Apocalypse

{{Infobox Film
| name = Apocalypse Now
| image = Apocnow.jpg
| imdb_rating = [[Image:4hv out of 5.png]] 8.5/10 (78,835 votes)
| imdb_id = 0078788
| producer = [[American Zoetrope]]
| director = [[Francis Ford Coppola]]
| sound designer = [[Walter Murch]]
| writer = '''Based on:''' ''[[Heart of Darkness]]'' (1899), novella by [[Joseph Conrad]] '''Screenplay:''' [[John Milius]] [[Francis Ford Coppola]]
| starring = [[Martin Sheen]] [[Marlon Brando]] [[Robert Duvall]] [[Frederic Forrest]] [[Laurence Fishburne|Larry Fishburne]] [[Dennis Hopper]] [[Harrison Ford]] [[Albert Hall (actor)|Albert Hall]] [[Sam Bottoms]] [[Aurore Clement]] 
| music = [[Carmine Coppola]] & [[Francis Ford Coppola]]
| cinematography = [[Vittorio Storaro]]
| editing = [[Lisa Fruchtman]] [[Gerald B. Greenberg]] [[Walter Murch]]
| distributor = [[United Artists]] (1979 theatrical release) [[Paramount Pictures]] (current USA distribution rights) [[Pathé Distribution]] (current UK distribution rights) [[Miramax Films]] (''Redux'',2001 reissue) |
| released = '''[[France]]''': [[10 May]], [[1979]] (premiere at [[Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]]) '''[[United States]]''': [[15 August]], [[1979]]
| runtime = 153 Mins Theatrical 202 Mins [[Director's Cut]] 289 Mins (Full Length)
| country = [[United States]]
| language = English
| budget = $31,500,000
}}
'''''Apocalypse Now''''' is a [[1979 in film|1979]] [[Academy Award]], [[Palme d'or|Cannes Palme d'Or]] and [[Golden Globe Award|Golden Globe]] winning [[United States|American]] [[film]] set during the [[Vietnam War]]. It tells the story of [[United States Armed Forces|Army]] Captain Benjamin L. Willard who is sent into the jungle to assassinate [[United States Army Special Forces]] Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, who is said to have gone [[Insanity|insane]]. The film has been viewed as a journey into the darkness of the human [[psyche (psychology)|psyche]].

The film was directed by [[Francis Ford Coppola]] from a script by Coppola, [[John Milius]] and [[Michael Herr]], and was in large part based on [[Joseph Conrad]]'s [[novella]] ''[[Heart of Darkness]]'' (1899), as well as drawing elements from Herr's "[[Dispatches (book)|Dispatches]]" (1977), and from [[Werner Herzog]]'s ''[[Aguirre, the Wrath of God]]'' (1972); Coppola himself has noted, "''Aguirre'', with its incredible imagery, was a very strong influence. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geraldpeary.com/interviews/abc/coppola.html|last=Peary|first=Gerald|title=Francis Ford Coppola, Interview with Gerald Peary|publisher=GeraldPeary.com|accessdate=2007-03-14}}</ref>

The film stars [[Martin Sheen]] as Captain Benjamin L. Willard (based on Marlow in Conrad's novella), [[Marlon Brando]] as Colonel Kurtz, [[Dennis Hopper]] as a photojournalist, and [[Robert Duvall]] in an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]-nominated turn as the wild Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore. The movie became notorious in the entertainment press due to its lengthy and troubled production. In the end, Coppola had to finance the film with his own money.

==Synopsis==
The film, which opens with no title or credits, is centered on [[U.S. Army]] Captain Benjamin Willard ([[Martin Sheen]]), a former covert operative who has been inactive for several weeks in [[Saigon]]. [[Military intelligence|Intelligence]] officers send him on a mission deep into the remote [[Cambodia]]n jungle to find a missing [[United States Army Special Forces]] colonel.

Colonel Walter E. Kurtz ([[Marlon Brando]]), a decorated officer, is said to have gone [[insanity|insane]] and is commanding a legion of his own [[Degar|Montagnard]] troops deep inside the forest in [[Neutral country|neutral]] Cambodia. Willard is ordered to undertake a mission to find Kurtz and "terminate his command ... with [[extreme prejudice]]." There, Willard learns that Kurtz has assumed the role of a warlord and is worshipped by the natives and his own loyal men. Another officer named Colby, sent earlier with the same orders, has become one of his lieutenants.

