Apocalypse Now

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Product details

Actor: Bo Byers, Colleen Camp, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Sam Bottoms
Primary Contributor: Marlon Brando
Primary Contributor: Martin Sheen
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog; French (Original Language); Vietnamese (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Running Time: 153 minutes
Release Date: 1992-12-07
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Paramount
Studio: Paramount

VHS Movie Reviews of Apocalypse Now

Movie Review: Smells like Victory!
Summary: 5 Stars

Whether or not Apocalypse Now accurately characterizes Vietnam is beyond me, and I concede my ignorance out of respect and admiration for the men and women who sacrificed their real lives and real limbs in Vietnam --I judge only the cinematic merits of this great film.

The film opens in a small greasy hotel room in Saigon. Counterintelligence operative Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) has trouble readjusting to civilian life. His room is helter-skelter. He drowns himself with alcohol and drugs. Sometimes he'll lie on his back and gaze at the ceiling; the revolving blades of the ceiling-fan remind him of helicopter propellers. One day, two uniformed men show up at his room; they take him to Nha Trang. There, Com Sec Intelligence briefs Captain Willard. Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando), Operations Officer 5th Special Forces, is wanted for murder. In 1964, Kurtz returned from Vietnam a changed man and wrote a report on what he saw in Vietnam; his report--addressed to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Lyndon B. Johnson--was restricted. At 38 years of age, Kurtz made three requests to airborne training in Fort Benning, Georgia and was finally accepted. He joined Special Forces in 1966 and returned to Vietnam. Shortly after joining the Special Forces, Colonel Kurtz became unstable in his ideas and methods. He crossed into Cambodia where he lords over a tribe of natives who worship him like a god; Kurtz crossed into Cambodia to avoid arrest after he executed some Vietnamese Intelligence agents whom he believed were double agents. Captain Willard is to proceed up the Nung River in a Navy patrol boat, to pick up Kurtz's path at Nu Mung Ba, and to follow Kurtz's path. Upon finding Kurtz, Captain Willard is to infiltrate Kurtz's army and to terminate Kurtz with extreme prejudice.

Captain Willard has killed many men, but this is the first time that he is ordered to kill an American soldier.
He looks over Kurtz's dossier: top of his class, Korea, Airborne; almost 1,000 decorations; third generation graduate of West Point; Master's degree, Harvard University--there, Kurtz wrote a thesis on American foreign policy in Southeast Asia.

From Nha Trang, a helicopter transports Captain Willard to his patrol boat. Chef, a machinist and saucier from New Orleans; Lance, a gunners-mate and surfer from south Los Angeles; Clean, a gunners-mate and 17 year old African American male from the South Bronx; and Phillips, the chief and captain of the patrol boat--these men accompany Willard on his journey up the Nung River.

Willard and his crew rendezvous with Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall), a gung-ho war-tested officer. Kilgore's 9th Air Cavalry escorts Willard to Vinh Kinh Drap, a heavily fortified village controlled by Viet Cong peasants. Vinh Kinh Drap sits at the mouth of the Nung River

Six foot swells roll into Vinh Kinh Drap; likewise, the Air Cavalry thunders over Vinh Kinh Drap. Armies of screaming Bell UH-1D Huey's fan out of the rising sun. Bombs and bullets rain out of the sky; on the ground, 50-caliber machine-guns bristle out of trees and huts. The surging battle cry -- Ride of the Valkyries--gains momentum. The village of Vinh Kinh Drap washes into a splintered soup of trees, huts, and human corpses. A quartet of low-flying jets rushes by spraying napalm; underneath those jets, liquid flames devour a swath of trees and brush. Officer Kilgore admires the distant fires. He closes his eyes and swells his bare chest. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning," he crows.

Kilgore and 9th Air Cavalry gives Willard's boat to the Nung River. The Nung River presents a bristling throat of trees, brush, and hidden dangers. As the patrol boat moves up the Nung River, Willard walks in Kurtz's shoes and sees what Kurtz saw.

