Apocalypse Now
1979
*****
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, G. D. Spradlin, Harrison Ford, Scott Glenn
During the Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a classified mission up the Nùng River into Cambodia to assassinate Colonel Kurtz, a highly decorated officer who has apparently gone insane. Francis Ford Coppola's wildly ambitious and surreal journey into the heart of darkness, loosely based on Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella by the same name, includes funny, disturbing, and outrageous moments, and the film reveals more about the absurdity of war than any number of battle scenes could. The performances are brilliant. The original version ran 147 minutes, the 2001 Apocalypse Now Redux is 49 minutes longer, while the 2019 Apocalypse Now Final Cut is 20 minutes shorter than Redux. An Academy Award winner for best cinematography and sound. An Academy Award winner for best cinematography and sound.
