Apocalypse Now

by Robbo

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Posted on 19 May 2021

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Rating -

Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic psychological war film directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola.

It stars Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Harrison Ford, and Dennis Hopper.

The screenplay, co-written by Coppola and John Milius with narration written by Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, with the setting changed from late 19th-century Congo to the Vietnam War.

The film follows a river journey from South Vietnam into Cambodia undertaken by Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Sheen), who is on a secret mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz (Brando), a renegade Army Special Forces officer accused of murder and who is presumed insane.

Apocalypse Now is considered one of the greatest films ever made, and I do not dispute that.

Most films made about Vietnam are made from a stance of pro-war or anti-war. With Apocalypse Now it’s impossible to determine which of these it is as throughout the film you get a sense of both sides of the argument.

Captain Willard’s journey is symbolic of our journey into the darkest places of our soul, places we would rather not discover.

I guess what I am saying is this film and any messages are subjective, with different meanings to different people.

The film exists in varying versions of differing lengths, the one I like the best is the Redux version released in 2001 which adds 49 minutes of footage removed from the original theatrical release.

I would urge any film fan that this is a film they must see.

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