One From The Heart: Reprise (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
There is never going to be a debate that Francis Ford Coppola is a genius filmmaker. Some may even say that he’s a mad genius. Throughout his career he has been trying to make films that are personal and unique while still attempting to make them palatable for mainstream audiences. In the early days of his career after proving himself with The Godfather Parts 1 and 2, The Conversation and Apocalypse Now, there was absolutely no denying his style and his magical touch behind the camera. Cue the 80’s and likely still reeling from the years long filming, editing and release of Apocalypse Now, Coppola looked to make something totally different. That something was One From The Heart, a near notorious film “musical” filmed almost entirely on his Zoetrope Studios soundstages. The result was not well received despite being created in a very innovative new way. Read more about the movie and a few useless facts I’ve read about over the years below, and if you’re a fan of Coppola or the film, this new 4K edition is available at the cover art paid Amazon link if you wish to buy a copy!
Film 
One from the Heart: Reprise is a spectacular 4K restoration and reimagining of the 1982 cult classic from Francis Ford Coppola. Six minutes of footage have been added to replace the original negative, previously thought to be destroyed, resulting in a brand-new Reprise version, approved by Coppola himself. One from the Heart: Reprise tells the story of a Las Vegas couple (Teri Garr, Frederic Forrest) whose break-up on the Fourth of July leads them both to a night on the Strip in pursuit of their romantic fantasies (Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinski). But in this town of gamblers and dreamers, should they bet it all on dreams, or give true love another roll of the dice? Featuring breathtaking design, show-stopping set pieces, the stunning photography of Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now, The Last Emperor) and accompanied by the wonderful Oscar®-nominated music of the one and only Tom Waits, this neon explosion of color, sound, and innovation is a cinematic valentine for all movie lovers.
Hank and Frannie (Forrest and Garr) are celebrating their 5th anniversary. They are both at odds with one another’s desires. Hank wants to cement himself at home and presents Frannie with the deed to the home they share. Frannie desires adventure and presents Hank with tickets to Bora Bora. Neither of them wants to compromise their choices for the other. Of course, this means an argument ensues. Frannie leaves to stay with her friend Maggie (Lainie Kazan), and she comes across Ray (Raul Julia) on a busy Vegas street. She is taken with his sense of grandeur, and he finds her incredibly beautiful.
Hank visits with his friend Moe (Harry Dean Stanton), who tells him to move on. Moe takes Hank to get some new clothes and he locks eyes with Leila (Natassja Kinski), a high wire artist. Because of their dissonant personalities, Hank and Frannie decide to spend an evening with their respective new connections. Frannie and Ray’s time plays out like a madcap musical, complete with dance sequence, while Leila and Hank spend an evening in the Vegas lights, in an almost dreamlike state. When Ray loses his job and decides to go on that Bora Bora trip with Frannie, it’s up to Hank to determine if he wants to fight for his love or move on.
A simple love story lives somewhere in One From The Heart and that is one of simply finding your love again when it’s lost. Frannie wants to go away and have some new experiences. Hank wants them to dig into domesticity. This is a tale as old as time. There’s always someone wanting to settle into something comfy with the significant other wanting to get out and do something new. I have been there myself in my marriage. It’s a relatable situation and many viewers will connect with that. The disconnect for me is seeing the couple go from loving to hateful so quickly — How sour they become. Hank turns cruel at the thought of Frannie wanting to feel more, do more or experience more. Conversely, Frannie is disconnected to the idea of staying put and she then has a bitterness right back to Hank. None of it is fair, and so they meet new people. A big disconnect for me with the film is watching the couple go off with these new mates and immediately hopping into bed with them. The trust is lost. And that for me is where the romance ends.
I have wanted to see One From The Heart for many years. I was always fascinated with the video storyboards that made the film in the style it’s in. I loved the rehearsal situation too. Even watching the film in either version you can tell the actors are all comfortable with one another. The unfortunate bit about One From The Heart is that I simply lost interest and care in whether Frannie and Hank end up together. Maybe apart they could be better, but the issue is, do we care? The setup is jarring and the jump between old style romance and musical is also jarring. The music by Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle is rather nice, with an easy jazz sound, but the songs aren’t typically romantic either, and sometimes play against the hopefulness we’re supposed to be wanting to happen on screen. In the end, even re-edited, Coppola’s vision for One From The Heart is muddled.
