A stunning movie that took Sam and I in a direction we absolutely did not expect! We will definitely be digesting this movie for awhile! Thank you all for your support!
This movie has a making of documentary called 'Hearts of Darkness' which is almost as interesting as the movie itself. Getting this movie made was an absolute trauma.
WATCH THE REDUX version. The Studio cut the French Rubber plantation scene to keep the length down, but they chopped the most important part of the film out. It’s a lot of dialogue, with thick French accents, but you get to meet the ultimate contrast to Kurtz’s character and the madness of war. I don’t want to ruin it for you. You just need to see how Coppola meant to edit his film. 💯👍🏻👍🏻
@@DaBlueMonster Yup I seen that version as well. Also back in the Vietnam war as movies go they don't show that alot of soldiers were under the influence of drugs as well etc.
Vietnam war movie best is plaoon by Oliver stone started Charlie sheen son of Martin sheen from this , paths to glory by Stanley Kubrick which is more of an anti war movie, but 60s British war movie Zulu started Michael Caine in his first role , a single British company guarding a hospital are attacked by a African Zulu tribal army, an army that had wiped out the main British army in south Africa that mourning, its genius, Zulu, Peter Jackson used it as inspiration for the battle of helns deep in the two towers.
“ 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.
Akshually, it is not ludicrous or hypocritical. War is a very surgical application of deadly force requiring very young people to exhibit an almost superhuman discipline in a very stressful situations. Therefore, maintaining discipline is VERY important. Military is and always was very careful what it will and will not allow to make sure that discipline is maintain. Yes, it sounds very stupid and stuffy, but it's true regardless. I'm not going to go into details, but I suggest you study a bit military doctrine that explains it rather well. If it works or not is a matter for discussion.
@@poetwp975 cannon fodder ceased to exist in the modern armies with the end of WW I. The trained soldiers (which they have to be today) are way too valuable to be a cannon fodder. Basic training of ONE soldier costs around $24K.
Kilgore is meant as a contrast with Kurtz. He's what the military considers "sane", while he annihilates a village just so he can get access to good surfing. But they consider Kurtz "insane" for avoiding entire battles by killing a handful of spies.
Tony Po allegedly once sent a boxful of ears to his superiors when they questioned his killcounts, and they found this gesture distasteful and not at all proper.
They didn't want him dead because of him killing spies tho, they wanted him dead because he was releasing photos of his atrocities. Up until that point, they didn't care.
@@ThePartisan13 That makes sense. But, if they claimed 'bad press' as the reason for his recall, don't you think it somewhat likely it was also that feeling of completely losing control over a situation? Appeals to 'appearance' and the sanitization of ugly facts work like magic on your average reality-insulated supervisor, I've noticed. But a box of rotting ears on a desk has a sort of gritty immediacy to it.
@@MrBendylaw This is true. America has always tried to maintain an illusion that its the most civilized/best country on the planet. Hundreds of years of conditioning and terrible acts to bring that goal to fruition. Hell you see that happening now in certain schools, trying to write out that the trail of tears ever happened.
@@MrBendylaw There's a power that comes from appearance/illusion. And once you have idealists like Kurtz that are awakened to this and try to spread the truth, well they get dealt with. Not so easy nowadays tho, the internet and cameras make that a bit harder.
The cast and crew nearly went insane during the making of this movie, which was filmed in the middle of a civil war in the Philippines. The helicopters they were using were frequently recalled by the government to fight the real war. People were coming down with tropical diseases. At one point a hurricane destroyed all their sets. Real human corpses were purchased from a man who turned out to be a grave-robber, and the crew was then detained by police. The madness was real.
@@Carandini Harvey Keitel was originally cast in Martin Sheen's role but had to be replaced when he dropped out of the movie after Coppola put him through countless takes of every scene until he had enough of it.
Marin Sheen had a heart attack, they build these temples on their own, they brought in expensive food and champagne.. Just wanted to add that on the list.
@@mattcampbell7669 Well I'm sure that Keitel wasn't upset about it when he had to deal with unending amount of takes while sweltering out in the jungle.
The dream of the snail crawling on a razor's edge sums up Kurtz's dilemma: To be a conquering hero you have to embrace terror without losing yourself in it. In the end it drove him insane.
That was the point Conrad was trying to make, yes, and the movie does an excellent job with it.. However, Conrad’s finer point is a snail cannot crawl along the edge of a straight razor, just as a main cannot become death and remain sane..
Here is the real dilemma of Viet Nam and the film: you had two sides, one socialist and one capitalist. Both sides claimed to represent democracy, but neither side truly did. The Western position was that as long as the majority voted for a government, that government would rule. Then when the majority voted for socialism, they canceled the election, calling it by definition illegitimate. Just proving themselves to be hypocrites and liars. When the Soviet-supported socialists go to war to defend, interestingly, the freedom of an independent people determining their own government, and the principle of majority rule, the West invades with a conquering force, claiming the mantle of popular legitimacy. When they begin to lose the war, they target civilians including women and children by the hundreds of thousands, reasoning par Leninist excellence that the ends justify the means. So the ultimate point of the film is that the people running the show are the most insane characters in the entire story. They aren't just on the wrong side, by their _own_ standards. They've descended so far that they're prepared to kill the entire country as preferable to admitting defeat. And they're so far gone that they can no longer see the obvious fact that the loss of every Vietnamese person would be both the ultimate military defeat, and the ultimate act of mindless, pointless slaughter.
It's based on the novel "Heart of Darkness", by Joseph Conrad. Reading the book will actually help your understanding of the themes of the movie a lot. Also, it's just one of the all time great novels of the English language.
This book and film is a dazzling example on how you can change some big things and still have the adaptation be faithful. Early 1900s Belgian Congo [ETA thank you commenter, I really meant Congo Free State] (one of the shittiest, evilest colonies ever run, even contemporary Europeans from other colonial empires called it out) vs 1960s Vietnam
There is actually a french comic depicting Konrad's peregrinations in the Belgian Congo called "Kongo: Le ténébreux voyage de Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski" as well as a comic adaptation of "Heart of Darkness" appropriately called "Au coeur des ténébres" by Miquel & Godart. Time to exercise my french skills.
@@TBRSchmitt You should check out the game Spec Ops The Line if you liked this movie it has many similar themes maybe you could do a reaction where you could take turns or she could watch always a treat to watch people react to the twists...
Yes, it's based on the 1899 novel The Heart of Darkness, which takes place on the Congo river. Coppola reset the story to be in Vietnam during the war.
@@TheRevWillNotBeTelevised no. Movies like platoon are about the horrors of war. Apocalypse now is about the horror and darkness within ourselves. It’s about the dark sides of the human condition where there’s not only suffering in war but also lust and pleasure in killing and violence. I recommend the documentation “first kill” for further information.
Lawrence Fishburne was 14 when he got hired (He lied about his age to get on the film) and because of the troubled production he was *17* by the time filming ended.
My father served in Vietnam and stated that this movie did the best job of capturing the mood/mindset of being their. Wanting to be home when you were over there and not being able to reintegrate with society when you were home also the scene at the bridge, it was rough.
The hotel room scene at the start of the movie was filmed on Martin Sheen's birthday in 1976. Sheen had already been drinking all day long, so Francis Ford Coppola decided to incorporate his intoxication into the scene; Sheen was so drunk that he actually did cut his hand punching the mirror. Coppola was inclined to stop filming at that point, but Sheen insisted on keeping the cameras rolling to "wrestle with his demons". The raw unedited footage is intense: ruclips.net/video/Ov_Xf6m5SfU/видео.html
Mixed feelings about that scene. One of the few issues I have with the film is how improbably 'soft and unimposing' Sheen is physically compared to the character he's playing - a hardened military killer. That scene in his underwear in front of the mirror just calls extra attention to it, imo. He looks more ridiculous than threatening.
@@GK-yi4xv If you think Martin Sheen doesn't look the part, you should check out the story of Carlos Hatchcock the deadliest sniper of the Viet Nam era. He looks like a very ordinary fellow. That avg. (almost geeky looking) podunk hillbilly from Arkansas had 93 confirmed kills plus dozens of unconfirmeds. A lot closer to Matthew Modeine in Full Metal Jacket than what your imaginary assassin must look like. He is what a real killer looks like.