A small sampan drifts towards Willard's boat. Willard and his crew detain the sampan. Food--mangos, fish, rice, etc.--and livestock--a couple of goats and some chickens--pack the hold of the ramshackle boat. Peasant farmers--several men and a young woman--occupy the small boat. Whether they are Viet Cong is less obvious to Willard and his cautious group. Phillips, the captain of the patrol boat, orders Chef to search the boat. Crates shatter and vegetables fly about; the peasants helplessly watch as Chef ransacks their boat. The animals on the boat become anxious. Chef and Phillips quarrel over the din of noisy animals. Everyone's nerves--the peasants, Willard and his men on the patrol boat--are taut. Clean and Lance machine-gun the boat. Rattling bullets jumble peasants, livestock, fruits, and vegetables into an oozing salad. Phillips and his men find nothing on the peasant's boat; however, this incident tells Willard more about Kurtz.

Nung River slowly pulls Willard's boat to Do Lung Bridge, the last army outpost. Strands of light-bulbs sag off of the broken bridge. The river vibrates around the patrol boat. Shooting flares tangle the night sky overhead. Gunshots and bombs reverberate. Bunkers dot the outpost. Soldiers spray wild bullets into the darkness; the darkness retaliates. Willard stumbles upon a bunker called Beverly Hills. He asks the soldiers for their commander; they don't have a commander. Willard and his men abandon the outpost and proceed down the Nung River. This incident tells Willard more about Kurtz.

The men on the patrol boat receive their mail. In a one-page letter, Com Sec Intelligence adds another wrinkle to Willard's mission. Several months ago, a man was ordered on a mission that was identical to Willard's mission. Com Sec Intelligence believes that Captain Richard Colby is operating with Colonel Kurtz. As Willard reads this letter, the other men on the boat are festive and rowdy. The surfer, Lance, celebrates by lighting a flare and waving its purple haze around the boat. On top of this error, it's also broad daylight. The 17-year-old boy named Clean is on the back of the boat quietly reading a letter his mother sent him from home. The purple haze billowing out of the boat informs the enemy. Gunshots attack the boat. Gunsmoke and purple haze clog the narrow river way. Phillips races the patrol boat up the river and out of danger. Out of the danger and out of the smoke, the boat is riddled with holes. Clean is sprawled at the back of the boat. He's dead. This incident tells Willard more about Kurtz.

As a film, Coppola's Apocalypse Now has the same flavor as Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. In both films, external forces cause men to evolve. In Apocalypse Now, the Vietnam war changes the heart of Kurtz; in 2001: A Space Odyssey, the sudden appearance of a planed monolith inspires primitive apes to evolve into modern man. Screenwriter John Milius adapted Apocalypse Now from Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness. Apocalypse Now became notorious for its myriad production difficulties involving its soaring budget and its troubled cast. Coppola shot the film in the Philippines during the monsoon season; subsequently, a typhoon destroyed many of the film's sets. Coppola used the profits from his Godfather films to rebuild sets destroyed by the typhoon. Actor Martin Sheen, who played Captain Willard, was an alcoholic and suffered a near fatal heart attack during the film. Also, actor Marlon Brando, who played Colonel Kurtz, showed up on the set overweight. Coppola suffered from severe depression and with marital problems resulting from the stresses of filming the movie. He threatened to commit suicide on three separate occasions. Thankfully, he persevered and finished his movie. The `70's was a freakish decade for Copolla. In one decade, he made three films that are among the best films ever made. Has any director had a decade as successful as Copolla had in the `70's? Apocalypse Now is one of the great films of the last century. See it.

author of Gotta Be Down!

Movie Review: Apocalypse when?
Summary: 3 Stars

I gave "Apocalypse Now" 3 stars based on Robert Duval's wonderful performance, alone. He captures the wild and reckless nature of certain officers in Vietnam, perfectly. He rides into battle in helicopters blaring 'Ride of the Valkyries' because 'It scares Hell out of the Slopes.' The war is a beach party in La Jolla. 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning...." On the lips of anyone else, this line would have been unremarkable even foolish. Duval, however, makes it the truth.

