Apocalypse Now (1979)

Release date: 1979-08-15
Country: USA
Language: English|French|Vietnamese
Director: Francis Ford Coppola (as Francis Coppola), Francis Ford Coppola
Production Co: Zoetrope, Zoetrope Studios
Genre: War, Drama, Mystery
Rating: 8.4/10
Length: 2h 27min

Storyline

It is the height of the war in Vietnam, and U.S. Army Captain Willard is sent by Colonel Lucas and a General to carry out a mission that, officially, 'does not exist - nor will it ever exist'. The mission: To seek out a mysterious Green Beret Colonel, Walter Kurtz, whose army has crossed the border into Cambodia and is conducting hit-and-run missions against the Viet Cong and NVA. The army believes Kurtz has gone completely insane and Willard's job is to eliminate him. Willard, sent up the Nung River on a U.S. Navy patrol boat, discovers that his target is one of the most decorated officers in the U.S. Army. His crew meets up with surfer-type Lt-Colonel Kilgore, head of a U.S Army helicopter cavalry group which eliminates a Viet Cong outpost to provide an entry point into the Nung River. After some hair-raising encounters, in which some of his crew are killed, Willard, Lance and Chef reach Colonel Kurtz's outpost, beyond the Do Lung Bridge. Now, after becoming prisoners of Kurtz, will...

Plot Keywords

vietnam, jungle, secret mission, anti war, breasts, vietnam war, severed head, actual animal killed, female nudity, animal abuse, battle, insanity, u.s. army, independent film, chaos, death, madness, 1960s, combat, based on novel

Short Review

Apocalypse has the expressive extravagance of a Wagner opera-and not merely because the swooping helicopter scene is set to the "Ride of the Valkyries."