@@michaeldavidfigures9842 Sure, snipers don't need muscles (maybe even a hindrance). Though Sheen wasn't playing a sniper (and didn't even use a gun to kill his target). (That's kind of the point - even stripped of his weapon, as he was, he needed to be able to 'get the job done', even by hand if necessary.) Obviously, real military killers don't look like Swarzenegger. but the scene where he appears to be trying to do just that - pose like a 'martial arts bad-ass' in front of the mirror, achieves the very opposite effect. It makes him look soft and weak and ridiculous (having nothing to do with his drunkenness). Somewhere between the two, there's a happy (and more likely) medium. Sheen did a fine job generally, but I would have chosen another way to emphasize his psychic pain and resulting alcoholism, one that didn't so highlight his main limitation in that role.
Interestingly, Harvey Keitel was the original Willard, and was cut, in part, because Coppola thought he seemed too much the 'action-only tough guy', whereas Sheen had a more thoughtful, observant air (even down to having wider eyes than Keitel!)
Chaos... as a Vietnam combat veteran, I can assure you that the chaotic confusion that the movie left you feeling is very close to the chaotic feeling we vets felt during the war... a feeling that we could die at any time, that no one was in control and that nothing, absolutely nothing mattered what we did as there were no consequences for our actions good or bad.
however, you're all war criminals. All of you. Just like russian forces in Ukraine, just like american forces in Irak and Afganistan, just like serbian soldiers in Yugoslavia and etc.
This is probably now my favourite reaction channel: an intelligent, articulate couple who’s reactions are truly genuine and who’s film selections are choices are (almost always) excellent. Well done, you both come across so well 🙌
You mentioned having watched 'Full Metal Jacket' before this was recommended next, and there's a connection between the two films. At 11:25 in your video, the chopper pilot in the dawn attack on the village talking into his radio was R. Lee Ermey, the same guy who played the unforgettable drill instructor in 'Full Metal Jacket'.
IMO this film isn't really a war film as the actual 'war' is always in the background when compared to other films like Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill etc. This film is more about a journey into madness. The further away from 'society' they go, the further into insanity they get. It's also worth pointing out that a lot of the visual style as well as the underlining tone of ultimate madness was taken from a Werner Herzog classic called Aguirre, the Wrath of God which is one of my personal favorite films of all time!
As a Iraq and Afghanistan vet I can say, war is a strange surreal place. Surfing while being shelled, waterskiing behind a patrol craft, weird stuff like this happens...To those that are there everyone tries to normalize what’s happening around them..It’s a surreal, strange, horrible and sometimes in a weird way fun experience. Not to sound cliche but if you haven’t been you can never truly know.
@@Constable.Chauvin I asked a question BECAUSE I wasn't there. I wouldn't have gone into Iraq, anyway, tool. I simply asked, because I don't believe these stolen valor morons.
There's a fantastic documentary about the making of this film titled "Hearts of Darkness". We learn that Sheen suffered a heart attack while filming the hotel room scene.
Yeah I know he really punched that mirror and was bleeding for real. I know the cow being killed was real as well, some ritual performed by the people that lived there.
And of course the actual book the movie was adapting, Heart of Darkness. Read it in school before ever seeing the movie. Incredible book that is graphic, poignant, and layered in it's intent and themes. Coppola setting his adaptation in the Vietnam War was a masterstroke.
As a former member of the 1st Calvary, I say huuah and Essayons! To answer a question yes, the calvary still go out with a bugle call to battle. I have seen it myself personally, somewhere in the desert.
My brother was on a PBR (Patrol Boat Riverine) in Vietnam. He was never the same after 2 tours in Vietnam, and eventually committed suicide. He told me this movie is the most accurate depiction of what went on there of all the Vietnam war movies.
Great thing about these times was independent film makers were coming up together, and cared more about the art, than the success! Same with music! The Doors!!!
@@MikeB12800 Sincere, but with a healthy dose of self-mockery. I find it good to laugh at myself, a lot. Especially my past (high-school age) self, who was VERY like that song.
I was 21 when I saw this in 1979. Was heavy into drugs then. Done lots of acid, mushrooms, smoking pot, cocaine, all tempered with generous helpings of alcohol. From the opening sequence and the brilliant use of The End to the ceiling fan chopping the air in Sheen's hotel room, I was thrown into the most nightmarish flashback I have ever had in my life. Experiencing this film in the theater was like the worst trip on acid I ever had. I really felt that Viet Nam must have been like hell. That experience sent me into a fit of depression which took me nearly five years to emerge from. Seeing it on the big screen too. So much larger than life, and far more frightening. I have watched it only once since. The scene with chef's death is so brutal. Years later I learned that the movie was inspired by the book Heart of Darkness which was based on a real person, a cia operative named Tony Poe. Knowing that we are all capable of such brutality and violence is one of the constant themes running through the book. It makes me pray everyday that God gives me a loving heart, and forgives me for even the thought of doing wrong. Wm. Sherman once said; "War is all hell. It is a good thing that it is so terrible, lest we grow to fond of it."
Fantastic comment! Thank you for sharing your opinion. Just want to add that the book Heart of Darkness was not based on Tony Poe's life; it's a considerably older book, but still very much relevant.
Kilgore is played by Robert Duvall, considered by many to be a legend in the business. Look up his work, it's worth it! You may remember him as the Consiliari in "The Godfather."
This isn't just a movie. It's an experience. First time I got to see it, it was something more than just another war movie. I wish I got to see it in 2019 when it was re-released in IMAX theaters.
Count Drunkula Yeah, that was probably the ‘Redux’ version. The Final Cut contains those scenes with the French plantation & a few extras. I think it slows the movie down & it doesn’t really benefit from those scenes. Of course, that’s just my take. I’m sure people can make great arguments for their inclusion.
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192 i agree. I saw this with my brother opening night. I was a teen andIt was the first movie about the Vietnamese war i ever saw. I was mezmrized by it.
Count Drunkula Ok, thanks for checking. I remember watching Redux around the time it was released. I felt the extra scenes really bogged it down. I’m glad he at least took some of them out for the final cut. Honestly, I think these ‘New Cuts’ are mostly done as a money grab, but also a way to increase interest in the movie. After all, it is 41 years old🤣 Not that it needs it. This film is one of the great works of cinema.
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192 I agree, i wish they had cut out the plantation scene from the Final Cut and it would've been my goto cut of the movie, just like with blade runner. I like the scene in isolation but it comes right when the movie was supposed to increase the intensity and suspense before we arrive at Kurtz.
The bridge is a metaphor for the seige of Khe Sanh. The Marines were cut off for months due to monsoon season. Michael Herr was an author who was at Khe Sanh and was a consultant on the movie.
Figured it would take a bit longer to edit this one TBR. Surreal, artistic, confusing, and brilliant all at the same time. A long film that's hard to edit down to the best parts. Good work!
PBR 'Streetgang''s' usual mission was to routinely stop small watercraft looking for weapons/ammo and supplies being moved secretly thru the rivers so Chief Phillips was just sticking to his usual job instead of doing what the Green Beret Captain Willard wanted.
"Madness" "Bad decisions" "Why are we here?" Well, that's the Vietnam War for you. It's the surrealness of the movie I loved. The deeper you go the more surreal it becomes. BTW, Platoon might be the movie you were expecting with Full Metal Jacket and this film. It's the only film of the three that was made by someone who was actually in the Vietnam War.
I saw this movie when it came out in 1979 (when I was 19) at the movies here in Australia. I remember going home on the bus and I was SO traumatised. It felt like I was a soldier returning home from war and no one understood me 😱. Looking back, and seeing the film today, I realise what a brilliant movie it was. The duality of Kurtz was unnerving as was the paradigm shift of Kurtz as both insane, and 100% correct! This is evidenced in... "Because there's nothing that I detest more than the stench of lies", AS he was living in a fantasy world. Compare the 'depth' of this movie to the laziness and dumbing down of the modern-day Super Hero movie genre. There is NO comparison, my friends!
This was an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's, Heart Of Darkness, right? That and Ulysses. Kilgore was the Cyclops. The Bunnies were the Sirens. And they weren't pink flares, they were purple smoke bombs. Purple Haze! Much of the cast were on drugs during the filming of this movie, and Coppola was near suicidal. His sets were wiped out by a typhoon. He had put himself in debt to make the movie and Brando showed up unprepared and over weight. He and Dennis Hopper had a fight over James Dean and wouldn't do their scenes together.
