Review of Apocalypse Now (1979) by Sean S — 06 Feb 2013

This is the greatest war film of all time, in terms of symbolism, drama, and the heat of the moment in every scene. A fantastic movie that starts off really good and is epic at the end. It is intense, artistic, weird, and creative. It is a total masterpiece of filmmaking and directing by Francis Ford Coppola. It is a hard film to direct and that is why it is such a masterpiece. It is a difficult one to act in too. Too make a war film like this during that time would have been one really difficult thing to do, and only a genius directors could do it right. If you didn't think Francis For Coppola was a genius after seeing Godfather's one and two, you will after this.

This was 31.5 million dollars spent beautifully. That was why it was so well done, because there was a perfect amount of money spent in all categories, such as the cast, the effects, and the sets used. The cast had three really great actors in it. Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, and Marlon Brando were the really great stars in this. Francis Ford Coppola did The Godfather (1972) with both Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall, and it was magnificent. Those three do really well together. Martin Sheen was perfect in the film too. He had the right amount of intensity in him, and seriousness.

Not only did Francis Ford Coppola select a perfect cast, use the budget perfectly, but he had a perfect use of symbolism too. Something that gets said in the film is this is where it ends. Well certain things like that get said. The river is a symbol of that. The river symbolizes is this the end of the river for you, or are you going to keep going. The Doors song "The End" gets played a lot to add on to the theme that this is the end. Apocalypse Now means the world is going to end now, but in this film the title means end of his life.

This and Saving Private Ryan are the two greatest war films of all time in my opinion. Saving Private Ryan is greater in terms of it being realistic. This film is much more dark and suspenseful. Saving Private Ryan I could tell for the most part what the ending would probably be like. This film I could tell, but I thought it had a much more intense ending in terms of just darkness. Saving Private Ryan's battle scenes are more intense then any scene in this film, but they don't have the slow dramatic intensity that Apocalypse Now has. It is hard to explain, and I think people would think I am crazy for thinking that Apocalypse Now is more intense then Saving Private Ryan, but I have more reason to explain. Saving Private Ryan is a different kind of intensity. Saving Private Ryan is more of you are gritting your teeth, and your fists are clenched type of intensity. Apocalypse Now is more of a on the edge of your seat suspense type intensity. They are both phenomenal movies, but for some reason I think I like this one a little bit better.

Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen) just got out of a battle. When he was in he wanted out, and now that he is out he just wants to be in another battle. His wife left him, and now he knows that the army is his life. He knows now that he loves war, and he wants to be there for the rest of his life. Another mission comes to him immediately. The mission is to find and kill Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). Kurtz has gone insane and is living in the middle of the jungle. "Every man has got a breaking point. You and I have one. Colonel Kurtz has reached his." That is what Willard is told when he was given the mission. Kurtz is still giving orders and controlling troops, and he is not in the right state of mind at all. That is why he most be killed. Willard goes on a boat with several young guys to go out and find him. Several of them die along the way. When they find Kurtz he is in this weird place and he has heads all around the place as decorations. Though it is a long time before Marlon Brando gets put on screen he is absolutely phenomenal. The film has one of the greatest ending scenes that is dark, intense, and just stunning. There is no war film like it, and there is no ending like the one in Apocalypse Now.

My favorite war film, and one of my rare films that I rated a 10/10. Francis Ford Coppola is one of the greatest directors of all time, and he proves it with this film.