Apocalypse Now (1979)
Country: US
Technical: col/scope 153m
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Marlon Brando, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, (Christian Marquand, Aurore Clément)
Synopsis:
During the Vietnam war, a Special Ops Captain is sent up river to assassinate a renegade Colonel and on the way encounters many aspects of the conflict which enhance his understanding of his subject's methods.
Review:
Much has been said of the Vietnam-like experience of this film, not least by the director himself, and one need go no further than the revealing documentary on its making, Hearts of Darkness, which took its title from Conrad's source book. It is a journey into the horror and absurdity of warfare on the one hand, on the other it attempts to say something reasonably definitive about this unhappy chapter in 20th century US foreign policy. It succeeds in the first aim in a way that was well ahead of its time, proceeding from irony and spectacle to infernal madness, itself identified as the singleness of purpose necessary for victory by the overarching personage of Walter Kurtz; as for the second aim it might be considered too chaotic to say anything very coherent but that, in a way, is the point. One way or another it provides enough memorable images and lines to be on most people's list of classics. (In 2001 Coppola re-edited the negative in order to restore about 45 minutes of original footage, having the effect of increasing the sense of (O)dyssey and deepening the political perspective by adding a French plantation interlude. It also alters the impression of Willard's relationship with the crew in a way which might be seen as counter-productive. This new version was billed as Apocalypse Now Redux and incidentally removed the air strike footage from the closing credits.)
Country: US
Technical: col/scope 153m
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Marlon Brando, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, (Christian Marquand, Aurore Clément)
Synopsis:
During the Vietnam war, a Special Ops Captain is sent up river to assassinate a renegade Colonel and on the way encounters many aspects of the conflict which enhance his understanding of his subject's methods.
Review:
Much has been said of the Vietnam-like experience of this film, not least by the director himself, and one need go no further than the revealing documentary on its making, Hearts of Darkness, which took its title from Conrad's source book. It is a journey into the horror and absurdity of warfare on the one hand, on the other it attempts to say something reasonably definitive about this unhappy chapter in 20th century US foreign policy. It succeeds in the first aim in a way that was well ahead of its time, proceeding from irony and spectacle to infernal madness, itself identified as the singleness of purpose necessary for victory by the overarching personage of Walter Kurtz; as for the second aim it might be considered too chaotic to say anything very coherent but that, in a way, is the point. One way or another it provides enough memorable images and lines to be on most people's list of classics. (In 2001 Coppola re-edited the negative in order to restore about 45 minutes of original footage, having the effect of increasing the sense of (O)dyssey and deepening the political perspective by adding a French plantation interlude. It also alters the impression of Willard's relationship with the crew in a way which might be seen as counter-productive. This new version was billed as Apocalypse Now Redux and incidentally removed the air strike footage from the closing credits.)
Country: US
Technical: col/scope 153m
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Marlon Brando, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, (Christian Marquand, Aurore Clément)
Synopsis:
During the Vietnam war, a Special Ops Captain is sent up river to assassinate a renegade Colonel and on the way encounters many aspects of the conflict which enhance his understanding of his subject's methods.
Review:
Much has been said of the Vietnam-like experience of this film, not least by the director himself, and one need go no further than the revealing documentary on its making, Hearts of Darkness, which took its title from Conrad's source book. It is a journey into the horror and absurdity of warfare on the one hand, on the other it attempts to say something reasonably definitive about this unhappy chapter in 20th century US foreign policy. It succeeds in the first aim in a way that was well ahead of its time, proceeding from irony and spectacle to infernal madness, itself identified as the singleness of purpose necessary for victory by the overarching personage of Walter Kurtz; as for the second aim it might be considered too chaotic to say anything very coherent but that, in a way, is the point. One way or another it provides enough memorable images and lines to be on most people's list of classics. (In 2001 Coppola re-edited the negative in order to restore about 45 minutes of original footage, having the effect of increasing the sense of (O)dyssey and deepening the political perspective by adding a French plantation interlude. It also alters the impression of Willard's relationship with the crew in a way which might be seen as counter-productive. This new version was billed as Apocalypse Now Redux and incidentally removed the air strike footage from the closing credits.)