Absolutely. After our team watched all of these films for this course, Apocalypse Now is the one that stuck with me. It always has stuck with me but I'm impressed that it still does. - Nick J.
I never tend to like director's cuts more than the theatrical cuts. This was no different. The "Redux" felt overly long to me. How did you like it? - Nick J.
The theatrical cut has the explosion montage as part of credits. If we take that into the account, it appears Willard called ''Almighty'' an ''Killed them All'' after all! That opens up new perspectives and interpretations.
I wanted to like Redux, but I felt it tried to hard to directly tie things to Heart of Darkness in the way they used the French colonists. And the base film is exhausting already, I don't think it needs to be any longer.
I think Brando (Kurtz) was portrayed in the shadows the whole movie simply because he was massively overweight at the time - not a typical trait of a Special Forces officer.
Phil Roth there’s nothing wrong with seeing things how you see them it’s the beauty of art. It may just be a happy accident but I was always told to let your art be smarter than you are.
Evan Underwood it is my favorite opening to a movie ever and the song is a big reason for that. I love how the end of the scene features Sheen having an actual breakdown and the song picks up and sounds like it’s having a mental break down as well. Genius
Heart of Darkness does criticise British imperialism but only the extent that it goes after imperialism in general. But the Congo was part of Belgium's empire not the UK's
While Heart of Darkness takes place mainly in Congo, the story is told through a frame story by Marlow on the river Thames, telling other sailors. The novella make a lot of direct comparison from London river Thames to Congo river and juxtaposing it with speculation history of the Romans "civilizing" Britain. I personally read it as using the history of Belgium to make comparison to British position in Europe imperialism.
my favorite line is by Kilgore : " some day this war is going to over." i served in iraq. there are days i miss it. when my unit was getting ready to go home. i tried in vain to stay behind. i felt that i had nothing to go back to. no career, no partner or child. no family that wouldn't eventually get over my demise and move on. there is an inherent absolution in war. one is so focused on the next 5 minutes, forgetting the past becomes a form of forgiveness. there is only honorable and amoral action. there is only adrenaline and rest. there are only brothers and enemies . any grey area becomes lost in the brown muddy haze of the next dust storm. THREE THOUGHTS ON MY WARFARE I. Sometimes I feel that had I died in combat, I would achieve vindication, all my sins forgiven. The bullet ending my life would bring with it absolution. However should I survive such an endeavor again, I will be empowered to all ends. II. I fear failure more than the fire-fight. I fear addiction more than torture. I fear loneliness more than capture. There must be a way to take command of my life, another way to live other than to willingly descend into the dark waters of combat. Why more than now, is my fear the object of my fear? Perhaps my age? Perhaps I feel that by now I would have had my life figured out? Maybe I feel that its just a matter of time before I am crushed beneath the weight of wrong doings and mistakes. God help me. And if going to Hell is my only way of reaching Heaven, So be it. III. I'm not looking to achieve immortality through marble monuments or scholarly mentions. At the most maybe my life could serve as an example: That a man can raise himself from the grave. I know in my heart of hearts, even though sometimes I don't believe it: That even when it's really bad, it's still all good...
Quique Feroz You've never lived till you almost died. Foe those who fight for it, Life has a flavor The protracted will never know. L.Thimble,-J. Lamotte,- R Davis -- US Army (SOG) Hope this helps . From John L.Plaster book: Secret Commados Behind enemy lines with the elite warriors of SOG Preface: Glad you made it home, Carry on! Help or reach another the wisdom you've gained.
Joe Kurtz thank you brother. welcome home. every day i do my best to make today better yesterday. sometimes I'm successful and sometimes and i am not. but I know there's no giving up, only moving forward.
Quique Feroz Your welcome i never served, kinda wish I had, sence your thoughts, and compelled to respond with that paricular passage. Made munition casings (arty& MLRS ,) during 80'a and knew kids would be using them, as I was a young man then. Stay Healthy. !!! :, one of mine is to live life and not bring shame to my ancestors
Scoop idk dude. I think it at least deserves a seat at the table. It completely transcends the war genre to provide commentary on some pretty heavy issues and is a technical marvel that’s still almost unparalleled. Taking into account the ambition of it, the cinematography, the acting, directing, presentation, etc it’s almost flawless IMO from front to back. If someone told me this was their favorite of all time I’d respect itz
azdgariarada my son's work had Bin Laden don't Surf Tee shirts printed awhile back.. had a good laugh on that. Now get out there and lets see what you can do. Thnx!
You'll read that book in high school? Well, that's interesting. I've already read the book, and I'm still in eighth grade. What other books will be read in high school ?
You could have mentioned the French as the last station of sanity and the last chance for redemption..and the great line that explains the troubled mind :" there are two in you, the one who loves and the one who kills "
@@AdamFerrari64 You're right! I stand corrected. Maybe my brain was confusing The Deer Hunter from the previous year - Vietnam movie, Supporting Actor...
Amanda Tessmer It could be viewed that way but also it could be viewed as a critique of British imperialism considering the fact that the framing narrative takes place on a boat in the Thames and the protagonist is British.
Ned Mononymous Belgian imperialism in the Congo was absolutely appalling. The Belgian king owned the Congo personally rather than it being part of the Belgian empire. He treated the people as possessions and slaves and used them for exploiting the mineral reserves etc using rule by atrocity on the same lines as the Nazis in Eastern Europe, if not worse.
@@SvenTviking - Belgian excesses in the Congo are at least in part a British exaggeration, in the hope of creating a pretext for taking over the Congo themselves.
Here's my take on Willard and Kurtz. A lot of people believe that Kurtz wasn't insane but enlightened. Some kind of damaged genius. I think they are wrong and here is why. Kurtz was definitely insane but he was also enlightened at the same time. The reason why I think he is insane because he kills pretty indiscriminately, like the part where the reporter says that he threatened to kill him for taking his picture. And the grotesque hanging naked bodies etc etc. See, the River was the journey - almost like a long obstacle course - and Kurtz made it through it. He achieved enlightenment were he saw the absurdity of it all and he also embraces the horror as his friend, just like he described in the monologue about the Cadres. The problem is that it broke him and he embraced it to the point that he lost all sense of right and wrong. Willard, went down the same River journey, achieved the same enlightened understanding as Kurtz, embraced horror as a friend, but did not break as Kurtz did. He was the perfect soldier that Kurtz described. For this reason, Kurtz recognized that Willard was the greater man than himself and determined that he was worthy enough to allow him to end his life. After Willard kills him, he is greeted with the same worship from the followers as Kurtz received, which further shows that Willard was greater. And when Willard rejects it, grabs Lance and leaves, he shows my earlier point: He was strong enough to endure all of that, embraced horror as a friend etc, but still come back from the edge that Kurtz went over. Willard was the perfect soldier.
