Apocalypse Now (1979)

• Year: 1979
• Released: 15 Aug 1979
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Won 2 Oscars. 21 wins & 33 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078788/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/apocalypse_now
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/apocalypse-now
• Available in: 720p, 1080p, 2160p
• Language: English, French, Vietnamese
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Drama, Mystery, War
• Runtime: 147 min
• Writer: John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Herr
• Director: Francis Ford Coppola
• Cast: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
• Keywords: based on novel or book, surrealism, journalist, cia, jungle,

	8.5/10
	94/100
	98% – Critics
	94% – Audience

Apocalypse Now Storyline

It is the height of the war in Vietnam, and U.S. Army Captain Willard is sent by Colonel Lucas and a General to carry out a mission that, officially, ‘does not exist – nor will it ever exist’. The mission: To seek out a mysterious Green Beret Colonel, Walter Kurtz, whose army has crossed the border into Cambodia and is conducting hit-and-run missions against the Viet Cong and NVA. The army believes Kurtz has gone completely insane and Willard’s job is to eliminate him. Willard, sent up the Nung River on a U.S. Navy patrol boat, discovers that his target is one of the most decorated officers in the U.S. Army. His crew meets up with surfer-type Lt-Colonel Kilgore, head of a U.S Army helicopter cavalry group which eliminates a Viet Cong outpost to provide an entry point into the Nung River. After some hair-raising encounters, in which some of his crew are killed, Willard, Lance and Chef reach Colonel Kurtz’s outpost, beyond the Do Lung Bridge. Now, after becoming prisoners of Kurtz, will Willard & the others be able to fulfill their mission?

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Apocalypse Now Movie Reviews

The most anti-war pro-war film ever made.

Coming out on the cusp of several other big award winning Vietnam war films (“Coming Home” and “The Deer Hunter” which could not have been any more different), this is the most avant garde of them all. While another stack of Vietnam war films came out nearly a decade later, this is perhaps the most controversial. Unlike his son Charlie Sheen’s character in “Platoon” Martin Sheen’s captain here isn’t just a recruit facing his own apocalypse from going into combat for the first time. He’s experienced, trusted and smart, and that’s just one of the reasons he’s chosen for the special mission of going deep into the Vietnam jungle to take out one of his own, an American officer who seems to have defected, declared himself to be lord of that jungle and most likely incurably insane.

Director Francis Ford Coppola has declared this to not be anti-war even though he doesn’t indicate his own feelings. He claims that this shows why the human psyche constantly gets into wars and uses the Joseph Conrad novel “Hearts of Darkness” as his source, changing it to the Vietnam war and exploiting the cruelty and violence, some of it obviously necessary as the attacks on the Viet Cong camps at the start of a day indicate. It’s easy to hate those in charge of this action for killing children, and when a young Vietnamese girl tosses something into the helicopter and runs off before it bursts into an inferno can temporarily change how you see this mission before realizing why it had to be done.

In all truth, seeing the nearly 40 year old Martin Sheen here, I did confuse him at first with son Charlie, then 22, in “Platoon”. Martin looks way younger than his years so it’s frightening to see him foisted into this mission to which there’s no easy way to accomplish it. The look of disgust on his face while looking on at the impish antics of those on the river boat escorting him downstream is unforgettable. He’s obviously already seen horrors that explain the opening scene where he’s on a drug trip as the Doors song “The End” plays over it.

The subject of the assassination plot is the Colonel played by Marlon Brando in what is basically the highest paid cameo in film history, equivalent to what he had done right before this for “Superman”. Brando’s the one weak element of this film, photographed strangely and often difficult to understand. Perhaps he thought that would add to his character’s insanity. Sheen spends time looking at pictures of the younger Brando, altered in photos to appear to be in a military setting.

Since the top billed Brando doesn’t appear until later in the film, it’s the supporting cast surrounding Sheen that you will remember which includes Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, Frederic Forrest and a young Harrison Ford, basically a cameo but an important scene along G.D. Spradlin. There are a few women in the cast outside the extras playing members of the Viet Cong, and one disturbing scene has a young prostitute at work asking a soldier looking on why he’s there, only to heat, “I’m next.”