@@m.e.3862 I always liked how Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Suave and Suffocated has a quote by Dennis Hoppers character at the end. ruclips.net/video/qV9oe-cBgEc/видео.html
I saw this film at least six times in theaters when it was first released, including once in a foreign country. In the original theatrical version, the end credits roll over scenes of an airstrike on the temple complex, massive explosions lighting up the dark jungle night. So, at the end, Capt. Willard does call in the airstrike. For a greater understanding of the film's meaning, read the source material: Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, which Orson Welles and others tried to make into a film - and failed. The depths of this film are infinite. The horror, the horror!
Coppola has said that the footage was simply meant to be the filmmakers destroying the set and having something exciting if there had to be end credits (it was Coppola's preference that it had none). That people thought the airstrike was called in is why any version that does have end credits now has a black screen instead.
The film I saw in Britain way back then had no credits, just a brochure, and ended with a fade-out to black after a series of lap-dissolves of the temple, Sheen and the boat. The last moments of the film are darkness and rain falling; no music. No start or end credits. Later, saw it on TV, and the explosions of the temple being destroyed with some credits were tacked on after silence.
7:26 -- That's Francis Ford Coppola playing the reporter telling them not to look at the camera. Laurence "Larry" Fishburne was actually 14 when he made this movie. He would go on to play Cowboy Curtis on "Pee Wee's Playhouse." When this was originally shown in theaters, the end credits played over a blazing nocturnal napalm strike on the village. I'm glad you reacted to this version instead of the padded, bloated director's cut.
Wow! I was a teen/young adult living in SoCal towns like Laguna Beach and Sta Barbara during the Vietnam war, and I never noticed that bumper sticker... But I like it!!!
This is my favourite film of all time. The first time I saw this and the opening scene where the jungle blows up with Jim Morrison's voice singing "The End", I was instantly blown away because I had never seen a film open like that before, and I've yet to see a film that has completely washed over me with the same impact since.
My friend was living in the Philappines at the time when they filmed there and he was an extra. He said he didn't feel well so he was sitting on a rock wall and the director told him to stay there for the next shot. Robert Duval was putting death cards on the body's he goes over to my friend and says cheep up son! I went home and watched it and i'll be damned it was him!! : )
This was based on the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. One of my favourite movies, for the reasons you guys talk about. The extended version is excellent when you have time. There's also a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now, which is REALLY good, the $hit they went through to film this was amazing....Martin Sheen had a heart attack during a scene ( I think).
I've been meaning to watch that. I heard that Brando was indeed a pain in the ass to work with and wouldn't cooperate (until he read the book which he refused to do at first haha)
"Everything just seemed like madness...It was just lawlessness, there was no sense to anything, there was no structure, really..." You know what? I got that very same feeling, reading Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace." It's like, among battlefield commanders, the ones who act in good conscience, and/or good faith, are the least likely to be willingly followed...and the ones who act in reckless, selfish, or self-aggrandizinng ways, are the ones that gain the most loyalty from their subordinates. What a crazy dichotomy. It's like, "When in doubt, follow the guy that shouts loudest."
The Chief was adamant about searching the sampan because that was their reason for being on the river. To interdict the VC (which the boat people may have been) who used the river to supply their troops with food, weapons and munitions.
It's the Wizard of Oz in Vietnam. River = Yellow brick road. Crew = Tin-man, Lion, etc. Kurtz = Man behind the curtain. The only one I can't figure out is which one is Toto. Maybe it's his pistol? Oh, and there's no getting back to Kansas from that place.
The story is that in the first scene where Martin was in the Hotel , the filming was so intense that Martin suffered a Heart Attack, and still completed the scene.
18:38 some soldiers in Vietnam took acid ALL THE TIME. There are stories of guys who did their tour of duty in a constant LSD haze. Some smoked weed all day long too.
you should watch Platoon starring charlie sheen. it is considered one of the most realistic vietnam war films out there. it is written and directed by Oliver Stone who served in the Vietnam war in the 25th Infantry division and the 1st Cavalry Division. He received 2 Purple hearts, 1 Air Medal and 1 Bronze star with Valour.
4:23 The quote, "I watched a snail crawl across the edge of a strait razor..." The snail is crawling on top of the edge of the razor slicing itself in two.
regarding bizarre shit ive seen in war: during a firefight in iraq, i saw what i thought was a little kid running across a road. It wasnt. it was an adult "Dwarf" dressed in a red teletubby suit.
Little known fact: When apocalypse now came out in theaters, to keep the philosophical ending instilled in the audience they didn’t add the ending credits, since when the credits role people right away think “the movie is over.” So when people exited the movie theater, the employees handed them a small brochure with the credits on there.
19:17 I was a child during the Vietnam War and in the 1980s I was having a conversation with two separate people, who were much older than I, who didn't know each other, at months, if not years apart, and they both told the same story. They had gone to see Apocalypse Now in the theater with friends who were Vietnam vets; one a medic, the other a soldier. When it came to this scene, both vets go up and walked out of the theater. They told them it was too real. The shooting into the darkness. It was just like that. Mind blown.
Some of the themes of the movie include the lack if military focus and the mindset, of the troops young and old, wanting to escape i.e. drugs, surfing, beer and barbeque, their circumstances.
My dad bless his huge heart will talk about anything…except Vietnam. His ptsd was pretty tough. He had to come home and fight another war with my mom for custody of me and my bro because she thought a great way to deal with her mental illness was vodka. He’ll always be my hero. Got his associates in electrical engineering just because he felt like it lol. Can find anything. Just a great guy. I’m so glad he made it back in one piece.
The making of this movie was a massive story in it's own right. There is a documentary called Hearts of Darkness about the making of the movie which is TOTALLY worth a watch. The things the cast and crew went through to finish filming was truly epic.
The air cavalry helicopter attack scene to the tune of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkeries" may be the best war movie sequence ever. Definitely a great classical music video.
The theatrical release we saw in Greece, right after the Cannes Film Festival awards, had a different ending. After the boat leaves, the air strike comes, and we see the scenes that in this version you saw at the start. The napalm explosion followed by the destruction of the temples and the giant statues.
Yeah, there are a number of different endings over the years. I remember seeing it in London in 1990, and I think it might have been that ending? One thing I should have saved was the credits program they gave out, as this cut didn't roll the credits on screen.
The 35mm version has the airstrike during closing credits. The 70mm version has no credits -- they gave us a little booklet that included credits -- and it ends with Williard turning off the radio and steering the boat away.
If you want to see a war movie that is as intense as "Apocalypse now", i recommend "Das Boot(1981)" and "Thin Red Line(1998)". "Das Boot" is an anti-war movie set in WW2 in which the main characters are German Soldiers where as the other one is about US Army soldiers fighting in pacific front.
I was at the premiere of this movie when it came out. I bought a row of tickets for me and my friends. We sat a few rows away from Coppola and the stars of the film. When the movie ended, you could hear a pin drop in the theater. Like you said, we were going to be digesting this movie for awhile. As the theater began to empty silently, the row before Coppola cleared and I walked into it until I was right in from of him and said "That was an amazing movie! Thank You." I put my hand out to shake his and he smiled and reached up from his seat to shake it.. From that point on it was as if the sound came on in the theater. Coppola's smile seemed to signal to everyone that it was ok to breathe. Everyone began to file into that row to congratulate him and he seemed to relax and breathe easy. After finding out the effort it took him to make this film years later, I understood why he sat there, frozen in silence. He himself had a form of PTSD from making it and was relieved when people finally reassured him of the greatness of the movie. What an experience this was to watch on the giant screen in the theater. Great Reaction. Glad you included some of the music to indicate the feeling of each scene and put us in the right frame of mind. Other reactors cut it out completely. You guys are the best reactors I've come across.
The way I viewed the "drop the bomb, exterminate them all" message in the book was that Kurtz was recording his thoughts in a journal about the war, military etc., and he suddenly had an epiphany that mankind could not be saved from its worst impulses and must be exterminated. He's not talking about just the camp, he's talking about everything and everyone. I used to believe that the movie would have been better if Brando had been in shape and could have been featured more prominently. But now I believe the movie works better with Kurtz shrouded in shadows. What a great film. The other versions are superfluous in my opinion. Walter Murch (the editor) is the real star of this film.
Post surf scene with Kilgore, one of my favorite lines from this movie is when he says "Someday this war's gonna end..." and just walks away. Not specifying how it would end. That line and then when the captain asks Roach "do you know who's in charge here?" To which Roach replied "...yeah."
