Apocalypse Now: Final Cut (or not...)

[Jeff Layman]

According to next week's Radio Times, "Apocalypse Now: Final Cut" will
be shown tomorrow on BBC2. It mentions in its Film of the Week review
"The director's 4K Final Cut, shown last year and premiering here in all
its high-def glory". It is said to be 183 minutes long.

However, the RT also states it is on from 2130 - 1225, which is only 175
minutes, and the EPG on my Panasonic TV says it is on at the same time
as the RT, but only gives it as "Apocalypse Now", not the Final Cut
version. For even more confusion the page here:
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lht5> refers to it as "Apocalypse
Now", and says it is 170 minutes. It also states "This programme will be
available shortly after broadcast".

So which one will be broadcast, and which one will be available on
iPlayer? Will it be the Final Cut? And will that be in 4K?

[Jethro_uk]

Post by Jeff Layman
According to next week's Radio Times, "Apocalypse Now: Final Cut" will
be shown tomorrow on BBC2. It mentions in its Film of the Week review
"The director's 4K Final Cut, shown last year and premiering here in all
its high-def glory". It is said to be 183 minutes long.
However, the RT also states it is on from 2130 - 1225, which is only 175
minutes, and the EPG on my Panasonic TV says it is on at the same time
as the RT, but only gives it as "Apocalypse Now", not the Final Cut
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lht5> refers to it as "Apocalypse
Now", and says it is 170 minutes. It also states "This programme will be
available shortly after broadcast".
So which one will be broadcast, and which one will be available on
iPlayer? Will it be the Final Cut? And will that be in 4K?

Didn't it used to be that TV show films at 25 fps for some reason. So the
running time will be 23/24 of what it was shipped to the cinema at ?

23/24 * 183 = ... 175 !

[NY]

Post by Jethro_uk

Post by Jeff Layman
According to next week's Radio Times, "Apocalypse Now: Final Cut" will
be shown tomorrow on BBC2. It mentions in its Film of the Week review
"The director's 4K Final Cut, shown last year and premiering here in all
its high-def glory". It is said to be 183 minutes long.
However, the RT also states it is on from 2130 - 1225, which is only 175
minutes, and the EPG on my Panasonic TV says it is on at the same time
as the RT, but only gives it as "Apocalypse Now", not the Final Cut
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lht5> refers to it as "Apocalypse
Now", and says it is 170 minutes. It also states "This programme will be
available shortly after broadcast".
So which one will be broadcast, and which one will be available on
iPlayer? Will it be the Final Cut? And will that be in 4K?

Didn't it used to be that TV show films at 25 fps for some reason. So the
running time will be 23/24 of what it was shipped to the cinema at ?
23/24 * 183 = ... 175 !

European TV (what used to be the old PAL standard: 625/25) has always shown
films at 25 fps and probably always will.

Whereas there is a reasonably simple ratio between 24 fps for the film and
30 fps for US NTSC TV (you use 5 TV fields to show every two film frames -
so-called "3:2 pulldown"), there isn't a simple ratio for 25 fps TV. OK,
ever since the advent of colo(u)r, NTSC has actually used 29.97 rather than
30 fps, and films are run at 23.98 fps, but that's because the colour signal
and the sound signal "collided" when TV was broadcast on VHF/UHF: one of the
benefits of PAL being the second colour system to be developed was that
broadcast on VHF and UHF could be designed to avoid such a "collision". ;-)


Merging varying proportions of two film frames to adapt 24 fps film to 25
fps has been tried but the results are truly awful if there is any motion
(it's pretty gross and jerky with 3:2 pulldown for films on 30 fps TV).

What has changed over the years is the soundtrack. Initially the soundtrack
played 4% (25/24) fast and therefore the pitch was shifted up by this
amount - about a semitone for music - which was of no consequence to most
people, but sounded abominable (so I've been told) for anyone who has
perfect pitch, because everything sounded a semitone sharp.

Nowadays it is possible to correct the pitch back to its correct value even
though the film is playing 4% fast. Computer player software (eg VLC) does a
very good job, for much greater speed changes that a mere 4%. It sounds fine
to me even if a programme is played at 1.5x correct speed. I imagine the
same technology is used for broadcasting films as is used for VLC. I believe
it works by dropping a few samples from the 48,000 per second that broadcast
TV (and DVD/BluRay) uses, presumably dropping *random* samples rather than
every nth, to avoid a regular "beating" - the audio equivalent of strobing
or moiré patterns.

[tim...]

According to next week's Radio Times, "Apocalypse Now: Final Cut" will be
shown tomorrow on BBC2. It mentions in its Film of the Week review "The
director's 4K Final Cut, shown last year and premiering here in all its
high-def glory". It is said to be 183 minutes long.
However, the RT also states it is on from 2130 - 1225, which is only 175
minutes, and the EPG on my Panasonic TV says it is on at the same time as
the RT, but only gives it as "Apocalypse Now", not the Final Cut version.
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lht5> refers to it as "Apocalypse
Now", and says it is 170 minutes. It also states "This programme will be
available shortly after broadcast".
So which one will be broadcast, and which one will be available on
iPlayer? Will it be the Final Cut? And will that be in 4K?

well whichever it is, the broadcast version is 170 minutes long

[Jeff Layman]

Post by tim...

