Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Year: 1979

Starring: Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, Harrison Ford and 

Marlon Brando

     If there is a word I can use to describe Apocalypse Now, that word is "epic". It is my favourite of all the films on this list, so please excuse if I tend to over hype it. Apocalypse Now was released in 1979 and has gone down as one of the greatest films of the 1970s, one of the greatest Vietnam war movies, and one of the greatest films of the "New Hollywood" era. This film might not be flawless, but it deserves all the praise it gets. 

     The film is actually a loose adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella Heart of Darkness, but updated to a Vietnam setting. The story has Martin Sheen as Captain Benjamin Willard, who is tasked to hunt down, and terminate Col. Walter E. Kurtz, a former officer who has gone completely insane. Marlon Brando plays Kurtz, and while he isn't seen until the very end of the film, his looming presence is constant over the entire course of the film. Kurtz is played up to being a very dangerous man who is worshiped like a god. It may have helped that Brando was already a legendary actor, and it helped that his status enforced this larger than life character. 

     Willard sets out on a military boat (which features a very young Laurence Fishburne. Seriously, he had to lie about his age to get the part) and begins his trek through the dense Vietnam jungles. Along the way he runs into Cavalryman Major William. Kilgore (Robert Duvall), a charismatic leader who might be a little insane. Duvall literally steals every scene he's in, and while he's only on screen for about 20 minutes, you tend to forget he's not the main character of the film. Willard takes a step back, and reappears when Kilgore's time is up (the role scored Duvall an Academy Award nomination). 

     As the characters venture deep into the jungle, the environment around them gets less civilized until finally they reach the last military outpost. From then on, it's no man's land, and literally anything can happen. When Willard finally reaches Kurtz, they spend time analyzing each other, building rapport, and just plain staring each other down. These scenes are actually kind of slow, but they're filled with an immense intensity that it keeps you on the edge of your seat. Brando does a fantastic job, playing a somewhat sympathetic psychopath, but he does it in a way that you start to agree with some of his feelings and methods. Eventually, the film ends with a huge climax, with Willard and Kurtz facing each other one-on-one.

     Apocalypse Now reminds you why film is an art form. Every scene is carefully planned out, and Coppola's direction shows his true talent. It's a film about the duality of human nature, and the farther Willard travels upstream, the more insane he tends to become. Willard's confrontation with Kurtz is mirrored in the audience's feelings, as the two start to wonder if Kurtz is really insane. To stop Kurtz, Willard has to become Kurtz, which is what the film has been building up to from the start. 

     The film was re-edited and re-released in 2001 as Apocalypse Now Redux, which adds 49 minutes to the already long run time of 153 minutes. The film adds some new scenes, and even completely re-arranging some parts altogether. It slows the pace down a little bit near the end, which is the bulk of the new footage, but I personally feel that the Redux version is actually superior. It adds new scenes developing these characters that are on the journey with Willard, and it delves deeper into both Willard's character and Kurtz's character. 

     Whether it's the original cut, or the Redux version, this film will satisfy and leave you appreciating a lot more about the film medium as a whole. The Godfather and it's sequel may be masterpieces in their own right, but I would consider Apocalypse Now to be Coppola's magnum opus.