Neat fact the Filipino Military provided the helicopters and plains for the napalm scene making it one of the most accurate in terms of vehicles and Martin Sheen actually punched that mirror for real that blood on the sheets was really his.
Harrison Ford line . . . At 4:50 And now he has moved up into Cambodia with his Montagnard army that worship the man as a god. At 26:07 The Golden Bough by James C. Frazer, I know this book, If you want to think as a GOD, If you want to act as a GOD, If you want to be perceived as a GOD, This book will give a good outline on how to do that.
"It seems that the further up the river they get, the more otherworldly things become." Absolutely right. Apocalypse Now is based on Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, and that is exactly where they are going. To borrow the title of John Yorke's treatise on storytelling, all narratives are journeys into the woods, and that has never been truer than in this film. This, and Lindsay Anderson's 1968 movie if... are the only two films I know that are genuinely and increasingly phantasmagorical. That we see so many faces of madness on display - Sheen's booze-drenched PTSD, Kilgore's crazy nonchalance, Chef's neurotic anxiety, Lance's hallucinogenic spaced-out retreat into himself, Hopper's verbal mania and, of course, the insanity of Kurtz - can surely be nothing other than a comment on the madness of war. What a masterpiece.
We studied HEART OF DARKNESS in school and it had a big impact on me as a young teenager. Watching this movie, based off the book, just blew me away as you try to decipher what is crazy and what is sane about humanity. A masterpiece. FUN FACT: did you notice that Harrison Ford's name on his uniform was 'Lucas' ? That was done on purpose by Coppola as a shout out to his friend....George Lucas!! Keep smiling🤘🙂
Searching that boat was common practice during Vietnam because the Vietcong did smuggle arms and ammunition in both like that so it was a legitimate reason although there was nothing found on this particular one
My father did several tours in Vietnam. This is by far his favorite movie other than Full Metal Jacket. He very rarely speaks about his time whilst serving in Vietnam. We went to the Vietnam Wall in DC one time. That was the first I've seen him cry. My mother has told me that my father back in the day, would wake up in the middle of the night with horrible dreams. Dreams of the war. She would have to calm him down. Now that my farther is in his 70's he talks to me quite a bit about certain things that he went through while being in Nam. Mostly only when he is drinking. My father had just turned 18 when he was deployed. I could not have imagined being thrown into that at 18yrs old. God Bless all the young men and women thrown into a war. May they get the help they need if necessary.
This movie is amazing and haunting. I'm glad I seen this and I now know why they call it a masterpiece. It really sticks with you. Amazing video I'm glad you all got to watch it. Also "fun" fact: The shot Martin Sheen fires on the boat with the civilians is his 1st and ONLY shot he fires in the whole movie. Such a great film.
I was visiting a friend just prior to joining the Marine Corps. He said I had to see this movie which had just hit the theaters. Yep, the military is difficult to understand, especially if you're not in the military. Great movie. Thanks for the react.
You missed the ending. As the credits rolled, you can hear him calling in the air strike. Then the explosions start with the Doors “This is the End”. They showed a preview in the very beginning, when Willard was tripping balls in his room. Finally, this is a retelling of Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” and Dante’s Inferno.
Great reaction you two! The Punk Band, The Clash saw Apocalypse Now in 1979 and they were so impressed with the film, that they wrote and recorded a song called "Charlie don't surf", based on the phrase by Kilgore! The song is on their 1981 album, Sandanista!
Just realized that R Lee Ermey...The Gunny from Full Metal Jacket himself...is in Apocalypse Now. I heard his voice, and then I looked it up...he played the pilot that talks about "a large weapon down below" at 11:24 ...and then you see his face at 11:27. This was his first film role, and he was not even credited, according to Wiki.
There is an interview with a Vietnam vet talking about what he saw there, one of his comments was," humans are murders the military is just a finishing school".
For opening scene in motel room, believe Coppola actually got Sheen truly drunk. A lot of personal demons truly on display for Sheen. Truly seriously cut his hand when he punched the mirror
On 10-22-78 Coppola and his family sat stage left at a Grateful Dead concert at Winterland in San Francisco. The Winterland Ballroom was Bill Graham's place. So there's that connection. Sometime after the concert Coppola asked the Grateful Dead drummers to record for the Apocalypse Now soundtrack which they did. Not sure when Coppola asked Graham to be in the movie, before, during, or after the Dead show?
A stunning movie that took Sam and I in a direction we absolutely did not expect! We will definitely be digesting this movie for awhile!
Thank you all for your support!
This movie has a making of documentary called 'Hearts of Darkness' which is almost as interesting as the movie itself. Getting this movie made was an absolute trauma.
This movie isn't for everyone. It's not entertainment, it's something deeper, it goes beyond the war...
WATCH THE REDUX version. The Studio cut the French Rubber plantation scene to keep the length down, but they chopped the most important part of the film out. It’s a lot of dialogue, with thick French accents, but you get to meet the ultimate contrast to Kurtz’s character and the madness of war. I don’t want to ruin it for you. You just need to see how Coppola meant to edit his film. 💯👍🏻👍🏻
@@DaBlueMonster Yup I seen that version as well. Also back in the Vietnam war as movies go they don't show that alot of soldiers were under the influence of drugs as well etc.
Vietnam war movie best is plaoon by Oliver stone started Charlie sheen son of Martin sheen from this , paths to glory by Stanley Kubrick which is more of an anti war movie, but 60s British war movie Zulu started Michael Caine in his first role , a single British company guarding a hospital are attacked by a African Zulu tribal army, an army that had wiped out the main British army in south Africa that mourning, its genius, Zulu, Peter Jackson used it as inspiration for the battle of helns deep in the two towers.
“ 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.
Mine too, that's incredibly profound.
Mine didn't write fuck on his airplane, but he did have a nude lady on it.
Akshually, it is not ludicrous or hypocritical. War is a very surgical application of deadly force requiring very young people to exhibit an almost superhuman discipline in a very stressful situations. Therefore, maintaining discipline is VERY important. Military is and always was very careful what it will and will not allow to make sure that discipline is maintain. Yes, it sounds very stupid and stuffy, but it's true regardless. I'm not going to go into details, but I suggest you study a bit military doctrine that explains it rather well. If it works or not is a matter for discussion.
Spoken like true cannon fodder.
@@poetwp975 cannon fodder ceased to exist in the modern armies with the end of WW I. The trained soldiers (which they have to be today) are way too valuable to be a cannon fodder. Basic training of ONE soldier costs around $24K.
Kilgore is meant as a contrast with Kurtz. He's what the military considers "sane", while he annihilates a village just so he can get access to good surfing. But they consider Kurtz "insane" for avoiding entire battles by killing a handful of spies.
Tony Po allegedly once sent a boxful of ears to his superiors when they questioned his killcounts, and they found this gesture distasteful and not at all proper.
They didn't want him dead because of him killing spies tho, they wanted him dead because he was releasing photos of his atrocities. Up until that point, they didn't care.
@@ThePartisan13 That makes sense. But, if they claimed 'bad press' as the reason for his recall, don't you think it somewhat likely it was also that feeling of completely losing control over a situation? Appeals to 'appearance' and the sanitization of ugly facts work like magic on your average reality-insulated supervisor, I've noticed. But a box of rotting ears on a desk has a sort of gritty immediacy to it.
@@MrBendylaw This is true. America has always tried to maintain an illusion that its the most civilized/best country on the planet. Hundreds of years of conditioning and terrible acts to bring that goal to fruition. Hell you see that happening now in certain schools, trying to write out that the trail of tears ever happened.
@@MrBendylaw There's a power that comes from appearance/illusion. And once you have idealists like Kurtz that are awakened to this and try to spread the truth, well they get dealt with. Not so easy nowadays tho, the internet and cameras make that a bit harder.
The director yelling at Willard to walk by without looking at the camera is Coppola himself.
Along with d.p. Vittorio Storaro.
@@Wired4Life2 best cinematography movie ever
@@lauce3998 oscar winning.
The cast and crew nearly went insane during the making of this movie, which was filmed in the middle of a civil war in the Philippines. The helicopters they were using were frequently recalled by the government to fight the real war. People were coming down with tropical diseases. At one point a hurricane destroyed all their sets. Real human corpses were purchased from a man who turned out to be a grave-robber, and the crew was then detained by police. The madness was real.
I think it was Hopper who was being paid in drugs during this film.
@@Carandini Harvey Keitel was originally cast in Martin Sheen's role but had to be replaced when he dropped out of the movie after Coppola put him through countless takes of every scene until he had enough of it.