This is not the first time Coppola has felt the need to fix a film he’s worked on. Of course, we start with the two Godfather films being edited into a complete saga for TV, and then Apocalypse Now with its 3 versions (The newest “final” cut being the best). We also have The Godfather III now titled The Godfather: The Death of Michael Corleone (another revision version that worked for the film’s benefit). The Outsiders now has a fantastic new “Complete Novel” version, complete with lots of new scenes and a ton of Elvis needle drops. We finally have The Cotton Club (also made better by the inclusion of the black characters and their far more interesting storylines), and T’wixt (a film I still haven’t seen and that also has a new title…). Revision is a part of Francis Ford Coppola’s filmmaking makeup. The need to tinker and fix things for a definitive film is OK to me. I don’t mind seeing things change hopefully for the better. Having watched One From the Heart: Reprise, I can’t say the revision helped much. I also can’t say that this ambitious film could be seen as more than a well-meaning experiment either.
Video
Stills are for promotional use only and not from the 4K UHD Blu-ray
Encoding: HEVC/H.265
Resolution: 4K
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
HDR: Dolby Vision
Layers: BD-100
Details: One from the Heart: Reprise is a spectacular 4K restoration and reimagining of the 1982 cult classic from Francis Ford Coppola. Six minutes of footage have been added to replace the original negative, previously thought to be destroyed, resulting in a brand-new Reprise version, approved by Coppola himself. Featuring breathtaking design, show-stopping set pieces, the stunning photography of Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now, The Last Emperor) – and accompanied by the wonderful Oscar®-nominated music of the one and only Tom Waits – this neon explosion of color, sound, and innovation is a cinematic valentine for all movie lovers.
Depth: There is a lovely soft focus that comes with the overall aesthetic of the film. Depth of field is handled nicely throughout with nothing looking out of focus, and despite the softness that’s a stylistic choice, there is plenty of foreground and background detail to take in during the film.
Color Reproduction: HDR grading gives the candy-coated Vegas imagery some much needed lift, with bright brilliant colors coming even in subtler moments of the film.
Black Levels: Blacks are crush free and there’s no washed-out shadows either.
Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are often lit by neon light; therefore, I’ll say that flesh tones appear as the director intended.
Noise/Artifacts: None.
Audio
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 5.1, 2.0 LPCM English Stereo
Subtitles: English SDH, English, German
Dynamics: Originally released in stereo, this 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix is the same one that accompanied a previous Blu-ray edition. Fidelity is excellent and the Tom Waits/Crystal Gayle songs sound very nice too! Dialogue is not hard to hear but can sometimes feel mixed lower than the music or surround activity.
Height: N/A
Low-Frequency Extension: Bass is reserved as it should be for a movie from over 40 years ago. There is decent thump from music and sound effects when needed.
Surround Sound Presentation: Immersion appears in moments on the Vegas strip more than any other time.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is mainly center based, sounding clear in the center channel.
Extras
Features for One From The Heart are extensive! This is where the new edition becomes essential viewing for Coppola fans!
Special Features:
4K DISC – ONE FROM THE HEART: REPRISE
- Francis Ford Coppola Feature Commentary
- NEW The Look of One from the Heart
- NEW The Cast of One from the Heart
- NEW The Choreography of One from the Heart
- NEW Reinventing the Musical: Baz Luhrmann One from the Heart
- NEW One from the Heart: Reprise, Restoration Comparison
- NEW 2024 Trailer
BLU-RAY DISC – ONE FROM THE HEART 1982 CUT
- The Making of One from the Heart
- The Dream Studio
- The Electronic Cinema
- Tom Waits and the Music from One from the Heart
- Deleted Scenes
- Videotaped Rehearsals
- Francis Ford Coppola Speaks to the Exhibitors
- Press Conference at the Studio
- This One’s from the Heart Music Video
- Stop-Motion Demo
- The Tom Waits Score: Alternate Tracks
- 2003 Theatrical Trailer
- 1982 Theatrical Trailer
Summary
One From The Heart no doubt has its fans. It’s a fascinating spectacle of music, sound and visual flare. The story is nothing special, and the songs while good can be on the sad side at times. Performances and filmmaking ambitions are better than the material, and this is hard to recommend to casual viewers, but an easy one to recommend to fans of Francis Ford Coppola, musicals or films that take on almost experimental visual qualities. Worth at least a viewing but consider a rental if you’ve never seen it before. The new version shortens things and makes them tidier but I don’t think the changes have made the movie better.
