I just saw this turd on AMC…and I was NOT impressed. F.F. Coppola bankrupted his studio making this POS? I mean the thing was lavishly filmed, and no expense spared for location (believe it was the Philippines?). Anyway, the movie was OK until Sheen et.al, make it up the river and find Col. Kurtz! The dialogue with the raving mad Col. Kurtz was alternately part “deep” philosophy and part mindless babble-:
(Col. Kurtz): "we condemn our youth for saying “fuck”…-what the hell is this all about?
Anyway, you can never see exactly what Kurtz is raving about-he has Sheen locked up and gives him back copies of “TIME” magazine to read (“don’t misplace them”)…and that scene where the villagers are having the party-and getting ready to slaughter that water buffalo-what was THAT stupid symbolism supposed to mean?
Yeah, I know the story was an adaptation of Conrad’s “HEART OF DARKNESS”-but the Kurtz character made no sense to me…except for “the horro,r the horror”.
How much money did this movie lose?
Best war film ever.
Apocalypse Now cost less than 40,000,000 million to make and grossed $78,784,010 in the USA in 1979 alone. It’s more than doubled than since then. You can check here for the financial details of its international success.
If the film seems to “deteriorate” at the end, it’s because all signs of sanity deteriorate. It takes you into the “heart of darkness” from which no light or reason escapes. This Green Beret Colonel has gone mad in the jungles of Cambodia and created his own civilization. What must it have taken to break a mind such as his? What must have been the extent of “the horror”?
About the line: "We condemn our youth for saying “fuck.” There are many, many people in this world who find the word fuck to be obscene and a matter of grave concern – a word to be banned from books and from all public usage. They think that people who use this word – this symbol – are bad people or evil.
Meanwhile, some of the same people who found the word fuck obscene, supported a war in which the most vile things happened to human beings. That is much more obscene than a word can ever be. Kurtz was pointing out the irony.
In a way, I find Robert Duvall’s character just as crazy. He was the one who was so gungho on war that he liked the smell of napalm in the morning.
Sorry that the movie didn’t suit you. If you want to see a movie about the war in Southeast Asia that is not so surreal, you should give Platoon a try. A lot of vets said that it was very true to life. Strangely enough, it stars Martin Sheen’s son.
It’s a great movie that bears repeat viewing. Kurtz’s diatribe on use of the word “fuck” is absolutely brilliant.
I would not, however, call it the best war movie ever. I’d give that honour to Cross of Iron or Stalingrad. Too much navel gazing in AN. Stalingrad makes the Vietnam War look like Grenada.
Just to give my two cents, because I think it’s one of the best lines in the movie.
“We train them to drop fire on people, but their commanders won’t let them write ‘Fuck’ on their aeroplanes. Because… It’s Obscene.”
This points out the insanity of war, making us consider, which is more obscene, the word fuck, or incinerating our fellow humans?
The popular version of the 'Smell of napalm in the Morning, smells like Victory" is a Truncation of a wonderful little speech by Robert Duvall. Even more poigniant is his walking away line. “Someday, this war is going to end.” said very wistfully.
Except when it gets ruined in Redux.
I think that was the worst when they added more to Kilgore in the longer version, takes the power out of that exit line.
A hunt. The last great hunt.
For what?
For Moby Dick, the huge white sperm whale: who is old, hoary, monstrous, and swims alone; who is unspeakably terrible in his wrath, having so often been attacked; and snow- white.
Of course he is a symbol.
Of what ?
I doubt if even Melville knew exactly. That’s the best of it
-D. H. Lawrence
That it’s not clear percisly what the craziness at the end of the river is supposed to symbolize (either in HoD or AN) is part of what makes it a great movie/book. Making a 2D symbol or metaphor of something is easy, making something that everyone feels is symbolic but that no one can articulate percisly what it symbolizes is art.
Having appreciated the Redux version at the outset, I agree that cutting those scenes (tits and all) made for a much better movie. The scene where Kurthz quotes TIME is dull and undermines his scariness. (I’ve been meaning to re-watch the regular version to look for glimpses of Kilgore’s surfboard.) But in the end the flaw in the film’s anti-climax remains.
Anyone here seen Hearts of darkness? I found the scene where actors playing severed heads on the temple steps (while crouched in buried boxes) being shaded by pink parasols to be absolutely surreal.
I wanted to add that the version shown on AMC was actually Apocalypse Now Redux, a director’s cut. I’m a big fan of the film, but I think Redux wanders too much and you pretty much have to already be a fan of the film to care about the added bits. New viewers should really see the original first; much tighter and focused.
I also recommend the two CD soundtrack (but not the bastardized one CD version).
Some day this war is going to end.
I couldn’t agree with you more.
Charlie don’t surf.
ralph124c you are off my christmas list, Apocalypse Now is the best!