Willard begins his trip up the fictional Nung River on the PBR ([[Patrol boat, rigid|Patrol Boat, River]]) ''Erebus'', with an eclectic crew composed of by-the-book Chief Phillips, a Navy boat commander; [[Petty Officer Third Class|GM3]] Lance B. Johnson, a tanned all-American [[California]] surfer, the [[Cajun]] Engineman, Jay "Chef" Hicks, and GM3 Tyrone Miller, also known as "Mr. Clean" ([[Laurence Fishburne]]), a 17-year-old from "some [[South Bronx]] shithole."

==Plot==
===Opening Scene===
The movie begins with Willard at his bed, voice over narrating about his experience and why he chose to return to Vietnam after going home, how he has been there for a week. Two soldiers knock at his door, they come to escort him to Com Sec Intelligence. They forcefully give him a cold shower because he is drunk and unwilling to move himself. They take him to Com Sec Intelligence where he is ordered to go upriver into Cambodia, listens to some audio recordings of Kurtz, and is told that Kurtz is wanted dead for unsound strategy and for murdering South Vietnamese Intelligence officers.

He meets with the patrol boat crew that is supposed to take him to his destination and they leave.

===Kilgore Escort===
{{Original research|date=December 2007}}
[[Image:Apocalypse Now Smell Like Victory.jpg|thumbnail|left|275px|"I love the smell of napalm in the morning", Kilgore remarks to Willard and the boat crew. "Smells like...victory."]]
The PBR arrives at a [[Landing Zone]] (LZ) where Willard and the crew meet up with Lt. Colonel William Kilgore, the eccentric commander of the "First of the Ninth", [[9th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry (Aerial Reconnaissance)]], following a massive and hectic mopping-up operation of a conquered enemy town.

Coppola cameos with a media news crew landing with the troops. He exhorts Willard to keep moving and not to look at the camera, as if on the set of a real film. The scene highlights the blurring of the 'war experience', the surreal nature of Vietnam for many of its American participants and of course the deep involvement of the media and entertainment industry in the war. This last theme runs right through Apocalypse Now culminating in Hopper's 'crazed' photojournalist character at Kurtz's lair.

Kilgore, an avid surfer, learns from one of his men that the beach which marks the opening to the Nung River is perfect for [[surfing]], and thus orders his men to capture the village and the beach. The beginning of the attack is what may be the film's most famous scene, featuring ''[[Ride of the Valkyries]]''. [[Diegetic]] sound techniques are most notable when [[Richard Wagner]]’s ''Ride of the Valkyries'' is blasting out from loudspeakers on the helicopter as a [[psychological warfare]] technique as the [[air cavalry]] approaches the unsuspecting Vietnamese village. At this point the film starts to elucidate moral questions and contrasts the peace of the village with the brash and hi-tech U.S. assault. Children are seen ushered to safety from a school yard with the distant helicopters in the background. Later a Vietnamese woman destroys a landed helicopter in the yard using a hidden grenade. This enrages Kilgore, whose helicopter is shown gunning down the escaping woman with Kilgore exclaiming "fucking savages!".

The village invasion ends with the soldiers surfing the barely claimed beach amidst sporadic mortar round bursts from the [[Vietcong|VC]]. After helicopters swoop over the village and demolish all visible signs of resistance, a giant [[napalm]] strike in the nearby jungle dramatically marks the [[climax (narrative)|climax]] of the battle.

===Tiger===
Willard accompanies a crewmember, "Chef", to get some mangoes. Suddenly Willard is quiet, and moves forward, having heard or seen something. Finally a tiger runs out. They panic, shoot, and run away. They get on the boat where the crewmembers there imagined a Viet Cong attack had taken place and were panicking and shooting into nothing. This is a setup for the tagline "never get out of the boat" allegoric reference to Kurtz's (and possibly a large number of US soliders') descent into darkness and insanity.

===Playboy Bunnies R&R===
After moving upriver, the boat stops at a [[United Service Organizations|USO]] outpost where GIs watch a show for [[R&R (Military)|Military R&R]] featuring three [[Playboy Playmate]]s. The playmates enter in a chopper, and dance briefly before the men rush the stage and attempt to grab them. They have to be rushed back onto the chopper, which flies away with two men still clinging to its runner.