I think Kurtz’s final words refer to his welcoming of death. He mentions earlier to Willard that he has made friends with horror, and wants Willard to tell his son everything about him when he dies, as if Kurtz knows he will die soon. When Willard attacks him, he shows no resistance, and his final words are his way of accepting death and greeting it.
A friend who was in Vietnam during the war told me that Apocalypse Now was the most realistic movie about the experience of the Vietnam War for American soldiers that he'd ever seen.
Never in my life have I seen, nor think I will ever see, a better opening to any movie than that of Apocalypse Now. Perfect song choice, stunning visuals and effects coming together to say... welcome to hell. Brilliant.
The scene where Kurtz talks about the "little pile of severed arms" is a grotesque part that explains his mentality. He realizes that the people who cut off these children's arms were not necessarily evil but people who were willing to suspend their morality to win the war. Kurtz hence follows their example and we are told his method does work by enemy activity dropping to nothing, however, he is operating without the permission of his commanding officers who believe he has gone insane. We don't want to believe there is a logic to how Kurtz is fighting - which is essentially not caring about being a war criminal - but we do have to ask if there isn't a logic to it. Do we have to be bloodthirsty to fight bloodthirsty people? How low do we have to go to succeed? Would we do the same thing?
I have a slightly different twist to this. I propose that his commanding officers were right. He was insane. And Captain Willard was the perfect soldier that Kurtz described. This is why Kurtz allowed him to kill him, he was able to embrace horror and make a friend of it, but he didn't become the indiscriminate murderer that Kurtz had become. So Kurtz recognized that Willard was special because unlike the other assassin that was sent before him, Willard didn't break and join him despite taking the same journey. I mean, he didn't succumb and allow the darkness to take over him. This is portrayed when Willard was leaving and all of the followers bowed down to him as the new leader but he rejects it and leaves. He leaves because he still retained his humanity.
I use this film in a modern media course I teach. This is a haunting vision of war and of what war (the Vietnam War in particular) does to those involved. Another interpretation of the movie is that it is a metaphor for the entire American experience in Vietnam. As the boat goes further and further into the river, the more insane and difficult it gets. Likewise, the deeper the boat goes, the harder it is to get back to where you started. So, as America got deeper into the war, the more insane it got and the harder it was to end it.
Interesting take, but, not exactly. More like a bell curve. US involvement peaked in early 1969. As the Nixon administration began to take it more seriously while simultaneously drawing down, the situation was improving. The Tet offensive of 1968 was a victory for the US and ARVN that effective saw the destruction of the VC guerillas within the South. Communists didn't have to worry about elections, media or a hostile Congress. Their victory came in the form of duping the US media into thinking otherwise. North VN was not interested in negotiating a peace and wouldn't come to the table. Nixon initiated the Christmas bombing campaign of Dec 72 and gave the North an ultimatum. It worked. A peace was negotiated and all US combat units removed by 1973. Contrary to popular belief (fueled by ignorant media), the ARVN were quite capable at that stage as long as they had US air support and materiel aid (as promised). The North, of course, violated the peace and launched the Easter offensive in 73 (largest to date) which the ARVN threw back with the assistance of US air. Everything was looking okay until the democrat Congress hog tied spending in support of Vietnam and DRASTICALLY cut aid and materiel. All air support was refused. Pres Ford begged for money to fulfill the US promises, but, Congress refused. As the NVA rolled toward Saigon in tanks (supplied by the USSR), they would have been sitting ducks for US air. The rest, as they say, is history. Democrats got the US into the war and tried to fight it in a limited way. Later, Democrats screwed their allies and the media lied about it. Some things never change.
God, I remember watching this movie for the first time. It was after having my wisdom teeth removed, and I was high out of my mind on the pain meds they'd give me. It was absolutely insane.
+North Rock 99 - Basically it adds some historical context to the setting, it touches on themes of the past and of the cyclical nature of war in general. It talks about the American aid to the Viet-Minh (which eventually became the Viet Cong) during WW2 and about the French war in Vietnam afterwards, and I thought it was a scene that had content which kept it grounded from all the surrealism of the rest of the film but also kept the beauty of that cinematography style. I can see why it was originally taken out (perhaps because of pressure to do so because of the politics of it?), but it just completes the film for me.
Agree...mostly...Of all the added bits in Redux, the French scene is the most important. Could have cut the opium smoking and bedding of the widow parts. And the guy with the accordion needs to go away.
I loved the redux. The perspective of the French was very enlightening in a historical sense. The Vietnamese envied the USA and wanted to be free as Americans are in contrast to French colonialism and occupation. It's interesting how Ho Chi Mihn spent many years learning different cultures to include Russian, European, and American life firsthand. When Mihn became a communist from a socialist and led his people toward those ideals it solidified their fate and put them further from independence because the western world would never have embraced red.It's unfortunate how that war panned out for all parties involved. Only the dead have seen the end of war, there were no winners or losers just war and it impacted millions in tragic fashion. I value my time in the Marine infantry and I encourage people to get involved and leave the confines of their homelands and the restriction of second and third party information, spearheaded by mainstream media, to embrace new ideas, share cultures, and pass on refined legacies to our inheritance. We can learn a lot from history and break vicious cycles if we are bold enough to break from our comfort zones with inquisitive intent to understand humanity and its course. Just the musings of an nonintellectual. Just a rifleman. Good show Crash Course.
I'd like to point out that the early colony was personal property of the Belgian king Leopold II Management of the colony was left largely to private companies and Congo was not under the control of the Belgian government They only stepped in later (1908) after international criticism while the book "heart of darkness" is from 1899
Ward Indigne it was. The book references a Congo Company rather than Government and the Congo was the largest private estate in world history, conditions in the Congo also failed to get significantly better after the Belgian Government took over, as they were obsesses with race measuring and stuff like that. However Leopold was Belgian and so where many of the managers. So much in the same way that British East India Company controlled India was British colonialism, this was Belgian colonialism under Leopold II's Congo Company. Though the main point is that it wasn't British colonialism
It's truly an amazing story, the actors, the director, the film. It's the decent into madness on and off screen. It's life changing for all participants, it's the Heart of Darkness and it's passing from one to another.
