I watched the Redux version
Apocalypse now is a movie that has been on my list for so long and finally watching it, it´s amazing. Now I can understand I have watched the subpar version to some, but if this is the worst it gets it can only get absolutely amazing. Apocalypse Now is an absolutely incredible journey from start to finish and no doubt one of the grandest watches I have had in a while. Taking it all in is a lot and the mere scope is absolutely breathtaking. But even when you set aside the absolutely astounding production and cinematography, this is a gruelling story about people. About people in war who succumb to the darkness and as they travel further into Vietnam, they travel further down their own psyche and believes. This is an absolutely heartbreaking movie when you think of it in many ways, turning itself into one of the most anti-war movies I have ever seen with it´s dark comedy and inhuman dialogue. This, this is cinema, this is art at its finest.
Captain Willard is pulled back into war, the Vietnam war and is tasked to kill colonel Kurtz, an American that has gone rough and joined his own war. Willard is torn with killing an American and sets out to find him with a small crew on a boat.
Let´s start with some negatives. I don´t think all line delivery is perfect here. I think it can become a bit too American at times in its delivery, too cliché and read sounding. There is a particular scene in the French estate that really didn't 'work for me with inside of you there are two wolves vibes. But this is not all the time and mostly I think the acting is pretty good here. The voice over is also a bit too much, but I think it works as to hear Willard's thoughts without making it too forced. Some lines also seem a bit redundant, but again this is only some times. In general I think the performances are pretty great. I love Martin Sheens understated performance, his more of a reactor and has gone numb after he has been in so much war and it´s more about seeing him reacting in subtle ways that work for the character. I love the many POV camera shots for Willard, it seems like he kind of trials of sometimes and can´t focus on what´s being said, and we are shown this in a great way. There are so many great performers here that all do amazing. Sheen as said, Frederic Forrest, Marlon Brando, Robert Duval, all giving powerhouse performances.
My biggest praise for this movie is the scope of the production and the cinematography. The helicopter scene towards the start of the movie took my breath away as to how well it was made. To know all this is practical is insane and every single shoot just ends up working on another level. So many frames are perfectly made with so much great chorography in the background. Add movement, characters, machines, smoke, colour and bam, you have absolutely stunning moving frames. It´s been a while since the scope of a movie really wowed me, but this movie did it! I cannot really describe how incredible the cinematography is or how absolutely insane the production is, I can´t give it justice. But know I was impressed and I´m a bit of a sceptic. The use of coloured smoke and colour grading is also so well done and once again, create absolutely stunning frames. This is movie is a visual feast from start to finish. The iconic helicopter scenes, the head out of the water, the purple smoke, all of these moments stand out to me and impress me. Seriously the helicopter scenes and aftermath might go over in history for me as one of my favourite sequences of all time.
In the end this is a road movie. A movie about characters that change throughout their experiences and journey. I love how the movie starts with this young crew that don´t know what they are getting into. Starting in American territory, but the more they delve into the Vietnam territory, the more they see and do, the more their psyche breaks, loosing cloth and their regards for human life. They start out as just cool soldiers that thinks this is going to be fun, but slowly become like Willard an utter broken man. This sounds familiar to many other movies. War bad we get it, but the scope of the movie is what makes it.
This is a greet anti-war dark comedy at times. A character like Kilgore that starts to want to surf in the middle of an active warzone. The propaganda, the girl shows that dehumanize women and later does to an even sadder degree, the French telling truths people aren´t ready for. This movie takes it a step back and analyses all the aspects of the Vietnam war in the most direct, uncuttable but also darkly cruel way that really worked for me. It tells you everything from as many perspectives as possible, making you question everything.
I must say I felt a bit underwhelmed by the ending, but that´s the point. The movie leads you through it slowly, takes it´s time, makes you question everything you have heard and then delivers an anticlimax in the best way possible. While I see it as the point, it can feel a bit flat too.
I love the later morbid disregard for human life everyone develops. The idea of a soldier dying but another person being worried about a dog is insane and it hits you right in the emotions because all of these people are utter broken, they can never come back from this. Life has become absolutely nothing to them and all the terror they have seen has broken them to a point where nothing really matters anymore.
Since this is a road movie it´s different elements and scenes can feel a bit disjointed, I think they all serve the narrative, but I get why this movie was cut down. I liked all the aspects individually, but it can make the movie feel a bit bloated. But this is important to understand the decent. This is a road movie to hell. People starting happy and safe and slowly becoming more and more broken. The more they delve into the deeps of the jungle, the more they start to question themselves, their mission, who or what they are, what a life is and by the end even what taking a life has become. This is a great road movie, slowly peeling back the characters, slowly destroying them, and slowly showing us how far down humanity can go and what a person with nothing to live for looks and feels like.
Apocalypse Now is a masterpiece on so many levels. Technically, production wise, cinematography, the concept itself all coming together to make a grand and epic movie that truly lives up to those descriptions, delivering cinema on a level I haven´t felt in a long time. This doesn't mean there aren´t some problems with it, and maybe after watching the theatrical cut it will change everything, but this movie is a masterclass in conceptual and visual storytelling and I can´t wait to watch it again already.
