Apocalypse Now (1979)

A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola (as Francis Coppola)

Writers:

John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola (as Francis Coppola)

Stars:

Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall

Top Rated Movies #50 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 31 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marlon Brando	...	Colonel Walter E. Kurtz
Martin Sheen	...	Captain Benjamin L. Willard
Robert Duvall	...	Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore
Frederic Forrest	...	Jay 'Chef' Hicks
Sam Bottoms	...	Lance B. Johnson
Laurence Fishburne	...	Tyrone 'Clean' Miller (as Larry Fishburne)
Albert Hall	...	Chief Phillips
Harrison Ford	...	Colonel Lucas
Dennis Hopper	...	Photojournalist
G.D. Spradlin	...	General R. Corman
Jerry Ziesmer	...	Jerry, Civilian
Scott Glenn	...	Lieutenant Richard M. Colby
Bo Byers	...	MP Sergeant #1
James Keane	...	Kilgore's Gunner
Kerry Rossall	...	Mike from San Diego

Storyline

It is the height of the war in Vietnam, and U.S. Army Captain Willard is sent by Colonel Lucas and a General to carry out a mission that, officially, 'does not exist - nor will it ever exist'. The mission: To seek out a mysterious Green Beret Colonel, Walter Kurtz, whose army has crossed the border into Cambodia and is conducting hit-and-run missions against the Viet Cong and NVA. The army believes Kurtz has gone completely insane and Willard's job is to eliminate him. Willard, sent up the Nung River on a U.S. Navy patrol boat, discovers that his target is one of the most decorated officers in the U.S. Army. His crew meets up with surfer-type Lt-Colonel Kilgore, head of a U.S Army helicopter cavalry group which eliminates a Viet Cong outpost to provide an entry point into the Nung River. After some hair-raising encounters, in which some of his crew are killed, Willard, Lance and Chef reach Colonel Kurtz's outpost, beyond the Do Lung Bridge. Now, after becoming prisoners of Kurtz, will...

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Plot Keywords:

vietnam | jungle | vietnam war | secret mission | u.s. army | 

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Taglines:

The Horror. . . The Horror. . .

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent images, language, sexual content and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

American Zoetrope

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Vietnamese

Release Date:

15 August 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier

Filming Locations:

Philippines

Box Office

Budget:

$31,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$118,558, 19 August 1979, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$83,471,511

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zoetrope Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

147 min 196 min (Redux) 330 min (workprint) 183 min (Final Cut)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Digital (Redux version) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints) DTS (Redux version) Dolby Atmos (Final Cut)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Francis Ford Coppola invested several million dollars of his own money in the film after it went severely over budget. He eventually had to mortgage his house and Napa Valley winery to finish the film.

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Goofs

According to the identity cards Willard thumbed through, one of the Vietnamese spies Kurtz assassinated in November 1968 was Vo Van Sau, born on 30 September 1947. However Vo's photograph is of a balding man who certainly looks no younger than thirty.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Willard (voice-over): Saigon... shit; I'm still only in Saigon... Every time I think I'm gonna wake up back in the jungle.
Willard (voice-over): When I was home after my first tour, it was worse.
[grabs at flying insect]
Willard (voice-over): I'd wake up and there'd be nothing. I hardly said a word to my wife, until I said "yes" to a divorce. When I was here, I wanted to be there; when I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle. I'm here a week now... waiting for a mission... getting softer. Every minute I stay in this room...

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits in the film. The title can be seen as graffiti in the Kurtz compound late in the film.

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Alternate Versions

There are four different treatments of the end credits, all four are available in different VHS, laserdisc, DVD and TV prints of the film......

• When the film premiered in a limited 70mm format, it had no beginning or end credits, nothing but a one-line Omni Zoetrope copyright notice at the end. Programs were passed out to theatre goers in lieu of any credits (this ending was used for the theatrical cut featured on the 2011 Blu-Ray release).
• When the film went into its wide release its format was 35mm. This version included end credits rolling over surrealistic explosions and burning jungle, showing the Kurtz compound being destroyed (included as a deleted scene on the 2011 Blu-Ray release, with optional commentary from Coppola).
• When Coppola heard that people were assuming that the explosions during the end credits of the 35mm version meant that an air strike had been called in on the Kurtz compound (which is not what he wanted audiences to think) he quickly re-edited the 35mm version to have the end credits rolling over a simple black background and a slightly altered musical score.
• The "Redux" version also has the end credits over a black background but in different screen fonts and including additional "Redux" inserted cast members.

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Connections

Referenced in The Canyons (2013)

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Soundtracks

Love Me, And Let Me Love You
by Robert Duvall

User Reviews

skip Redux version, watch original first

Top 20 war movie

in Redux they added long scenes that changed tempo of movie. The one at the plantation didn't work well in context. What a great film!