Hearts of Darkness: The Art of Eleanor Coppola - Collector's Edition 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Third time's still a charm! I haven't changed my views on the film so I'll be repurposing my previously published review: 

"...I swallowed a bug..."

How do you review insanity in action on a 1-5 star scale? There are some pieces of work out there that just transcend rating or review simply because they’re the perfect document of an experience. Apocalypse Now is one of the greatest American films ever made. Coppola has a couple of those accolades to his name, but this mashup of the Vietnam War and Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a legendary piece of filmmaking. Not simply because of the final product (in all its iterations), but because of what happened behind the scenes. And Eleanor Coppola was there to capture the unfolding madness and insanity in real time. 

Apocalypse Now was a larger-than-life event picture where everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Before the film was even finished, the Hollywood trades treated it as an unfolding fiasco. Between its ballooning budget, sudden cast changes, typhoons destroying sets, and Coppola personally leveraging his assets, all were fodder feeding the Hollywood press hungry for a scoop. But what those publications printed wasn’t even half of the craziness occurring on a near-daily basis in the Philippines. 

For years after Coppola finally finished the film and released it to huge accolades, the stories of what happened during the shoot were left to rumor. What happened to Harvey Keitel? How were the sets destroyed? Did Coppola really drive Martin Sheen insane? Was Brando really an absolute nightmare on set? The answers to these questions were what people salivated over. It wasn’t just that the film was incredible; people wanted to know what happened on set to make it such an unbelievable production. 

That’s where Eleanor Coppola’s on-set footage and recordings became such a pivotal piece of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse. It’s one thing to gather new (for the time this was made) interviews with various cast and crew members; it’s an entirely different beast to see these rumored events unfold. And in a swift 96 minutes, this documentary accomplishes that seemingly impossible task of giving us a mere taste of what happened between each frame. 

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is a genuinely fascinating experience and essential viewing once you’ve finished the main feature. Thanks to Eleanor’s footage and material, we get to move away from a bunch of talking heads and cutaways and go on the journey of making Apocalypse Now. And it’s fascinating. While I am leveraging a full 5 out of 5 rating, I have one lone gripe - it’s only 96 minutes! I’m sure, given all of the footage and interviews available, there’s a lot of material that just isn’t worth the attention. But apparently, the assembly cut of this documentary ran nearly six hours, and I’m sure I could watch all of it!

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

What was once a simple bonus feature has grown into a beast all its own. Thanks to Lionsgate Limited, Hearts of Darkness: The Art of Eleanor Coppola becomes the definitive domestic release of the documentary and the documentarian who captured the madness. A three-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital set, it’s exclusive to the Lionsgate Limited website. The 4K is pressed on a BD100 disc, with a Region A BD50 serving the 1080p experience, and a Region A BD50 delivering the additional extra features. All three discs are housed in a lovely oversized tri-fold Mediabook akin to the big A24-style packaging, only without a slipcase. The binding has a lovely hardcover book binding, and the booklet inside features pages of set photos and snippets of Eleanor’s diary. Each disc rests inside a very tight, very fragile paper pocket. I don’t see the discs getting damaged from the pockets so much as I can see one easily ripping or damaging the pocket trying to get the discs out. Of everything in the set, how the discs rest is the only drawback to report.

Since this is the same Dolby Vision transfer, I'll repeat my previous findings - I saw no discernible visual difference between the previous two discs I reviewed: 

Given how readily available this doc is - it’s a bonus feature for the 4K UHD release of Apocalypse Now here in the States - I wasn’t one-hundred-percent sure that it would even need a stand-alone 4K release at all, but sure enough, this is a hell of a great looking presentation. It’s always looked amazing, largely because of Eleanor Coppola’s steady hand, the footage has always looked incredible, but it’s really quite something to see that 16mm material come to life in 2160p with Dolby Vision HDR. 

While Eleanor narrates and we get some new (for the time) interviews with various cast and crew members, it’s the material shot on set in 1976 and 1977 that really captures your attention. Seeing Kertz’s Cambodian compound under construction. Seeing the sets that were destroyed by the typhoon. Seeing the rough raw versions of the French Plantation sequence, all of that is fascinating. Most fascinating, though, is seeing Coppola and Brando going head to head during the extensive improvisational moments, as that footage is genuinely captivating. It’s one thing to hear about two incredible artistic minds going toe-to-toe, but then seeing it in action is an altogether different experience. It's also a real kick to see these behind-the-scenes edits intercut with the finished film. 

