Comments on: Shit, still in Saigon.

Question: Shit, still in Saigon.

mwhybark — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 10:50:09 -0800

Who holds copyright to Hearts of Darkness^, and why did they block inclusion of the documentary in the recently-released Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier DVD set?

By: jjg

jjg — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 10:56:31 -0800

Why do you say its inclusion was "blocked"? What makes you think the producers of the DVD set sought to have it included?

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 11:29:34 -0800

That's what the notes in the package say.

By: The Deej

The Deej — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 12:53:35 -0800

Hearts of Darkness is an excellent film. I, too, wish it was included in The Complete Dossier. Thankfully I do have a VHS version which I watch every few months. Maybe a DVD version is in the works. Not an answer to your question, but hopeful speculation.

Oh, and regarding the ^, I thought everyone signed off on my definitive list in MeTa. No? OK, sorry. :)

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 13:01:55 -0800

Noted, Deej. Will deploy in future.

By: Nathaniel W

Nathaniel W — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 13:23:38 -0800

Here's what Coppola had to say when the disc was coming out. I'd definitely be interested to see the doc with a Coppola commentary, so long as it was released uncut.

By: Nathaniel W

Nathaniel W — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 13:36:59 -0800

Upon poking around a bit more, it looks like here is a thread on IMDB where co-director George Hickenlooper weighs in on the difficulties getting the doc released now. Outside of whatever issues there are with Coppola's involvement, I'd suspect that any rights issues would just be working out something satisfactory between the producers of the film (looks like that's Showtime) and whoever's got the video rights (Paramount?).

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 14:17:20 -0800

Dag, that was what i was kinda feared of.

By: solid-one-love

solid-one-love — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 14:53:01 -0800

Sort of off-topic, but I didn't know until now that my well-maintained VHS copy is worth a pretty penny. Thanks for bringing up the subject.

By: Onanist

Onanist — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 07:37:16 -0800

Very late to thread, but I downloaded a good copy of Hearts of Darkness from Usenet recently and I imagine it's available on some of the P2P apps as well. The release title (to search on) is "Hearts.of.Darkness.NTSC.by.TiT0" and the following is an extract from the .nfo file of that release:

The movie was never available on DVD... it exists only in out-of-print VHS editions, as well as an elusive LD version. Legal entanglements apparently prevent an official DVD release.

We are proud to present you with a digitally-cleaned and remastered DVD made from a LD transfer, enhanced by the addition of an EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY track by our media critic Piter de Vries, offering additional insights into the making of what remains the most haunting Vietnam War film ever made by an American artist. "Hearts" may be the best behind-the-scenes documentary, ever.

By: The Deej

The Deej — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 10:13:30 -0800

I found this interesting in Nathaniel W's posted link: "(Coppola) also mentioned that not everything in the documentary was accurate or fair to him; some of the footage was taken out of context. He wished that he could do a commentary track on the documentary to correct the misimpressions."

It's odd because even though his wife is not listed as a writer or director, she narrated it, and filmed much, if not most of it. I always thought that something his wife had so much involvement in would be pretty accurate.

In any case, it is an excellent film. If you can find a VHS copy, snap it up. I'll have to dust off my copy and watch it this week.