There are also parallels with The Odyssey. The Playboy Bunnies are the sirens, the Do Long bridge is the underworld, etc. So many different lenses through which to view this wonderful film. Too bad Coppala never made another film worth watching.
In order to understand this movie, you need to start with its sources: Heart of Darkness, Eliot's "The Wasteland," the grail myth and the fisher king myth, the Nibelungenlied, and to understand the ending, The Golden Bough.
one of the greatest movies ever made. but definitely not just a war movie. i would say it is primarily a thriller/suspense film, and as well as drama, taking place during the Vietnam war.
Not only is this one of the greatest films of all time, but the documentary Heart of Darkness made my Coppola's wife is excellent in it's own right. Watch Apocalypse Now and then watch that.
My late father who was a Vietnam Vet, will be 2 years since he passed May 3. Hearing his time in Nam, 3 movies match perfectly. Full Metal Jacket, Platoon and Apocalypse Now (especially his black ops mission)
Yup! He showed up to production overweight (he was supposed to die in an action sequence with Sheen) and refused to learn his lines. He basically didn't want to do any work, but because he's Brando they let him get away with it. He basically sat around, saying whatever came into his head, and just so happened to be filmed.
You guys should totally do one on 'The Conversation' as well! But no hurries, Coppola's great, but there's still time to savour other directors too! Looking forward for the Pan's Labyrinth episode!
NOooooo........Its the idea of the Scapegoat in Religion , as outlined in the book on Kurtzs desk (GOLDEN BOUGH) . Thats why the camera pans to it. In order to have an ancient scapegoat you need a religion and a sacrificial King / God The bulls sacrifice (like Lambs ) is to cleanse guilt from as tribe. Thats why they both must be killed. "Errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill" - Kurtz is the bill or sacrifice that must pay for the wars madness" Its far far deeper that those shrinks say. Heart of Darkness / The Golden Bough / Lord of the Flies and even the Bible.
To me this is one of the very few movies that isn't multi genre, but completely defies genre. I love this movie, but after watching this analysis I have a new respect for it, and Francis Ford Coppola.
The ending is the worst in all of movie history: Coppola sets its up perfectly, then flubs it. He originally intended the aesthetically more logical ending -- Kurz converts Willard to his way of thinking -- and then betrayed himself (and us) by not pulling it off. It would have required some brilliant writing from Coppola and brilliant acting from Brando. They both failed miserably . . .
Just saw the 40th anniversary version Apocalypse Now : Final Cut in the cinema. Amazing experience seeing it on the big screen with Dolby surround sound. I recommend seeing if you get the chance.
The moment where Willard shoots the wounded girl... that's illustrative of a dangerous state of mind that every one of us need to watch out for. Every last one of us. 😣
"Heart of Darkness" is set in the Belgian Congo: Conrad was criticizing Belgian colonialism, not British. It was King Leopold II of Belgium's personal private property and a truly horrendous, shameful despicable low point in humanity's history. The Belgians chopped off the hands and arms of thousands of native Congolese (men, women and children) over rubber quotas. A true crime against humanity at least the equivalent of anything the Nazi's or Communists ever did.
This was one of those movies that went over my head. I was expecting a “Platoon” or “Saving Private Ryan”. Needless to say, I’m not a fan lol. I can definitely see how it would appeal to people that like to pick movies apart.
That was a great analysis of an awesome film, Michael. I remember watching Apocalypse Now when really young and not really understanding a lot. Then I revisited it much older and really grasped the depth of the film. Amazing stuff.
That's exactly how i viewed the ending as well,Kurtz reflecting back on his time in Vietnam and the vicious nature and out of control manner which it had become with no ending in sight except for his final solution for victory which entailed parting ways from the traditional order of battle,thus uttering his final words,The Horror,The Horror.
Yeah, when I hear "from a psychoanalytic perspective" I am rarely impressed by the conclusions. A psychoanalytical model means turning recognizable events into spectres of delusions and insisting on the depreciating the value, the _consequences_ of character's actions into being symbolic. The audience is tacitly invited to turn anything truly disturbing into a kind of shadow play. They're not seeing a nakedly brutal depiction of the arbitrary cruelty of war, they're seeing sock puppets wagging back and forth over the limbs of very alive, very abstract puppeteers. I think it's a kind of guilt response, a kind of denial mechanism. "You _metaphorically_ shot up that sampan. You didn't slaughter a family, you bloodlessly confronted an inner ugliness." Funny how that pulls the fangs from the power of a war narrative. Imagining that scenario is a distant, pathetic second to _seeing it_ when you can just tell yourself something like that "might have happened" instead allowing the viewer the blissful escape of innocence. There are cases where psychoanalysis is appropriate, but they far fewer than their audience might wish. Take Fight Club which ends with something that should be readily psychoanalyzed but is in fact a direct literalization of some inner process and that scene's impact is in the literal-minded insanity of the act, not in Jack "talking" Tyler Durden to death. Introspection has value, but only when paired to action. Otherwise what meaning is there in having a profoundly personal "transformation" that changes nothing about how you live? What stakes are there in an extended daydreaming session? Confronting a personal flaw is _nothing_ compared to actuating that flaw into a sin. So, no. Not down with that "interpretation." I think it's essentially cowardly, I think it lacks the difficulty of action for a conviction like going to an anti-war protest versus "well I don't like the war but I support our troops."
Hello I am from India and in my 10th standard history textbook we had achapter called "Nationalism in Indo China". Apocalypse now is mentioned and they encourage us to watch the film. I personally found it very interesting. It was a good movie, as Francis tried to make sense of the Vietnamese war, whereas in films like John Wayne's Green Berets people were encourged to serve in the war. Apocalypse now is unique indeed.
I often saw the movie as looking into the darkness of the soul. It looks into the heart of darkness inside man, just like the book, it looks deep into the part of humans that we do are best to pretend aren't really. Kurtz was the best of the best we are told during the movie, but in the end the dark madness took him.
I like the part where they are fighting at night and the soldier with a grenade luncher is able to hear a injured VC and launch the Grenade luncher to kill him, just by using sound and nothing else.
Gabriel Angelos Hey soldier, do you know Who's in charge here?? - - - Yeah!- - - Kinda sums it all up with his reply too . So what you wait for: Bust'em Roach!!