Marin Sheen had a heart attack, they build these temples on their own, they brought in expensive food and champagne.. Just wanted to add that on the list.
@@joemckim1183 No Francis Ford Coppola fired him.
@@mattcampbell7669 Well I'm sure that Keitel wasn't upset about it when he had to deal with unending amount of takes while sweltering out in the jungle.
The dream of the snail crawling on a razor's edge sums up Kurtz's dilemma: To be a conquering hero you have to embrace terror without losing yourself in it. In the end it drove him insane.
That was the point Conrad was trying to make, yes, and the movie does an excellent job with it.. However, Conrad’s finer point is a snail cannot crawl along the edge of a straight razor, just as a main cannot become death and remain sane..
@@jacobjones5269 A snail can do that.
Here is the real dilemma of Viet Nam and the film: you had two sides, one socialist and one capitalist. Both sides claimed to represent democracy, but neither side truly did. The Western position was that as long as the majority voted for a government, that government would rule. Then when the majority voted for socialism, they canceled the election, calling it by definition illegitimate. Just proving themselves to be hypocrites and liars. When the Soviet-supported socialists go to war to defend, interestingly, the freedom of an independent people determining their own government, and the principle of majority rule, the West invades with a conquering force, claiming the mantle of popular legitimacy. When they begin to lose the war, they target civilians including women and children by the hundreds of thousands, reasoning par Leninist excellence that the ends justify the means. So the ultimate point of the film is that the people running the show are the most insane characters in the entire story. They aren't just on the wrong side, by their _own_ standards. They've descended so far that they're prepared to kill the entire country as preferable to admitting defeat. And they're so far gone that they can no longer see the obvious fact that the loss of every Vietnamese person would be both the ultimate military defeat, and the ultimate act of mindless, pointless slaughter.
It's based on the novel "Heart of Darkness", by Joseph Conrad. Reading the book will actually help your understanding of the themes of the movie a lot. Also, it's just one of the all time great novels of the English language.
And Conrad was Polish, and didn't even learn English until his twenties!
Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski
Yes it is
This book and film is a dazzling example on how you can change some big things and still have the adaptation be faithful.
Early 1900s Belgian Congo [ETA thank you commenter, I really meant Congo Free State] (one of the shittiest, evilest colonies ever run, even contemporary Europeans from other colonial empires called it out)
vs
1960s Vietnam
There is actually a french comic depicting Konrad's peregrinations in the Belgian Congo called "Kongo: Le ténébreux voyage de Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski" as well as a comic adaptation of "Heart of Darkness" appropriately called "Au coeur des ténébres" by Miquel & Godart. Time to exercise my french skills.
This is a "war" movie. Where the war is a backdrop for the real story.
Absolutely agree!
@@TBRSchmitt You should check out the game Spec Ops The Line if you liked this movie it has many similar themes maybe you could do a reaction where you could take turns or she could watch always a treat to watch people react to the twists...
Yes, it's based on the 1899 novel The Heart of Darkness, which takes place on the Congo river. Coppola reset the story to be in Vietnam during the war.
The story is entirely about the horror of war, so not exactly a 'backdrop'.
@@TheRevWillNotBeTelevised no. Movies like platoon are about the horrors of war. Apocalypse now is about the horror and darkness within ourselves. It’s about the dark sides of the human condition where there’s not only suffering in war but also lust and pleasure in killing and violence. I recommend the documentation “first kill” for further information.
6:08 "I feel like this is definitely gonna down some weird rabbit hole type of craziness."
Oh, you had no idea, did you.
Lawrence Fishburne was 14 when he got hired (He lied about his age to get on the film) and because of the troubled production he was *17* by the time filming ended.
Wow that’s wild! Took me awhile to recognize him!
And Dennis Hopper got him hooked on heroin.
My father served in Vietnam and stated that this movie did the best job of capturing the mood/mindset of being their. Wanting to be home when you were over there and not being able to reintegrate with society when you were home also the scene at the bridge, it was rough.
"Hey, soldier! Do you know who's in command, here?"
"Yeah."
That line haunts me. Three guesses who...
Even the look he gives him after answering. Like he should already know who's in charge.... As the lighting goes in and out.
@@Mr.Ekshin no friend, they were in Hell, and the Devil was dealing the cards.
@@billhicks6449 you get me
Especially guess number three - which is nobody.
@@georgemorley1029 You expect too little, in my opinion
The End by The Doors is a perfect opening song
The hotel room scene at the start of the movie was filmed on Martin Sheen's birthday in 1976. Sheen had already been drinking all day long, so Francis Ford Coppola decided to incorporate his intoxication into the scene; Sheen was so drunk that he actually did cut his hand punching the mirror. Coppola was inclined to stop filming at that point, but Sheen insisted on keeping the cameras rolling to "wrestle with his demons". The raw unedited footage is intense:
ruclips.net/video/Ov_Xf6m5SfU/видео.html
Mixed feelings about that scene.
One of the few issues I have with the film is how improbably 'soft and unimposing' Sheen is physically compared to the character he's playing - a hardened military killer.
That scene in his underwear in front of the mirror just calls extra attention to it, imo. He looks more ridiculous than threatening.
@@GK-yi4xv Lots of hardened military killers look like regular dudes. Especially in that era. Watch Conan if you wanna see male muscles.
@@GK-yi4xv If you think Martin Sheen doesn't look the part, you should check out the story of Carlos Hatchcock the deadliest sniper of the Viet Nam era. He looks like a very ordinary fellow. That avg. (almost geeky looking) podunk hillbilly from Arkansas had 93 confirmed kills plus dozens of unconfirmeds. A lot closer to Matthew Modeine in Full Metal Jacket than what your imaginary assassin must look like. He is what a real killer looks like.
@@michaeldavidfigures9842 Sure, snipers don't need muscles (maybe even a hindrance).
Though Sheen wasn't playing a sniper (and didn't even use a gun to kill his target).
(That's kind of the point - even stripped of his weapon, as he was, he needed to be able to 'get the job done', even by hand if necessary.)
Obviously, real military killers don't look like Swarzenegger. but the scene where he appears to be trying to do just that - pose like a 'martial arts bad-ass' in front of the mirror, achieves the very opposite effect. It makes him look soft and weak and ridiculous (having nothing to do with his drunkenness).
Somewhere between the two, there's a happy (and more likely) medium.
Sheen did a fine job generally, but I would have chosen another way to emphasize his psychic pain and resulting alcoholism, one that didn't so highlight his main limitation in that role.
Interestingly, Harvey Keitel was the original Willard, and was cut, in part, because Coppola thought he seemed too much the 'action-only tough guy', whereas Sheen had a more thoughtful, observant air (even down to having wider eyes than Keitel!)
Chaos... as a Vietnam combat veteran, I can assure you that the chaotic confusion that the movie left you feeling is very close to the chaotic feeling we vets felt during the war... a feeling that we could die at any time, that no one was in control and that nothing, absolutely nothing mattered what we did as there were no consequences for our actions good or bad.
however, you're all war criminals. All of you. Just like russian forces in Ukraine, just like american forces in Irak and Afganistan, just like serbian soldiers in Yugoslavia and etc.
One of the greatest "Trips" you could ever take... without being on drugs. The reaction was spot on.
Hahaha very good description of the movie!
This is probably now my favourite reaction channel: an intelligent, articulate couple who’s reactions are truly genuine and who’s film selections are choices are (almost always) excellent. Well done, you both come across so well 🙌
But they have to go easier on the Valleyspeak patterns 😅
You mentioned having watched 'Full Metal Jacket' before this was recommended next, and there's a connection between the two films. At 11:25 in your video, the chopper pilot in the dawn attack on the village talking into his radio was R. Lee Ermey, the same guy who played the unforgettable drill instructor in 'Full Metal Jacket'.
IMO this film isn't really a war film as the actual 'war' is always in the background when compared to other films like Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill etc. This film is more about a journey into madness. The further away from 'society' they go, the further into insanity they get.
It's also worth pointing out that a lot of the visual style as well as the underlining tone of ultimate madness was taken from a Werner Herzog classic called Aguirre, the Wrath of God which is one of my personal favorite films of all time!
9:53, they used the exact same shot in Kong Skull island as an Homage to Apocalypse Now.
Which is why I love _Kong: Skull Island_ so much. ^_^
The search of the sampan was part of the ongoing battle of wills between Capt. Willard and the Chief Petty Officer Philips.
