The ultimate cinematic experience.

Rating: 10/10 (6 January 2019)

As far as cinematic experiences go, this is hands-down the best.
Apocalypse Now is not conventional. Instead, it is a masterfully choreographed, mesmerising exploration of what evil and darkness truly are, being a soldier means, the terrible way in which the US fought the Vietnam war and a representation of what insanity "is". In some weird, almost sadistic way, it could even be seen as a set of short stories. But that's far too simple.
Apocalypse Now is built on incredibly strong foundations, not least because of its inspiration from Conrad's Heart Of Darkness. Its underlying story is rakishly simple: our protagonist has to go down a river and kill the antagonist. You cannot go wrong there; the motivation for our characters is dead set. And that means that there's plenty of space for Coppola to build up an authentic, worryingly realistic and terrifying world that is "Vietnam". Yet it's not an accurate representation, mainly because it's not supposed to be. Other Vietnam films do that job - instead, Apocalypse Now creates the atmosphere of the war and then sets a fictional, philosophical story within that. It is a stroke of genius.
I don't know how to begin dissecting this film, and I don't think I'll ever be able to summarise it entirely. All at once, it is a criticism of the Vietnam war, an attack on the way militaries work, an exploration of what madness and darkness truly mean and a story of the potent power of insanity. Conrad's themes which were aptly explored in his fantastic novel are blown up to incredible scale here and realised in overwhelming relevant and brilliant fashion.
And that's before you get onto its other, groundbreaking aspects. The cinematography, for instance, it astounding. Symbolism is used extensively to fantastic effect; just look at the scene where Kurtz talks to Willard about him being killed - it's groundbreaking in multiple ways. Then there's the use of lighting, one of the strongest visual metaphors in the film. In almost every scene, especially the show at Hau Phat and the Do Long bridge, it plays a pivotal role in creating atmosphere and conveying the message of the film. Sound too is incredible. The score is a mix of Kraftwerk-esque dark synth sounds, The End by The Doors and the all famous Ride of the Valkyries.
You don't so much watch Apocalypse Now as do you experience it, live it and breathe it. It lingers in your mind for days after, constantly bringing up questions as to what the hell you actually watched. It's one of those films that gives you goosebumps just thinking about it.
There can be no denying that this is one of the most profoundly disturbing and truly scary films of all time. I certainly rank it as the scariest film I've ever seen because of its potency, a potency that have left me thinking about Apocalypse Now for longer than I could ever have contemplated. All at once the most awe-inspiring of actions films, the most brutally realistic of war films and the darkest, most desecrating of psychological thrillers; the most intense cinematic experience I've yet come across.