Great video, I love Apocalypse Now and I had no idea about the difficulties filming, which seems so fitting for the movie they were making. However you hit a pet peeve of mine with "epileptic seizures", Epilepsy is the term for a seizure condition not a type of seizure, one can have Tonic-clonic (or grand mal) seizures (like I used to), Myoclonic seizures, Absence (or petit mal) seizures, Focal Seizures, etc. Given he you said he had "a seizure" not several he doesn't have epilepsy, you need to have a few to qualify, if it isn't really know which kind he had it's better to just say "he had a seizure".
Very good interpretation I think because these are points I would overlook . I would watch a movie to relax and enjoy it. Not to psychoanalyze and interpret the symbolism....at least not at first
I like the psychological interpretation. It seems very logical that the whole thing is a metaphor for what’s happening in his mind in the hotel. Kind of like Jacob’s Ladder. But what I think is more interesting is that Douglas’ character represents the whole American situation about that war. If we had been brutal and surgical, we could have ended it very quickly. That’s what Kurtz is saying. Douglas’ character has to shut that voice in himself up metaphorically by killing Kurtz. American wars post WW2 are this very strange mix of aggression and self consciousness. We have the power to level pretty much any other country but we are worried about optics so we do these long drawn out occupations instead. That’s Apocalypse Now. The big army is useless, blundering, confused and ineffectual because they have an arm tied behind their back. That’s insanity. Kurtz is a precision striker not afraid to do whatever it takes. But he is labeled insane and targeted exactly because his methods work all too well.
kurtz is based on the real life Barry Peterson an australian soldier sent into vietnam by the cia his story is fascinatingly documented in the book the tiger man of vietnam its a realy good read.
You should watch the documentary about the making of this movie. It's called A filmmakers Apocalypse and gives great insight into the troublesome production of Apocalypse Now.
If you're really into this film, you need to watch the "Hearts of Darkness" documentary about how it was made. It's full of interesting details and also indispensable for understanding what's going on with Brando being in the shadows, among other things.
The more I am listening to you, talking along about Apocalypse now, the more I am thinking about Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder, which seems to make references to the filming of Apocalypse now.
"Soldier...do you know who's in charge here?"
"Yeah."
Roach is the best character
Roach is a machine bro
That section of film is jammed full of dope samples
Whered the dog go!?
men bls Zionist vampires have an organ harvesting tent that's half on the Soviet side and half on our side.
Fun fact: Martin Sheen wasn't supposed to break the mirror, but he smashed it by accident, and they just kept filming the scene.
Hahahaha for real?
B0p G0d yes, and the bleeding was real.
Not only that, he got high and drunk and said to the cameramen to roll until the scenes over.
So, he was both high AND drunk? Lmao no wonder that scene felt so real
AND he tried to attack Francis Ford Coppola in his furious drunk stupor while having asked them to shoot the whole thing
Never has a film used the medium to show the breaking of the human soul so well. Such a beautiful masterwork.
Absolutely. After our team watched all of these films for this course, Apocalypse Now is the one that stuck with me. It always has stuck with me but I'm impressed that it still does.
- Nick J.
i watched the directors cut on netflix a while ago
I never tend to like director's cuts more than the theatrical cuts. This was no different. The "Redux" felt overly long to me. How did you like it?
- Nick J.
The theatrical cut has the explosion montage as part of credits. If we take that into the account, it appears Willard called ''Almighty'' an ''Killed them All'' after all! That opens up new perspectives and interpretations.
I wanted to like Redux, but I felt it tried to hard to directly tie things to Heart of Darkness in the way they used the French colonists. And the base film is exhausting already, I don't think it needs to be any longer.
"Never get out of the boat, absolutely goddamn right unless you were going all the way"
"Hi tiger! Bye tiger!"
I think Brando (Kurtz) was portrayed in the shadows the whole movie simply because he was massively overweight at the time - not a typical trait of a Special Forces officer.
Francis even said in an interview that was why haha! Sometimes people just need to analyze everything
In the redux cut there is scene with Brando in full daylight
It was the case Of happy Accident
Phil Roth can you imagine how frustrating that was for Francis lol. Marlon showed up overweight AND bald
Phil Roth there’s nothing wrong with seeing things how you see them it’s the beauty of art. It may just be a happy accident but I was always told to let your art be smarter than you are.
Every line from this movie is quotable...
"I had hardly said a word to my wife until I said 'yes' to a divorce"
The use of The Doors song The End was extremely well placed for the movie. I really messed up song for a really messed up thought process.
My only ONLY gripe with the entire movie is that Jim Morrison's first words don't sync up with the napalm impacting.
Spell check is a useful tool...
Evan Underwood it is my favorite opening to a movie ever and the song is a big reason for that. I love how the end of the scene features Sheen having an actual breakdown and the song picks up and sounds like it’s having a mental break down as well. Genius
Why is The End a messed up song?
@@pzooka shut up idiot
Also, "Apocalypse Now" is a stunning reimagining of "Heart of Darkness". It must be one of the best book-to-movie adaptations, ever.
Heart of Darkness does criticise British imperialism but only the extent that it goes after imperialism in general. But the Congo was part of Belgium's empire not the UK's
But muh narrative
While Heart of Darkness takes place mainly in Congo, the story is told through a frame story by Marlow on the river Thames, telling other sailors. The novella make a lot of direct comparison from London river Thames to Congo river and juxtaposing it with speculation history of the Romans "civilizing" Britain. I personally read it as using the history of Belgium to make comparison to British position in Europe imperialism.
The Heart of Darkness trilogy:
Heart of Darkness.
Apocalypse Now.
Spec Ops: The Line.
One for each of the major mediums: Literature, Cinema, Video Games
An incredible series of spiritual succesors spanning across the largest mediums. Perfect!
You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill.
my favorite line is by Kilgore : " some day this war is going to over."
i served in iraq. there are days i miss it. when my unit was getting ready to go home. i tried in vain to stay behind. i felt that i had nothing to go back to. no career, no partner or child. no family that wouldn't eventually get over my demise and move on.
there is an inherent absolution in war. one is so focused on the next 5 minutes, forgetting the past becomes a form of forgiveness. there is only honorable and amoral action. there is only adrenaline and rest. there are only brothers and enemies . any grey area becomes lost in the brown muddy haze of the next dust storm.
THREE THOUGHTS ON MY WARFARE
I.
Sometimes I feel that had I died in combat,
I would achieve vindication,
all my sins forgiven.
The bullet ending my life would bring with it absolution.
However should I survive such an endeavor again,
I will be empowered to all ends.
