Having just watched this (and not knowing about the ending YOU saw) I totally agree with you that it largely doesn't make sense. It still sticks with you, but not as an overall narrative. I was asked not long ago what it was "about" and couldn't really answer that.
PS- loved the description of Todd Phillips. I hated "Joker" before it was cool
He was an oddly sleazy kid, and now he strikes me as a sleazy very rich and famous man. I could see in his eyes that he was always hustling. There was a weird insincerity about him.
I need to rewatch the edition I bought last year. I don't remember which ending it has. It was a "steel box" edition that had the sound remixed to Dolby Atmos and it included a lot of bonus material. I haven't waded through all the extra features yet so I'm hoping that ending is in there somewhere.
I always thought of the movie as a series of disjointed fever dreams/nightmares tied together by the journey upriver.
You're following a main character in the process, and he's just watching disjointed fever dreams with you. For the most part, there could have been a dog sitting in the boat instead of Martin Sheen! What you're saying is pretty much what I'm saying. The only reason he's even there is so there's a reason to look at the big sequences. But it doesn't go anywhere thematically. He's not a character so much as he's a reason for Coppola to shoot big sequences that don't connect in any way. Then he tries to have Marlon Brando bullshit a theme for you at the end. That's bad storytelling. The magnitude of the amazing sequences convince people they've seen a total masterpiece, when only those set-pieces are masterful. The rest is Coppola going "What do I do next?"
No. That's during the opening dream sequence with the helicopters. You would have seen that original ending the first time you saw the movie, but not for a long, long time afterward if you saw it again.
It'll be great with your sound system going. You may only be able to find the "final" version that he cut together a few years ago that has a boring "French plantation" scene cut into it that slows everything down to a crawl all of a sudden - his desire to put it back in just dumbfounds me - but the movie as a whole still has all those amazing sequences. That helicopter attack is just stunning. Nowadays it would all be CGI and it would suck.
Having just watched this (and not knowing about the ending YOU saw) I totally agree with you that it largely doesn't make sense. It still sticks with you, but not as an overall narrative. I was asked not long ago what it was "about" and couldn't really answer that.
PS- loved the description of Todd Phillips. I hated "Joker" before it was cool
He was an oddly sleazy kid, and now he strikes me as a sleazy very rich and famous man. I could see in his eyes that he was always hustling. There was a weird insincerity about him.
so not a fan
I need to rewatch the edition I bought last year. I don't remember which ending it has. It was a "steel box" edition that had the sound remixed to Dolby Atmos and it included a lot of bonus material. I haven't waded through all the extra features yet so I'm hoping that ending is in there somewhere.
I always thought of the movie as a series of disjointed fever dreams/nightmares tied together by the journey upriver.
You're following a main character in the process, and he's just watching disjointed fever dreams with you. For the most part, there could have been a dog sitting in the boat instead of Martin Sheen! What you're saying is pretty much what I'm saying. The only reason he's even there is so there's a reason to look at the big sequences. But it doesn't go anywhere thematically. He's not a character so much as he's a reason for Coppola to shoot big sequences that don't connect in any way. Then he tries to have Marlon Brando bullshit a theme for you at the end. That's bad storytelling. The magnitude of the amazing sequences convince people they've seen a total masterpiece, when only those set-pieces are masterful. The rest is Coppola going "What do I do next?"
I definitely remember seeing that scene. I assumed it was always there. Doesn't This is the End play over it?
No. That's during the opening dream sequence with the helicopters. You would have seen that original ending the first time you saw the movie, but not for a long, long time afterward if you saw it again.
Oh, OK. I haven't watched it in probably 30 years. I need to watch it again sometime.
It'll be great with your sound system going. You may only be able to find the "final" version that he cut together a few years ago that has a boring "French plantation" scene cut into it that slows everything down to a crawl all of a sudden - his desire to put it back in just dumbfounds me - but the movie as a whole still has all those amazing sequences. That helicopter attack is just stunning. Nowadays it would all be CGI and it would suck.
The last time I saw it was with that scene. It sucked.