Awesome visuals, score, and performances

Rating: 10/10 (25 September 1998)

Maybe the writers should have never aspired to the level of Conrad as some will say that the ideas of the movie as they are spoken in dialogue sometimes do not come out very clear. But that fact makes absolutely no difference in this movie because the visuals are filled with so much intensity and mood that it is impossible to miss Coppola's point about war. The episodes are each stunning. My personal vote for most awesome sequence in any movie ever is the Ride of the Valkeries helicopter attack. Robert Duvall is genius in his role as an air cavalry colonel who picks his targets based on the quality of the surfing in the area. He at one extreme fun loving and at the other lacking humanistic qualities altogether. As absurd as it sounds, you absolutely believe him when he says, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning..." All the other performances are top notch including a good debut for a young Laurence Fishburne and solid, dark yet sympathetic presence from Martin Sheen (even though he suffered a heart attack during filming). Once you have experienced the grandness of this surreal war film, I highly recommend renting "Hearts of Darkness: The Making of Apocalypse Now" This Oscar winning documentary was shot by Coppola's wife and paints a vivid picture of what an awesome undertaking Apocalypse Now really was.