In the 1970s, Francis Ford Coppola directed four films. All four – 1972’s Godfather, 1974’s Godfather Part II and The Conversation and 1979’s Apocalypse Now - became regarded as classics.

After Apocalypse, audiences wouldn’t see another Coppola film until 1982’s One From the Heart. A major disaster, it received mediocre to bad reviews and lost huge buckets of money.

42 years later, does Heart deserve a more positive reappraisal? Not even vaguely – if anything, the movie’s worse than its poor reputation connotes.

Set in Las Vegas, we start on July 3rd and meet a couple: Hank (Frederic Forrest) and Frannie (Teri Garr). As they attempt to celebrate their fifth anniversary, they bicker and break up.

Eager for something different, both Hank and Frannie embark on affairs to see what they’re missing. This leads them on emotional journeys to determine if they should remain together after all.

Of those four 1970s Coppola flicks I mentioned, all but Conversation provided epic tales. Conversation gave us something smaller scale but still came with plenty of narrative and character ambition.

After that string, Heart felt like a very conscious shift toward a much more character-based experience. In that way, Heart echoes 1969’s The Rain People, the last film Coppola directed prior to Godfather

Heart also feels like a movie made by a director who wanted to follow his muse, even if it seemed like commercial suicide. Take the title literally, as this appears to give us one from Coppola’s heart.

That doesn’t mean I see Heart as Coppola’s attempt to deliver a story near and dear. Instead, I view it as a flick by a successful director eager to self-indulge.

Which he does, as Heart defines “self-indulgent”. With its pre-1950s 1.37:1 aspect ratio and its concentration on soundstages, it acts as a clear throwback to old musicals.

Again: commercial suicide circa 1982. I wouldn’t view musicals as dead in that era – not a mere four years after Grease scored the biggest hit of 1978 – but beyond that, the genre struggled.

Coppola shows no skill as a director of movie musicals. Actually, Heart essentially ignores that format until about halfway into its running time.

Though the Tom Waits-composed score includes songs sung by Waits and Crystal Gayle, we get no dance numbers until mid-film. At that point, Coppola remembers that he wanted to make a musical, so he stages a Big Old Production number.

Or he attempts a Big Old Production Number, but I don’t know if the stiff atrocity we see qualifies. When we get song and dance, we find a long sequence with zero panache or fluidity.

Even with the help of Gene Kelly and noted choreographer Kenny Ortega, Coppola stages matters in a stiff, clumsy manner that never charms or dazzles. Instead, we just find ourselves stuck with a clunky and awkward scene.

This goes for the entire movie, really, as Heart provides a shockingly charmless affair. Much of the problem stems from the script, as it sticks the characters with awkward and silly dialogue that never feels natural.

Perhaps Coppola did this on purpose to echo the aforementioned artificiality of the classic musicals. If so, this seems unclear and instead, we just get lines that come across as eyerolling

Frannie and Hank both offer a poor combination of dull and annoying, and as our Manic Pixie Fantasy Lovers, Ray (Raul Julia) and Leila (Nastassja Kinski) prove no more enchanting. Again, saddled with all that terrible dialogue, every single character we meet becomes actively unlikable and grating.

I will say that Heart boasts strong production values and looks lovely. Shot entirely on sound stages, it looks artificial, but that was the point, and the movie comes across as a visual treat.

Unfortunately, everything else about Heart fails. It brings us a movie so awful that I can’t help but wonder if Coppola actually wanted to destroy his career, as I can’t figure out how a man who made those 1970s classics could produce an atrocity like this.

One From the Heart appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. The movie came with a pretty strong Dolby Vision presentation.

Sharpness largely looked very good. Occasional shots seemed a bit soft, but those stayed in the minority, so the movie usually delivered appealing accuracy.

The film lacked jaggies or moiré effects, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain felt appropriate, and I saw no print flaws.

Colors veered toward a natural palette, albeit one with some theatrical hues at times, especially given the Las Vegas setting. The tones appeared vivid and full, with extra oomph thanks to the disc’s HDR.

Blacks felt deep and dense, while shadows appeared smooth and clear. Contrast and whites received a boost due to HDR. Ultimately, this became a highly satisfying image.

Though not as memorable, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 opened up matters in a reasonable manner. The soundfield focused on the front, where music offered appealing stereo spread and blossomed to the surrounds in a mild manner as well.

Given the film’s structure, effects lacked much to do, but they still added some involvement. In particular, Vegas casino elements used the side and back channels to moderate impact.

Audio quality held up nicely over the last 42 years, with speech that remained concise and natural. As noted, effects lacked much to do, but they gave us accurate and clear material.

Music carried much of the mix, and both songs and score seemed full and rich. This felt like a more than adequate mix for the material on hand.

This package includes both the movie’s 1982 Cut (1:43:07) as well as an updated ”Reprise” version (1:33:39). Unfortunately, the 4K disc only provides “Reprise”, as it relegates the 1982 edition to a Blu-ray.

The primary difference between the two stems from the omission of a fight between Frannie and Hank that originally appeared at the start of the 1982 version. “Reprise” also loses a bit of exposition.

While hese choices streamline the film, they also mean the narrative of “Reprise” feels less concise. I think both cuts give us essentially the same terrible movie, but at least “1982” makes a little more sense.

On the 4K disc, we get an audio commentary from writer/director Francis Ford Coppola. He offers a running, screen-specific look at story/characters and changes for the "Reprise" cut, cast and performances, sets and costumes, music and choreography, photography and aspect ratio, and similar topics.

