Cult Movie - Apocalypse Now - Apocalypse Now review - Apocalypse Now video - Francis Ford Coppola - Martin Sheen - Marlon Brando - Charlie don't surf - the doors - Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness

Apocalypse Now (1979)

by Alternative Reel Staff

MPAA Rating: R

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Starring: Martin Sheen, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, Scott Glenn

"Charlie don't surf!"

"My film is not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam." Apocalypse Now opens with helicopters, napalm and The Doors' haunting ballad, "The End." The film is loosely based on Joseph Conrad's 1902 novella Heart of Darkness, the action moved from the African Congo in the 1800s to Vietnam in the late 1960s. Coppola shot a record 1.5-million feet of film and about 23 hours of film ended up on the cutting-room floor. Budgeted at $12 million, the film ended up costing $31 million. It earned $150 million worldwide. An indecisive Coppola also filmed two different endings. The U.S. military, still reeling from the disaster in Vietnam, offered no cooperation in the film's production. Coppola borrowed helicopters from the Philippine Air Force, which would routinely reclaim them in order to fight rebels in the mountains.

Apocalypse Now Trivia

Look for bit roles from Harrison Ford as Colonel G. Lucas (a tribute to George Lucas, who gave Ford his big break in American Graffiti), Bill Graham as the Playboy Bunnies' manager and R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket) as a helicopter pilot.
The ox butchered near the end of the film was from an actual ceremony by native tribesmen.
Despite all of the hype, Apocalypse Now only garnered two Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Sound. The film did share the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival (along with The Tin Drum).
"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." —Coppola

Viewer Comments

Add a Comment