II.
I fear failure more than the fire-fight.
I fear addiction more than torture.
I fear loneliness more than capture.
There must be a way to take command of my life,
another way to live other than to willingly descend into the dark waters of combat.
Why more than now,
is my fear the object of my fear?
Perhaps my age?
Perhaps I feel that by now I would have had my life figured out?
Maybe I feel that its just a matter of time
before I am crushed beneath the weight of wrong doings
and mistakes.
God help me.
And if going to Hell is my only way of reaching Heaven,
So be it.
III.
I'm not looking to achieve immortality through marble monuments or scholarly mentions.
At the most maybe my life could serve as an example:
That a man can raise himself from the grave.
I know in my heart of hearts,
even though sometimes I don't believe it:
That even when it's really bad,
it's still all good...
Quique Feroz
You've never lived till you almost died.
Foe those who fight for it,
Life has a flavor
The protracted will never know.
L.Thimble,-J. Lamotte,- R Davis -- US Army (SOG)
Hope this helps .
From John L.Plaster book:
Secret Commados
Behind enemy lines with the elite warriors of SOG
Preface:
Glad you made it home, Carry on!
Help or reach another the wisdom you've gained.
Joe Kurtz thank you brother. welcome home. every day i do my best to make today better yesterday. sometimes I'm successful and sometimes and i am not. but I know there's no giving up, only moving forward.
Quique Feroz
Your welcome i never served, kinda wish I had, sence your thoughts, and compelled to respond with that paricular passage. Made munition casings (arty& MLRS ,) during 80'a and knew kids would be using them, as I was a young man then. Stay Healthy. !!! :, one of mine is to live life and not bring shame to my ancestors
Smells like... Victory!.....
Someday this War's gonna End
+
The relationship between Willard and Kurtz, as well as the way it ends, reminds me of Edward Norton's character in Fight Club and Tyler Durden.
The greatest film ever made.
^ Has never seen Showgirls.
No. Maybe your favorite, but not the greatest by a long shot.
@@daveygivens735 yaaaaaaaas mama! showgirls for the win! xoxo
@@scoop4363 greatness is subjective in art
Scoop idk dude. I think it at least deserves a seat at the table. It completely transcends the war genre to provide commentary on some pretty heavy issues and is a technical marvel that’s still almost unparalleled. Taking into account the ambition of it, the cinematography, the acting, directing, presentation, etc it’s almost flawless IMO from front to back. If someone told me this was their favorite of all time I’d respect itz
I love the smell of Crash Course in the morning.
Smells like... film analysis.
azdgariarada my son's work had Bin Laden don't Surf Tee shirts printed awhile back.. had a good laugh on that. Now get out there and lets see what you can do.
Thnx!
Charlie don't surf!
Just about the best line in the whole movie.
Braedon Merwin
Neither does Bin Laden
Didn't turn out well for him in .....The End
So if Charlie don't surf, you know for sure Kilgore was being honest when he said it was safe to surf the beach
The psychological discussion here makes me remember when I read Slaughterhouse Five in high school. Great analysis!
You'll read that book in high school? Well, that's interesting. I've already read the book, and I'm still in eighth grade. What other books will be read in high school ?
You could have mentioned the French as the last station of sanity and the last chance for redemption..and the great line that explains the troubled mind :" there are two in you, the one who loves and the one who kills "
Robert Duvall is such an underrated actor. He deserves more than the one Oscar he won.
@Jeff Baker lonesome dove was his best film in my opinion
He's won two. One for Best Supporting Actor for Apocalypse Now and one for Best Actor for Tender Mercies (1983).
Martin Sorenson he didn’t win for apocalypse now. Should have though
@@AdamFerrari64 You're right! I stand corrected. Maybe my brain was confusing The Deer Hunter from the previous year - Vietnam movie, Supporting Actor...
I love the smell of Crash Course film criticism in the morning.....no wait!!! Is the afternoon, how long have I been sleeping??
yeah, smells good
smells like... victory?
you've been sleeping 521 hours.
yea i counted
It's morning somewhere
You never really woke up.
In the case of "Heart of Darkness", wouldn't it be Belgian imperialism?
Amanda Tessmer It could be viewed that way but also it could be viewed as a critique of British imperialism considering the fact that the framing narrative takes place on a boat in the Thames and the protagonist is British.
Ned Mononymous Maybe it’s just imperialism as a whole. Whether it being British, French or American.
@@polishherowitoldpilecki5521 So long as socialist imperialism isn't implied.
Ned Mononymous Belgian imperialism in the Congo was absolutely appalling. The Belgian king owned the Congo personally rather than it being part of the Belgian empire. He treated the people as possessions and slaves and used them for exploiting the mineral reserves etc using rule by atrocity on the same lines as the Nazis in Eastern Europe, if not worse.
@@SvenTviking - Belgian excesses in the Congo are at least in part a British exaggeration, in the hope of creating a pretext for taking over the Congo themselves.
Here's my take on Willard and Kurtz. A lot of people believe that Kurtz wasn't insane but enlightened. Some kind of damaged genius. I think they are wrong and here is why. Kurtz was definitely insane but he was also enlightened at the same time. The reason why I think he is insane because he kills pretty indiscriminately, like the part where the reporter says that he threatened to kill him for taking his picture. And the grotesque hanging naked bodies etc etc. See, the River was the journey - almost like a long obstacle course - and Kurtz made it through it. He achieved enlightenment were he saw the absurdity of it all and he also embraces the horror as his friend, just like he described in the monologue about the Cadres. The problem is that it broke him and he embraced it to the point that he lost all sense of right and wrong. Willard, went down the same River journey, achieved the same enlightened understanding as Kurtz, embraced horror as a friend, but did not break as Kurtz did. He was the perfect soldier that Kurtz described. For this reason, Kurtz recognized that Willard was the greater man than himself and determined that he was worthy enough to allow him to end his life. After Willard kills him, he is greeted with the same worship from the followers as Kurtz received, which further shows that Willard was greater. And when Willard rejects it, grabs Lance and leaves, he shows my earlier point: He was strong enough to endure all of that, embraced horror as a friend etc, but still come back from the edge that Kurtz went over. Willard was the perfect soldier.
I think Kurtz’s final words refer to his welcoming of death. He mentions earlier to Willard that he has made friends with horror, and wants Willard to tell his son everything about him when he dies, as if Kurtz knows he will die soon. When Willard attacks him, he shows no resistance, and his final words are his way of accepting death and greeting it.
