Ok, so far I have four 5 star films out of my first six in my blu ray collection. I guess I sort of buy movies I love. Maybe you should take most of what I own as my recommendation. This is one of the best war films ever made. It blows my mind how large scale and realistic the fight scenes are. Sometimes I can't understand how the actors were willing to be in such dangerous conditions, shots coming right at them, nearby explosions, etc.
But, most importantly there are two perfect things to point out. Acting is phenomenal by everyone. Obviously though, Brando and Martin Sheen are the peaks. Both know how to convey a lot in subtile ways. Robert Duvall plays a great dick lieutenant so well too. I love when he tells people how much he respects someone dying, and starts to give him water out of his canteen... until he's distracted by something he finds entertaining and just lets water fall.
The other perfection is the overall tone. It isn't just an action movie about the war. You see the way this stuff can effect soldiers. Some good things, a lot of bad, and others that just get depressing. It gets into your head and makes you really think about this all in a deep psychological way. Check it out for sure.
Side note: I watched the original version. I've seen Redux, but I think I prefer the original. Redux doesn't add bad scenes, but I feel like the movie works better at the more standard pace. Worth checking out both for sure, and I think either way this is a great film.
[9.6/10] Still a total masterpiece. Coppola's meditation on the tragic absurdities of war, the hypocrisies of those who manage them, and the hollowing nature of killing remains an incredible high point for cinema writ large.
Out of all the hailed directors of the modern era of cinema (the Kubricks and Scorseses and Tarantinos) Coppola has been the one that to me, has most successfully lived up to his incredible hype. Of course, I haven't watched his weaker efforts, apart from The Godfather part III, but if I've watched other classics by other directors, often described as masterpieces, and ended up underwhelmed, with Coppola that hasn't happened. His three sensations (The Godfather Part I, The Godfather Part II and Apocalypse Now) have met every single one of my expectations and are all completely worthy of the masterpiece title. Apocalypse Now in particular was surprising and enthusing from start to finish. I found every single shot of the movie breathtakingly beautiful and the editing was some of the best I've ever seen. The soundtrack is maybe the greatest of all time, and the story, whilst not original, is a take I had not yet seen on the Vietnam war where through a mission against someone on his own "team" we discover the gruesome reality and inhumanity of the conflict. The Americans often call the locals "savages" but time and time again we are shown that they're the ones who do barbaric things. I loved it, and just like both Godfathers it has immense rewatch potential and I will certainly be watching it again.
Also, I guess I should say I watched the theatrical release and it worked really well for me. I see people in the comments saying it's too long, so I'm happy I chose to watch the shorter one, as I fully thought it was the perfect length.
I watched the final cut im glad I did it was very good.Definitely one of the most interesting movies I’ve seen. Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando are terrific. The cinematography is fantastic and is very well directed you can tell it’s the same director of The Godfather. At the end of the movie and after it’s over it leaves you with a chilling haunting feeling. It’s great at showing how insane war is and how it affects people. Overall The best war movie with a fantastic cast.
(9 out of 10)
Go read "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, before you watch the theatrical version of this film. And if you enjoy it, go ahead watch the documentary about the production and the Redux version.
The greatest war film of all time. Why? Because of the cinematography, score, soundtrack, acting, casting, dialogue, location, practicality, stunt work, emotion, morals, and everything in between. I hadn't even realised 3 whole hours had passed. Every shot had something to glare at with either your eyes or ears. I really doubt we will ever get a film on this level of practicality again. If you think you know cinema, then watch this because you can physically feel the number of movies inspired by this. I don't think I'll ever forget the horror of uncertainty i felt. Iconic.
I watched the 3 hour version and I'm going to be brutally honest; the first hour was a chore to get through, and even after that, it was action here and there, and the story seemed so messy to me. However, after all that messiness, I was surprised at how well-made this war movie is. It's so intellectually and narratively deep. Coppola gave us two of the best war characters in one movie, and one barely had one minute of screen time. Marlon Brando walked onto the set for one minute and literally obliterated every other performance out of the park—an absolutely haunting portrayal of the cruelty of war.
