Review - Apocalypse Now (1979)

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and this is easily one of the most difficult reviews I've ever done. Apocalypse Now is a 1979 war epic directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and loosely inspired by the Joseph Conrad novella Heart of Darkness. Coppola, in a bid to update the original story's themes of British Imperialism, changes the setting to the jungles of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. However, the reason I find this movie to be difficult to review is due to the fact that it's a journey into the mind of a US soldier who has faced the genuine insanity of the war in Vietnam. But, because I appreciate all of my readers, I'm going to do my best. So, here's Apocalypse Now.

         So, the movie focuses on Capt. Ben Willard, who has returned to Vietnam after struggling to return to life in the US after his first tour. After an all-night drinking bender, Willard is taken to the field headquarters in Nha Trang, where Lieutenant General R. Corman, Colonel G. Lucas, and a government agent named Jerry give Willard a mission: travel by boat up the Nung River through Vietnam into Cambodia, follow in the path of renegade Army Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, infiltrate his compound, and terminate him "with extreme prejudice." 

          So, Willard travels on a Navy PBR, which is crewed by Navy Chief Petty Officer Phillips, or Chief for short, along with his crew which consists of New Orleans saucier Chef, SoCal surfer Lance, and South Bronx youngster Mr. Clean. The crew, known as the PBR Street Gang, travels to a point where they rendezvous with an Army Calvary unit, the 1st/9th, which is led by Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, who is an avid surfer himself and a great admirer of Lance's surfing career. Kilgore and his unit air Willard, the PBR Street Gang, and their boat to a hotspot at the mouth of the Nung River, which is deep in Vietcong territory. And what follows is one of the most iconic battle scenes in cinema, with a battalion of Huey helicopters flying in formation and attacking an enemy village while blasting Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" over the loudspeakers. Even if you haven't seen Apocalypse Now, you probably know this sequence, as it's been referenced and satirized for years. And, of course, I'm sure everyone probably remembers Kilgore's famous monologue of "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." 

        Anyway, so with enough enemy artillery cleared out, Willard and the PBR Street Gang start their journey up the Nung River, and after a jungle run-in with a wild tiger, we find ourselves at an outpost which hosts a USO show featuring a trio of Playboy playmates. The next day, the PBR Street Gang continues up river, going further North. It is during this leg of the journey where tensions start to mount between Willard and Chief, as the two clash over who's in charge on the boat. We then arrive at a bridge under attack by Vietcong, where a mail carrier hands over some letters and a new bit of information about Willard's mission to find and kill Kurtz. Willard heads ashore with Lance, who is high on LSD, to get information from a commanding officer, only to find no commanding officers in sight. 

        The journey North into Cambodia is more and more treacherous, and sees the losses of both Clean and Chief. And it's after the latter's death that Willard reveals his mission to Chef, what agrees to take Willard all the way. So, Willard, Chef, and Lance make it to Kurtz's compound, where they're greeted by an American photojournalist, who speaks high regards of Kurtz, and shows everyone around the place, which is crawling with American troops, Montagnard forces, and a soldier previously sent to kill Kurtz named Captain Colby. It's here that both Chef and Willard see just how nuts everyone is. Willard goes to finally confront Kurtz, who speaks with Willard regarding his hometown in Ohio, his mission to kill Kurtz, whether Kurtz's methods are unsound, and whether Willard is an assassin, ending with Kurtz's famous "You're an errand boy...sent by grocery clerks...to collect a bill."

         Willard is held captive, albeit temporarily, and has Chef's severed head dropped into his lap by Kurtz, who caught Chef attempting to call for an airstrike on Kurtz's compound. After listening to some readings and stories from Kurtz, along with some other stories from the photojournalist, Willard is finally free to roam the compound. And it's during a ceremonial rave that, while he speaks of the American war in Vietnam, Willard finally confronts and kills Kurtz, whose final words are   "The horror... The horror." After looking at some of Kurtz's belongings, Willard leaves, collecting Lance, and heads out of Kurtz's compound on the boat, with Kurtz's final words echoing in Willard's mind. 

          Francis Ford Coppola, quite honestly, made a film that is truly fascinating, where the stories of the behind the scenes work on the film Apocalypse Now are usually more interesting than the movie itself. Among these stories include things like shooting 200+ hours worth of footage, cast and crew going completely insane from the sheer intensity of the filming of the movie, a tropical storm destroying sets, going over budget, things like that. While, yes, it is fascinating to hear all of the things that went wrong with the making of Apocalypse Now, it's still imperative that the movie should be enjoyed on its own accord, without looking at the behind the scenes insanity that went into putting it together. 

         And, much like Coppola's other films, Apocalypse Now boasts an iconic cast, with the main protagonist of Willard being portrayed by Martin Sheen. Sheen definitely carries the movie, and is definitely one of the most complex war film protagonists I've ever seen. Conversely, Marlon Brando is not front and center in this movie as Kurtz, but his presence is definitely felt throughout the movie as a looming figure waiting at the end of the journey. The PBR Street Gang is a lot of fun throughout the movie, with Albert Hall as Chief and the late Sam Bottoms as Lance definitely getting a lot of great scenes. However, my favorite members of the PBR Street Gang are Fredric Forrest as Chef and Laurence Fishburne as Clean. And surprisingly, Fishburne was a teenager when he started as the seventeen year old US Navy sailor. 

          But easily my two favorite characters in the entire movie are Robert Duvall as Kilgore and Dennis Hopper as the photojournalist. Both play up different outlooks on the war in Vietnam, and both have a short amount of screen time. However, they take what little screen time they get and completely own it with their line delivery. 

         In all seriousness though, one of the biggest takeaways of Apocalypse Now is the journey into the many different stages of what the men who fought in Vietnam went through. The war, itself, was insane, and the amount of mental stress those men went through during the war was equally so. Francis Ford Coppola, with this journey upriver through the jungles of Vietnam, truly illustrates just how insane it was. 

          Now, there are three cuts of the movie available for viewing. There's the original theatrical cut, which is the most common version, there's Apocalypse Now Redux, which features several sequences omitted from the theatrical edition, and finally there's Apocalypse Now Final Cut, which Coppola sees as his definitive version. All three are available on the 4K Blu-ray release of the film, and I highly recommend picking this set up. I'm giving Apocalypse Now a rating of 5/5. 

        Well, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll be back on November 30 with my review of one of my favorite Disney franchises: National Treasure.