Apocalypse Now [1979] | ![Apocalypse Now [1979]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41P41PPXH2L._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Actors: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms
Studio: Pathe Distribution
Category: DVD
List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £3.08
You Save: £9.91 (76%)
New (25) Used (5) from £2.98
Rating:  119 reviews
Sales Rank: 1286
Format: Pal, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Vietnamese (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 153 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5060002833230
ASIN: B0002W12VM
Theatrical Release Date: August 15, 1979
Release Date: October 18, 2004
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Established national distributor of entertainment products in the UK. All of our products are new, sealed and delivered by first class post.
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Amazon.co.uk Review
In the tradition of such obsessively driven directors as Erich von Stroheim and Werner Herzog, Francis Ford Coppola approached the production of Apocalypse Now as if it was his own epic mission into the heart of darkness. On location in the storm-ravaged Philippines, he quite literally went mad as the project threatened to devour him in a vortex of creative despair but from this insanity came one of the greatest films ever made. It began as a John Milius screenplay, transposing Joseph Conrad's classic story "Heart of Darkness" into the horrors of the Vietnam War, following a battle-weary Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) on a secret upriver mission to find and execute the renegade Colonel Kurtz(Marlon Brando), who has reverted to a state of murderous and mystical insanity. The journey is fraught with danger involving war-time action on epic and intimate scales. One measure of the film's awesome visceral impact is the number of sequences, images and lines of dialogue that have literally burned themselves into our cinematic consciousness, from the Wagnerian strike of helicopter gunships on a Vietnamese village to the brutal murder of stowaways and the unflinching fearlessness of the surfing warrior Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), who speaks lovingly of "the smell of napalm in the morning." Like Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath of God, this film is the product of genius cast into a pit of hell and emerging, phoenix-like, in triumph. Coppola's obsession (effectively detailed in the riveting documentary Hearts of Darkness, directed by Coppola's wife, Eleanor) informs every scene and every frame, and the result is a film for the ages. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.co.uk Review
In the tradition of such obsessively driven directors as Erich von Stroheim and Werner Herzog, Francis Ford Coppola approached the production of Apocalypse Now as if it were his own epic mission into the heart of darkness. On location in the storm-ravaged Philippines, he quite literally went mad as the project threatened to devour him in a vortex of creative despair, but from this insanity came one of the greatest films ever made. It began as a John Milius screenplay, transposing Joseph Conrad's classic story Heart of Darkness onto the horrors of the Vietnam War, following a battle-weary Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) on a secret upriver mission to find and execute the renegade Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has reverted to a state of murderous and mystical insanity. The journey is fraught with danger involving wartime action on epic and intimate scales. One measure of the film's awesome visceral impact is the number of sequences, images, and lines of dialogue that have literally burned themselves into our cinematic consciousness, from the Wagnerian strike of helicopter gun-ships on a Vietnamese village to the brutal murder of stowaways on a peasant sampan and the unflinching fearlessness of the surfing warrior Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), who speaks lovingly of "the smell of napalm in the morning". Like Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath of God, this film is the product of genius cast into a pit of hell and emerging, phoenix-like, in triumph. Coppola's obsession (effectively detailed in the riveting documentary Hearts of Darkness, directed by his wife, Eleanor) informs every scene and every frame, and the result is a film for the ages. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
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| Customer Reviews: Read 114 more reviews...
 The insanity of war May 27, 2008
DangermouseZilla (Doncaster, Yorkshire, UK.)
Much has been documented about the mental breakdown of Coppola when directing modern war epic Apocalypse now. The amount of material shot (pardon the pun) was enough to make a film running at over at week - but several edits later we are left with a masterpiece of around two and a half hours in length.
Logistically speaking the film was a nightmare to get finished, after late minute recasts, Martin Sheen played the lead role whilst suffering from alcoholism and nearly died of a heart attack. His poor health lead to his own brother stepping in to double for him in many scenes. The script was constantly re-written and the ending was changed several times over in subsequent edits. The film went massively over budget, the sets were wrecked during monsoon season, the helicopters used were actual military ones and had to fly away to do their `day job'. The catalogue of issues dogging this film is too long to list - but the frustration and the pure neuralgia surrounding the film comes through strong, and that cements the film as one of the most realistic films of the Vietnam war, and one of the most haunting war films ever.