"This is the end" as the jungle explodes is my favourite cinematic moment of all time, gives me chills every single time :)
- and it's the start of the movie, and it's what's happening in the background as Kilgore gives his speech about his war.
As a Iraq and Afghanistan vet I can say, war is a strange surreal place. Surfing while being shelled, waterskiing behind a patrol craft, weird stuff like this happens...To those that are there everyone tries to normalize what’s happening around them..It’s a surreal, strange, horrible and sometimes in a weird way fun experience. Not to sound cliche but if you haven’t been you can never truly know.
So, was there a lot of surfing and water-skiing in landlocked desert countries?
I'd like to see pics.
@@OneVoiceMoreyou weren't there man!
@@Constable.Chauvin I asked a question BECAUSE I wasn't there.
I wouldn't have gone into Iraq, anyway, tool.
I simply asked, because I don't believe these stolen valor morons.
@@OneVoiceMore Clearly you missed the message...
@@Tipi83 Nah, I recognized it as bullshit. Sit down.
There's a fantastic documentary about the making of this film titled "Hearts of Darkness". We learn that Sheen suffered a heart attack while filming the hotel room scene.
Yeah I know he really punched that mirror and was bleeding for real. I know the cow being killed was real as well, some ritual performed by the people that lived there.
And of course the actual book the movie was adapting, Heart of Darkness. Read it in school before ever seeing the movie. Incredible book that is graphic, poignant, and layered in it's intent and themes. Coppola setting his adaptation in the Vietnam War was a masterstroke.
@@charlese2714 It’s one of my favourite books.
He suffered a heart attack after the scene, but the blood in the scene absolutely was real.
Didn’t his son, Charlie have similar health issues filming “Platoon”?
As a former member of the 1st Calvary, I say huuah and Essayons!
To answer a question yes, the calvary still go out with a bugle call to battle. I have seen it myself personally, somewhere in the desert.
My brother was on a PBR (Patrol Boat Riverine) in Vietnam. He was never the same after 2 tours in Vietnam, and eventually committed suicide. He told me this movie is the most accurate depiction of what went on there of all the Vietnam war movies.
The horror your brother saw, I’m so sorry
His line near the end "They were gonna make me a Major for this, and I wasn't even in their fuckin' army anymore." said it all for me.
Great thing about these times was independent film makers were coming up together, and cared more about the art, than the success! Same with music! The Doors!!!
🤟😁
Viva La DOOOOORS!
ruclips.net/video/ZAvYUbtB3ro/видео.html
@@jean-paulaudette9246 not sure if thats sincere, or complete mockery
@@MikeB12800 Sincere, but with a healthy dose of self-mockery. I find it good to laugh at myself, a lot. Especially my past (high-school age) self, who was VERY like that song.
@@jean-paulaudette9246 lmao, we’ve all been their!
I was 21 when I saw this in 1979. Was heavy into drugs then. Done lots of acid, mushrooms, smoking pot, cocaine, all tempered with generous helpings of alcohol. From the opening sequence and the brilliant use of The End to the ceiling fan chopping the air in Sheen's hotel room, I was thrown into the most nightmarish flashback I have ever had in my life. Experiencing this film in the theater was like the worst trip on acid I ever had. I really felt that Viet Nam must have been like hell. That experience sent me into a fit of depression which took me nearly five years to emerge from. Seeing it on the big screen too. So much larger than life, and far more frightening. I have watched it only once since. The scene with chef's death is so brutal. Years later I learned that the movie was inspired by the book Heart of Darkness which was based on a real person, a cia operative named Tony Poe. Knowing that we are all capable of such brutality and violence is one of the constant themes running through the book. It makes me pray everyday that God gives me a loving heart, and forgives me for even the thought of doing wrong. Wm. Sherman once said; "War is all hell. It is a good thing that it is so terrible, lest we grow to fond of it."
Fantastic comment! Thank you for sharing your opinion.
Just want to add that the book Heart of Darkness was not based on Tony Poe's life; it's a considerably older book, but still very much relevant.
@@DreamyWoIf I have learned that subsequently. Thanks for the comment.👍
I don't remember saying that but it sounds like something I would say
Kilgore is played by Robert Duvall, considered by many to be a legend in the business. Look up his work, it's worth it! You may remember him as the Consiliari in "The Godfather."
consigliere
@@paradox5391 much obliged!
My favorite Duvall film is "Secondhand Lions", first film I saw him in was "To Kill a Mockingbird".
@@williewilliams6571 He was pretty good in "Pursuit of D.B. Cooper".
@@williewilliams6571 Hey Boo!
Wish they'd react to To Kill A Mockingbird
This isn't just a movie. It's an experience. First time I got to see it, it was something more than just another war movie. I wish I got to see it in 2019 when it was re-released in IMAX theaters.
Very happy you chose to go with the theatrical cut. Really looking forward to this one!
Count Drunkula Yeah, that was probably the ‘Redux’ version. The Final Cut contains those scenes with the French plantation & a few extras. I think it slows the movie down & it doesn’t really benefit from those scenes. Of course, that’s just my take. I’m sure people can make great arguments for their inclusion.
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192 i agree. I saw this with my brother opening night. I was a teen andIt was the first movie about the Vietnamese war i ever saw. I was mezmrized by it.
Count Drunkula Ok, thanks for checking. I remember watching Redux around the time it was released. I felt the extra scenes really bogged it down. I’m glad he at least took some of them out for the final cut.
Honestly, I think these ‘New Cuts’ are mostly done as a money grab, but also a way to increase interest in the movie. After all, it is 41 years old🤣
Not that it needs it. This film is one of the great works of cinema.
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192 I agree, i wish they had cut out the plantation scene from the Final Cut and it would've been my goto cut of the movie, just like with blade runner. I like the scene in isolation but it comes right when the movie was supposed to increase the intensity and suspense before we arrive at Kurtz.
Theatrical was much better, imo. Editing was spot on.
The bridge is a metaphor for the seige of Khe Sanh. The Marines were cut off for months due to monsoon season. Michael Herr was an author who was at Khe Sanh and was a consultant on the movie.
Yeah, this is a big favorite of mine. Far beyond war, that's just the setting. An existential journey into the nature of morality and humanity.
I may have loved the smell of napalm in the morning, but 40 years later, I love the sight of TBRSchmitt in the subscription page.
Figured it would take a bit longer to edit this one TBR.
Surreal, artistic, confusing, and brilliant all at the same time.
A long film that's hard to edit down to the best parts.
Good work!
Thank you! Definitely took a little extra time to edit! Some computer crashes didn’t help either lol
The Redux version did not come out until 20 years later. Turns out the Playboy models had a much bigger part of the original story.
PBR 'Streetgang''s' usual mission was to routinely stop small watercraft looking for weapons/ammo and supplies being moved secretly thru the rivers so Chief Phillips was just sticking to his usual job instead of doing what the Green Beret Captain Willard wanted.
Yes. Those were his standing orders
"Madness" "Bad decisions" "Why are we here?" Well, that's the Vietnam War for you.
It's the surrealness of the movie I loved. The deeper you go the more surreal it becomes. BTW, Platoon might be the movie you were expecting with Full Metal Jacket and this film. It's the only film of the three that was made by someone who was actually in the Vietnam War.
I saw this movie when it came out in 1979 (when I was 19) at the movies here in Australia. I remember going home on the bus and I was SO traumatised. It felt like I was a soldier returning home from war and no one understood me 😱. Looking back, and seeing the film today, I realise what a brilliant movie it was. The duality of Kurtz was unnerving as was the paradigm shift of Kurtz as both insane, and 100% correct! This is evidenced in... "Because there's nothing that I detest more than the stench of lies", AS he was living in a fantasy world. Compare the 'depth' of this movie to the laziness and dumbing down of the modern-day Super Hero movie genre.
There is NO comparison, my friends!
This is one of the best movies ever made
Indeed
This was an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's, Heart Of Darkness, right? That and Ulysses. Kilgore was the Cyclops. The Bunnies were the Sirens. And they weren't pink flares, they were purple smoke bombs. Purple Haze! Much of the cast were on drugs during the filming of this movie, and Coppola was near suicidal. His sets were wiped out by a typhoon. He had put himself in debt to make the movie and Brando showed up unprepared and over weight. He and Dennis Hopper had a fight over James Dean and wouldn't do their scenes together.
