version but shorter than Apocalypse… Redux.” For reference, the original release clocked in at 153 minutes–no slouch. The Redux cut, which featured troves of new footage included an extended sequence taking place on a French rubber plantation, is a whopping 202 minutes. Close but no cigar, the Final Cut will run for 182 minutes. And I’m sure every one will be just as great as I remember.
Maybe even better, with the Final Cut being the first 4k restoration of the original camera negatives, as well as featuring remastered audio.
If nothing else, it’s an opportunity for a whole new audience to experience one of the greatest movies of all time the way all movies should be seen: In a theater. With IMAX-equipped theaters and other repertory cinemas serving as a safe bet, you should be able to find a screening if you’re looking for one when the screenings happen on August 15th and 18th. Barring that, the new cut will be made available on home media beginning August 27th.