Watch It

Rating: 8/10 (8 February 2018)

Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Apocalypse Now, is a Vietnam war story that is focused around an Army Captains trip up a river to assassinate a rogue Colonel. Martin Sheen is Captain Benjamin L. Willard who has been tasked with the assassination of former Green Beret Colonel Walter E. Kurtz played by Marlon Brando. Captain Benjamin L. Willard is escorted up the Nung River by Chief Phillips (Albert Hall) and his Navy patrol boat crew to carry out his classified mission.
This film has a very strong upside from the point of directing, editing and producing. Francis Ford Coppola maximized the effectiveness of lighting, colors, and angles to produce a cinematic masterpiece. The natural light and darkness often add to the effectiveness of the characters while providing a connective touch to the viewer. Francis Ford Coppola's introduction is unusual and quickly grabs the viewers' attention. The open starts without introduction or credits. Instead, the slow-motion action of helicopters and napalm bomb fires in a jungle setting is set in rhythm with music of the The Doors. The scene begins to fade-out/fade-in with Captain Willard in a room. A ceiling fan and the blades of the helicopter are used to create a smooth transition. Similar techniques and the same music are used to close the movie as Captain Willard slays Colonel Kurtz in the same fashion as a cow is simultaneously being slaughtered nearby.
Though I believe this movie is worth watching, it does have its downside. The movie is very cryptic throughout and can be very slow at times. It is not a Vietnam war movie along the line of Full Metal Jacket or Platoon, instead, this movie is more artistic and may keep the viewer searching for a deeper meaning.