The 11th greatest film of all time.

Rating: 10/10 (11 February 2014)

What is it, where is it, how will it affect me? During the Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a covert and dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe. Perhaps the problem that people have with Apocalypse Now is that they take it as a serious war film. I can't think of a genuinely serious American war film that could be considered a masterpiece, yet Coppola's proof that his top-running 1972 contender for the 'perfect movie' consensus could be made more perfect in every aspect: Apocalypse Now, is undeniably a masterpiece. So as logic stands, we must rethink what Apocalypse Now is generally assumed to be. Despite being one of the most well known and iconic films on the list, such a bright spotlight does not detract from its majesty. The opening scene to any film is always an indication of the shape of things to come, and Apocalypse Now benefits from one of the most stark, minimalistic sequences of intense pulchritude ever to be directed. What follows is both startling and balming. With a velvety narrative for company that relaxes for the most part yet still reminds us from time to time that what its discussing has the potential to be very upsetting, we are taken through a journey of immense significance to the world of cinema. It might not be a proper, thoroughbred war that the journey brings you through, but it is certainly one of startlingly beautiful decadence, torment and discovery. Just watch Captain Willard's (Martin Sheen) development and how he comes to terms with the task at hand as the jungle setting, filmed in such an aspect ratio to bring out its full potential of mystery and danger, rolls by in the background, and inhale and exhale. Of course, Apocalypse Now isn't just pretty to look at. It contains some of the most classic scenes of all time, above all the popular culture's all-time favourite of the strikingly bold attack on the Viet-Cong outpost in a fleet of helicopters beaming Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries". Although this scene is as intense and vivid as cinema can reach, a scene of pure sensation, dazzling audiences with light and noise, laying bare the stark horror - and unimaginable thrill - of combat, it's the arrival at Colonel Kurtz's (Marlon Brando) camp that is the most curved apex of Hollywood's camera-work ever to be pieced together, an audio-visual descent through the threshold of necessary insanity and surrealism with the single plucks of a sentinel double bass to reinforce it. It's a simply staggering piece of American filmmaking. Apocalypse Now isn't so much an important work, a turning point or a revelation about how to make films like the next feature on the list, but it's something that exceeds all prejudices in purely showcasing the depth, finesse and density of simply pleasurable art that celluloid organic matter has been able to create.