Chilling Vietnam story

Rating: 8/10 (25 August 2006)

Apocalypse Now tells the story of a soldier who is sent out to find and terminate Col. Kurtz, a highly decorated war hero who has been driven insane by the horrors of Vietnam. We follow Captain Willard and his crew through their journey up the river to find Col. Kurtz, including battles among the enemy as well as amongst themselves, and we see the toll war can take on the human mind. This is a chilling portrayal of the Vietnam war, and it's not your usual war movie.
Francis Ford Coppola was hot off the success of The Godfather, The Godfather Part II and The Conversation when he tackled this movie, based off a book called Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Coppola went through utter hell making this movie, but it was all worth it, because he churned out a good project. This movie isn't your conventional tale of war. It is more a tale of the inner turmoil that can be caused by war. The action scenes are few, but the dramatic scenes are so well done that you find yourself not craving the action. I truly enjoyed the style the film was made in. The movie starts off with a realistic atmosphere, but as Captain Willard's journey progresses, things begin to look more and more unhinged, more and more surreal, until he reaches the utter insanity of Col. Kurtz's base camp.
The performances in this movie are great. The movie is filled with great actors including Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Laurence Fishburne, Harrison Ford, Dennis Hopper, and Robert Duvall, and they all give knockout performances.
Overall, this is a very chilling and very stylish war film, and I'd recommend that anyone who watches it not sit down expecting a film like Platoon.
8/10