What was your and your audience's reaction in 1979/1980?

I thought it was the most boring film in the world. I was nine or ten years old at the time, so that might have something to do with it. Now I think its a masterpiece.

I was 15 when I first saw it (the original version, not Redux) and it totally blew me away. I knew it was a masterpiece way back then as it palpably pulsated with uniqueness, ambition, creativity and depth. To this day, few movies come close to touching its eminence.

My 175 (or so) Favorite Movies:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070122364/

I was 15. I actually first got the 2-disc LP at the end of Dec. 1979 which had the audio for much of the movie and I played that over and over. I got up the nerve to go see Apocalypse (because of its R-rating, I was afraid I wouldn't get in) and I went with a friend who was two years younger than me. He told me the foolproof way to get in when we were asked our ages was for him to say that I was his older brother. I doubted that would work, so, when asked, I mumbled something about leaving my I.D. at home, but then my friend piped up, "He's my older brother," and we were let in! To this day, I still don't understand that.

I was consumed by this movie that winter of 1979-80. I quoted the lines, played the music, transcribed the dialogue from the album. Me and my friends (the guy I saw it with and another buddy) incessantly made in-jokes and references to it. Two of us even restaged the Do Lung Bridge scene onto an audio tape at a nearby park.

I don't remember the particular reaction of the audience I saw it with, but I do recall the mild attitude the film had with the critics, many of them only liking parts of it; there was surprising little enthusiasm at the time. (I guess following up The Godfather I & II was a tough act for Coppola!) I really gnashed my teeth when "Kramer vs. Kramer" won the Best Picture Oscar over it. Kramer is a nice drama. Apocalypse is a work of CINEMA!

Saw it at the cinema when I was at college. I thought it was great. When the tiger jumped the entire audience shot back in their seats. The napalm attack was at the end. Everyone had stood up to leave and everyone stopped to watch the jungle burn. I think they've lost the power of those scenes amongst the re-edits.
I don't think you can compare the film with any other though you could perhaps bracket it with Lawrence Of Arabia.