I enjoy this movie every time I see it.

Rating: 10/10 (28 March 2005)

The film "Apocalypse Now" is quite possibly the greatest war movie of all time. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and starring Martin Sheen, as well as the magnificent Marlon Brando, Apocalypse Now is the epitome of what a movie should be. Coppola sets out to show what war does to minds, to nations. He succeeds beyond the scope of what anyone could expect. You are immersed in the story, the characters' problems become your own, and by the end of the movie, you may never look at the world the same way again. This movie is tantamount to scarring in regard to how well it imparted its message. "Apocalypse Now" is the story of a psychotic quest by Sgt. Willard (martin sheen) to find and kill the renegade Col. Kurtz. (Marlon Brando). You follow his footsteps, as he immerses himself more and more in the hunt for Kurtz. At each obstacle you see more and more how disenfranchised Willard is becoming with the war. Finally, near the end of the movie, you what happens when Willard finally does find Kurtz. This is not really a movie about war; it's a movie about people. It subtly portrays how people act in a hellish situation, how their environment forces them to adapt, or sends them spiraling into insanity. One example of this is a scene where Willard makes a stop at the Do-lung bridge. The bridge is under attack, but no one can tell where the attack is coming from, and no one on the American side know who's in charge. This is representative of the war as a whole, because it occurs toward the end of the movie. In the beginning, The American presence was efficient, clean-cut, organized. By this point, the last American outpost on the Nung river, The Americans are shell-shocked and almost crazy. This shows quite effectively the course of the entire war.
The film looks wonderful. The composition of nearly every shot is perfect. The colors are vivid, and the scenery is captivating, adding vastly to the realism of the movie. As a director, Coppola puts the camera exactly where it needs to be. Coppola also makes heavy use of the fade, to go from one angle to the next, adding a sense of "smoothness" to the entire movie. This fade technique is critical to much of the character development of Willard, the main character. In the beginning of the movie, Coppola uses a montage, laden with faded layers of other shots, to convey the fragile state of Willard's mind.
One of my favorite scenes is the aerial attack on a NVA controlled village. Coppola makes astounding use of high/low camera angles, using them to bring to mind images of a traditional equine cavalry charge, even though they were helicopters rather than horses. This effect is enhanced by the music in the scene, Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries. Coppola also uses the low camera angle to show the invincibility of the rather strange cavalry commander, while he reminisces about previous battles and proclaims his affinity for "the smell of napalm in the morning".
A rather interesting camera technique was used in one scene of the movie that caught my attention. As Willard was being pulled to the ground by a group of religious fanatics, he was tuned upside down, then dropped in the mud as he struggled. During all of this, the camera was rotating on the z-axis, producing a spinning picture, which sometimes had Willard as right side up and the rest of the world upside down, and for the rest of the time had it reversed.
Because of the stunning environment, the brilliant direction, and ultimately, how well the story was told, this movie is one of my favorite movies.