Just watched it

Rating: Null/10 (16 March 2005)

I bought the DVD and kept it for 3 years in my collection. Finally thought I was in the right mood to watch it last night. I have mixed feelings about this movie. I think we have been spoiled by recent war movies that puts the viewer right in the action - started as Saving Private Ryan, then recently Black Hawk Down, The fire fights were so intense in these movies you feel exhausted after that. Apocalypse Now was made in the older style, but I think it was cutting edge for its day. Note the helicopter attack sequences had lots of long shots and wide angles, you have a 'birds eye view' but do not feel that you are in the thick of the battle. No feeling of bullets whizzing past like Forrest Gump. As a Vietnam War Movie, I thought it was rather abstract. The characters were extreme and did not have the realism of Platoon, or even We Were Soldiers in its depiction of real soldiers. This unrealism gets more extreme towards the ending, and I wasn't sure if it ended up like Mad Max meets Planet of the Apes there. I think this was intended no doubt, but I was expecting more realism. This made the violence unreal and I couldn't connect with that. e.g. decapitated heads should have been gruesome, but in the context of the surreal camp grounds, it had as much effect on me as an Orc head from the Lord of the Rings. Sorry, but I do have a big problem with the ending sequence The cinematography was good, but some night shots had too much glare and lens flare from spotlights.