Other than that, the movie is forgettable. Increasingly surreal, with pointless combat and unconvincing firepower, we venture into the 'heart of darkness' to meet Kurtz, a man who is synonymous with warfare for the sake of nonending combat. Interestingly, I met the fellow on which Kurtz was reportedly styled. He waged something of a private war against the North Vietnamese using Montagnard guerillas. Unlike the madman, Kurtz, of 'Apocalypse', he seems to have integrated quite successfully into peacetime tranquility.

Ron Braithwaite, author of novels,--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

Movie Review: The Horror...
Summary: 4 Stars

Where could I possible start with this movie. First of all i don't think my head has stopped spinning. Apocalypse Now is an odd movie to say the least and nothing like i have ever seen. It was strange, disturbing, violent, seemingly immoral, and guess what, i loved it. From the very first scene it becomes obvious this isn't your typical war movie. The farther in you go the more it plays out like a psychological horror film. Francis Ford Coppola achieves this style many different ways. Everything from Martin sheen's inner monologue, to the films striking cinematography to its intense plotting works cohesively to bring this films intensity and brilliance

In a large sense, it is an extremely artistic film. The entire movie is immensely visual and surreal. The filmmakers used a fascinating array of colors and textures in their shots. The camera gets everything from sweeping shots of helicopters flying over the Vietnamese landscape to ominous close-ups of men covered in shadow.
Another striking component to the film is its foreboding soundtrack. I usually find that music play an extremely important role in the quality of the film and Apocalypse now doesn't disappoint.

The sensual aspects a film can only take you so far unless the subject matter holds your attention as well. As if the effect this film has on your senses isn't commanding enough, Apocalypse Now's effect on the mind takes it to an entirely new level. I left the film utterly confused on the moral message of the film but i think that was more or less intentional. So many of the actions of the different characters are appalling but Coppola brings you so deep into the world of the Vietnam war that it is hard condemn them.

Apocalypse Now is an extremely representational film. I think the only way for a film to even come close to conveying the horrors of the Vietnam war is to show it with a surreal darkness. Apocalypse Now does its job phenomenally and holds your attention long after the film is over. As it turns out, Marlon Brando's famous quote encapsulates the essence of this film exquisitely.

Movie Review: Stick With the Original Version.
Summary: 5 Stars

First, I'll join with those who are criticising Coppola for not releasing this movie in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio as well as spreading each movie over two discs. Both were staggeringly incompetent decisions and I'll leave it at that.

***

I'm starting to get weary when I hear the term "director's cut". Sometimes they're well done like Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner." Other times the director's "original vision" ends up being a weaker film as in when William Friedkin completely screwed up the ending of "The Exorcist" in his restored version.

"Apocalypse Now" was very well made and it seems that Coppola who was in his creative prime when he made this film (having completed "Godfather I & II" and "The Conversation" and then fading away into mediocrity) simply decided to go back and desicrate one of his masterpieces. He should have realized that he was a much better director in the 1970s when he made "Apocalypse Now" then he is at present, and that many of the scenes that he cut out he did so for good reason.

- I like the extra footage of Col. Kilgore, however having Captain Willard steal his surfboard and then laugh with glee like a frat boy was totally not in his character and it was best left on the cutting room floor.

- The playboy bunnies extra scene is beyond ridiculous. It wasn't even inserted into the movie correctly. One minute it's a sunny day Willard is reading Col. Kurt's letter to his son and looking at a photo of Kurtz and then suddenly it's raining and they come across a washed out army compound. Willard offers two drums of deisel fuel in exchange for sex for the boys on the boat. Again this is totally out of character for Willard, and completely unbelievable as a whole. Then we have to watch a ridiculous scene with the men and the playboy bunnies which aside from the boob value adds absolutely nothing to the film. The scene then very abruptly ends and suddenly everyone is back on the boat again, it's not raining anymore and Willard is staring at the same photo of Kurtz?? The sequence was slapped into the movie in a completely awkward way and feels as if Coppola simply pounded it into place with a hammer without any regard to the scenes surrounding it. What's worse is it damages the credibility of the very next scene where they come across the Vietnamese supply boat and kill the passengers. The impact of this atrocity is taken away as the motivations of the crew are not quite as understandable anymore because they've just had the best R&R that any G.I. in any war could possibly ever have. Also the portion where Willard kills the injured Vietnamese woman because he's in a hurry to get moving doesn't make any sense now. He apparenly wasn't in too big a hurry in the previous scene having made the deal for the men to have sex with the bunnies??

