APOCALYPSE NOW (1979) | FIRST TIME WATCHING | MOVIE REACTION

To quote Francis Ford Coppola at Cannes in 1979: "My film is not a movie. My film is not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam. It's what it was really like. It was crazy. And the way we made it was very much like the way the Americans were in Vietnam. We were in the jungle. There were too many of us. We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little, we went insane."

The fact that you were able to edit that down to under 40 minutes and still maintain much of the context, was a massive achievement on its own. Well done and thanks for this.

"We train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders won't let them write fuck on their airplanes because it's obscene." That's my favorite quote from the film. It shows you how ludicrous and hypocritical war is. Also, once you see the image of Martin Sheen's head emerging from a swamp, you'll notice thereafter how frequently that iconic shot is emulated in so many other films.

Robert Englund tells a story about auditioning for this movie (he wanted to play Lance, the surfer). Coppola's casting director told him they were no longer looking for someone for that role, but he might fit for the space fantasy George Lucas was casting across the hall. And that was how Freddy Krueger auditioned to play Luke Skywalker. He didn't get the part, but he did go home to his roommate, Mark Hamill, and suggest that he have his agent set up an audition.

He wasn't insane, he took war to its maximum conclusion. No remorse, no fear, no moral high ground, because no such things exist, it is a creation of leaders who justify evil to make war chivalrous. This was an antiwar movie.

The making of Apocalypse Now was famously a nightmare for Francis Ford Coppola. Long delays from the rainy season, Harvey Keitel getting fired, Martin Sheen having a heart attack, Marlon Brando playing a super fit special forces officer and turning up on set massively overweight. The documentary Heart of Darkness shows the insanity really bled into the real life production of the movie

"He's on acid, with a machine gun, ...which makes me a little nervous." Blessed be those who understate.

For me this is the greatest acted war film ever . Even the non verbal scenes and camera angles are off the scale .Like when Willard is told to "terminate with extreme prejudice " and the close up of his reaction ...jeezz!

FUN FACT: The actor portraying the concert MC of the USO show is none other than the legendary rock promoter Bill Graham, a decorated (bronze star w/combat V & purple heart) Korean War war hero. It's a fact in the Library of Congress!

My dad flew helicopters in this movie. It will always be one of my favorite movies!