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CD - Remastered
For many, director Francis Ford Coppola's Academy Award-winning epic Apocalypse Now is the definitive film portrait of the chaos and bloodshed of the Vietnam War. The meticulous manner in which Coppola worked on the film is just as evident in its score, which he composed and assembled with his father, Carmine Coppola (The Godfather). So when the director decided to re-release the film in the summer of 2001 with additional scenes, it was only natural for such a perfectionist to revamp the soundtrack with extra music. The Coppolas' dizzying score evokes the labyrinth of war in a steamy jungle setting, and their use of nonoriginal music is brilliantly imaginative. Who can forget Richard Wagner's booming "Ride of the Valkyries" in the film's now-famous helicopter scene or the eerie opening scene framed by the Doors' "The End" -- when Jim Morrison wails, "All the children are insane!" he sets a maddening tone for the film, which traces Captain Willard's (Martin Sheen) trip upriver to murder the psychotic Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). In its use of electronic music, the soundtrack remains a pioneering effort. For example, "Clean's Death" mixes indigenous instruments, trumpet, and electronic sounds. Two previously unreleased tracks follow: "Clean's Funeral," highlighted by a solo trumpet that vanishes into a sea of synthesizers and violins, and "Love Theme," a haunting, windlike passage rife with flute and strings. Apocalypse Now Redux sets a high standard for film soundtracks, astutely mixing rock, classical, and the sounds of the jungle into a feverish musical feast. Andrew Velez, Barnes & Noble