One of the Best Viet Nam War Films!

Rating: 9/10 (9 January 2002)

"Apocalypse Now" either in its original version (1979) or the expanded Redux version (2001) is one of the best ever films dealing with the Viet Nam war. The story deals with the trials and tribulations of army Capt. Willard (Martin Sheen) who is sent on a secret mission to assassinate a highly decorated army colonel (Marlon Brando) who has reached his breaking point and is causing embarrassment to the U.S. government. To reach his quarry, Willard must sail up a river in a small boat into the forbidden country of Cambodia. The helicopter raid on a small village is a highlight of the journey.
Director Francis Ford Coppula gives us a visually stunning film filled with unforgettable characters. In addition to Sheen (in his best role to date) and Brando, there is a great performance by Robert Duvall as Colonel Kilgore who "loves the smell of napalm in the morning", Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Frederic Forrest and a teen-aged Laurence Fishburne as the boat crew, Dennis Hopper as a spaced out photo journalist, G. D. Spradlin and a young Harrison Ford as the men who send Willard on his quest and in the Redux version, distinguished French actor Christian Marquand as the owner of the French Plantation. If you blink you'll miss Scott Glenn as Sheen's predecessor.
Speaking of the Redux version, although it adds a couple of extra stops on Willard's journey, it really doesn't improve on an already great film. It adds scenes involving the Playboy playmates, a visit to the French Plantation and an extra scene for Brando. But it doesn't expand on the ending which I still find confusing. For example, how does Willard just walk away from Brando's camp with his supporters (who have performed brutal acts already) staring on with glassy-eyed disinterest, particularly in view of the grisly events that have just taken place.
Still in either version, "Apocalypse Now" is a truly great film.