By returning cutting-room-floor scenes back into Apocalypse Now, director Francis Ford Coppola attempted to breathe new life into his masterpiece film. In that respect he achieved his goal, as the film was changed considerably. But many would argue that it isn't an improvement over the original, and in fact a strong case can be made that United Artists was correct in 1979, when it insisted that Coppola trim the film down to a more manageable 153 minutes, down from the 200+ that Coppola intended.

The inclusion of the deleted scenes, while interesting to watch for any fan of the original film, seem to only do one thing - give the film a meandering pace. Where the original version had its own diversions and pit stops as the navy patrol boat headed towards Colonel Kurtz, those pit stops had gravity and purpose which added to the overall effect of the film. In Redux however, the added diversions seem to be just that - diversions, without any real purpose or poignancy to the plot.

Complicating matters are the deleted scenes that were still left over and found in the 'Work Print', which is available in the film's box-set DVD releases. The release of these 'work print' scenes makes one wonder why Coppola didn't choose them for Redux instead, as seeing the photojournalist (Dennis Hopper) being shotgunned to death by Captain Colby was far more memorable, and the natives dancing around Willard's cage and sacrificing a pig was far more interesting than what Coppola did choose. Certainly more interesting than having the crew get laid by Playboy bunnies, or watching people sitting around eating dinner and talking politics.

The general consensus is that Redux is worth watching only if you're a fan of the original version, and if you've seen the original version first.