director
Eleanor Coppola, Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper
release date
1991 (July 28, 2025)
studio
Zaloom Mayfield Productions/Zoetrope Studios (Studiocanal)
- Movie/Show Level: one
- Video level: one
- Audio Level: one
- Additional Levels: one
Review
[Editor’s Note: This is a UK import 4K release. The UHD disc is compatible with players worldwide, but the Blu-ray Discs are limited to REGION B.]
In March 1976, after years of development and months of pre-production, director Francis Ford Coppola Revelation Now. Francis knew his wife Eleanor was a great filmmaker in her own right, so Francis bought a 16mm camera and asked her to make a documentary about the filmmaking. But it turns out that this task is by no means direct.
Shooting Revelation Now It should have lasted for five months, but it was extended for more than a year, ending in May 1977, with a total of 288 production days. It seems that each of them is having a hard time because Coppola is essentially filming a movie that he doesn't know how to make, and there is no complete script and an ending he doesn't have. In the case of budget overspending, he did so entirely on a foreign site, forcing him to mortgage his own house and brewery to ensure the film was completed. And obstacles all emerged, including star Star Martin Sheen suffering a near-fatal heart attack, Marlon Brando proved the challenge of working with it, the typhoon that destroyed scenes and equipment, and the whimsical idea of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, who had to shoot several scenes with the help of military helicopters, but they could fight under any circumstances, but they could fight under any circumstances.
Eleanor Coppola continues her work in the turmoil, capturing all of it in the film. The resulting eighty-odd hours of footage is a very original, frank, and undoubtedly, looking at the production of one of the most important Hollywood films of the late 20th century, perhaps the best work of Francis Forcs Ford Coppola's long career. Francis has brought his soul to her camera or recorder time and time again, absolutely believing that he is making the worst movie ever. The whole process was very stressful, and it wasn't until 1990 that Eleanor revisited her video, essentially giving it to a pair of young filmmakers Fax Bahr (later a co-creator) MADTV) and George Hickenlooper (Art, Performance and Suicide Chair: Dennis Hopper), he continued to conduct new interviews with nearly all participants and eventually assembled the final documentary, The dark heartthe film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 1991.
Interestingly, Fax Bahr was working at an EPK company called Zaloom Mayfield Productions. The company's owner George Zaloom has read Eleanor Coppola's book Now Notes on Revelation (1979) She described the filming of the documentary on the scene. However, neither Zaloom nor Bahr found evidence that the documentary was actually completed. So they contacted Zoetrope in the United States and came up with the idea of completing it with Eleanor's lens and (at the advice of Francis) interweaving Joseph Conrad's original Orson Welles radio game in 1899 Nevella's original Orson Welles radio game in 1899 The dark heartwhich one Revelation Now It's loose in itself. Both Francis and Eleanor were delighted to be eliminated in the process and allowed Bahr, Hickenlooper and Zaloom to do their job, although Eleanor does return to narrating the film. Of course, the result is about making one of the greatest and most popular documentaries ever made.
most The dark heart Eleanor Coppola used an Aaton camera with a spherical lens to shoot 16mm film (especially the Eastman 100T 7247). Various archival resources were also used to complete the film, including a new interview shot at 16mm, from Revelation Now itself and other materials. To be released on Ultra HD, all original documentary footage scanned in 4K. From Revelation Now Replaced by the same shot from the movie's 2019 4K Remaster (reviewed here Fragments). and other materials upgrade to the best source. The results are hierarchical (compatible with Dolby Vision and HDR10). It has been encoded to be released on 100GB at maximum video data rates (average between 70-80 Mbps). The results are great. The 16mm source naturally means that the photochemical grains are medium to strong throughout the process, but overall image details greatly improve previous blue light and DVD demonstrations, and the color and contrast are also greatly enhanced. This is certainly not a reference quality image, but it is not meant to be a reference image. However, this is by far the best The dark heart I've seen it, and it's a more attractive experience than before.