A friend who was in Vietnam during the war told me that Apocalypse Now was the most realistic movie about the experience of the Vietnam War for American soldiers that he'd ever seen.
Never in my life have I seen, nor think I will ever see, a better opening to any movie than that of Apocalypse Now. Perfect song choice, stunning visuals and effects coming together to say... welcome to hell. Brilliant.
The scene where Kurtz talks about the "little pile of severed arms" is a grotesque part that explains his mentality. He realizes that the people who cut off these children's arms were not necessarily evil but people who were willing to suspend their morality to win the war. Kurtz hence follows their example and we are told his method does work by enemy activity dropping to nothing, however, he is operating without the permission of his commanding officers who believe he has gone insane. We don't want to believe there is a logic to how Kurtz is fighting - which is essentially not caring about being a war criminal - but we do have to ask if there isn't a logic to it. Do we have to be bloodthirsty to fight bloodthirsty people? How low do we have to go to succeed? Would we do the same thing?
schizoidboy in order to win you need to play by the rules of the game. I hope I've covered ya.
No. No you don't. As evidenced by the communist.
I have a slightly different twist to this. I propose that his commanding officers were right. He was insane. And Captain Willard was the perfect soldier that Kurtz described. This is why Kurtz allowed him to kill him, he was able to embrace horror and make a friend of it, but he didn't become the indiscriminate murderer that Kurtz had become. So Kurtz recognized that Willard was special because unlike the other assassin that was sent before him, Willard didn't break and join him despite taking the same journey. I mean, he didn't succumb and allow the darkness to take over him. This is portrayed when Willard was leaving and all of the followers bowed down to him as the new leader but he rejects it and leaves. He leaves because he still retained his humanity.
I use this film in a modern media course I teach. This is a haunting vision of war and of what war (the Vietnam War in particular) does to those involved. Another interpretation of the movie is that it is a metaphor for the entire American experience in Vietnam. As the boat goes further and further into the river, the more insane and difficult it gets. Likewise, the deeper the boat goes, the harder it is to get back to where you started. So, as America got deeper into the war, the more insane it got and the harder it was to end it.
Interesting take, but, not exactly. More like a bell curve. US involvement peaked in early 1969. As the Nixon administration began to take it more seriously while simultaneously drawing down, the situation was improving. The Tet offensive of 1968 was a victory for the US and ARVN that effective saw the destruction of the VC guerillas within the South. Communists didn't have to worry about elections, media or a hostile Congress. Their victory came in the form of duping the US media into thinking otherwise.
North VN was not interested in negotiating a peace and wouldn't come to the table. Nixon initiated the Christmas bombing campaign of Dec 72 and gave the North an ultimatum. It worked. A peace was negotiated and all US combat units removed by 1973. Contrary to popular belief (fueled by ignorant media), the ARVN were quite capable at that stage as long as they had US air support and materiel aid (as promised).
The North, of course, violated the peace and launched the Easter offensive in 73 (largest to date) which the ARVN threw back with the assistance of US air. Everything was looking okay until the democrat Congress hog tied spending in support of Vietnam and DRASTICALLY cut aid and materiel. All air support was refused. Pres Ford begged for money to fulfill the US promises, but, Congress refused. As the NVA rolled toward Saigon in tanks (supplied by the USSR), they would have been sitting ducks for US air. The rest, as they say, is history. Democrats got the US into the war and tried to fight it in a limited way. Later, Democrats screwed their allies and the media lied about it. Some things never change.
God, I remember watching this movie for the first time. It was after having my wisdom teeth removed, and I was high out of my mind on the pain meds they'd give me. It was absolutely insane.
I know one thing - Apocalypse Now is not complete as a film without the entirety of the scene at the French plantation.
Fuzzy Dunlop on point i love it
+North Rock 99 - Basically it adds some historical context to the setting, it touches on themes of the past and of the cyclical nature of war in general. It talks about the American aid to the Viet-Minh (which eventually became the Viet Cong) during WW2 and about the French war in Vietnam afterwards, and I thought it was a scene that had content which kept it grounded from all the surrealism of the rest of the film but also kept the beauty of that cinematography style. I can see why it was originally taken out (perhaps because of pressure to do so because of the politics of it?), but it just completes the film for me.
Agree...mostly...Of all the added bits in Redux, the French scene is the most important. Could have cut the opium smoking and bedding of the widow parts. And the guy with the accordion needs to go away.
It was awful, pretentious junk that appeared to come from a different film. Possibly directed by Donald Cammell...
Yeah it's complete. That whole sequence just drags and the movie never recovers.
I loved the redux. The perspective of the French was very enlightening in a historical sense. The Vietnamese envied the USA and wanted to be free as Americans are in contrast to French colonialism and occupation. It's interesting how Ho Chi Mihn spent many years learning different cultures to include Russian, European, and American life firsthand. When Mihn became a communist from a socialist and led his people toward those ideals it solidified their fate and put them further from independence because the western world would never have embraced red.It's unfortunate how that war panned out for all parties involved. Only the dead have seen the end of war, there were no winners or losers just war and it impacted millions in tragic fashion. I value my time in the Marine infantry and I encourage people to get involved and leave the confines of their homelands and the restriction of second and third party information, spearheaded by mainstream media, to embrace new ideas, share cultures, and pass on refined legacies to our inheritance. We can learn a lot from history and break vicious cycles if we are bold enough to break from our comfort zones with inquisitive intent to understand humanity and its course.
Just the musings of an nonintellectual. Just a rifleman. Good show Crash Course.
Yes... bold, messy and definitively a masterpiece!
1:47 it's a critique of all imperialism but more specifically Belgian imperialism as the Congo was a Belgian colony
I'd like to point out that the early colony was personal property of the Belgian king Leopold II
Management of the colony was left largely to private companies
and Congo was not under the control of the Belgian government
They only stepped in later (1908) after international criticism
while the book "heart of darkness" is from 1899
Ward Indigne it was. The book references a Congo Company rather than Government and the Congo was the largest private estate in world history, conditions in the Congo also failed to get significantly better after the Belgian Government took over, as they were obsesses with race measuring and stuff like that. However Leopold was Belgian and so where many of the managers. So much in the same way that British East India Company controlled India was British colonialism, this was Belgian colonialism under Leopold II's Congo Company. Though the main point is that it wasn't British colonialism
@resqwec
Fair enough
just wanted to inform
suppose I should consider reading the book
What are you talking about, Kraflyn? What has that got to do with Heart of Darkness?
glad someone else caught on to that
It's truly an amazing story, the actors, the director, the film. It's the decent into madness on and off screen. It's life changing for all participants, it's the Heart of Darkness and it's passing from one to another.
