"The horror... the horror..."

Rating: 9/10 (26 February 2009)

Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now", a loose adaptation of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", is generally considered one of the greatest war films of all time. The movie is based around a mission to track down a renegade officer and terminate his command 'with extreme prejudice'.
The cast is enviable, with Marlon Brando portraying the 'unsound' Colonel Kurtz and Martin Sheen playing the man tasked with bringing him down. Robert Duvall received an Oscar nomination for his spirited portrayal of the eccentric Lieutenant Kilgore. Dennis Hopper also delivered a memorably unhinged performance as a photojournalist who's become a devotee of Kurtz. The rest of the cast is solid but not particularly distinguished.
The story is compelling but those expecting a typical war film may be disappointed. The story has none of the usual 'good guys versus bad guys' Hollywood approach and instead revels in darkness and surrealism. The film is, first and foremost, a journey. I'm not totally satisfied with the ending but I respect that the film makes its points with subtlety and verve.
Coppola's direction is flawless and the Academy Award-winning cinematography by Vittorio Storaro is breathtaking. The film also won an Oscar for its sound, which is excellent. The soundtrack is also notable due to the deft use of the Doors' song "The End". The synthesizer score doesn't really suit my tastes but, even so, I can't deny that parts of it are highly atmospheric.
In the end, this is a unquestionably a must-see film. It's not quite perfect but it showcases great artistry in terms of both story and presentation. By the way, I consider the 2001 'Redux' version to be inferior to the original version.