Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam epic, loosely based on HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad, tells the story of Captain Willard (Martin Sheen), a special agent sent into Cambodia to assassinate an errant American colonel (Marlon Brando). Willard is assigned to a navy patrol boat operated by Chief (Albert Hall) and three hapless soldiers (Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms, and Larry Fishburne). They are escorted on part of their journey by an air cavalry unit led by Lt. Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), a gung-ho commander with a love of Wagner, surfing, and napalm. After witnessing a surreal USO show featuring Playboy playmates, and an anarchic battle with the Viet Cong, Willard reaches Colonel Kurtz's compound. A crazed photo journalist and Kurtz groupie (Dennis Hopper) welcomes the crew, and Willard begins to question his orders to "terminate the colonel's command." Considered to be one of the best war movies of all time, APOCALYPSE NOW features incredible performances and beautifully chaotic visuals that make it a powerful, unforgettable work.
Released in August 2001, APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX, a restored and updated version of the 1979 film, includes 49 minutes of never-before-seen footage, a Technicolor enhancement, and a six-channel soundtrack.
Original theatrical release of APOCALYPSE NOW: August 15, 1979.
Theatrical Release of APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX: August 3, 2001.
Filmed on location in the Philippines.
APOCALYPSE NOW was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2000.
At the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, when Coppola screened his director's cut of the film, he said, "The result is a film that is fifty-three minutes longer, and whose theme emerges more clearly. It is a more disturbing, sometimes funnier and more romantic film whose historical perspective has become more forceful."
The grueling production and Coppola's insistence on authenticity in making APOCALYPSE NOW led to vast budget overruns, as well as physical and emotional breakdowns.
The film shoot was only supposed to take six weeks but ended up lasting for 16 months because of numerous complications, including a typhoon that wrecked much of the set.
APOCALYPSE NOW is number 28 on the American Film Insitute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.
Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack during the strenuous shoot. Prior to this, Sheen had a drunken emotional breakdown while filming the improvised hotel room scene. When he shatters the mirror with his hand in that scene, both the glass and the blood are real.
Director Francis Ford Coppola had a nervous breakdown during the filming and threatened to commit suicide numerous times.
When the film's budget went sorely over budget, Coppola contributed millions of his own fortune, which he had earned by making THE GODFATHER and THE GODFATHER II.
Coppola briefly appears in the film as a newsreel director.
Harvey Keitel was originally cast as Willard. He was fired shortly after filming began and was replaced by Martin Sheen.
Jack Nicholson, Robert Redford, and Al Pacino were all considered for the role of Kurtz.
A Francis Ford Coppola private joke: The name tags on the army shirts of the two men (G.D. Spradlin and Harrison Ford) giving Willard his assassination orders are R. Corman and Colonel G. Lucas, Coppola's two director buddies.
Marlon Brando was supposed to lose weight for his role as Kurtz but instead arrived on the set distinctly overweight. The actor also hadn't memorized his lines and insisted on improvising most of them.
Larry Fishburne was only 14 years old when he played the part of Mr. Clean.
Sam Bottoms was on various drugs for much of the filming.
Coppola's wife, Eleanor, documented the chaotic filming of APOCALYPSE NOW in the 1991 film HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE.
Orson Welles wanted to make a version of HEART OF DARKNESS in 1939. He got as far as storyboarding the film before abandoning the project for CITIZEN KANE.
Tim Roth and John Malkovich starred in a made-for-televison version of HEART OF DARKNESS directed by Nicolas Roeg in 1994.
Apocalypse Now Redux Reviews:
"...A bravura piece of filmmaking..."
-- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
"...APOCALYPSE NOW is a reassuring rarity....A genuinely stronger film. That's right -- one of the best movies ever made just got better..."
-- Dan Jolin, Total Film
"...There's a verisimilitude about it that no digital trickery could match....[The film] will continue to astound..."-- Geoffrey Macnab, Sight and Sound
"...To have it in this beautiful print is a luxury....Now this is a movie..."
-- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"...The film now seems mellower and -- thanks in part to the most vibrant-looking prints in its 22-year history -- revitalized..." -- 4 out of 4 stars
-- Mike Clark, USA Today
"...A masterpiece....Nothing seems superfluous in this new APOCALYPSE....Coppola has reached the finish line at last. It smells like victory..."-- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"...APOCALYPSE NOW remains a majestic explosion of pure cinema. It's a hallucinatory poem of fear..."-- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
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