===Sampan Inspection===
Moving upriver, chief looks at a [[sampan]]. Since it is policy that patrol boats must inspect all sampans' paper and cargo, Chief orders that it be done. Willard complains, saying that his mission has priority, but he is ignored. In the process of an inspection, a woman moves quickly, the men fire. All die except for one, the woman, who is gravely injured. Chief says they will take her to South Vietnamese hospital, but Willard shoots her dead instead and says: "I told you not to stop. Now let's go." It is revealed that the woman was trying to hide a puppy (no weapons or contraband are identified after a brief search) and Lance adopts the animal as his own.

===Do Lung Bridge Outpost===
Moving upriver there is a surreal stop at the last American outpost defending a bridge. Almost all of the defending soldiers are black and there do not appear to be any officers. A VC is yelling broken English insults at the US soldiers. A soldier with a grenade launcher "cold sights" a single grenade in the direction of the voice and, presumably, kills the VC. At the end of the scene the bridge is blown up by the Viet Cong. It is implied that the bridge will be rebuilt the next day just to be destroyed again that night.

===Surprise Conflicts===
In the process of moving upriver they are attacked twice. Clean dies in a shoot out and Chief Philips dies later by a thrown spear after the boat is showered with arrows and spears.

===Kurtz===
Willard, Johnson, and Chef eventually arrive at Kurtz's compound: rotting bodies and the stench of blood and decay are everywhere, yet Kurtz's followers seem oblivious to the horrors around them. Willard is met by a burned-out hippie freelance photographer (Hopper; the Hopper character is a composite of the "harlequin" in Conrad's story ["The man's enlarged my mind."] and Herr's impressions of [[Sean Flynn]], son of actor [[Errol Flynn]], a photojournalist) who defends Kurtz, arguing that he is a great man with profound [[philosophy|philosophical]] insight. Willard leaves Chef behind with orders to call in an [[air strike]] on the village if he does not return. Chef remains on the PBR while Johnson mingles with the natives, eventually blending in with them. While Willard initially walks freely among Kurtz's men and followers, they eventually seize him and bring him to Kurtz. It is apparent that Kurtz fully expected someone like Willard to be sent again (telling Willard, "you are an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill") and he accuses him of being an assassin. Kurtz also lectures him on his theories of war, [[Human nature|humanity]], and [[civilization]].

Willard is imprisoned and bound roughly in a bamboo tiger cage. That night, Kurtz comes to the still-bound Willard and places the severed head of Chef in his lap. Soon thereafter Willard is released from the cage and brought back to Kurtz's temple. There he remains for days, still watched, but essentially unguarded. Willard sits and listens to Kurtz read poetry and speak of war. Previously in the movie, while on the river, the audience is fed pieces of information about Kurtz via the narration of a dossier on Kurtz provided by US Army Intelligence which was being read by Willard. The picture that emerged was of a brilliant soldier who was being groomed to be a general, but who became mentally unbalanced and brutal. The cause of Kurtz's eventual break from reality is revealed: the nature of how the Vietnam conflict was fought caused Kurtz to become disillusioned with the military. Kurtz reveals that years earlier, while he was still following orders, he had taken his battalion to a South Vietnamese village to inoculate the local children for polio. Soon after they left, the battalion was called back by a crying old man from the village. What had happened was horrifying: the VC had come and cut off the inoculated arm of every inoculated child. But after crying, Kurtz, already mentally unstable, finally broke. He admired the will and brutality of the VC troops (calling the act genius and brilliant) and realized that the Americans could never win the war against this kind of enemy unless they became equally brutal.

The finale involves juxtaposed scenes of a ceremonial slaughtering of a [[water buffalo]], while Willard kills Kurtz with a machete. Dying on the ground, Kurtz whispers "The horror... the horror," (a quote taken directly from Conrad's novella). Willard walks through the now-silent crowd of natives, all of whom know he has killed their "god" and who begin to kneel before him as Kurtz's replacement. However, he finds Johnson, who has since joined the natives, and boards the PBR. As they float away Kurtz's final words "The Horror, the horror" echo and the screen fades to black.

==Alternative versions==
===Endings===
At the time of its release, many rumors surrounded the ending of ''Apocalypse Now''. Coppola stated an ending was written in haste in which Willard and Kurtz joined forces and repelled the air strike on the compound; however, Coppola never fully agreed with the two going out in apocalyptic intensity, preferring to end the film in a more encouraging manner {{Fact|date=October 2007}}.