Again, just like the bare-bones edition that Lionsgate released earlier, this set omits the LPCM Mono track in favor of the very good DTS-HD MA 5.1. It's a very good mix. It's mostly front/center-focused, but when and where necessary, it opens up beautifully to the on-set action. Here's what I initially said for the StudioCanal release, which I feel still holds true. 

On top of a great video transfer, this release offers the film in LPCM mono as well as a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. Given that much of the material is narration and music, with some on-set recordings and so forth, the LPCM track might be the best overall audio option. But that isn’t to say the 5.1 track fluffs it. It’s actually an engrossing experience when those surround channels kick in during the height of any chaotic scene or the cutaways to big action beats from the finished film. The 5.1 uses that extra channel space nicely, but it’s not always active. And that leads to the point of necessity. This film didn’t need a 5.1 track, as good as it is. The LPCM mix is the best balanced for all audio elements concerned, and I feel it’s the more effective of the two. Those compelled to give the DTS-HD MA 5.1 a whirl won’t be disappointed, but purists can safely rely on the original mix. 

I’m not entirely sure I understand the release strategy for Lionsgate with its domestic efforts on Hearts of Darkness, but for their second attempt via Lionsgate Limited, they’ve delivered an array of excellent extras in physical form and on-disc. The packaging alone is its own extra feature with a booklet dedicated to Eleanor’s photos and pieces of her diary. It’s not all that expansive, but it’s an artful selection all the same. As for the on-disc extras, even those labeled as Lionsgate Limited Exclusive, the selection is exactly the same as the StudioCanal UK set from last year - which is just fine with me. It’s a terrific selection of extras celebrating Eleanor’s expansive career as a filmmaker with several hours of great material to work through.

4K UHD/Blu-ray Discs

• Eleanor Coppola: Art is All Around Us (HD 23:24)
• Legacy Special Features:
• Audio Commentary featuring Eleanor & Francis 
• The Making of Hearts of Darkness (HD 37:35)

Bonus Blu-ray

• Exclusive Lionsgate Limited Content:
• A Visit to China’s Miao Country (1996) (SD 36:29)
• Circle of Memory (SD 7:47) 
• Coda - Eleanor Coppola Introduction (HD 1:44)
• Coda: Thirty Years Later (2007) (HD 1:02:59)
• Making of Marie Antoinette (2007) (SD 25:59)
• Francis Ford Coppola Directs The Rainmaker (2007) (SD 27:07)
• On the Set of CQ (2002) (SD 10:01)
• Making of The Virgin Suicides (1998) (SD 30:37)
• Peeling a Potato is a Work of Art (1976) (HD 00:32)
• Victorian House (1976) (HD 3:05)
• Joyce Goldstein (1976) (HD 1:03)
• Refrigerator (1976) (HD 00:32)
• Hearts of Darkness Trailer (2025)
• Legacy Special Features:
• Original Apocalypse Now Trailer (HD 3:56)

I don’t always review Hearts of Darkness, but I do when three versions of the seminal documentary are released on one format inside of a year! Not that you'll hear me complain. Typically, I don’t really watch documentaries more than once. Something about them that once I’ve seen them, I usually don’t need to see them again. Eleanor Coppola and her cohorts, Fox Bahr and George Hickenlooper, created what can only be described as the definitive document about the making of Apocalypse Now. If I have but one complaint about this film is that it’s as short as it is. I’m sure I could watch a six, eight, or even a ten-hour cut of the film and be fascinated the whole way through.

For this review, I merely intended to spin the disc to check the A/V offerings and do a little comparing with the two previous 4K UHD releases, but damn, all of a sudden the end credits were rolling. It’s a fascinating film, an inside look at the madness that engulfed the production of one of the greatest American-made films of the 1970s. For those who haven’t picked the film up on 4K UHD already, Lionsgate Limited’s Hearts of Darkness: The Art of Eleanor Coppola is a fantastic release. Pound for Pound, this set matches the excellent release from StudioCanal in the UK. Same excellent video transfer. Same excellent 5.1 audio - although we miss out on the 2.0 option. And best of all for this domestic release, we get all of the terrific on-disc bonus content that the StudioCanal edition enjoyed with some stunning Mediabook packaging. My only qualm is how the discs are secured inside the Mediabook; you can’t monkey-fist the discs in and out of their very slim, fragile pockets and you have to be careful of them slipping out on their own recognizance. Otherwise, this is a beautiful release for a grand documentary. Highly Recommended