Sent on a mission to kill the wonder-kid turned pseudo Jungle-king Kurtz, Willard starts to slowly lose any mental stability he had left - so much so that he can relate to Kurtz's insane philosophy. The journey to find Kurtz is a long one, and one which allows us more than just a glimpse into the human side of war. From pointless deaths, man-made horrors, and manic military leaders (resulting in one of the most famous quotes in film history "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning..."). The imagery is over-the-top, but given the setting it seems natural - almost blasé, that's what this film does so well - it puts you in the war.
Coppola famously said that "my film is not about Vietnam, it is Vietnam" - and to a large extent it is. There are no heroes here, no glamour, just futility. This is more than just a film, it's an experience - sometimes abstract, and often difficult to watch, but it stays with you. You watch this and whether you love it or are indifferent to it, you can accept that we're lucky that this film was finally made.
 A good film yes, but is it really a war film? May 14, 2008
Dazman
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A watched this film for only the second time yesterday, the first viewing I remember very little about, the second viewing will certainly be more memorable for me, this film is very much a Martin Sheen film, Marlon Brando is hardly even in it so why he "stars" in it is beyond me, at best he's a supporting actor and not much more than an extra.
The one thing that struck me though was that this film is listed as one of the greatest war films ever, this film is nothing more than an assassination film, with a small amount of war thrown in, yes it's set during a war, but if it's action, guns, planes, ships, explosions that you're looking for then you'll find very little of it here.
Martin Sheen and the ever impressive Robert Duvall are on fine firm, but half an hour of this film could have been cut and you'd probably not notice it, for me it's a film to catch every now and then, but as for purchasing, no way, it's good, but not that good.
REDUX: EVERY MINUTE OF ADDED MATERIAL IS THERE FOR A REASON March 18, 2008
Film on DVD (London, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A lot has been written about this extended version, particularly by comparing it with the original theatrical release, with some scenes - especially the meeting with French settlers - described as "out of step with the story". I believe that this criticism is completely missing the point. The inclusion of the "French" scene is one of the key elements of the film's philosophy, which is otherwise not easily perceived beyond the somewhat flatter original. Apocalypse Now Redux is also more than just a "story" - twenty years after its creation, this film has become an institution and a reference point, and can by no means be viewed any more as a mere movie.
The aforementioned is the only scene that explicitly voices the pointlessness of the American invasion, and war as a concept, which was to be one of the major ideological forces behind the film's ethos - this is Coppola's statement and the scene is just an instrument that perfectly transmits the idea. Also my impression - with regards to the other added scenes - is that Redux not only expands the philosophical and spiritual aspect of this epic but brings this Mother of all war films to the more mature, contemporary viewing. This, in relation to the present occupation of Iraq, makes it also a sinister prediction of things to come.
A pure film; relentless, unflinching and time approved masterpiece that hits hard but ultimately rewards any viewer prepared to accept its timeless message. Needless to say that, for a typical cinemagoer that in this day and age "enjoys" a contemporary diet of the Hollywood war, horror and gangstahh flicks, which often treat a viewer as an idiot, Apocalypse Now will be an incredible challenge, particularly given its surreal overtones. However given one large and VERY comfortable chair, a locked-up girlfriend/boyfriend, more than three continuous hours to spare, a minimum of diagonal 32" of flat plasma, powerful Surround and wide open eyes and mind, I guarantee that same viewer an unforgettable and illuminating experience!