When Coppola originally organized the ending of the movie, he had two choices. One involved Willard leading Lance by the hand as everyone in Kurtz's base throws down their weapons, and ends with images of Willard's boat pulling away from Kurtz's compound superimposed over the face of a stone idol which then fades into black. Another option showed an air strike being called and the base being blown to bits in a spectacular display, consequently killing everyone left at the base.

The original 1978 {{nowrap|70 mm}} theatrical release ended with Willard's boat, the stone statue, then fade to black with no credits. Later, when it was no longer practical to not have any credits, Coppola elected to show the credits superimposed over shots of Kurtz's base exploding (anamorphic {{nowrap|16 mm}} rental prints circulated with this ending, and can be found in the hands of a few collectors); however, when Coppola heard that audiences interpreted this as an air strike called by Willard, Coppola pulled the film from its {{nowrap|35 mm}} run, and put credits on a black screen. In the DVD commentary, Coppola explains that the images of explosions had not been intended to be part of the story; they were intended to be seen as completely separate from the film. He had added them to the credits because he had captured the footage during the demolition of the set in the Philippines, which was filmed with multiple cameras fitted with different film stocks and lenses to capture the explosions at different speeds.

Because of the confusion over the misinterpreted ending, there are multiple slightly varying versions of the ending credits. Some TV screenings maintain the explosion footage at the end, others do not, and there are several other versions.

The {{nowrap|70 mm}} release ends with no credits, save for 'Copyright 1979 Omni Zoetrope' right after the film ends; This mirrors the lack of any opening titles, and supposedly stems from Coppola's original intention to "tour" the film as one would a play: the credits would have appeared on printed programs provided before the screening began. This was, in fact, done in certain cinemas and was repeated during the theatrical release of ''Apocalypse Now: Redux''.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

The first DVD of the theatrical version plays like the {{nowrap|70 mm}} version, without beginning or ending credits, but has them on a separate part of the DVD. The credits to ''Apocalypse Now: Redux'' are different again: the credits play over a black background, but with ambient music by the [[Rhythm Devils]].

===''Apocalypse Now Redux''===
{{main|Apocalypse Now Redux}}
In 2001, Coppola released Apocalypse Now Redux ([[Latin]] for "brought back") in cinemas and subsequently on [[DVD]]. This is an extended version that restores 49 minutes of scenes cut from the original film. Coppola has continued to circulate the original version as well: the two versions are packaged together in the ''Complete Dossier'' DVD, released on [[August 15]], [[2006]].
[[Image:Robertduval2.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Robert Duvall]] in ''Apocalypse Now''.]]

The most significant footage added in the ''Redux'' version is an [[anticolonialism]] chapter involving the de Marais family's rubber plantation, a holdover from the colonization of [[French Indochina]], featuring Coppola's two sons [[Gian-Carlo Coppola|Gian-Carlo]] and [[Roman Coppola|Roman]] as children of the family. These scenes were removed from the 1979 cut, which premiered at [[Festival de Cannes|Cannes]], presumably because political critiques of the French colonization of Vietnam were taboo in France at the time. However, in behind the scenes footage in Hearts of Darkness, Coppola expresses his anger, on the set, at the technical aspects of the shot scenes, the result of tight allocation of resources. At the time of the Redux, it was possible to digitally-enhance the footage to accomplish Coppola's vision. In the scenes, the French family patriarchs argue about the positive side of colonialism in Indochina and denounce the [[betrayal]] of the military men in the [[First Indochina War]]. Hubert de Marais argues that French politicians sacrificed entire battalions at [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu|Điện Biên Phủ]], and tells Willard that the US created the [[Viet Cong]] (as the [[Viet Minh]]), to fend off Japanese invaders.

Other added material includes extra combat footage before Willard meets Kilgore, a humorous scene in which Willard's team steals Kilgore's surfboard, a follow-up scene to the dance of the [[Playboy]] playmates, in which Willard's team finds the playmates awaiting evacuation after their helicopter has run out of fuel, and a scene of Kurtz reading from a ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine article about the war, surrounded by Cambodian children.