The film's English soundtrack is included in the newly curated 5.1 DTS-HD main audio format as well as the original LPCM mono. The mixture around is subtle, but it draws you into the image and the story you are told. The front of the sound field is medium wide, and the surroundings are almost exclusively used for atmospheric immersion. The conversation is always clear and clean. Also included are German LPCM mono, as well as optional subtitles in English SDH and German.
Studiocanal Collection Edition It's a three-disc that includes 4K film on UHD and remade 1080p HD on Blu-ray. 4K discs are all areas, but Blu-ray is only area B. Both discs contain the following special features:
- Audio reviews by Eleanor and Francis Coppola
- The dark heart (2025) (HD – 37:34)
- Eleanor Coppola: Art is around us (2006) (HD – 23:23)
You also get a Blu-ray bonus disc for other special features (area B only), where the following is added:
- Eleanor Coppola short film
- Peeling potatoes is a work of art (1976) (HD – : 32)
- Victorian houses (1976) (HD – 3:05)
- Joyce Goldstein (1976) (HD – 1:03)
- refrigerator (1976) (HD – : 32)
- Eleanor Coppola documentary
- CODA: Introduction to Eleanor Coppola (HD-1:44)
- Tail: Thirty years later (2007) (HD – 62:59)
- Making Marie Antoinette (2007) (UPSMPLED SD – 25:59)
- FCC guides rainmakers (2007) (UPSMPLED SD – 27:07)
- In CQ set (2002) (UPSMPLED SD – 10:01)
- Virgin commits suicide (1998) (UPSPEMPLED SD – 30:37)
- Visit China Mao Zedong Country (1996) (UPSPRED SD – 36:29)
- Memory circle (Upsked SD – 7:47)
- trailer
- Apocalypse Nowadays Theatre Trailer (1979) (HD – 3:56)
- Dark Heart Recovery Trailer (2025) (HD – 1:02)
The dark heart This is a fantastic new work produced in this release, including interviews with Roman Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola and Fax Bahr (who tells a great story about interviewing Martin Sheen and attempts to get interviews with Brando and Harvey Keitel as well). certainly, Art is around us Previously posted, comments The dark heart Eleanor and Francis are excellent and a very personal listening experience.
Reward Blu-ray is essentially the complete archive of Eleanor Coppola's documentary film production. It makes a truly adorable companion become The dark heart CD. Most documentaries are performed on behalf of other filmmakers in her family, but not all. The short film is really charming. Please note that Eleanor also directed a pair of dramatic films –Paris can wait (2016) and Love is love is love (2020) – Not included here.
You can also get a 64-page brochure with new papers about the film (unfortunately I don't have an actual book to give you a list of writers) and technical credits, a pair of posters with original artwork and art nouveau Now Notes on Revelation. This is what the package looks like…
The dark heart Currently available from Studiocanal in UK in 4K in 3 disks Collection Edition Reviewed above, it is also a single disc 4K version that includes only film discs. We learned that Lionsgate will release the movie later this year or early 2026 on 4K Ultra HD in the U.S. Whatever version you buy, the documentary is a miracle, StudioCanal remade in 4K and preserves Eleanor's filmmaking legacy. Highly recommended, especially for Revelation Now.
– Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media twitterBruceky and Facebook, and in Patreon
Label
1991, 2160p, 4K, 4k scan and restoration of original camera negative, 4K UHD, 4K Ultra HD, Akiko Stehrenberger, All Region 4K, Apocalypse Now, Bill Hunt, Blu-ray, Blu-ray Disc, box set, documentary, Dolby Vision, DTS-HD Master Audio, Eleanor Coppola, Eleanor Coppola: Art Is All Around Us, Fax Bahr, Ferdinand Marcos, Francis Ford Coppola, George Hickenlooper, George Zaloom, HDR, HDR10, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, High Dynamic Range, Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Notes on the Making of Apocalypse Now, Philippines, Region B Blu-ray, review, Roman Coppola, shot on 16mm film, Sofia Coppola, Studiocanal UK, Digital Bit, Heart of Darkness, Typhoon, UHD-100 CD, Imported in the UK, Ultra HD, Zaloom Mayfield Productions, Zoetrope Studios