Apocalypse Now (1979), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, follows Captain Willard deep into the Vietnamese jungle on a mission to terminate rogue Colonel Kurtz — a brilliant officer who has gone completely mad. Based on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the production became as chaotic as the war it depicted.
Why It Matters
- Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, and Dennis Hopper deliver landmark performances
- The Ride of the Valkyries helicopter attack sequence is the most viscerally thrilling war scene ever filmed
- Vittorio Storaro's cinematography creates a psychedelic vision of moral collapse unlike anything in American film
The making of the film nearly killed Coppola financially and mentally. Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack on set. The result — especially in the Redux cut — is the most ambitious American war film ever made and a direct confrontation with American imperialism.
Reference:
TaskLoco™ — The Sticky Note GOAT