12:54, that's Napalm, "it smells like...victory."
So many quotable lines in this movie!
M. E. “You’re an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill.”
@@m.e.3862 I always liked how Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Suave and Suffocated has a quote by Dennis Hoppers character at the end. ruclips.net/video/qV9oe-cBgEc/видео.html
I saw this film at least six times in theaters when it was first released, including once in a foreign country. In the original theatrical version, the end credits roll over scenes of an airstrike on the temple complex, massive explosions lighting up the dark jungle night. So, at the end, Capt. Willard does call in the airstrike. For a greater understanding of the film's meaning, read the source material: Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, which Orson Welles and others tried to make into a film - and failed. The depths of this film are infinite. The horror, the horror!
In Conrad's book Marlowe (Willard) survived and lives to tell the tale. Also is the"Intended" really War?
Coppola has said that the footage was simply meant to be the filmmakers destroying the set and having something exciting if there had to be end credits (it was Coppola's preference that it had none). That people thought the airstrike was called in is why any version that does have end credits now has a black screen instead.
@@ericjohnson9623 I actually prefer the bombing at the end. So do most of the people who saw the original 1979.
The film I saw in Britain way back then had no credits, just a brochure, and ended with a fade-out to black after a series of lap-dissolves of the temple, Sheen and the boat.
The last moments of the film are darkness and rain falling; no music. No start or end credits.
Later, saw it on TV, and the explosions of the temple being destroyed with some credits were tacked on after silence.
It’s on yt if anyone wants to see just search apocalypse now ending
7:26 -- That's Francis Ford Coppola playing the reporter telling them not to look at the camera. Laurence "Larry" Fishburne was actually 14 when he made this movie. He would go on to play Cowboy Curtis on "Pee Wee's Playhouse." When this was originally shown in theaters, the end credits played over a blazing nocturnal napalm strike on the village. I'm glad you reacted to this version instead of the padded, bloated director's cut.
Growing up in Southern California, it's a bit crazy how many "Charlie don't surf" bumper stickers you'd see at the beach.
Wow! I was a teen/young adult living in SoCal towns like Laguna Beach and Sta Barbara during the Vietnam war, and I never noticed that bumper sticker... But I like it!!!
“Terminate with extreme prejudice”
That weird looking dude was definitely CIA
@@jasonm8017 That's classified.
@@jasonm8017 the guy playing him was Coppola’s assistant director.
@@Rob-eo5ql I did not know that.
@@jasonm8017 Harrison Ford’s character, “Col. Lucas”, is a nod to Star Wars creator George Lucas.
That film was mainly shot on location here in my native Philippines.
Apocalypse Now is Joseph Conrad's book, "Heart of Darkness" in a Vietnam War setting instead of Africa.
Yes, it's Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" ... but it's thoroughly marinated 100% in Michael Herr's "Dispatches". You should read it.
This is my favourite film of all time. The first time I saw this and the opening scene where the jungle blows up with Jim Morrison's voice singing "The End", I was instantly blown away because I had never seen a film open like that before, and I've yet to see a film that has completely washed over me with the same impact since.
100% same
It just dawned on me that "Apocalypse Now" is a horror movie
The Horror..the horror……..the horror
Enton Boothe. It must be comforting to have a ready made simple pidgeon hole for it.
They keep getting picked off, then the climax
My friend was living in the Philappines at the time when they filmed there and he was an extra. He said he didn't feel well so he was sitting on a rock wall and the director told him to stay there for the next shot. Robert Duval was putting death cards on the body's he goes over to my friend and says cheep up son! I went home and watched it and i'll be damned it was him!! : )
This was based on the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. One of my favourite movies, for the reasons you guys talk about. The extended version is excellent when you have time. There's also a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now, which is REALLY good, the $hit they went through to film this was amazing....Martin Sheen had a heart attack during a scene ( I think).
I've been meaning to watch that. I heard that Brando was indeed a pain in the ass to work with and wouldn't cooperate (until he read the book which he refused to do at first haha)
Laurence fishburne was 14 years old and lied about his age.
He spent years in the Philippines, alone, while this was filmed.
@@lynnc5252 Wow! Such dedication from a teen.
12:53 That's gotta be one of the best explosions in movie history..
"Everything just seemed like madness...It was just lawlessness, there was no sense to anything, there was no structure, really..."
You know what? I got that very same feeling, reading Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace." It's like, among battlefield commanders, the ones who act in good conscience, and/or good faith, are the least likely to be willingly followed...and the ones who act in reckless, selfish, or self-aggrandizinng ways, are the ones that gain the most loyalty from their subordinates. What a crazy dichotomy. It's like, "When in doubt, follow the guy that shouts loudest."
The Chief was adamant about searching the sampan because that was their reason for being on the river. To interdict the VC (which the boat people may have been) who used the river to supply their troops with food, weapons and munitions.
It's the Wizard of Oz in Vietnam. River = Yellow brick road. Crew = Tin-man, Lion, etc. Kurtz = Man behind the curtain. The only one I can't figure out is which one is Toto. Maybe it's his pistol? Oh, and there's no getting back to Kansas from that place.
,, I've seen this film over 600 times & I too, just only put this same two&two together, I agree, I was thinking the exact same thing 😏
The story is that in the first scene where Martin was in the Hotel , the filming was so intense that Martin suffered a Heart Attack, and still completed the scene.
18:38 some soldiers in Vietnam took acid ALL THE TIME. There are stories of guys who did their tour of duty in a constant LSD haze. Some smoked weed all day long too.
Ya'll are in for a trip with this one.
Absolutely right on that!
@@TBRSchmitt One of my favorites, so surreal! This definitely requires a few viewings.
Allister Fiend Was just going to say that. This is a film that really benefits from repeated viewings. It’s an incredibly dense film.
Coppola said.... "This film isnt about Vietnam this film IS Vietnam."
you should watch Platoon starring charlie sheen. it is considered one of the most realistic vietnam war films out there. it is written and directed by Oliver Stone who served in the Vietnam war in the 25th Infantry division and the 1st Cavalry Division. He received 2 Purple hearts, 1 Air Medal and 1 Bronze star with Valour.
They've seen it..... Look through their channel
@@tonyyul703 I have and they have not seen it, so maybe you should look through it before commenting.
Coppola himself said in an interview "It's not a war movie".
4:23 The quote, "I watched a snail crawl across the edge of a strait razor..." The snail is crawling on top of the edge of the razor slicing itself in two.
regarding bizarre shit ive seen in war: during a firefight in iraq, i saw what i thought was a little kid running across a road. It wasnt. it was an adult "Dwarf" dressed in a red teletubby suit.
Little known fact:
When apocalypse now came out in theaters, to keep the philosophical ending instilled in the audience they didn’t add the ending credits, since when the credits role people right away think “the movie is over.” So when people exited the movie theater, the employees handed them a small brochure with the credits on there.
19:17 I was a child during the Vietnam War and in the 1980s I was having a conversation with two separate people, who were much older than I, who didn't know each other, at months, if not years apart, and they both told the same story. They had gone to see Apocalypse Now in the theater with friends who were Vietnam vets; one a medic, the other a soldier. When it came to this scene, both vets go up and walked out of the theater. They told them it was too real. The shooting into the darkness. It was just like that. Mind blown.
A true masterpiece. Amazing cast and score.
Some of the themes of the movie include the lack if military focus and the mindset, of the troops young and old, wanting to escape i.e. drugs, surfing, beer and barbeque, their circumstances.
My dad bless his huge heart will talk about anything…except Vietnam. His ptsd was pretty tough. He had to come home and fight another war with my mom for custody of me and my bro because she thought a great way to deal with her mental illness was vodka. He’ll always be my hero. Got his associates in electrical engineering just because he felt like it lol. Can find anything. Just a great guy. I’m so glad he made it back in one piece.
The making of this movie was a massive story in it's own right. There is a documentary called Hearts of Darkness about the making of the movie which is TOTALLY worth a watch. The things the cast and crew went through to finish filming was truly epic.
The air cavalry helicopter attack scene to the tune of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkeries" may be the best war movie sequence ever.
Definitely a great classical music video.
No CGI! May be the greatest practical effects scene ever!
it originally came from the "deutsche wochenschau" no. 561, when german planes attacked the british in greece in WW2.
@@montanus777 That's interesting. I'll look for that. Thanks.
