“Had plenty of time last night, so I figured I’d attack one of the longer ones in the movie queue. The version I have is The Complete Dossier which gives you both the original and the Redux version, each split in half over two disks. I figured I’d go with the original. Having an “”intermission”” was both a good and bad thing. For one it made the lengthy movie seem a lot more manageable, thinking of it in terms of needing to get through an hour and fifteen then another hour and fifteen. And I think it did help me stay awake longer than I otherwise would have. But then when I inevitably fell asleep at the start of the second disk, it felt like there was a big disconnect between the two halves.
This isnt the first Vietnam flick to make an appearance in the AFI project, and its a slight bit annoying how many freakin’ war flicks in general are on the list. Granted, they’re good, but a bit more variety would be very much appreciated. Definitely prefered this over Platoon (and I find it kinda interesting that …Now has Martin Sheen then a few years later Charlie Sheen starred in Platoon). Unsure which I’d prefer between this and The Deer Hunter. I think I was more into Apocalypse Now, but I liked the Deer Hunter characters better. However Full Metal Jacket (not an AFI film sadly) is still my fave ‘Nam film.
I know that I read Heart of Darkness back in high school but I dont quite remember well any of it, really. Other than there was a crazy guy named Kurtz and it was actually set in Africa. I do find it interesting that it was moved to Vietnam, and I do think that worked out quite well. Although it did seem strange to me that you go so \m/ long until you meet Kurtz. Cant remember if thats how it happened in the book, but that was prolly a big part of why I felt kinda disconnected by the time we reached the second half.”