There are also parallels with The Odyssey. The Playboy Bunnies are the sirens, the Do Long bridge is the underworld, etc. So many different lenses through which to view this wonderful film. Too bad Coppala never made another film worth watching.
In order to understand this movie, you need to start with its sources: Heart of Darkness, Eliot's "The Wasteland," the grail myth and the fisher king myth, the Nibelungenlied, and to understand the ending, The Golden Bough.
The Congo was a Belgium colony not English.
@@senoj.rednaxela Conrad was Polish first.
@@Vesnicie and?
one of the greatest movies ever made. but definitely not just a war movie. i would say it is primarily a thriller/suspense film, and as well as drama, taking place during the Vietnam war.
Can't wait for Pan's Labyrinth! That was the movie that made me love film study, and embrace anything with subtitles.
This is my favorite movie. It is the only movie which I have an actual copy of. Well, Apocalypse Now: Redux, that is.
Redux is the only one worth seeing.
AnthonyMazzarella I'd say the original will be the one to see. It's already a masterpiece, but adding more to it didn't change much for me.
Redux helps the original movie edit answer some things left in the breeze. Enjoy
One of my favourite movies of all time timeless classic
Heart of Darkness isn’t a critique on British Imperialism, since the Congo, where it’s set, wasn’t a British colony but a Belgian one.
Not only is this one of the greatest films of all time, but the documentary Heart of Darkness made my Coppola's wife is excellent in it's own right. Watch Apocalypse Now and then watch that.
No serious film buff should skip The Heart of Darkness... the doco about the making of the film is almost as intense as the film itself.
Beach assault scene killed an extra during blowing bridge & trench line.
It's one of the best movies ever made. One that works on so many levels and each level completely satisfying.
My late father who was a Vietnam Vet, will be 2 years since he passed May 3. Hearing his time in Nam, 3 movies match perfectly. Full Metal Jacket, Platoon and Apocalypse Now (especially his black ops mission)
I am so psyched for Pan's Labyrinth
Not trying to sound ignorant, but wasn't Brando in shadows because he was very overweight?
Yup! He showed up to production overweight (he was supposed to die in an action sequence with Sheen) and refused to learn his lines. He basically didn't want to do any work, but because he's Brando they let him get away with it.
He basically sat around, saying whatever came into his head, and just so happened to be filmed.
men bls So some of his lines in the film weren’t scripted?
I well tell you how Apocalypse Now is, its one of the best films ever made. It gets so haunting after starting, its a favorite of mine man
My favorite film of all time. What a masterpiece.
never saw the theatrical cut. have only now finished the extended cut. stands up extremely well
This well crafted introspective may be the segway needed for the next generations renewed interest in this epic film. Well done
Best episode so far, it has everything!
You guys should totally do one on 'The Conversation' as well!
But no hurries, Coppola's great, but there's still time to savour other directors too! Looking forward for the Pan's Labyrinth episode!
I suggest that anyone into this film reads the original book ‘Heart of darkness’ on which it is based.
Atheist Orphan
Next on list, my son read in high sch., I'm so proud of him
( he knew one of my fav movies) and he got it too
I read the book before watching the movie, and it made the movie 10x more enjoyable having read the book to be honest.
Yes better than the flick
It is, indeed, a true American masterpiece.
Pan's Labyrinth that should be good!
We're very proud of that episode. :)
- Nick J.
so, sad though
NOooooo........Its the idea of the Scapegoat in Religion , as outlined in the book on Kurtzs desk (GOLDEN BOUGH) .
Thats why the camera pans to it.
In order to have an ancient scapegoat you need a religion and a sacrificial King / God
The bulls sacrifice (like Lambs ) is to cleanse guilt from as tribe.
Thats why they both must be killed.
"Errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill" - Kurtz is the bill or sacrifice that must pay for the wars madness"
Its far far deeper that those shrinks say.
Heart of Darkness / The Golden Bough / Lord of the Flies and even the Bible.
Not even a mention to John Milius, the principal writer of the movie.
CESSKAR Probably because Coppola relied mostly on improvisation, largely because it was his best way to finally communicate with, and direct, Brsndo.
Krom!!!
It wouldn't fit the narrative. Get two female film critics. They'll fit.
Excellent! My favorite movie ever
To me this is one of the very few movies that isn't multi genre, but completely defies genre. I love this movie, but after watching this analysis I have a new respect for it, and Francis Ford Coppola.
The ending is the worst in all of movie history: Coppola sets its up perfectly, then flubs it. He originally intended the aesthetically more logical ending -- Kurz converts Willard to his way of thinking -- and then betrayed himself (and us) by not pulling it off. It would have required some brilliant writing from Coppola and brilliant acting from Brando. They both failed miserably . . .
Just saw the 40th anniversary version Apocalypse Now : Final Cut in the cinema. Amazing experience seeing it on the big screen with Dolby surround sound. I recommend seeing if you get the chance.
We're Our Souls About to see it in IMAX in a week.
I’m so goddamn excited!!
The moment where Willard shoots the wounded girl... that's illustrative of a dangerous state of mind that every one of us need to watch out for.
Every last one of us. 😣
Apocalypse Now’s opening scene is one of the best I have seen ever
Every scene.= A Gem....All the persona well illustrated...The Whole Mixture = Heart of Darkness....
"Heart of Darkness" is set in the Belgian Congo: Conrad was criticizing Belgian colonialism, not British. It was King Leopold II of Belgium's personal private property and a truly horrendous, shameful despicable low point in humanity's history. The Belgians chopped off the hands and arms of thousands of native Congolese (men, women and children) over rubber quotas. A true crime against humanity at least the equivalent of anything the Nazi's or Communists ever did.
This was 70% plot summary and 30% two criticism quotations.
This was one of those movies that went over my head. I was expecting a “Platoon” or “Saving Private Ryan”. Needless to say, I’m not a fan lol. I can definitely see how it would appeal to people that like to pick movies apart.
One of the best films ever made.
That was a great analysis of an awesome film, Michael. I remember watching Apocalypse Now when really young and not really understanding a lot. Then I revisited it much older and really grasped the depth of the film. Amazing stuff.