So this glorifies war while also giving an indication of how evil it is and how soul crushing it can be. Sheen’s quiet performance seems to emote this, and that gives his performance real power. Many of the battle scenes are at night with screaming voices sounding like ghosts crying out for mercy. This is the type of film that will make you feel guilty when you either cheer or laugh, but that’s a part of what makes this film stand the test of time. As a 16 year old watching this in the theater, I felt different emotions than I do 41 years later, not the fear of that sheltered existence of a teenager, but the anger of a mature man still debating why we need to feel the urge to kill. That’s the power of cinema when it’s done right and why this film is important on so many levels.

Take the long ride to perdition.

There are films we watch because they are good, even though they are painful for us. This is a film I saw one time. At that time I thought to myself, this is enough. It was painful to make that journey down the river, wondering what was around every corner. Then we meet the products of our own id impulses, as we are the enemy, our souls have been brought down to this. At the end of the river is the man who came before us, and we see the uselessness of the journey. It is the Heart of Darkness. There are death masters like Robert Duvall. There are those who can only hope to survive, but the war is the master. The Doors music as the napalm settles gently on the treetops and across the ground, sweeps us up gently. Meanwhile it is consuming the flesh of the Vietnamese people, as well as an occasional American soldier. The ancient Romans could not envision peace without war. We and much of the world seem to have embraced those tenets put forth some two thousand years ago. This film gets into the marrow.

As long as you realize it’s FICTION, you’re okay…

My biggest complaint about “Apocalypse Now” is that many who view it might think this is exactly like the Vietnam War. Instead, it’s almost like a non-funny spoof–satirizing it instead of showing an actual view of the war. The film shoves a decade of surreal incidents and some completely fictional ones along with incorporating Joseph Conrad’s book “Heat of Darkness” and the Herzog film “Aguirre: The Wrath of God” into this vision. The results are pretty amazing…just NOT the actual Vietnam War. In other words, there was too much craziness for one movie–but it did make for exciting and compelling viewing nevertheless.

The first 2/3 of the film is very much like “Aguirre”, as it shows a group of misfits taking a CIA operative (Martin Sheen) upriver into Cambodia on a secret assassination mission. Along the way, TONS of insane little vignettes are shoved into the movie–some of which are patently ridiculous. Now I must say that when the film was released, some of the more surreal and ridiculous scenes were removed–such as the Playboy bunny scenes which simply make no logical sense. But the reason so much illogic is shoved into the film is that the filmmaker, Francis Ford Coppola, was NOT trying to make a true depiction of the war. I wish some of this craziness had been toned down a bit–after all, I am a retired history teacher and love truly accurate depictions. But this film is highly fictionalized and Coppola surely wasn’t trying to make a documentary.

The final portion is basically right out of “Heart of Darkness”–with massive changes here and there (such as the purpose of the visit to Kurtz). Now if you haven’t read this book, I do NOT recommend you do so. Believe me, it is one of the more difficult and tedious books I’ve ever read (yes, English professors, I know you will hit me with lots of ‘not helpfuls’ because I said this). And, while over the top in many ways, at least it was entertaining–something that could never be said about the book (which, by the way, was not a war story and was set in the Belgian Congo). In fact, an English teacher friend of mine admitted, after I pressured him, that the book was insufferable.

So is the film any good? Sure. Very well done. But remember, it’s NOT a work of non-fiction. Now I am NOT defending the Vietnam War (it was screwed up in every way and was one of the dumbest moments in US history) but just don’t want the gullible to assume it’s fact. For at least a closer view of the reality of the war, try watching “Full Metal Jacket”. But, for a crazy, surreal and mesmerizing view, give “Apocalypse Now” a look. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before…

FYI–It should surprise no one that this is a VERY adult movie–especially the “Redux” release of 2001. Tons of violence, strong language and graphic nudity are in this film, so don’t watch it with your mother-in-law or the kids!!