Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut (2019) or Redux?

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I haven't seen it yet but I am very interested. It's hard to say what I like better between the original cut and Redux, as I like them both in different ways.

Is The Final Cut better than Redux, or better than the original even?



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Well I saw it. Not sure how I would rank it among the other two versions yet. Why did Coppola decide to cut out the second playboy bunny scene though? He decided to put it back in in Redux, so why has he changed his mind about that scene now, do you think?



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I think he realised that it was genuinely redundant and excessive. The first scene with the Bunnies is not only another bizarre setpiece but also makes the point of how the Americans don't take the war too seriously when compared to the more successful ruthlessness shown by both the Viet Cong and Kurtz. The second scene with the Bunnies sees their manager essentially trade them to the boat crew for fuel. As I recall, Coppola's original explanation for including that scene in Redux is that the more direct exploitation of the Bunnies was supposed to mirror that of the soldiers being made to fight and die in the war (because that's the only reason either group is in Vietnam and being made to serve the interests of the powers that be). Still, in context it ends up coming across as a clumsy sequence that's tonally inconsistent (jaggedly cross-cutting a goofy scene with a sombre one) and ironically ends up being a little exploitative in its use of female nudity - I even read an interview where Coppola name-checked #MeToo as one of his reasons for leaving it out of the Final Cut. Otherwise, it doesn't communicate anything that the first Bunnies scene didn't already get across.

As for what I made of the Final Cut, I think the reasons I listed are as good an argument for leaving out the second Bunnies scene - likewise, I don't recall the Time magazine scene being of such import that I missed it. Still going to prefer the theatrical over both Final Cut and Redux, I think.
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Oh okay, I actually thought maybe Coppola may have taken out the second bunny scene cause of the Metoo movement, but it seems like a modern cop out, since the movie takes place in the Vietnam war, long before the Metoo movement. It just doesn't seem right to be editing movies set in historical time periods, saying that it's too controversial because of modern times.

That would be like Coppola deciding to recut the Godfather, and taking the horse scene out, because of PETA and animal rights in modern times, wouldn't it?

I never thought of a the second scene immediately following the first bunny one though, as there is a fade from one sequence to the next and it does feel like enough time has passed to change moods, or so I thought.



Welcome to the human race...
It is possible to make films that are set in the past as a means of reflecting on themes and issues that are relevant in the present, though. I think it's fair because he already left it out of the theatrical cut to begin with so it's not like he's necessarily tarnishing the original by leaving it out a second time. That's just part of the editing process - figuring out which scenes are worth keeping and why. This one simply wasn't worth keeping for a multitude of reasons.



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Well I thought that he cut it out of the original cause the studio had him on time constraints, and then when he did Redux, he put it back in cause he wanted to. Now it seems like he recut the movie cause of modern times social pressure, otherwise why would he have wanted to put the scene back in, back in 2001 with Redux?



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Yeah I guess. It's just that people seem so sensitive nowadays, which is why risky movies are not made anymore, and now Coppola has to list this as one of the reasons he cut the scene out.

However, as for the other reasons of it being redundant and excessive, I'll go back and watch it. Is it anymore unnecessary for the movie compared to the first playboy bunny scene though?