Depending on the print you see, Apolypse Now ends either with a black screen or the explosion of Kurtz's camp...indicating an air strike was launched.
That's exactly how i viewed the ending as well,Kurtz reflecting back on his time in Vietnam and the vicious nature and out of control manner which it had become with no ending in sight except for his final solution for victory which entailed parting ways from the traditional order of battle,thus uttering his final words,The Horror,The Horror.
Glad they did this one. Great movie. I do wonder much it's interpretation outreaches it's actual content
One of the greatest war movies ever made.
Yeah, when I hear "from a psychoanalytic perspective" I am rarely impressed by the conclusions. A psychoanalytical model means turning recognizable events into spectres of delusions and insisting on the depreciating the value, the _consequences_ of character's actions into being symbolic.
The audience is tacitly invited to turn anything truly disturbing into a kind of shadow play. They're not seeing a nakedly brutal depiction of the arbitrary cruelty of war, they're seeing sock puppets wagging back and forth over the limbs of very alive, very abstract puppeteers.
I think it's a kind of guilt response, a kind of denial mechanism. "You _metaphorically_ shot up that sampan. You didn't slaughter a family, you bloodlessly confronted an inner ugliness." Funny how that pulls the fangs from the power of a war narrative. Imagining that scenario is a distant, pathetic second to _seeing it_ when you can just tell yourself something like that "might have happened" instead allowing the viewer the blissful escape of innocence.
There are cases where psychoanalysis is appropriate, but they far fewer than their audience might wish. Take Fight Club which ends with something that should be readily psychoanalyzed but is in fact a direct literalization of some inner process and that scene's impact is in the literal-minded insanity of the act, not in Jack "talking" Tyler Durden to death.
Introspection has value, but only when paired to action. Otherwise what meaning is there in having a profoundly personal "transformation" that changes nothing about how you live? What stakes are there in an extended daydreaming session? Confronting a personal flaw is _nothing_ compared to actuating that flaw into a sin.
So, no. Not down with that "interpretation." I think it's essentially cowardly, I think it lacks the difficulty of action for a conviction like going to an anti-war protest versus "well I don't like the war but I support our troops."
Hello I am from India and in my 10th standard history textbook we had achapter called "Nationalism in Indo China". Apocalypse now is mentioned and they encourage us to watch the film. I personally found it very interesting. It was a good movie, as Francis tried to make sense of the Vietnamese war, whereas in films like John Wayne's Green Berets people were encourged to serve in the war. Apocalypse now is unique indeed.
_Without a doubt, the film is a masterpiece!_
I often saw the movie as looking into the darkness of the soul. It looks into the heart of darkness inside man, just like the book, it looks deep into the part of humans that we do are best to pretend aren't really. Kurtz was the best of the best we are told during the movie, but in the end the dark madness took him.
My only gripe in this commentary is the lack of recognition of Milius's contribution. His imprints are all over the film.
All praise the John Milius
You mentioned Scorsese. I just finished Hugo. One more like!
I always wondered what happened to Colby the soldier who went in before Willard.
He is standing the crowd when he Willard arrives at Kurtz compound
“Heart of Darkness” is about Belgian imperialism, not British.
Perfect timing to release this because my class is doing a comparison assignment between Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now
PAN'S LABYINTH~??!?
* screaming *
Excellent analysis! Crash Course Film Crit never fails! Really excited for the next episode tho since it'll showcase Del Torro's Pan's Labyrinth!!
This is my absolute favourite movie of all time.
I like the part where they are fighting at night and the soldier with a grenade luncher is able to hear a injured VC and launch the Grenade luncher to kill him, just by using sound and nothing else.
Gabriel Angelos
Hey soldier, do you know Who's in charge here??
- - - Yeah!- - -
Kinda sums it all up with his reply too .
So what you wait for: Bust'em Roach!!
Those are skills!!!
I think it was "Dispatches"... That was a real life grenade guy/real life bridge scene. 'Member, Herr worked on the A.N. narrative.
CRASH COURSE FILM CRITICISM DON'T SURF!
Great video, I love Apocalypse Now and I had no idea about the difficulties filming, which seems so fitting for the movie they were making.
However you hit a pet peeve of mine with "epileptic seizures", Epilepsy is the term for a seizure condition not a type of seizure, one can have Tonic-clonic (or grand mal) seizures (like I used to), Myoclonic seizures, Absence (or petit mal) seizures, Focal Seizures, etc. Given he you said he had "a seizure" not several he doesn't have epilepsy, you need to have a few to qualify, if it isn't really know which kind he had it's better to just say "he had a seizure".
Ya, dont agree with yalls interpretation, but love yall givin it some love
What a perfect example of struggle paying off.
Very good interpretation I think because these are points I would overlook . I would watch a movie to relax and enjoy it. Not to psychoanalyze and interpret the symbolism....at least not at first
I like the psychological interpretation. It seems very logical that the whole thing is a metaphor for what’s happening in his mind in the hotel. Kind of like Jacob’s Ladder.
But what I think is more interesting is that Douglas’ character represents the whole American situation about that war. If we had been brutal and surgical, we could have ended it very quickly. That’s what Kurtz is saying. Douglas’ character has to shut that voice in himself up metaphorically by killing Kurtz.
American wars post WW2 are this very strange mix of aggression and self consciousness. We have the power to level pretty much any other country but we are worried about optics so we do these long drawn out occupations instead.
That’s Apocalypse Now. The big army is useless, blundering, confused and ineffectual because they have an arm tied behind their back. That’s insanity. Kurtz is a precision striker not afraid to do whatever it takes. But he is labeled insane and targeted exactly because his methods work all too well.
The 4k remaster is incredible
heart of darkness is set in the congo free state that was belgian not british imperialism
congrats, you gained yourself another subscriber!
kurtz is based on the real life Barry Peterson an australian soldier sent into vietnam by the cia his story is fascinatingly documented in the book the tiger man of vietnam its a realy good read.
Well, you put things really nice about a "tough" movie... Kurtz would be proud.
All i heard was Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones...
WOo-Woooo
You should watch the documentary about the making of this movie. It's called A filmmakers Apocalypse and gives great insight into the troublesome production of Apocalypse Now.
If you're really into this film, you need to watch the "Hearts of Darkness" documentary about how it was made. It's full of interesting details and also indispensable for understanding what's going on with Brando being in the shadows, among other things.
The more I am listening to you, talking along about Apocalypse now, the more I am thinking about Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder, which seems to make references to the filming of Apocalypse now.