Review of Apocalypse Now (1979) by Jon M — 15 May 2014

I consider (as of this writing) Apocalypse Now to be one of the best films of all time, behind only My Cousin Vinny, and it deserves that title. Add the descent into madness while tracking down a madman from Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" to the sights and sounds of Indochina during the Vietnam Conflict, and you get one heck of a film. The cast is absolutely astounding, with Marlon Brando playing the perfect Colonel-gone-madman and Martin Sheen playing the perfect part of the man tasked with taking him down.

After watching Apocalypse Now, not only will you never view the Vietnam Conflict the same, you will never view War in the same context. This film introduces the viewer to the bloody, insane side that they've never seen nor imagined before. The film invokes a general feeling of a world-gone-to-hell, of insanity, and hopelessness. The fact that something as simple as a motion picture whose plot is fictitious has the power to cause such feelings in the viewer is quite simply what makes this film amazing. And as if that wasn't enough, the film will always present itself when you hear "The End" by The Doors. Even 35 years after it's release, Apocalypse Now still finds its way to the top of the list of the greatest films of all time, and is still able to affect it's viewers in life-changing ways.