Extraordinary Movie - among the best war movies of alltime

Rating: 10/10 (4 October 2001)

Francis Ford Coppola'a Apocalypse Now is one of the best war movies ive ever seen. the movie is extremely long (in fact i saw the original version, the redux version is longer!!) - but there is not one moment when it gets boring. the movie is an excellent voyage voyage into the minds of people in war.
martin sheen as captain willard is simply brilliant. Marlon Brando is no great shakes - hes hardly there in the movie. this is a martin sheen movie all the way and he carries it off tremendously aided by the brilliant cinematography and directorial style of the inimitable coppola, who knows how to shock the viewer with his terrific exploration of the shades of grey. one thing that amazes me about coppola's movies - be it godfather, apocalypse now or even dracula - is the way that it portrays neither good nor evil. the chief characters have a bit of both in them.
Apocalypse now is a masterpiece in showing the mental trauma of war. there are many scenes in the movie that will be etched in your memory forever. the chracters are tremendously believable and original. each scene is honest.
The other standout features in the movie are its chilling dialogs and the terrific soundtrack to the movie - coppola uses popular classic rock songs from the sixties to terrific effect, the songs highlight the scenes and add a tremendous aural backdrop to the visual scenes. the songs usually take over during the pauses for the audience to think. the dialogs of course are the ones that make you think anyway, especially the narration.
its hard to discuss the movie without taking away its impact, suffice it to say that this is a movie that will stay with you for a long time. one of the greatest movies of alltime.
a chilling 10!