Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, with the setting changed from late 19th-century Congo to the Vietnam War. The film follows Captain Willard, played by Martin Sheen, on a perilous and increasingly hallucinatory journey upriver to find and terminate Colonel Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando.
Initial reviews were polarizing, but Apocalypse Now is now considered one of the greatest films ever made. It ranked 14th and 19th in Sight & Sound's Greatest Films poll in 2012 and 2022, respectively. The film was honored with the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered unfinished. It also won Oscars for its cinematography and sound.
There are multiple versions of the film, including the original theatrical release, the "Redux" version released in 2001, and the "Final Cut" released in 2019. Apocalypse Now is regarded as a powerful and haunting film that explores the horrors of war and the darker elements of the human soul.
Plot
The film opens in Saigon in 1968, where Captain Willard, a trained army assassin, is waiting for his mission. He has completed one tour of duty in Vietnam, only to go home a changed man, miserable amid the confines of civilization. After agreeing to a divorce, he has returned to Vietnam for a second tour and now waits restlessly for a mission. Willard is given a top-secret mission to travel upriver into Cambodia to find and assassinate Colonel Kurtz, a former Green Beret who has gone rogue and is now operating as a god-like figure among the Montagnard people.
Willard is sent upriver on a Navy patrol boat, the PBR Streetgang, with a crew of four other men: Chief, Lance, Clean, and Chef. Along the way, they encounter a number of obstacles and challenges, including a helicopter attack led by the charismatic and ruthless Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore, played by Robert Duvall. The boat continues upriver, only to meet another surprise attack. Primitive natives onshore shoot a storm of arrows at the PBR. Chief is impaled with a spear and dies.
With two men gone, the survivors at last reach Kurtz’s camp, a macabre site in which countless dead bodies and severed heads are strewn about seemingly at random. A hyperactive American photojournalist, unabashed in his worship of Kurtz, greets the boat. Willard is taken to Kurtz, who is living in a temple surrounded by his followers. Kurtz is a madman who has embraced the darkness of war and becomes a god-like figure to the Montagnard people. He has also become disillusioned with the war and the American military's tactics.
Willard is torn between his duty to assassinate Kurtz and his growing admiration for the man's intellect and charisma. He spends time with Kurtz, listening to his ramblings and reading his writings. Willard ultimately decides to carry out his mission and kills Kurtz with a machete. As Kurtz dies, he whispers his final words "The horror ... the horror ..."
Willard takes Kurtz's writings and leaves the camp with Lance. They are pursued by Kurtz's followers, but they manage to escape. The film ends with Willard on the boat, holding Kurtz's writings. He shuts off the radio, and he and Lance pull away from shore as rain begins to fall. Kurtz’s last words are echoed again as the film fades to black.
Cast
- Martin Sheen as Captain Benjamin L. Willard
- Marlon Brando as Colonel Walter E. Kurtz
- Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore
- Frederic Forrest as EN3 Jay 'Chef' Hicks
- Sam Bottoms as Lance B. Johnson
- Laurence Fishburne as GM3 Tyrone 'Clean' Miller (credited as Larry Fishburne)
- Albert Hall as Chief Phillips
- Dennis Hopper as Photojournalist
Other notable cast members include:
- Harrison Ford as Colonel Lucas
- G. D. Spradlin as General Corman
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writer: Joseph Conrad, John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Herr
Distributor: United Artists, Miramax Films, Paramount Pictures
Box Office Gross: $104,880,868
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 15, 1979
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 29, 2013