==Adaptation==
Although inspired by [[Joseph Conrad]]'s ''[[Heart of Darkness]]'', the film deviates extensively from its source material. The novella, based on Conrad's real experiences as a steam paddleboat captain in Africa, is set in the [[Belgian Congo]] during the 19th century. Kurtz and Marlow (who is named Willard in the movie) both work for a Belgian trading company that brutally exploits its native African workers.

When Marlow arrives at Kurtz's outpost, he discovers that Kurtz has gone insane and is lording over a small tribe as a god. The novella ends with Kurtz dying on the trip back and the narrator musing about darkness of the human psyche: "the heart of an immense darkness."

In the novella, Marlow is the pilot of a river boat sent to collect ivory from Kurtz's outpost, only gradually becoming infatuated with Kurtz. In fact, when he discovers Kurtz in terrible health, Marlow makes a concerted effort to bring him home safely. In the movie, Willard is an assassin dispatched to kill Kurtz. Nevertheless, the depiction of Kurtz as a god-like leader of a tribe of natives and his malarial fever, Kurtz's written exclamation "Exterminate the brutes!" (which appears in the film as "Drop the bomb. Exterminate them All!") and his final lines "The horror! The horror!" are taken from Conrad's novella.

Coppola argues that many episodes in the film — the spear and arrow attack on the boat, for example — respect the spirit of the novella and in particular its critique of the concepts of civilization and progress. While Coppola replaced [[Europe]]an colonization with [[United States|American]] [[interventionism (politics)|interventionism]], the message of Conrad's book is still clear.<ref>[http://www.cyberpat.com/essays/coppola.html Heart of Darkness & Apocalypse Now: A comparative analysis of novella and film]</ref>

==Background and production==
{{Unreferencedsection|date=December 2006}}
The film was originally written in the late 1960s by [[John Milius]], who would later direct films such as ''[[The Wind and the Lion]]'' , ''[[Red Dawn]]'' and ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]''. Milius claims to have been inspired by his film professor's claim that no one had successfully adapted the book ''Heart of Darkness,'' despite attempts by such legendary directors as [[Orson Welles]] and [[Richard Brooks]]. Ironically, given that the finished film is seen as an anti-war movie, Milius, who is politically a rightist, originally conceived the title as a cynical answer to the leftist hippie slogan "Nirvana Now!" and his original screenplay includes several speeches by Kurtz extolling the virtues of combat and the warrior way of life.

The script was originally to be directed by [[George Lucas]], who was then Coppola's protege at [[American Zoetrope]]. Coppola founded Zoetrope to create an alternative to the major Hollywood studios which would support the work of the rising generation of film-school graduates who would become known colloquially as "the movie brats." The war in Vietnam was still active at the time and the initial plan was to shoot ''Apocalypse Now'' guerilla-style in Vietnam itself. Warner Bros., which had a production deal with Zoetrope, refused to finance the project both for commercial reasons and the fear that the filmmakers would be killed trying to shoot it in a war zone. Lucas has claimed that the studio saw the project, as well as him and his colleagues, as "crazy." After Lucas found success with ''[[American Graffiti]],'' Coppola chose to direct the film himself. This reportedly caused some friction between the two men. Coppola chose to finance the film entirely with his own assets, using money earned from the two ''Godfather'' films and a bank loan, in order to retain total creative control over the final product.

Coppola also rewrote the script to accommodate his vision, removing much of Milius's macho dialogue and changing the film's ending. Milius's original ending showed Kurtz and Willard joining forces to fight an American air assault on Kurtz's compound. The compound is destroyed in a massive air strike and Kurtz dies of his wounds as Willard looks on. Coppola dismissed this ending as cartoonish. The ending would be rewritten multiple times over the course of production and most of Kurtz's role would eventually be improvised by Marlon Brando. The film's narration was written during the editing process by Michael Herr, who had written the book ''[[Dispatches (book)|Dispatches]]'' while a war correspondent in Vietnam.

''Apocalypse Now'' was the first time Coppola worked with [[cinematographer]] [[Vittorio Storaro]], who had shot several films for [[Bernardo Bertolucci]], including ''[[The Conformist (film)|The Conformist]],'' one of Coppola's favorites.

