Unlike Bill Murray's Stripes, this is a war movie that actually gets better in the second half. Apocalypse Now is a classic war film that was long overdue for me to see, but I'm glad that I finally did. This movie has a decently interesting plot, but thankfully the incredible directing and fantastic performances make up for any lack of engaging content in the storytelling. I've mentioned before how war films will never be my cup of tea and this movie, unfortunately, did not do much to change my opinion on that front. However, I had watched a documentary earlier last year about the making of this film and the absolute mess that it was and taking all of this information into consideration honestly made the movie that much more interesting to watch.
This film follows Captain Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen) after he is brought back into the service to carry out yet another mission for the U.S. Special Forces in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Willard is sent with a ragtag group of men to assassinate renegade Colonel Walter Kurtz (Marlon Brando) who has instilled himself as a godlike figure amongst an unknowing local tribe. Willard does not know, however, how much of a personal impact he will have to face and how powerfully manipulative Kurtz is as a war-hardened veteran. Even though this plot seems simple enough to follow, it is incredible to see how much the movie refused to focus on this A-plot until the last hour or so. In the documentary that I had watched, I saw the months of prepping and troubles that this film crew had to go through in order to get all of the explosions and on-location filming done that they wanted to. Unfortunately, this spectacle aspect seemed to take precedence over anything else as the film began. These expository scenes are always important in establishing the environment of a film, but they lasted far too long in this movie. I suppose there is a reason why anyone only ever references the "Flight of the Valkyries" opening sequence as the U.S. army bombed Vietnam and the relentless destruction that ensued, as opposed to the actually exciting and well-written plot towards the end.
The one good element that I got out of these opening scenes were some memorable lines and a fairly generic message that worked well. The writing in this film is fairly decent in the first half, as it seems just like a recollection of what occurred overseas in Vietnam rather than actual rising actions or plot development, but gets much better as the movie goes on. The third act or so was incredible, especially in the dialogue, in how it treated the characters and the almost dehumanizing and out-of-body things that Willard was sent through. Sheen and Brando's performances throughout this film were absolutely stellar. They completely nailed the uneasy feel of the whole plot and truly embodied the inexplicable personalities of their characters. I also really enjoyed how this film touched on PTSD and focused on delivering a message about the horrible effects of unnecessary war. This honestly made the opening scenes and their insurmountable uses of violence bearable to watch.
Francis Ford Coppola's directing is what really brings this whole film together, as his form of storytelling is definitively effective. This film could have been an atrocious look at a captain attempting to assassinate a rogue general in the middle of a war-torn area, but instead, Coppola makes this story a visually beautiful look at what war does to the human spirit and the accompanying cultures around it as well. This story is told so elegantly, accompanied by gorgeous cinematography by Vittorio Storaro and patient yet breathable editing from Lisa Fruchtman, Gerald B. Greenberg, and Walter Murch. All of the technical aspects of this film, as terrible as they were to accomplish, turned out great and definitely only added to Coppola's already fantastic style. Throw in some supporting performances from Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper and some cameos from relative newcomers Harrison Ford and Laurence Fishburne and Coppola truly had a classic recipe for filmmaking success.
Apocalypse Now is a classic film that is as engrossing as its production was horrible. Sheen and Brando's chemistry together throughout this film make for some of the best scenes and definitely help to bring the first two acts out of their insufferable lull. Unfortunately, if it wasn't for them and Coppola's captivating directing, I can honestly say that I do not know why else people would rave about this film.
My Rating: ★★★½
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