Apocalypse Now: Final Cut

40 Year Anniversary returns in Cinematic Glory.

Francis Ford Coppola’s exhilarating masterpiece of 1979, Apocalypse Now, returns to the big screen in all its cinematic glory with a striking brand-new 4K, Dolby Atmos©, Dolby Vision © version.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Oscar-winning Vietnam cult war epic this summer, Gravel Road Distribution Group will release a special, never-before-seen cut, restored with breath-taking realism by Coppola himself, to the highest and finest audio and visual standards, for a truly visceral cinematic experience.

Forty years after its original release, South African audiences will get the chance to experience Apocalypse Now: Final Cut, a never-before-seen and newly restored cut of Coppola’s spectacular cinematic masterpiece in a way which the director believes “looks better than it has ever looked and sounds better than it has ever sounded“. Coppola said that he is “thrilled beyond measure to present the best version of the film to the world.” It will release in all seven IMAX theatres in Gauteng, the Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal, from 23 – 29 August 2019.

Restored from the original negative for the first time ever, Apocalypse Now: Final Cut is Coppola’s most complete version of his multi-awarded classic, a haunting journey into madness that fascinated generations of movie lovers and now feels even more monumentally alive than ever before. Ranked as one of the best films of all times, the film stars Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Albert Hall, Laurence Fishburne, Harrison Ford, G.D. Spradlin, Dennis Hopper, Sam Bottoms and Frederic Forrest.

Apocalypse Now was nominated for 8 Academy Awards® (including Best Picture) and won 2 Academy Awards® for Best Cinematography and Best Sound, 2 BAFTAs for Best Direction and Best Best Supporting Actor and the Palme d’Or in Cannes. Starring Academy Award winner Marlon Brando (1972, Best Actor, The Godfather), Academy Award winner Robert Duvall (1983, Best Actor, Tender Mercies), Golden Globewinner Martin Sheen (2001, Best Actor – TV Series, “The West Wing”), Academy Award nominee Dennis Hopper (1986, Best Supporting Actor, Hoosiers), Academy Award nominee Laurence Fishburne (1993, Best Actor, What’s Love Got to Do with it), and Academy Award nominee Harrison Ford (1985, Best Actor, Witness).

The film follows Army Captain Willard (Martin Sheen), a troubled man sent on a dangerous and mesmerizing odyssey into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade American colonel named Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has succumbed to the horrors of war and barricaded himself in a remote outpost.

The best visual and sound technologies have been used to present Coppola’s true vision of the film: one that delivers deep, visceral visual and auditory impact. “The audience will be able to see, hear and feel this film how I always hoped it could be—from the first ‘bang’ to the final whimper” said Coppola.

This is the first time the original negative has ever been scanned and over 11 months and 2,700 hours were spent on cleaning and restoring the film’s 300,173 frames. The Apocalypse Now: Final Cut restoration has been brought to life through ultra-vivid picture quality with Dolby Vision®, delivering spectacular colours never before seen on a screen, with highlights that are up to 40 times brighter, and blacks that are 10 times darker.

Apocalypse Now Final Cut has been mixed in Dolby Atmos® to offer a truly immersive sound experience and it has been enhanced Meyer Sound Laboratories’ newly developed Sensual SoundTM, a technology engineered to output audio below the limits of human hearing.

The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on 28th April 2019 and will celebrate its 40th anniversary in the following IMAX theatres, in South Africa on 23 August 2019: Bay West, Cape Gate, Cradlestone Mall, Eastgate, Gateway, the Grove and Mall of Africa.