It was said that Coppola had approached legendary B-movie director [[Roger Corman]], Coppola's mentor who gave him his first break as a director about Corman's experience with shooting in the [[Philippines]]. (As much of the film was shot in the country, most notably the [[Pagsanjan]] River and [[Hidden Valley Springs]]), had Corman advising the director: "Don't go." as the film would start shooting during the country's [[monsoon]] season. Such weather helped fuel the shoot's history as being legendary for its length and difficulty; filming took so long, critics eventually began referring to it as "Apocalypse When?". The film went far over budget and over schedule for several reasons. A [[typhoon]] destroyed many of the sets, which had to be rebuilt at great expense. The Philippine Air Force helicopters used for shooting Col. Kilgore's attack on a Vietnamese village were constantly being called back by President [[Ferdinand Marcos]] to serve in actual combat against anti-government rebels.

The lead role of Captain Willard was to be played by [[Harvey Keitel]] but it was recast two weeks after shooting began. Keitel's footage was re-shot with Martin Sheen, who suffered a near-fatal [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] during production and was suffering from alcoholism during the shoot. In ''[[50 Films to See Before You Die]]'', aired on the [[United Kingdom]]'s [[Channel 4]] on the [[22 July]] [[2006]], Sheen reveals that the opening scene was completely improvised, that he had been drinking all day, his 36th birthday, before it was shot, and that he broke the mirror by accident. When he started bleeding, Coppola wanted to stop filming, but Sheen insisted that he continue. Watching the scene back, Sheen said it was good to see where he'd come from knowing that he was never going to go back there again. It took Sheen weeks to recover and return to the set, during which time the film was in danger of being shut down. Being similar in appearance and voice, [[Joe Estevez]], Sheen's brother, [[Stand-in|stood in]] for Sheen in some of the long shots and would later record some of the film's narration.

[[Image:Brando apoc.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Marlon Brando]] as Colonel Kurtz.]]
[[Marlon Brando]] appeared on set massively overweight, despite his character's description as sick and emaciated. The majority of [[Marlon Brando|Brando's]] dialogue had to be [[improvisation|improvised]], despite the short time during which the actor was available.

Coppola famously said of the shoot: "We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little we went insane." The director faced bankruptcy and financial ruin if the film was not finished or shut down; his personal investment and the bizarre circumstances of the production created immense personal pressure. According to [[Eleanor Coppola]]'s 1991 documentary, ''[[Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse]]'' Coppola's marriage almost fell apart and the director suffered a nervous breakdown, including declaring to commit suicide three separate times through the making of the film.

The film took over a year to edit, with the editor making an average of three cuts a day, mostly on state-of-the-art editing equipment purchased by Coppola specifically for the production. The initial rough cut was just over four and a half hours long and had to be severely cut. A three-hour version was screened as a "work in progress" at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme D'Or for best film. It was at the Cannes press conference that Coppola made his famous comment that "My film is not about Vietnam, it ''is'' Vietnam."
The director, according to archival materials in the recent "Complete Dossier" edition, also stated that his plan was to create a single theater, in the geographical center of the United States (likely [[Kansas]]) that would show ''Apocalypse Now'', and only ''Apocalypse Now''. It would be specially tailored to the film, with [[3-D film|3D]] [[70mm]] projectors, [[surround sound|5.1 surround sound]], and the [[Sensurround]] system, which would vibrate the seats at the appropriate intervals. In his eyes, it would be "an event", and he likened it to travelling to [[Mount Rushmore]]. It was, incidentally, exactly the same idea which motivated [[Richard Wagner]]'s [[Bayreuth Festival]]. Wagner's [[Parsifal]] was initially only to be shown in Bayreuth and Bayreuth too was chosen as the festival location because it is more or less in the heart of Germany. Considering that Wagner's music features so prominently in ''Apocalypse Now'', Coppola may have been inspired by Wagner's example.

The original released version of the movie was just over two and a half hours long, and was a box-office success in the United States and overseas. It eventually made over 100 million dollars at the box office.

Coppola re-released the film in 2001 under the title ''Apocalypse Now Redux''. The new print was supervised by Vittorio Storaro, who used a color process of his own invention to restore the film for release. Storaro has claimed that ''Apocalypse Now Redux'' looks better than the original release print of the film.

The catastrophic production of the film made it symbolic of the dangers of excessive directorial control over major productions. The shooting was said to have taken a toll on all involved, especially Coppola, both mentally and emotionally.

