Just watched Francis Ford Coppola's war movie masterpiece Apocalypse Now yesterday and i was dazzled with it.The film stars Martin Sheen,Marlon Brando,Robert Duvall,Frederic Forrest,Sam Bottoms,Albert Hall and Dennis Hopper and also features a young Laurence Fishburne.The film is set during Vietnam-U.S War and Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission to Cambodia to assassinate a US-Army Colonel who has become a renegade and gone insane and has set himself up as a god amongst a local tribe.
I always wanted The Godfather to be the first Francis Ford Coppola movie that i would see,but i bought this first.I always knew and kept in my mind that Francis Ford Coppola is and was a great director for he brought us The Godfather (i haven't seen it),which is considered the greatest film of all time by many.Even though i haven't seen his Godfather Trilogy,i wasn't depressed nor disappointed with the film.It was one of the best movie experiences.Anyway,the performances in the film were all outstanding and likeable most specially Martin Sheen,as he plays lead character Captain Benjamin Willard.I love his narratives and his dialogues.They often sound dramatically cool and all of his lines were well delivered by him.Meanwhile,I loved Marlon Brando's portrayal of Colonel Walter Kurtz,the man Willard was ordered to kill.This is the first film that i have seen that has Marlon Brando in it,and i found him great even though he had little screen-time in the film and appeared for only a short time in the film.I loved the lines he delivered.He was darkly clever and genuine.The supporting actors' performances on their respective characters were good too,and likeable.In fact,I really liked Robert Duvall's performance on Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore.I found his performance on the character as one of the film's comic reliefs covering up for it's dark tone.In one way or another.The cinematography in this one was really gorgeous,specially the way the camera captures the landscapes and the camera work on the village attack scene.The way the camera captured the helicopters swooshing in and out was just excellent.And the entire village attack scene was beautifully shot.You can see the mayhem and chaos happening.One of the big factors that made me love this movie even more is the shooting location they chose.The film's set location was set in the Philippines,that why i was wondering why the mountains were so familiar.It's because those mountains are located somewhere in Luzon.And Colonel Kurtz's temple was located in Pagsanjan that's why it looked very tribal and cannibalistic.And it was a good set piece.Plus,the tribesmen living in Kurtz's base were real Ifugaos.Francis Ford Coppola was really good in choosing the location.I'm so proud that this was filmed in the Philippines.Anyway,Francis Ford Coppola's direction was great,i always knew that he was a genuine and brilliant director,and he proved that to me because of this.Apocalypse Now was nightmarish in some way for it depicted the horrors of war.Specifically,the Vietnam War.I thought the film was similar to Full Metal Jacket in many ways,for it also explored those themes.But i later found out that this was released first and Full Metal Jacket was released a few years later after this was released.Now,to compare the 2 and to find out which i loved better...I loved the characters in Full Metal Jacket from the Sergeant to Joker.They were all likeable.And most of the supporting characters were comic reliefs to undertone the darkness.In Apocalypse Now,i also liked the characters but only some of them served as comic reliefs in the movie,and it's a good thing.But all of them were great specially Robert Duvall's Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore.He was just awesome.Same with Willard's crew,they were still likeable specially Clean.All in my opinion.Now,for the cinematography,i thought that Apocalypse Now was even more superior,though i loved FMJ's camera work.It's because of Apocalypse Now's beautifully captured vistas and battle scenes.Specially the said scene that has helicopters swooshing in with a dark sky backdrop.It just looked cool and awesome.FMJ's camera work was still good,i loved the grittiness but i just thought that Apocalypse's was even better and superior.The theme of the 2 films are similar,as both tried to show the horrors of war,but if you're gonna ask me who used the theme better,it's just a tie.Both were really great in depicting what happens during the Vietnam War.And i loved how both portrayed it,so it's a definite tie between the two.For the performances,It's still a tie.Although both films had an insane character,both actors who took that role did really great.But to level the insane performances,it's hard to say.FMJ's Gomer Pyle (played by Vincent D'Onofrio) had a child-minded persona in the start but about 30 minutes into the film,he turned insane and (spoiler alert) killed the Sergeant.And the worst thing is,he even killed himself.Whereas Apocalypse Now's Kurtz (played by Marlon Brando) was a soldier turned renegade who has made himself a god among a local tribe,and mutters poetry loudly.Kurtz only had a short appearance,but Marlon Brando was still great in portraying the insanity of his character.He delivered few,but memorable lines.Specially "the horror,the horror" part,that was great as the film's final words.FMJ's Matthew Modine portrayed Joker (the film's main antagonist) well,he sort of had a nerd-ish persona but he was clever and brave.Apocalypse Now's Martin Sheen,who played the role of Captain Willard was great,he was brave and willing to take the mission although he sometimes gets lost and troubled.Both actors' performances were well portrayed all delivered their lines flawlessly.Both films' directors are both veterans,so it's hard to tell who's superior to the other.Both FMJ and Apocalypse Now were the 1st films i've seen from the directors,so until this time,I can't really tell.But i would go with Stanley Kubrick for Full Metal Jacket.It's just that he was able to show something new and fresh.So,Full Metal Jacket isn't your typical war movie,it's more of a coming-of-age movie.In some way.But still,it features war.Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now was claimed as the first "epic" war movie at the time of its release,and audiences and critics were amazed.And Apocalypse Now,is also claimed as "the best war movie ever made".Well i agree to that because of Coppola's brilliant direction and everything else.But I just thought that Stanley Kubrick directed Full Metal Jacket better.And i blame it on the unusualness of the film.To sum it all up on which is better,Apocalypse Now definitely wins even though the film was slow.It was well-directed.The film is still great,and worth watching.But Full Metal Jacket will forever be my primary favorite war movie together with Saving Private Ryan.Whereas,Apocalypse Now will be my secondary fave.But to tell,Apocalypse Now is still the better movie,as claimed by critics and audiences alike.And I definitely agree on the title it received.But still,Full Metal Jacket is still my preference rather than this.
Apocalypse Now gets 8.7 stars over 10
Apocalypse Now is available on DVD distributed by Magnavision Home Video
For the meantime,why not check this "Ride of the Valkyries" clip from the film:
*Video clip courtesy of Movieclips.com
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