Apocalypse Now Review By Connor Stevenson Wright Apocalypse Now stars Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall and Marlon Brando. The film was released in 1979 and it it was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. First of all I have to state Apocalypse Now is one of the greatest films ever made but in my opinion Apocalypse Now isnt a film for entertainment. Its a film you experience Just like the Godfather it takes you on a journey like no other film. The characters strangely feel realistic and so do the scenarios. From the pulse ranging opening shot of a Vietnamese jungle getting attacked by napalm and the impeccable use of the The End by The Doors which brings forward a feeling of Melancholy and a strange feeling of isolation when you are seeing this big event of a Jungle in the middle of a napalm attack. And then the film poignantly fades into the main character Captain Willard laying on his bed in a apartment in Saigon. Willard is played magnificently by Martin Sheen. The film merely uses Vietnam as a backdrop as the film is essentially a modernised retelling of stories such as Homers Oddesey. Willards journey down the River to the infamous rouge Colonel Kurtz symbolises the downward spiral of insanity of Willard as he is merely trying to find this man who thinks he is a God among men yet Willard is becoming more primitive. This is one of the reasons Apocalypse Now is the greatest Vietnam War film ever. Unlike films like Full Metal Jacket and Platoon which are both phenomenal but Apocalypse Now doesnt show the War like how we are used to seeing it. Unlike the films Ive mentioned the film only has a few scenes actually showing the battles and that is the Ride Of The Valkyries helicopter attack towards the beginning of the film. This film isnt about the battles in War its about the decrease in society as the main character gets down the river. The last act itself shows how Willard has to adjust. The film is essentially an epic covered by the Vietnam War that uses characters to guide the story. Captain Willard is a traumatised character from his past tour of duty you can see this in his opening scene when he is drunk in his hotel Room and his narration is monologuing. Robert Duvall is superfluous in his role as surfing obsessed colonel Bill Killgore. He adds comedy to the film and he steals all of his scenes and he drops the most famous line from the film I love the smell of napalm in the morning, the smell of Victory. And Marlon Brando is utterly iconic as Cornel Kurtz. From his iconic pulse pounding monologues to just the shear brilliance of the performance. And his line The Horror, the horror is one of my all time favourite lines from a film it is so simple yet powerful. Francis Ford Coppalas direction is fantastic. Every scene in the film is incredibly well directed and it feels much more open and experimentive then any of The Godfather films. The use of music is impeccable. It still has the typical Vietnam songs you hear in every Vietnam war Film which is always a good thing and as I said the use of The End is one of the greatest uses of a song in a film. Its hard to believe with the film that there were so many problems behind the scenes yet the film turned out to be a masterpiece. In my opinion this film is one of the greatest war films and one of the greatest character study films ever made. Every bit about the film is great and I highly recommend the film as it is truly an experience. I recommend the theatrical cut more then the Redux as the Redux does drag in places and if you want to watch the Redux watch the Theatrical first. Apocalypse Now Theatrical 10/10 Apocalypse Now Redux 8/10 Next week I will be reviewing The Godfather
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 19:29:14 +0000
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