FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA

Monumentally masterful is Apocalypse Now, the crushingly powerful Vietnam epic whose loose translation from the Joseph Conrad novella "Heart of Darkness" captures all the brilliant atmosphere, and the casting of Brando, and the anticipation of him, is what really makes the film. Copolla makes fabulous style choices throughout the picture, and paces what could be a staggered a train wreck into a flawlessly timed piece of art.

Copolla's storytelling skills are perhaps the strongest ever displayed by the director of a film in the Godfather. The movie is a feast for every sense, and sitting down to enjoy this on DVD was a real cinematic treat.

Despite Keanu Reeves's best efforts, he cannot completely ruin this ultra romantic Victorian vision of Dracula. The art design is fabulous, something out of the strangest nightmares, and Oldman's Count is beyond brilliant, and surely stands as one of the best in history. The story is a little too bizarre and some unnecessary filler needed to be cut, but other than, great horror flick.

Part II is no less well made than it's predecessor, but the story is less engaging and harder to follow. And it's nowhere near as memorable as the original, especially without the presence of Marlon Brando.

A rich and bold artistic vision, realized without a sense of cohesion and unity. The film seems like splinters of a hundred great ideas and thoughts, but does not congeal into a great film. Coppola deserves a great deal of praise for consistently bringing a new and exciting vision to the screen with each new film, and is a special contributor to cinematic language that I'm sure will be appreciated more in later years. But unfortunately Youth Without Youth is largely a bewildering, albeit extremely intriguing venture with little effect on the audience.