- The French Plantation sequence is simply to long and irrelevant. Willard and the crew have dinner in the home of a French family. He inquires as to why the family is still in Vietnam to which he gets a TWENTY MINUTE answer by everyone at the table as they yell back and forth at one another. He then suddenly ends up with a French woman while the soundtrack spews very sappy and inappropriate music. After watching this awful sequence I started whispering to myself "the horror, the horror."

- The extra scene with Brando reading Time Magazine is also pointless. What's even more bizarre is there is an excellent scene that was cut from the film where Kurtz talks to Willard in the bamboo cage. This scene is very well written and helps explain the mindset of the Kurtz character yet it was left out in favor of the Time Magazine scene which again adds nothing to the film.

The only thing the "Redux" version has in comparison to the original version is extreme length. I tend to like long movies but not when they seem overly padded. Stick with the original version! As far as "Apocalypse Now Redux" goes, for me, this version does not exist...nor will it ever exist.

Movie Review: Give Me A Break !!! :-(
Summary: 2 Stars

Sorry, but how can this be "complete" when it does not include "Hearts of Darkness" ??? Get a life. Coppola's wife directed it, and he produced it (as far as I know), so where are the rights problems ??? One thing that really annoys me about these 60s-70s directors, who went on about "changing the world", when they were younger, but who are now more money-grabbing than the worst studio system. Hey, I've bought two DVD versions of Apocalypse Now already, how many more do you want me to buy??? Maybe I'll just transfer my "Hearts Of Darkness" VHS to video, as I'm not so well-of I can afford it all. Thanks, Coppola. ps, your wine stinks too.

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Summary of Apocalypse Now

In the tradition of such obsessively driven directors as Erich von Stroheim and Werner Herzog, Francis Ford Coppola approached the production of Apocalypse Now as if it were his own epic mission into the heart of darkness. On location in the storm-ravaged Philippines, he quite literally went mad as the project threatened to devour him in a vortex of creative despair, but from this insanity came one of the greatest films ever made. It began as a John Milius screenplay, transposing Joseph Conrad's classic story "Heart of Darkness" into the horrors of the Vietnam War, following a battle-weary Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) on a secret upriver mission to find and execute the renegade Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has reverted to a state of murderous and mystical insanity. The journey is fraught with danger involving wartime action on epic and intimate scales. One measure of the film's awesome visceral impact is the number of sequences, images, and lines of dialogue that have literally burned themselves into our cinematic consciousness, from the Wagnerian strike of helicopter gunships on a Vietnamese village to the brutal murder of stowaways on a peasant sampan and the unflinching fearlessness of the surfing warrior Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), who speaks lovingly of "the smell of napalm in the morning." Like Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath of God, this film is the product of genius cast into a pit of hell and emerging, phoenix-like, in triumph. Coppola's obsession (effectively detailed in the riveting documentary Hearts of Darkness, directed by Coppola's wife, Eleanor) informs every scene and every frame, and the result is a film for the ages. --Jeff Shannon

Digitally remastered with 49 minutes of previously unseen footage, Apocalypse Now Redux is the reference standard of Francis Coppola's 1979 epic. A metaphorical hallucination of the Vietnam War, the film was reconstructed by Coppola and editor Walter Murch to enrich themes and clarify the ending. On that basis Redux is a qualified success, more coherent than the original while inviting the same accusations of directorial excess. The restored "French plantation" sequence adds ghostly resonance to the war's absurdity, and Willard's theft of Colonel Kurtz's beloved surfboard adds welcomed humor to the film's nightmarish upriver journey. An encounter with Playboy Playmates seems superfluous compared to the enhanced interplay between Willard and his ill-fated boat crew, but compensation arrives in the hellish Kurtz compound, where Willard's mission--and the performances of Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando--reach even greater heights of insanity, thus validating Redux as the rightful heir to Coppola's triumphantly rampant ambition. --Jeff Shannon

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