Apocalypse Now (1979)

The 1979 American epic war movie Apocalypse Now was created and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The Vietnam War is the setting of the script, which was co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr and is partially based on Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella Heart of Darkness. The movie depicts Captain Willard (Martin Sheen), who is on a covert mission to kill Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a renegade Special Forces commander who is suspected of murder and considered mad, as he travels by river from South Vietnam into Cambodia. Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, and Dennis Hopper are all included in the ensemble cast.

In the late 1960s, Milius got interested in adapting Heart of Darkness for a Vietnam War context. At first, Coppola and George Lucas worked together to create the project. When Lucas was unable to continue directing, Coppola took over. Coppola's approach to the subject was informed by Werner Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). Originally planned as a five-month production in the Philippines beginning in March 1976, complications extended it to more than a year. These issues included Sheen having a breakdown and having a heart attack that was close to being deadly while on site, Brando arriving on set overweight and utterly unprepared, and pricey sets being ruined by bad weather. After the filming was eventually completed in May 1977, Coppola had to edit more than a million feet of footage before the picture could ultimately be released. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, a documentary, chronicles several of these challenges (1991).

Initial reviews were unfavorable; while Vittorio Storaro's cinematography received high praise, some reviewers thought Coppola's treatment of the story's central themes was unsatisfying intellectually and anticlimactic. Eight Academy Awards were nominated for the movie, including Best Picture, Best Director (Coppola), and Best Supporting Actor (Duvall). The movie also took home awards for Best Cinematography and Best Sound.

Detailed information:

Based on: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Starring: Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Frederic Forrest

Release date: May 19, 1979

Link to watch: imdb.com/title/tt0078788/