Apocalypse Now

E

Eddie[Is Taken]

New member
I was searching the forum in relation to this film, and was surprised that it didn't have a thread of its own.

I think it's a masterpiece. An all time classic film, by one of the all time classic directors.

I first saw it back in about 89. I was studying English Lit at uni, and one of the set texts was Heart of Darkness. Co-incidentally, at the same time a mate was mithering me to watch one of his favourite films, Apocalypse Now. I didn't really know anything about it, and just assumed it was a bog standard Nam film. I also didn't realise it was based on my Conrad set text.

It just blew me away, and still does to this day. For me, it was made all the more stunning as a result of my appreciation of Heart of Darkness, and the shared themes between the two very different works.

In my mind it's just iconic scene after iconic scene, building to a haunting and terrifying conclusion. It's just so...well...good!

I've not seen Redux, and to be honest I don't really want to. I've also not seen Eleanor Coppola's Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, although I would actually like to see this.

I haven't watched the film in a while, and I think I'll hold off revisiting it for now until someone eventually gets their act together and release the BluRay.

Anyone else share my love for this film, or want to put a contrary view?
 
Agree with you entirely.
I have seen Redux, and whilst the Plantation scene is interesting its overlong - others are just unnecessary.
The original film is as you say a masterpiece.
 
I watched this film last week for the first time in about 10 years. I have the longer version on DVD. I think the part with the French colonial guys requires some knowledge on the history otherwise it's a long dreary boring moment as people I've watched it with had no idea what they were talking about. There are references to Dien Bien Phu while the name of that battle isn't actually mentioned (if I remember correctly).

The film as a whole has to be in my top three. The long trip down the river and as it gets weirder and weirder represents the mental effect on the soldiers in that war. I have read a few war diaries of people who wrote down the events as they happened and every time I think of how similar it is to Apocalypse Now and how perfectly it captures the detriorating mentality of the soldiers in war.

As for Brando I never seen a problem with his acting and character, but I never knew about Brando's earlier films as I'm pretty young (22) so my opinion on him in this film is not influenced by his earlier stuff. Maybe people have higher expectations of him but I don't see what it was that makes people think he was crap.
 
I have only ever seen the original version. It is indeed a very good film, one of Coppola's finest and can stand side by side with his Godfather films. It does have some flaws I admit, it can be a bit pretensions, and self indulgent sometimes. I'm not sure how the Redux version will be, I will have to watch it sometime.
 
We're all agreed then? Seminal movie; work of genius. One of the 20th Century's most important and influentual cimematic offerings.

Good stuff, it's not often you get a consensus on rabroad!

The worst that's been leveled at it so far is pretentious & self indulgent, but even that was tempered with praise. I can live with that...one man's pretentious is another man's worthy. Apocalypse Now is nothing if not worthy.
 
Redux is awful and was totally unnecessary. Stick with the original cut and you can't go wrong. It's quite simply the greatest war movie ever made imo & one of the greatest films period. It still looks stunning too, it could have been filmed this year, you'd never guess it was a 70s film.
 
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