 SELF-APPRECIATIVE TRIPE February 20, 2008
E. Martin
2 out of 21 found this review helpful
I am aware that I am possibly the only person on the planet who will not be writing a glowing review of this 'film', and my lack of intellectual commendation and well timed media-luvvie styled praise (intermitently injected into barely comprehendable sentences celebrating 'enigmatic' & 'tormented' charactes - who don't get machettied for the sake of entertainment - in an 'abnormality of... colour spectrum' through a film with 'buried symbology' and 'intricate soundscapes that blend dialogue', with 'profound transformation', ending with a product that 'time has only served to intensify [regarding] its transcendent force' and similar drivel) will likely not be well recieved. However, if you find the 'interseption of a ritualized slaughter' of a bull, pig, or any other living thing for that matter, an enjoyable inclusion for 'good measure' as another reviewer has put it, and that a man would include such grotesque and sickening action for the purpose of making his film feel more 'unusual' acceptable - then go ahead, watch this movie. Join the plethora of inhumane beings that don't appear to get the irony of their reviews. Celebrating the murder of a living thing for pure shock factor (oh sorry, I meant artistry) whilst droaning on about the 'intensity' and 'horror' of what are, lets face it - actors... and if you do 'enjoy' it... and agree with the rest of the 69 pages of praise, I'm sure there are some snuff movies you would also enjoy when you're done salavating over this tripe. I personally, would rather suck the snot out of my babies nose daily, than ever subject myself to the self-gratifying practices of a film-maker who values his 'art' so highly, that such horrifying suffering is seen as an acceptable means to an end. Other that that - the films rather good.
THE HORROR December 11, 2007
stuart (MIDDLESBROUGH, ENGLAND)
'Apocalypse Now Redux', Francis Ford Coppola's war opus is probably the most beautiful war film I have ever seen. Capt. Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen) is a Vietnam soldier who is tapped to head a very dangerous and highly classified mission into Cambodia to 'terminate the position' of Col. Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a highly ranked and highly regarded army man who seemingly has gone completely insane and defected from the army, setting up his own little society and helped by a cultish following of soldiers. Escorting him up the river to Cambodia is a handful of navy men, and along the way, they encounter several interesting people (most notably is Robert Duvall's Kilgore, a badass lieutenant colonel with a few screws loose) and some horrifying situations.
'Apocalypse' is less historical war film than a philosophical and psychological study. It is more 'Full Metal Jacket' than 'Platoon'. The running time of 'Apocalypse' is over three hours, but the film is so wonderfully paced and compelling that when the end of the film arrived, I was actually surprised at the amount of time that had passed. The beautiful cinematography is surely what stood out the most for me, however. After seeing this film, I am convinced that Coppola is one of the masters of light and photography in film history. The 'Godfather' films were all tinged with an almost sepia tone, and shadows created the feeling of a Baroque composition. With 'Apocalypse', there is an incredible usage of natural light, and the shadows, particularly in the scenes involving Brando and Sheen, almost become a living character, they are so pervasive and effective. Another gorgeous scene was when Cpt. Willard and Jay Hicks (Frederic Forrest) were in the jungle looking for mangoes, and come across a tiger. The sheer enormity of the surrounding foliage (leaves as big as a house) made the characters almost Lilliputian, but the colorization of the scene was incredible. While everything else was almost a muted grey, the leaves were an incredibly vibrant green, an effect that was particularly striking. Another really minor positive moment in the film was the great scene when the helicopters carrying Duvall and company attack the small village while playing Wagner. This could have just been an ultra-dramatic underlying soundtrack to the scene, but instead Coppola turns the song into an actual part of the scene, with Duvall mentioning that he likes to play it while they are approaching to 'scare the hell out of them'.
The performances in 'Apocalypse' are first class. Much has been made of the amount of money Brando earned for the film, and the amount of trouble he caused. Regardless of this, he turned out a powerful performance for a relatively short amount of screen time. Sheen is completely outstanding - this is the first time I have seen him really unleash in a film - and Duvall is a lot of fun to watch as the loony Kilgore. 'Apocalypse Now' is a film that is so pervasive in pop culture by now (most know several choice lines from the film, 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning' et al) but I knew little enough about it that there were plenty of surprises left to experience. I have not seen the original cut of 'Apocalypse Now' so I cannot compare it to this newer cut, but this is a film that should most certainly be experienced. 8/10
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