The Greatest Movie Of All Time

Rating: Null/10 (13 May 2002)

In my long search for a flawless movie I have come across one that is more than flawless. Its just a miracle of filmmaking. Coppolas Masterpiece dosn't concentrate on the terror of inital combat (although it does surround the plot) it concentrates on something deeper than other Vietnam War movies like Platoon. Coppola takes on insanity of soldiers, and takes on a story (Hearts of Darkness which was written some years before Vietnam) and applies to a scenario where insanity runs rabid. Captain Benjamin Willard (Acted to perfection by Martin Sheen) a gifted soldier who has sinned in the past is called upon by his peers to hunt down a decorated officer Col. Walter E. Kurtz ( Another flawless performance by Brando) who has gone completely insane and still is operating in the feild with impressionable young soldiers. The tape recording documented to Willard while in the meeting with his peers of Kurtz talking is enough to bring chills to the viewer. He is orderd to exterminate Kurtz in his hideout in Cambodia. On his journey Williard comes across seedy characters, and numerous obstacles. The French Plantation Scene (Only available in Redux) which is a very odd scene that adds to mystery, and the horror in the movie itself. Once Williard reaches the end of the journey to find Kurtz he stumbles upon a terrifying scene filled with hanging bodies, departed heads scattered in the dirt, and a terrifying lair where Kurtz hides filled with " (the smell of Malaria and Nightmares). The beginning, middle, and end are all equally terrifying study of Coppolas study on insanity. In my opinion Williard became insane en route to finding Kurtz, but Coppola never explains it to the viewer in definate. The music is equally as eerie to each scene and brings out the full emotion in the movie, and the dialouge is not to be forgotten. Coppola pays attention to each detail, and while he will always be remembered for his Godfather movies, Apocalypse Now was by far his greatest, and maybe the greatest all time. Not to be missed by anyone.