Disintegration of mind and soul? Welcome to Vietnam boys...

Rating: 9/10 (17 June 2012)

Apocalypse Now is long, at times overwrought but it delivers in its examination of the corruption of the soul and mind within an extended stay in a war zone. In our case, the war zone is in Vietnam and Captain Willard has one last mission: find the elusive and dangerous Kurtz and terminate him. How he gets there (in Cambodia) is half the fun.
Our protagonist lies in a hotel room, slowly self-destructing in a love-hate mind train of his war experiences. The propellers of the ceiling fan recall helicopter rotors and some officers save him from himself by sending him on one last mission...
The trip isn't half the fun in this movie, it's ALL the fun as Willard and his eclectic crew of Chef (a saucier from Louisiana) Lance (surfer from California), Chief Phillips and Tyrone all make their way to Cambodia. Willard meets an absolutely eclectic cast along the way, none more so than Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore, a cowboy that orders his squad to surf in the middle of a firefight before letting out "I love the smell of napalm in the morning!" as he fries a plantation.
The deeper our foursome get into enemy territory, the deeper they sink into mistrust, insanity and hair-trigger violence. They are briefly saved by a USO show featuring Playboy bunnies but ultimately collapse well before meeting Kurtz. An unneeded boarding of a civilian boat ends with its crew dead and a small puppy adopted by Lance as the only survivor. Willard shoots the last passenger, a middle-aged woman, with the warning he told them not to stop. As the trek deeper they lose two crew members to native arrows and when they find Kurtz's tribe only Chef, Lance and Willard remain. Chef is ordered to call an airstrike if Willard doesn't return by 22:00 but he'll never have that chance as Kurtz has his head delivered to a captive Willard later on.
The final segment, while otherwise strong, is ruined by an overwrought Dennis Hopper and his flaky hippie mantras. If they had cut a few of these scenes and focused more on the natives and their feelings on Kurtz, the movie might have gained...Kurtz himself is now a pseudo-philosopher mixing The Golden Bough with The Bible and his army know-how to hold the tribe captive. No one attempts anything since Kurtz has so much charisma (think Jim Jones) that his word is law. Willard does eventually dispose of him and the words "The horror! The horror!" echo from Kurtz's mouth as Willard parts the tribe and return to the boat, his face in native paint and irrevocably changed. We know when he closes the radio comm that this is the end for him and Lance, they will either become the new lords or will end up dead. Unfortunately, their minds and hearts are broken beyond repair.
Is this an accurate depiction of the Vietman war? Couldn't tell you. Coppola said it was and in either case, this is essential viewing for anyone that wants to witness the internal changes of combatants, especially in the oppressive confines of Vietnam's jungles.