I don’t know, man. Apocalypse Now has some impressive scenes and acting in it, but as a whole it just drags a bit too much for my taste. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t blown away or something.
Coppola pulls off an incredible masterpiece, with perfect cinematography and soundtrack (just think of the famous helicopter scene with Ride of the Valkyries in the background, that's worth the whole movie). I'll be honest, I don't praise Marlon Brando's performance that much, but for the simple fact that he is only seen in the final half hour and he is immersed in darkness. Instead, I find Sheen's performance incredible.
Wow, I really enjoyed the film. The acting was subtle and geared towards a more thoughtful audience in my opinion. The music brought me back to the original halloween days of the 70's, god, wish I was born earlier than 2002. I get where people are coming from saying it's too long. You could easily cut out an hour and deliver the same message, however it's clear to me that the director didn't want that. So we are forced to take in the film for what it is. I watched the redux version which I believe is the longest version and I had no problem with the length. Did it take awhile? yeah, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I only have just a few ten out of ten films and this one? Yeah, 10/10 material. Highly recommend this film if you're into the slow burner, mind bender, subtle acting types of films. If not? hey that's fine go watch something else. I'm gonna watch it again :)
What a waste... Seriously overrated.. worst clueless dumbest ending...
Spoiler!!!...Rosey Palm and her husband Hairy have a daughter named Nay
So boring and chaotic. It’s like the rewrote the script as they went along and tried so hard to make it different or artistic that it lost all entertainment. One of the worst war movies I have seen.
If you consider watching this film, than yes, do read this review!
First off, this film is 196 minutes long, not the 153 minutes as it says here on trakt. That's 196 minutes of your life you'll never get back. Don't get me wrong, the acting is really good, the music used in the film is great. Where the film falls down for me personally is first of all the length. If you cut out all the unnecessary bits and just leave the real story of what this film is about, it can be about 40 minutes, everything else is just pointless filler.
The worst part of the film for me is the ritual killing and slaughter of a cow/ox/bovine type creature. I understand that such rituals happen in certain parts of the world, but to film it and use it just to add dramatic effect to a different scene I found disgusting.
Why so high rating? This is the second most boring movie that I haver watched (first it's 2001 a space Odyssey).
Top 10 most overrated movies. I’ve tried watching it over a dozen times and I still think it’s shit. Brando didn’t give a shit, and Sheen can’t act for shit.
i genuinely don’t get why this movie was so highly rated.
In the whole movie it seems to be questioned the presence of USA in this war, I think the biggest symbol of that was one of the first scenes when Liutenant Bill massacred the people on a beach to surf. Furthermore, the movie dives a lot in the craziness and the psychological impacts caused by the war, we can see that not just by the development of the characters but specially also by the character Colonel Kurtz.
Even though the movie is 3h long, we can't feel the time passing, I just thought the french scene kind of disconnected of the rest of the movie.
Great photos and amazing scenography. Classical anti-war film. Sooner or later, the horror of the war reaches all its participants, where it is difficult to distinguish good from evil.
Ps. Redux version is real movie maraton which is worth seeing.
The ending is for junkies. I love the smell of napalm in the morning.
It still says much for me.
Brilliant movie. Dense. Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen....and Marlon Brando. The plot, everything is allright here.
Hasn't aged a day
I watched the Final Cut and it is great. It's long but moves well for the most part (still don't like the French part). It looks gorgeous in 4k and the cinematography is fantastic. Sheen and Brando are terrific. One of the best war movies out there.
dont get off the boat!! absolutely goddamn right!! kurtz got off the boat and split from the whole fucking program!! iiiiiilllll g xx
Cursed with bad luck which just adds to the haunting and hallucinating atmosphere it leaves you with a tangeable feeling of what this war was actually like for the human being.
Me da la impresión de que esta película está sobrevalorada, pero igual es que no entendido nada.
Shout by DeletedBlockedParentSpoilers2016-01-06T10:36:16Z— updated 2017-08-19T18:25:01Z
There's something about this movie! Idk I mean it's too long and I really got bored!
I was thinking what's the main story here! and there's too many scenes in my opinion that they should cut off
anyway I liked it better until he found tha guy .. its not what I expected ,
but like I said I liked it at first and the acting was great..