Coppola provides a reasonably informative chat, one that gets into some intriguing domains like the involvement of Gene Kelly. However, the track seems erratic and comes with too many dull spots to turn into a really good discussion.

The Look of One from the Heart goes for 17 minutes, 22 seconds. It includes circa 1980-81 remarks from Coppola, cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, electronic cinema artist Murdo Laird, production designer Dean Tavoularis, general foreman John Rutchland, special visual effects designer Robert Swarthe, and matte artist Rocco Gioffre.

As expected, “Look” examines various visual choices made for the movie. It comes with plenty of good footage from the production and turns into a solid featurette.

Like “Look”, The Cast of One from the Heart comes from material shot in 1980-81. It spans 21 minutes, 45 seconds and features Coppola and actors Lainie Kazan, Teri Garr, Raul Julia, Harry Dean Stanton, and Frederic Forrest.

This one views cast, characters and performances. Like “Look”, it becomes an engaging “real time” view of the production.

The Choreography of One from the Heart fills 24 minutes, 51 seconds. We get info from Coppola, Julia, Garr, choreography consultant Gene Kelly and choreographer Kenny Ortega.

Another reel composed of elements from 1980-81, we learn about the movie’s dance sequences. This ends up as another winner, especially when we get to see Kelly’s work on the set.

After this, we go to Reinventing the Musical. A modern-day piece, this one lasts 25 minutes, four seconds and features filmmaker Baz Luhrmann.

The director gives his appraisal and appreciation of Heart. Luhrmann offers an introspective take on the topic and makes this an engaging chat.

In addition to a new trailer created for the “Reprise” cut of Heart, the 4K concludes with the three-minute, 54-second Restoration Comparison. It offers a split-screen view of the 2003 mastering vs. the 2023 update.

These usually feel self-congratulatory, and this one becomes no exception. The “Comparison” also indicates the 2023 master goes with some revisionist colors, as it favors heavier blues and ambers.

With that we head to the Blu-ray copy, where the main attraction comes from the 1982 cut of Heart. Since I already discussed it, I won’t cover that territory a second time.

The BD’s featurettes open with The Making of One from the Heart. It goes for 23 minutes, 21 seconds and brings notes from Coppola, Tavoularis, Rutchland, Laird, Storaro, Ortega, composer Tom Waits, and actor Nastassia Kinski.

Created in the 1980s, “Making” brings a general overview of the production. A lot of this feels pretty banal, especially because we get a lot of movie clips, but “Making” still adds dollops of worthwhile moments.

The Dream Studio occupies 28 minutes, 24 seconds. It offers info from Coppola, Garr, Forrest, Zoetrope Studios producer Ronald Colby, filmmaker Michael Lehmann, art director Angelo Graham, Zoetrope Studios President (1980-82) Bob Spiotta, artist Ron Gress, and oil tycoon Jack Singer.

We get a look at Coppola’s creation and development of Zoetrope Studios, connections to the Heart production and various problems. This delivers an informative look at Coppola’s hopes and what happened along the way.

Up next, The Electronic Cinema takes up nine minutes, 34 seconds. It involves Lehmann, Storaro, Garr, Luhrmann, Coppola, Avid Film Composer co-creator Tom Ohanian, and co-editor Randy Roberts.

“Cinema” discusses some of the technical innovations utilized during the Heart production. It provides a nice summary.

The Music of One from the Heart goes for 13 minutes, 28 seconds. Here we find info from Waits, Coppola, music producer Bones Howe, sound designer Richard Beggs, and singer Crystal Gayle.

To the surprise of no one, this clip examines the film’s songs and score. It gets a boost from some good behind the scene footage from the production.

12 Deleted Scenes occupy a total of 34 minutes, 11 seconds. Actually, three of those repeat via minor variations, so we really only find nine unique sequences.

Expect more of the same Frannie/Hank bickering that populates the final film along with a few other superfluous elements. Nothing here feels like it needed to end up in the end product.

Two of the repeated scenes come with commentary from Coppola. He offers good notes.

A collection of Videotaped Rehearsals takes up eight minutes, 57 seconds. These offer an engaging view of how Coppola worked with the actors.

Francis Ford Coppola Speaks to the Exhibitors goes for one minute, 30 seconds. Partly seen in “Dream Studio”, this lets us see the whole message Coppola sent to prep theaters that might bid to run the film.

With Press Conference at the Studio, we find a seven-minute, 31-second segment in which Coppola shows aspects of Heart as a work in progress. It becomes a good example of the filmmaker’s continued efforts to keep his flailing movie alive – especially when Coppola gets pissy about continued questions related to finances.

A Music Video for “This One’s From the Heart” offers the song played over movie clips. It’s a snoozer.

Up next, a Stop Motion Demo lasts three minutes, 26 seconds and features Swarthe as he gives us a look at his work. This turns into a fun view of the movie’s visual effects made for the opening credits.

The Tom Waits Score – Alternate Tracks gives us six music cues not used in the film. The compilation lasts 24 minutes, 23 seconds, a total that includes studio chatter. Expect a cool look at these musical variations.

The package concludes with two trailers. One offers the original 1982 promo while the other promotes a 2003 reissue.

A flop of such epic proportions that it nearly destroyed Francis Ford Coppola’s career, One From the Heart deserves all the criticism and mockery it received in 1982. A witless, charmless and ridiculous stab at a musical, the film fails in all possible ways. The 4K UHD comes with strong visuals, positive audio and a long roster of bonus materials. Heart depicts a filmmaker who completely lost his way and made a shockingly terrible movie.