According to next week's Radio Times, "Apocalypse Now: Final Cut" will be
shown tomorrow on BBC2. It mentions in its Film of the Week review "The
director's 4K Final Cut, shown last year and premiering here in all its
high-def glory". It is said to be 183 minutes long.
However, the RT also states it is on from 2130 - 1225, which is only 175
minutes, and the EPG on my Panasonic TV says it is on at the same time as
the RT, but only gives it as "Apocalypse Now", not the Final Cut version.
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lht5> refers to it as "Apocalypse
Now", and says it is 170 minutes. It also states "This programme will be
available shortly after broadcast".
So which one will be broadcast, and which one will be available on
iPlayer? Will it be the Final Cut? And will that be in 4K?

well whichever it is, the broadcast version is 170 minutes long

Just checked on iPlayer. It is available for 29 days, and as you note is
170 minutes long. It also says "first shown in 1979", and is only there
as "Apocalypse Now". No mention of "Final Cut", and no mention of 4K, so
not sure what the Radio Times was on about. I've recorded it anyway.

[tim...]

Post by Jeff Layman

Post by tim...

According to next week's Radio Times, "Apocalypse Now: Final Cut" will be
shown tomorrow on BBC2. It mentions in its Film of the Week review "The
director's 4K Final Cut, shown last year and premiering here in all its
high-def glory". It is said to be 183 minutes long.
However, the RT also states it is on from 2130 - 1225, which is only 175
minutes, and the EPG on my Panasonic TV says it is on at the same time as
the RT, but only gives it as "Apocalypse Now", not the Final Cut version.
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lht5> refers to it as "Apocalypse
Now", and says it is 170 minutes. It also states "This programme will be
available shortly after broadcast".
So which one will be broadcast, and which one will be available on
iPlayer? Will it be the Final Cut? And will that be in 4K?

well whichever it is, the broadcast version is 170 minutes long

Just checked on iPlayer. It is available for 29 days, and as you note is
170 minutes long. It also says "first shown in 1979", and is only there as
"Apocalypse Now". No mention of "Final Cut", and no mention of 4K, so not
sure what the Radio Times was on about. I've recorded it anyway.

Having had to jump to the end to calculate the exact length

The end credits do indeed say, "Final Cut"

[Jeff Layman]

Post by tim...

Post by Jeff Layman

Post by tim...

Post by Jeff Layman
So which one will be broadcast, and which one will be available on
iPlayer? Will it be the Final Cut? And will that be in 4K?

well whichever it is, the broadcast version is 170 minutes long

Just checked on iPlayer. It is available for 29 days, and as you note is
170 minutes long. It also says "first shown in 1979", and is only there as
"Apocalypse Now". No mention of "Final Cut", and no mention of 4K, so not
sure what the Radio Times was on about. I've recorded it anyway.

Having had to jump to the end to calculate the exact length
The end credits do indeed say, "Final Cut"

Well, that explains "Final Cut". I can only assume the RT's comment on
4K came from the Final Cut version being released on Blu-Ray, and the
association of that with 4K. Is it possible to tell if the 4K version is
being shown on iPlayer?

[Stephen Wolstenholme]

Post by tim...

According to next week's Radio Times, "Apocalypse Now: Final Cut" will be
shown tomorrow on BBC2. It mentions in its Film of the Week review "The
director's 4K Final Cut, shown last year and premiering here in all its
high-def glory". It is said to be 183 minutes long.
However, the RT also states it is on from 2130 - 1225, which is only 175
minutes, and the EPG on my Panasonic TV says it is on at the same time as
the RT, but only gives it as "Apocalypse Now", not the Final Cut version.
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lht5> refers to it as "Apocalypse
Now", and says it is 170 minutes. It also states "This programme will be
available shortly after broadcast".
So which one will be broadcast, and which one will be available on
iPlayer? Will it be the Final Cut? And will that be in 4K?

well whichever it is, the broadcast version is 170 minutes long

I tried to watch it but I couldn't stay awake for 170 minutes.

Some day I will buy a copy so I can watch it all.

Steve

[tim...]

Post by Stephen Wolstenholme

Post by tim...

According to next week's Radio Times, "Apocalypse Now: Final Cut" will be
shown tomorrow on BBC2. It mentions in its Film of the Week review "The
director's 4K Final Cut, shown last year and premiering here in all its
high-def glory". It is said to be 183 minutes long.
However, the RT also states it is on from 2130 - 1225, which is only 175
minutes, and the EPG on my Panasonic TV says it is on at the same time as
the RT, but only gives it as "Apocalypse Now", not the Final Cut version.
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lht5> refers to it as "Apocalypse
Now", and says it is 170 minutes. It also states "This programme will be
available shortly after broadcast".
So which one will be broadcast, and which one will be available on
iPlayer? Will it be the Final Cut? And will that be in 4K?

well whichever it is, the broadcast version is 170 minutes long

I tried to watch it but I couldn't stay awake for 170 minutes.

record it and watch it in bits

If often end up taking several sessions watching a film that is "difficult"

[Halmyre]

Post by Jeff Layman
According to next week's Radio Times, "Apocalypse Now: Final Cut" will
be shown tomorrow on BBC2. It mentions in its Film of the Week review
"The director's 4K Final Cut, shown last year and premiering here in all
its high-def glory". It is said to be 183 minutes long.
However, the RT also states it is on from 2130 - 1225, which is only 175
minutes, and the EPG on my Panasonic TV says it is on at the same time
as the RT, but only gives it as "Apocalypse Now", not the Final Cut
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lht5> refers to it as "Apocalypse
Now", and says it is 170 minutes. It also states "This programme will be
available shortly after broadcast".
So which one will be broadcast, and which one will be available on
iPlayer? Will it be the Final Cut? And will that be in 4K?

It had the scene where Willard and the patrol boat crew steal Kilgore's surfboard, and then Kilgore flying up and down pleading with them to return it. Seemed a bit at odds with the tone of the film. Also the scenes set in a French plantation, during which I dozed off a bit.