The theatrical release we saw in Greece, right after the Cannes Film Festival awards, had a different ending. After the boat leaves, the air strike comes, and we see the scenes that in this version you saw at the start. The napalm explosion followed by the destruction of the temples and the giant statues.
Yeah, there are a number of different endings over the years. I remember seeing it in London in 1990, and I think it might have been that ending? One thing I should have saved was the credits program they gave out, as this cut didn't roll the credits on screen.
The 35mm version has the airstrike during closing credits. The 70mm version has no credits -- they gave us a little booklet that included credits -- and it ends with Williard turning off the radio and steering the boat away.
If you want to see a war movie that is as intense as "Apocalypse now", i recommend "Das Boot(1981)" and "Thin Red Line(1998)". "Das Boot" is an anti-war movie set in WW2 in which the main characters are German Soldiers where as the other one is about US Army soldiers fighting in pacific front.
Das Boot(Director's cut in german). I am dying for someone to react to it. My fav movie.
*German sailors. They’re in the Kriegsmarine (German navy)
I was at the premiere of this movie when it came out. I bought a row of tickets for me and my friends. We sat a few rows away from Coppola and the stars of the film. When the movie ended, you could hear a pin drop in the theater. Like you said, we were going to be digesting this movie for awhile. As the theater began to empty silently, the row before Coppola cleared and I walked into it until I was right in from of him and said "That was an amazing movie! Thank You." I put my hand out to shake his and he smiled and reached up from his seat to shake it.. From that point on it was as if the sound came on in the theater. Coppola's smile seemed to signal to everyone that it was ok to breathe. Everyone began to file into that row to congratulate him and he seemed to relax and breathe easy. After finding out the effort it took him to make this film years later, I understood why he sat there, frozen in silence. He himself had a form of PTSD from making it and was relieved when people finally reassured him of the greatness of the movie. What an experience this was to watch on the giant screen in the theater.
Great Reaction. Glad you included some of the music to indicate the feeling of each scene and put us in the right frame of mind. Other reactors cut it out completely. You guys are the best reactors I've come across.
7:29, that was Coppola in a cameo.
I thought so but I wasn’t sure! Thanks for the info!
@@TBRSchmitt Which Kubrick also paid homage (?) to in Full Metal Jacket with his own cameo
The way I viewed the "drop the bomb, exterminate them all" message in the book was that Kurtz was recording his thoughts in a journal about the war, military etc., and he suddenly had an epiphany that mankind could not be saved from its worst impulses and must be exterminated. He's not talking about just the camp, he's talking about everything and everyone.
I used to believe that the movie would have been better if Brando had been in shape and could have been featured more prominently. But now I believe the movie works better with Kurtz shrouded in shadows. What a great film. The other versions are superfluous in my opinion. Walter Murch (the editor) is the real star of this film.
This is a definite masterpiece in cinema history
In the after credits, you could have watched the place getting bombed combined with "the end" from the doors ;)
Post surf scene with Kilgore, one of my favorite lines from this movie is when he says "Someday this war's gonna end..." and just walks away. Not specifying how it would end. That line and then when the captain asks Roach "do you know who's in charge here?" To which Roach replied "...yeah."
He seems disappointed that the war won't go on forever.
The helicopter pilot at 11:25 is the drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket (his first acting role).
Neat fact the Filipino Military provided the helicopters and plains for the napalm scene making it one of the most accurate in terms of vehicles and Martin Sheen actually punched that mirror for real that blood on the sheets was really his.
Martian? I didn't know this was a sci-fi movie.
@@eatsmylifeYT Lol good one I meant Martin it has been corrected.
Harrison Ford line . . .
At 4:50 And now he has moved up into Cambodia with his
Montagnard army that worship the man as a god.
At 26:07 The Golden Bough by James C. Frazer,
I know this book,
If you want to think as a GOD,
If you want to act as a GOD,
If you want to be perceived as a GOD,
This book will give a good outline on how to do that.
Lee Ermey the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket plays a Huey Pilot in this film
Thought he was in a little bird
the guy wrangling the playboy bunnies was Bill Graham, concert promoter of the Fillmore West
Fun fact the cow getting chopped was real. There was a tribe nearby the filming crew and Francis thought he should just film this event.
"It seems that the further up the river they get, the more otherworldly things become."
Absolutely right. Apocalypse Now is based on Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, and that is exactly where they are going. To borrow the title of John Yorke's treatise on storytelling, all narratives are journeys into the woods, and that has never been truer than in this film. This, and Lindsay Anderson's 1968 movie if... are the only two films I know that are genuinely and increasingly phantasmagorical.
That we see so many faces of madness on display - Sheen's booze-drenched PTSD, Kilgore's crazy nonchalance, Chef's neurotic anxiety, Lance's hallucinogenic spaced-out retreat into himself, Hopper's verbal mania and, of course, the insanity of Kurtz - can surely be nothing other than a comment on the madness of war.
What a masterpiece.
We studied HEART OF DARKNESS in school and it had a big impact on me as a young teenager. Watching this movie, based off the book, just blew me away as you try to decipher what is crazy and what is sane about humanity. A masterpiece.
FUN FACT: did you notice that Harrison Ford's name on his uniform was 'Lucas' ? That was done on purpose by Coppola as a shout out to his friend....George Lucas!! Keep smiling🤘🙂
Say, whatever happened to Harrison Ford? Did he stay in acting?
Searching that boat was common practice during Vietnam because the Vietcong did smuggle arms and ammunition in both like that so it was a legitimate reason although there was nothing found on this particular one
My father did several tours in Vietnam. This is by far his favorite movie other than Full Metal Jacket. He very rarely speaks about his time whilst serving in Vietnam. We went to the Vietnam Wall in DC one time. That was the first I've seen him cry. My mother has told me that my father back in the day, would wake up in the middle of the night with horrible dreams. Dreams of the war. She would have to calm him down. Now that my farther is in his 70's he talks to me quite a bit about certain things that he went through while being in Nam. Mostly only when he is drinking. My father had just turned 18 when he was deployed. I could not have imagined being thrown into that at 18yrs old. God Bless all the young men and women thrown into a war. May they get the help they need if necessary.
Indeed the shooting in this film are impressive, that's why Vittorio Storaro won the Academy Award.
This movie is amazing and haunting. I'm glad I seen this and I now know why they call it a masterpiece. It really sticks with you. Amazing video I'm glad you all got to watch it.
Also "fun" fact:
The shot Martin Sheen fires on the boat with the civilians is his 1st and ONLY shot he fires in the whole movie. Such a great film.
I was visiting a friend just prior to joining the Marine Corps. He said I had to see this movie which had just hit the theaters. Yep, the military is difficult to understand, especially if you're not in the military. Great movie. Thanks for the react.
You missed the ending. As the credits rolled, you can hear him calling in the air strike. Then the explosions start with the Doors “This is the End”. They showed a preview in the very beginning, when Willard was tripping balls in his room.
Finally, this is a retelling of Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” and Dante’s Inferno.
Great reaction you two! The Punk Band, The Clash saw Apocalypse Now in 1979 and they were so impressed with the film, that they wrote and recorded a song called "Charlie don't surf", based on the phrase by Kilgore! The song is on their 1981 album, Sandanista!
This film is about a man on the edge of madness, sent to kill a madman, and on his way encounters different scenarios of madness.
Just realized that R Lee Ermey...The Gunny from Full Metal Jacket himself...is in Apocalypse Now. I heard his voice, and then I looked it up...he played the pilot that talks about "a large weapon down below" at 11:24 ...and then you see his face at 11:27. This was his first film role, and he was not even credited, according to Wiki.
That execution of that cow WAS REAL. It was like a sacred ritual performed by those people that they filmed
Water Buffalo, not a Cow
There is an interview with a Vietnam vet talking about what he saw there, one of his comments was," humans are murders the military is just a finishing school".
For opening scene in motel room, believe Coppola actually got Sheen truly drunk. A lot of personal demons truly on display for Sheen. Truly seriously cut his hand when he punched the mirror
Sheen was an alcoholic and didn’t Ned Coppola to get him drunk. It was his birthday and he was drinking all day. FFC decided to film him.
Truly.
On 10-22-78 Coppola and his family sat stage left at a Grateful Dead concert at Winterland in San Francisco. The Winterland Ballroom was Bill Graham's place. So there's that connection. Sometime after the concert Coppola asked the Grateful Dead drummers to record for the Apocalypse Now soundtrack which they did. Not sure when Coppola asked Graham to be in the movie, before, during, or after the Dead show?