Getting back to the quest of indulging myself in any classic film to become the ultimate cinema fan. Well, this film I'm not sure if this gave me a nervous breakdown or was just shook up in terms of psychological/sanity or the more reasonable sense was that I was having a tiny heart attack just like Martin Sheen did, while filming Francis Ford Coppola's greatest Vietnam war movie Apocalypse Now. When you look at Francis Ford Coppola's filmography you obviously say the first two Godfather movies and of course Apocalypse Now. And true those movies were without a doubt the greatest movies of all time but then their times when one movie comes around that breaks you mentally that you'll never be the same ever again well, this mesmerizing great film was the one movie that broke Coppola, upon which was never the same again.
In Vietnam in 1970, Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) takes a perilous and increasingly hallucinating journey upriver to find and terminate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a once-promising officer who has reportedly gone completely mad. In the company of a Navy patrol boat, Willard travels further and further into the heart of darkness.
In all the greatest films of all time in the seventies, the first-two Godfather films, American Graffiti, Jaws, and Star Wars. Well Apocalypse Now is for certain one of the greatest films of that era and for sure in my list of the top ten or fifteen greatest films of all time. If your curious about what makes a great film being among the greatest of all time well, it's obvious a great director but most importantly that person's drive and determination, in order to make his vision as well as his passion into the movie and the final ingredient is also that director fighting within a inch of his life, by doing it his or her way and not letting anyone tell that person what to do. For which in all honesty, Francis Ford Coppola in that era of the seventies is without a doubt the greatest American artist of the seventies, because of his vison as well as his fight to do the movies his way and especially paving the way for the most important directors in George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, and really without Coppola, we wouldn't have George Lucas in bringing out his vison with life in the early-sixties America, driving around listening to music as well as knowing what you want to do with the rest of your life. And then in 1977 we would most certainly not get one of the greatest films of all time, Star Wars, if not for Coppola being a true mentor to George Lucas in lighting the way for Hollywood to change the way we look at movies. So, really Coppola was in deed a great Artist of that era and I say artist because like Norman Rockwell or Jackson Pollock they all made their visions, their own way, there way or the highway and not letting anyone telling anyone how to make their vision work and Coppola did that through the course of his career fighting for each of his movies from the Godfather, the Conversation and Godfather Part II and even to the final production of Apocalypse Now. When George Lucas was filming Star Wars, he was experiencing a ton of anxiety attacks as well as having to deal with a lot of stress as well as having to put up with 20th Century Fox. Well, when you hear the many stories involving Apocalypse Now, you soon realize that George got off easily because after Star Wars he was smart enough to step aside from the Star Wars franchise and focused on producing the Indiana Jones films as well as building Lucasfilm. Now I'm not going into so much detail about the making of the film because there is the documentary behind the making of the movie, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, and so, Coppola new from a certain stand point that this was going to be a difficult shoot so in order to get this film off and running he invited his wife and his three kids to the Philippines, because it was the closest part of Vietnam. And through the course of filming, he gave his wife a camera and film footage basically for "making of" documentary kind of like in all bonuses features you'd seen in all special features like Star Wars or Indiana Jones and even the Dark Knight Trilogy. Though through the course of film he had to deal with a lot of struggles including dealing with the Philippine Government as well as Tsunami's, and yet the biggest struggle was Coppola had to deal with, was putting up with Marlon Brando for only three weeks and yet he got a million dollar advance but then he wasn't planning on coming but comes to maybe Cambodia I'm not sure because the biggest problem that Coppola and the production team had to deal with was Marlon Brando being overly large, like 400 pounds. And here's the interesting thing about this aspect is that Brando was filming the first Superman in 77, for which his presence I would assume was 250 to maybe 285 pounds maybe? And so, when Brando made it on set he ballooned up to like what I'm told was 400 pounds of fat, for which Coppola and the writers and production team had to change the final act of the film, and even Brando had said to just give him some slim clothes and Coppola replied "Well, Marlon there's no such clothes that's xxxxL". Moreover there were also the drama in that he was supposed to read the book but didn't as well as not wanting to be on set with Dennis Hopper for a million reasons only a drama queen can have, and so, when you see that seen when Hopper is talking to Martin Sheen and Brando out of nowhere throws something at him, that wasn't scripted that literally happened. So, I'm closing the production facts because I would highly recommend watching the documentary, Hearts of Darkness because it's most certainly a must watch up there with Empire of Dreams when you want to watch Documentaries in your spare time. I watched this film once and didn't make it through because I don't know maybe I couldn't stomach the discovery of a puppy scene. Furthermore, I had to watch this film all the way through because I just had to if I wanted to experience other greatest films of all time. And so, the second time watching the movie through, and I begin to have the unsettling feeling through the second act and into the third act even in the first act but it just felt like you were going into the very heart of madness, like I almost though I was experiencing panic attacks, hell I was almost close to having a heart attack just like Martin Sheen did, while filming like even when you see Sheen being taken hostage and the character of Lance at first using LSD, then later is just embracing the Cambodian tribe in water buffalo sacrifices almost as if he lost all sense of reality and I myself after finishing the film I felt so unsettled that I was experiencing chest pains and just couldn't get the Doors "The End" out of my head, and especially the music Coppola used through the film was also unsettling as well. Though here's the interesting thing when you look at it, Full Metal Jacket has the same unsettling themes just like Apocalypse Now, and yet you have R. Lee Ermey just being R. Lee Ermey and if you have that dark sense of humor, you can just smile and laugh whenever he's on screen. But, I watch Apocalypse Now and thought that was the most scariest Vietnam movie I've ever seen because your following Sheen's character in the hopes that he doesn't go insane and I feel like we all have that same fear of not knowing when we can break for many reasons even I bottle up so much emotions that there were times where I feel like I'm going to snap at a certain person for no apparent reason, hell even Coppola was under so much pressure even when making this film as well as dealing with actors and movie executives as well as putting up with Brando that it was close to killing the guy, and that's what I mostly experienced while watching Apocalypse Now was that whole psyche of being on the unsettling mental edge whether you're a Vet or trying to work hard on life. Francis Ford Coppola no doubt does a great job in making this film great, but there's also another person that needs to deserve a ton of credit especially when he won an Oscar for his work, for which I'm referring to cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and he does a fantastic job in using a lot of darkness as well as using a ton of smoke to create this whole scary and madness feel that you can't stop watching it especially when Sheen sets in motion of killing Brando, and when he has that face paint on and comes into frame with his eyes bulging out of his sockets, which was almost was terrifying as Brando was in the movie Storaro does a fantastic job in blending a lot of colors through the course of the movie, in which makes this film a hundred times better. Without a doubt that the seventies era was Coppola's greatest in terms of film and really, if I had made a short list of Coppola's greatest films it would certainly be The Godfather at number one, Apocalypse Now at second and then Godfather Part II at three. So, in closing I totally respect Apocalypse Now as one of those great War films of the ages as well as the passing of the torch because again Coppola wasn't the same after the seventies came to an end. I wouldn't have your kids watching this film though if you’re a cinema fan like I am, then I would highly recommend watching Apocalypse Now even which version of the film you want to indulge in whether or how far you want to go into the rabbit hole. Though I would say if you’re in the substance of weed or LSD then I would not be recommending you watching this film until the drugs are out of you. Though most importantly would watch this film because you'll never see a movie like this ever again and even watch Hearts of Darkness after watching Apocalypse Now.
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