==Controversy over the Killing of a Water Buffalo for the Film==
A [[water buffalo]] was slaughtered with a machete for the climactic scene. It was in fact a real ritual performed by local natives, with Coppola and a film crew on the sidelines as honored guests. Although this was an American production subject to American [[animal cruelty]] laws, scenes like this filmed in the Philippines were not policed or monitored, and the [[American Humane Association]] gave the film an "unacceptable" rating.<ref>{{cite url|url=http://www.ahafilm.info/movies/moviereviews.phtml?fid=7381|title=Movie Review: Apocalypse Now|org=American Humane Association|accessdate=2007-11-10}}</ref>

==Responses==
''Apocalypse Now'' premiered in 1979 to mixed reviews and received polarized responses from audiences. It is said that it was as lauded as it was reviled. Many critics slammed the film, calling it overly pretentious, while others felt that it ended anticlimactically after a splendid first act.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

[[Roger Ebert]], who hailed it as the best film of 1979 and added it to his list of Great Movies, stated:
{{quote|''Apocalypse Now'' is the best Vietnam film, one of the greatest of all films, because it pushes beyond the others, into the dark places of the soul. It is not about war so much as about how war reveals truths we would be happy never to discover.}}

Today, the film is regarded by many as a masterpiece of the [[New Hollywood]] era. It is on the [[AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies]] list at number 28. Kilgore's quote "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" was number 12 on the [[AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes]] list. In 2002, ''[[Sight and Sound]]'' magazine polled several critics to name the best film of the last 25 years and ''Apocalypse Now'' was named number one. It was also listed as the second best war film by viewers on [[Channel 4]]'s 100 Greatest War Films, and ranked number 1 on [[Channel 4]]'s [[50 Films To See Before You Die]].

BBC listed this speech as the most famous movie speech, in a poll of viewers. <blockquote>
You smell that? Do you smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory. Someday this war's gonna end...
</blockquote>
This is the speech where the famous "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Smells like...victory" originates. (BBC News)

==Home video release aspect ratio issues==
The first home video releases of ''Apocalypse Now'' were [[pan-and-scan]] versions of the original {{nowrap|35 mm}} Technovision [[anamorphic]] 2.35:1 print, and the closing credits, white on black background, were presented in compressed 1.33:1 full-frame format to allow all credit information to be seen on standard televisions. The first [[letterbox]]ed appearance (on [[laserdisc]] on 12-29-1991) cropped the film to a 2:1 aspect ratio (conforming to the [[Univisium]] spec created by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro), featuring a small degree of pan-and-scan processing - notably in the opening shots in Willard's hotel room, featuring a composite montage - at the insistence of Coppola and Storaro. Although the end credits, from a videotape source, not a film print, were still crushed for 1.33:1 and zoomed to fit the anamorphic video frame. All DVD releases have maintained this aspect ratio in anamorphic widescreen, but present the film without the end credits, which were treated as a separate feature. As a DVD extra, the footage of the explosion of the Kurtz compound was featured without text credits but included a commentary by director Coppola explaining the various endings based on how the film was screened.

==Principal cast==
*[[Martin Sheen]] as [[Captain]] Benjamin L. Willard
*[[Marlon Brando]] as [[Colonel]] Walter E. Kurtz,
*[[Robert Duvall]] as [[Lieutenant Colonel]] William Kilgore, Cavalry battalion commander
*[[Frederic Forrest]] as [[Engineman]] 2nd Class Jay "Chef" Hicks
*[[Sam Bottoms]] as [[Gunner's Mate]] 3rd Class Lance B. Johnson
*[[Laurence Fishburne]] as Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Tyrone "Mr. Clean" Miller
*[[Albert Hall (actor)|Albert Hall]] as [[Quartermaster]] [[Chief Petty Officer|Chief]] George Phillips, Navy boat commander
*[[G. D. Spradlin]] as [[Lieutenant General]] Corman, [[military intelligence|military intelligence (G-2)]]
*[[Harrison Ford]] as Colonel Lucas, aide to Corman
*[[Dennis Hopper]] as [[American Photojournalist]]
*[[Scott Glenn]] as Captain Richard M. Colby, previously assigned Willard's current mission
*[[Cynthia Wood]] as [[Playmate of the Year]]
*[[Colleen Camp]] as [[Playmate]], "Miss May"
*[[Glenn Walken]] as [[Lieutenant]] Carlsen
*[[Christian Marquand]] as Hubert de Marais (redux version)
*[[Aurore Clément]] as Roxanne Sarraut-de Marais (redux version)
*[[Roman Coppola]] as Francis de Marais (redux version)

