Terribly self-indulgent film lacking any substance!

Rating: 1/10 (19 April 2001)

I remembered this film as one of my all-time favorite films, that is, until I saw it again recently on DVD in my stunning new home theater with terrific sound. What seemed to be evocative intrigue many years ago, seems now to be simply OVERDONE and self-indulgent on the part of a director struggling too hard for immortality through this film. Sure, the visuals delight the eye with seductive color and convincing composition, but it's the storytelling that falls far short on this new viewing becoming nothing more than a murky "purple haze". I understand the effort to give the film a feel of the drug-induced horror, but, it does so at the expense of everything else.
Some of my favorite films are great heroic epics, such as The English Patient, Lawrence of Arabia, Saving Private Ryan, Deer Hunter, even Gladiator, but Apocalypse Now, despite some excellent scenes (Duvall's character on the beach; the killing of the boat family; the death by arrow of the boat's "Chief"), seems on the whole to fall terribly short of masterpiece material. The ending was completely disgusting to me, when the slaughter of the carribou parallels the killing of Kurtz. Then to read in the credits or somewhere else on the DVD that they did actually slaughter a carribou ritually for this film, just put me over the edge as far as this film is concerned. It's one thing to suggest violence in a film, but to actually use it in a film is just outrageous. I'll never waste my time on this film again!