Apocalypse Now Review
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Genre: War
Codestar30 Rating: 4/10
During the height of the Vietnam War, Captain Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent on a mission that does not and never will exist. He must eliminate Colonel Walter Kurtz (Marlon Brando), an American green beret colonel, and one of the most decorated men in the American military. Kurtz has gone insane and has gone A.W.O.L,. He has gathered a group of local tribes and American servicemen to his cause, and has taken them to cambodia to carry out hit-and-run missions on the N.V.A. and Vietcong. His methods are brutal, inhuman, and unsound according to Willard's superiors, however as the captain travels up river to find Kurtz, he begins to have doubts that he is really willing to kill another American. Especially one who he's not entirely sure he disagrees with.
Apocalypse now is hailed as one of the greatest War movies of all time, and in many cases, the greatest. However I really do not agree.
The focus of this movie is clearly the psychological effects of war on men. Captain Willard is a man unable to cope in a civilian environment and craves action, Colonel Kurtz has been driven insane by his experiences of war, and many other characters encountered are suffering mentally from the effects of the conflict. I do feel that this aspect of the film is good, and is certainly thought provoking. However I feel it is let down by the over rated acting. Marlon Brando isn't terrible as Kurtz, but I feel he or someone else could have portrayed the disturbed and deep thinking Colonel better. Both he and Martin Sheen seemed to act a bit woodenly in my opinion, and created fairly plain characters compared to the potential that the characters they were playing had. Most of the rest of the cast are either way to over the top or far to melodramatic.
For a war movie I like to see a bit of action, something apocalypse now is sorely lacking in my opinion. There is one short, fairly cartoonishly executed battle sequence but it's not very good. There are a few brief burst of action, usually simply consisting of the crew of the ship thats taking Willard up the river, panicking for some reason and unloading their guns, although this does seem more realistic and contribute to the psychological nature of the film.
I will say this for the film, the voice over monologues, slower pace, and acting does make the film really atmospheric.
I personally would not recommend Apocalypse Now, I really found it very boring. However if you wish to listen to everyone else that it's good don't let me stop you from watching it. I'd almost favour an apocalypse to apocalypse now.
For a war movie I like to see a bit of action, something apocalypse now is sorely lacking in my opinion. There is one short, fairly cartoonishly executed battle sequence but it's not very good. There are a few brief burst of action, usually simply consisting of the crew of the ship thats taking Willard up the river, panicking for some reason and unloading their guns, although this does seem more realistic and contribute to the psychological nature of the film.
I will say this for the film, the voice over monologues, slower pace, and acting does make the film really atmospheric.
I personally would not recommend Apocalypse Now, I really found it very boring. However if you wish to listen to everyone else that it's good don't let me stop you from watching it. I'd almost favour an apocalypse to apocalypse now.
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