A movie that asks one question...

Rating: 6/10 (17 May 2005)

The one question that "Apocalypse Now" should leave in the minds of everyone who sees it is "Why was this movie ever made?". For starters, it is a direct lift from Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", which is a short story that makes its points briefly and without fuss. It proposes to examine the disaster that was the Vietnam war, but takes forever to make its points, and then makes them with a bludgeon. It is a collection of setpieces and lacks a natural feel. It also features the worst performance Marlon Brando ever turned in. From the moment he appears on the screen he affects the movie the way a rotting whale carcass washed ashore affects a beach party. I missed the opening credits the first time I saw it and was shocked at the end to see that Harrison Ford had been in it. And for a final over-made point, listen to the code word Martin Sheen uses to call in the airstrike. That is not to say that there aren't some good things in it. The Philippine scenery was used well. Frederick Forrest was as good as he can be, and that little scene with the tiger is a gem. Robet Duvall was excellent, and the helicopter assault is one of the best flying sequences ever filmed, a real triumph of editing. My own recommendation is that even if it is pretentious and overblown, it is still worth seeing - a superb failure.