Several other actors who were, or later became, prominent stars have minor roles in the movie including [[Harrison Ford]], [[G.D. Spradlin]], [[Scott Glenn]], and [[R. Lee Ermey]]. Fishburne was only fourteen years old when shooting began in March 1976, and was credited as "Larry Fishburne." Another cast member with a future as a prominent actor and film director was Martin Sheen's eldest son, [[Emilio Estevez]], who played a young soldier in the movie{{Fact|date=July 2007}}. ''Apocalypse Now'' took so long to finish that Fishburne was seventeen (the same age as his character) by the time of its release.

== Awards ==
'''Wins'''
* [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography]] ([[Vittorio Storaro]])
* [[Academy Award for Sound|Academy Award for Best Sound]] ([[Walter Murch]], [[Mark Berger]], [[Richard Beggs]], [[Nathan Boxer]])
* [[Cannes Film Festival]]: [[Palme d'Or]]
* [[Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture|Golden Globe Award for Best Director]] ([[Francis Ford Coppola]])
* [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture|Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor]] ([[Robert Duvall]])
* [[Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score]] ([[Carmine Coppola]] & [[Francis Ford Coppola]])

In 2000 the United States [[Library of Congress]] deemed the film "[[cultural significance|culturally significant]]" and selected it for preservation in the [[National Film Registry]].

The movie poster art for ''Apocalypse Now'' is by [[Bob Peak]], who is considered an influential artist in the world of [[movie poster]]s.

'''Nominations'''
* [[Academy Award for Best Picture]]
* [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama]]
* [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]] - ([[Robert Duvall]])
* [[Academy Award for Best Art Direction|Academy Award for Best Art Direction - Set Decoration]] ([[Angelo P. Graham]], [[George R. Nelson]] and [[Dean Tavoularis]])
* [[Academy Award for Directing]] ([[Francis Ford Coppola]])
* [[Academy Award for Film Editing]] ([[Lisa Fruchtman]], [[Gerald B. Greenberg]], [[Richard Marks]] and [[Walter Murch]])
* [[Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay|Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium]] ([[Francis Ford Coppola]] & [[John Milius]])
* [[Writers Guild of America|WGA Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen]] ([[John Milius]] & [[Francis Ford Coppola]])
* [[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media|Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture]] ([[Carmine Coppola]] & [[Francis Ford Coppola]])

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*{{imdb title|id=0078788|title=Apocalypse Now}}
*{{filmsite|id=apoc|title=Apocalypse Now}}
*[http://www.mrsladybird.com/?p=378/ Apocalypse Now on MrsLadyBird]
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/friday_review/story/0,3605,585005,00.html Apocalypse Now Redux] critiqued by [[Linh Dinh]] in The Guardian
*[http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/apocalypsenowredux Metacritic Reviews]
*[http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/reviews/review.asp?Index=5495&User=29844 DVD Reviewer]
*[http://thanasisk.blogspot.com/2007/02/comparing-various-editions-of.html First part of an informal comparison of the various editions]
*[http://thanasisk.blogspot.com/2007/02/comparing-various-version-of-apocalypse.html Second part of an informal comparison of the various editions]
*[http://hosted.planethalflife.gamespy.com/heartofevil/default.asp Heart of Evil modification homepage]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3362603.stm BBC News] 'Napalm' speech tops movie poll

{{Francis Ford Coppola's films}}

{{start box}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Palme d'Or]]
| years=1979 '''tied with ''[[The Tin Drum (film)|The Tin Drum]]'''''
| before=''[[The Tree of Wooden Clogs]]''
| after=''[[All That Jazz]]'' tied with ''[[Kagemusha]]''}}
{{end}}

[[Category:1979 films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:Existentialist works]]
[[Category:Films based on short fiction]]
[[Category:Films directed by Francis Ford Coppola]]
[[Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe winning performance]]
[[Category:Films over three hours long]]
[[Category:Films shot anamorphically]]
[[Category:Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Globe]]
[[Category:French-language films]]
[[Category:Khmer-language films]]
[[Category:Palme d'Or winners]]
[[Category:United Artists films]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry]]
[[Category:Vietnamese-language films]]
[[Category:Vietnam War films]]
[[Category:War epic films]]

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