Review of Apocalypse Now (1979) by Jayden C — 13 Sep 2013

My favourite movie ever. I decided to watch this again in order to get out of my non movie watching funk I've been in lately. I even contemplated labelling cinema as a dead medium with nothing left to say, this movie I last saw in 7th form at high school and kickstarted off a passion for filmmaking and got me enrolled at screen and media at Waikato.

..I love everything about this movie. I love the cinematography, the editing, I love the characters, the script, the smashing one liners (I love the smell of napalm in the morning!). This movie is based on my favourite book Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' and is a psychological, somewhat psychedelic journey into the deep, dark psyche of the insane human mind.

War is insane and it's shown clearly here in this film. The filmmaking process itself was insane with Martin Sheen nearly dying, Marlon Brando turning up drunk and refusing to read the script or Heart of Darkness and piling on the pounds.

The shoot ran completely overschedule, from 6 weeks to 16 months. Drugs were rife through the set, Sam Bottoms who plays Lance really was on all the drugs his character takes. Then there's the use of the iconic Doors song The End that bookmarks this amazing movie.

I thought watching this movie would kickstart me back into watching movies but it only served to make me more depressed at the being the cliched video clerk who could've been if only they'd put in more effort.

A tinge of regret for past mistakes. The horror, the horror.