Apocalypse now is a movie that has been on my list for so long and finally watching it, it´s amazing. Now I can understand I have watched the subpar version to some, but if this is the worst it gets it can only get absolutely amazing. Apocalypse Now is an absolutely incredible journey from start to finish and no doubt one of the grandest watches I have had in a while. Taking it all in is a lot and the mere scope is absolutely breathtaking. But even when you set aside the absolutely astounding production and cinematography, this is a gruelling story about people. About people in war who succumb to the darkness and as they travel further into Vietnam, they travel further down their own psyche and believes. This is an absolutely heartbreaking movie when you think of it in many ways, turning itself into one of the most anti-war movies I have ever seen with it´s dark comedy and inhuman dialogue. This, this is cinema, this is art at its finest.
Captain Willard is pulled back into war, the Vietnam war and is tasked to kill colonel Kurtz, an American that has gone rough and joined his own war. Willard is torn with killing an American and sets out to find him with a small crew on a boat.
Let´s start with some negatives. I don´t think all line delivery is perfect here. I think it can become a bit too American at times in its delivery, too cliché and read sounding. There is a particular scene in the French estate that really didn't 'work for me with inside of you there are two wolves vibes. But this is not all the time and mostly I think the acting is pretty good here. The voice over is also a bit too much, but I think it works as to hear Willard's thoughts without making it too forced. Some lines also seem a bit redundant, but again this is only some times. In general I think the performances are pretty great. I love Martin Sheens understated performance, his more of a reactor and has gone numb after he has been in so much war and it´s more about seeing him reacting in subtle ways that work for the character. I love the many POV camera shots for Willard, it seems like he kind of trials of sometimes and can´t focus on what´s being said, and we are shown this in a great way. There are so many great performers here that all do amazing. Sheen as said, Frederic Forrest, Marlon Brando, Robert Duval, all giving powerhouse performances.
My biggest praise for this movie is the scope of the production and the cinematography. The helicopter scene towards the start of the movie took my breath away as to how well it was made. To know all this is practical is insane and every single shoot just ends up working on another level. So many frames are perfectly made with so much great chorography in the background. Add movement, characters, machines, smoke, colour and bam, you have absolutely stunning moving frames. It´s been a while since the scope of a movie really wowed me, but this movie did it! I cannot really describe how incredible the cinematography is or how absolutely insane the production is, I can´t give it justice. But know I was impressed and I´m a bit of a sceptic. The use of coloured smoke and colour grading is also so well done and once again, create absolutely stunning frames. This is movie is a visual feast from start to finish. The iconic helicopter scenes, the head out of the water, the purple smoke, all of these moments stand out to me and impress me. Seriously the helicopter scenes and aftermath might go over in history for me as one of my favourite sequences of all time.
In the end this is a road movie. A movie about characters that change throughout their experiences and journey. I love how the movie starts with this young crew that don´t know what they are getting into. Starting in American territory, but the more they delve into the Vietnam territory, the more they see and do, the more their psyche breaks, loosing cloth and their regards for human life. They start out as just cool soldiers that thinks this is going to be fun, but slowly become like Willard an utter broken man. This sounds familiar to many other movies. War bad we get it, but the scope of the movie is what makes it.
This is a greet anti-war dark comedy at times. A character like Kilgore that starts to want to surf in the middle of an active warzone. The propaganda, the girl shows that dehumanize women and later does to an even sadder degree, the French telling truths people aren´t ready for. This movie takes it a step back and analyses all the aspects of the Vietnam war in the most direct, uncuttable but also darkly cruel way that really worked for me. It tells you everything from as many perspectives as possible, making you question everything.
I must say I felt a bit underwhelmed by the ending, but that´s the point. The movie leads you through it slowly, takes it´s time, makes you question everything you have heard and then delivers an anticlimax in the best way possible. While I see it as the point, it can feel a bit flat too.
I love the later morbid disregard for human life everyone develops. The idea of a soldier dying but another person being worried about a dog is insane and it hits you right in the emotions because all of these people are utter broken, they can never come back from this. Life has become absolutely nothing to them and all the terror they have seen has broken them to a point where nothing really matters anymore.
Since this is a road movie it´s different elements and scenes can feel a bit disjointed, I think they all serve the narrative, but I get why this movie was cut down. I liked all the aspects individually, but it can make the movie feel a bit bloated. But this is important to understand the decent. This is a road movie to hell. People starting happy and safe and slowly becoming more and more broken. The more they delve into the deeps of the jungle, the more they start to question themselves, their mission, who or what they are, what a life is and by the end even what taking a life has become. This is a great road movie, slowly peeling back the characters, slowly destroying them, and slowly showing us how far down humanity can go and what a person with nothing to live for looks and feels like.
Apocalypse Now is a masterpiece on so many levels. Technically, production wise, cinematography, the concept itself all coming together to make a grand and epic movie that truly lives up to those descriptions, delivering cinema on a level I haven´t felt in a long time. This doesn't mean there aren´t some problems with it, and maybe after watching the theatrical cut it will change everything, but this movie is a masterclass in conceptual and visual storytelling and I can´t wait to watch it again already.