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Apocalypse Now (1979) - Full Reaction (Patreon)

Published:
2024-05-08 18:39:53
Imported:
2026-06
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Well I did it. Definitely a hard and uncomfortable watch but I do feel accomplished to check that one off. It gave me that pit in my stomach and I think that was what it was supposed to do. The more I learn about the Vietnam war, the more I'm sure no one came home unscathed.

I watched this on Amazon, it's not the redux version.

Direct link.

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[Full Reaction] Apocalypse Now (1979)

Comments

Daniel Karlsson

Never seen this movie, looking forward to watching it.

Rosario Cicero

She thought Full Metal Jacket was rough? Hoo-Boy!!!

David Freese

Well I thought we’d never see the day that Cassie would see this. I’ve only seen once and never had a reason to watch again till now

Wes

Congratulations for making it through this one Cassie. You deserve a ribbon and maybe a spa day 😬

Uncle Phoenix

So I was rewatching The Holiday with Cameron Diaz and that girl from Titanic. Anyways, Cameron Diaz is clearly wearing socks to bed. Therefore, she's a total psychopath. (Or maybe she was just cold.)

Michael Enos

Anxious to watch this.. will check it this evening... I know it's a tough watch..but after what you've experienced up to this point I thought you'd make through.

Shehab Dawoud

Of course this is posted just as I’m about to watch my team play the biggest game of the season🙄 Oh well, give me about 3 hours and I’ll get to this. Can’t wait!

Godzilla Jones

Now watch the Heart of Darkness making of doc. Hell of a production. Literally.

zynjams

I like the smell of napalm in the morning. Smells like victory

Alex Villarreal

My dad introduced me to this movie: it was his favorite, and now it’s my fav, too. I saw THE FINAL CUT in a movie theater last year, and it was amazing. It’s my favorite version but I understand that most people think the inserted French plantation sequence brings the movie to a standstill. But I still love it: if movies are an art form, this movie is a great expression of that sentiment.

Marja

Dennis is Hopper is so magnetic!

Hail to the King

This isn't a movie, it's an experience BTW PULL CARLY FROM THE TOTAL RECALL REACTION - SHE WON'T MAKE IT PAST 20 MINS

Cole Jennett

Anyone who rolls their eyes because you “feel strongly” doesn’t need to be given a second thought.

Larry Darrell

Anyone else up for Barbecue? Too Soon? I’ll see myself out. Be back after I watch. ;-)

Just Plain Bob

Cassie, Kurtz was played by Marlon Brando. You previously saw Brando playing Don Corleone in The Godfather. Also, in the hotel room scene in which Martin Sheen loses it, he cut his hand badly when he struck the mirror. He also had a major heart attack during filming, which necessitated the delay of the production. I’m sure others will recommend it as well, but you should watch Hearts of Darkness, the documentary made by the director’s wife about the making of the film. It’s extraordinary.

Above Average Dave

God bless, Cassie. This is a tough watch for anyone. btw, did you see your br Harrison Ford in one of his earliest roles? you should probably cleanse your brain with a nice helping of ROOM WITH A VIEW, DOC HOLLYWOOD, SECRET OF MY SUCCESS or something else that will make you smile and cleanse your mental palate. 😁😁😁

Matt Rose

Congratulations and kudos for doing this one. It's not an easy viewing experience. The surrealistic elements of it can be hard to absorb when juxtaposed against very realistic violence.

Jesus F Christ

I highly recommend watching the documentary "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse", made by Eleanor Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola's wife, all about how "Apocalypse Now" was made. She was filming behind the scenes and writing a diary the whole time, and it gives a lot of context to this movie. Martin Sheen talks about his breakdown scene and how he really was going through a mid-life crisis, how the helicopters kept getting called away during filming to fight the rebels in the Philippine jungle, and how the scene with the water buffalo (that scene) was from an actual tribal ceremony, not just filmed for the movie. It won an Academy Award for best documentary feature, and many people consider it the best doc about filmmaking. FFC compared the making of this movie to the actual Vietnam War like this: ""We went into the jungle, there were too many of us; we had too much money, too much equipment and, little by little, we went insane."

Dan M

I’ll probably get chastised for saying this, but I’ve never seen this movie. I’ve seen a lot of war movies and they are all tough watches, but I’ve heard this one is really difficult. But, I am a loyal Patron and I fully support the channel, so I will dive into this one tonight and share in the trauma with you Cassie.

Stick Figure Studios
>>137452157

It really is one of the greatest documentaries about the making of a movie ever. I actually saw it before I saw the film itself.

Dan M
>>137452585

I think Carly can make it through Total Recall, I just don’t think she’ll like the movie all that much. She may appreciate the story, but won’t be happy with the violence. And the violence is more campy sci-fi violence than horror movie violence.

Matt Rose
>>137453411

If nothing else, enjoy the film for the absolute mastery of filmmaking that it displays.

Celeste McAllister

Pay a visit to a local Veterans Administration,donate what you can these guys deserve our help..@Woundedwarriors.com💜

Dan M
>>137452052

Decisions, decisions…what I wouldn’t give to be able to do multiple things at one time

Henry Graham

I'm glad you watched it in the original theatrical version. I think part of what makes this film great is that the insanity of its making was captured in that first cut in a way that the re-edited versions have always slightly lost for me. As Coppola said, they making of the movie reflected the US experience in Vietnam: "We were in the jungle. There were too many of us. We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little, we went insane." A legendarily disastrous shoot that went wildly over schedule and over budget; Martin Sheen's alcoholic breakdown (as seen on screen) and near-fatal heart attack; a typhoon destroying the sets; Brando turning up massively overweight and improvising all his dialogue; Coppola having to mortgage all his assets to finish the film.... somehow he pulled a masterpiece out of this chaos. One of the most visually and sonically innovative films ever made, and one of the most indelible portraits of the madness of war and the darkness at the heart of men. As others will surely point out, the late Eleanor Coppola's documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is an essential companion piece.

Stick Figure Studios
>>137452231

I think the French Plantation sequence is fascinating in isolation, but I don't think it works in the context of the film (although it does at least explain what they did with Clean's body). I still think the original theatrical version is the best, but FINAL CUT is still superior to REDUX.

Bill Hayden

Fun fact: The decapitated heads leading up to Kurtz's camp, were in fact real human heads. Now, they were still attached to their owners who were sitting in wooden boxes that were then covered with dirt. Throw on a little makeup, and voila...

Scott Macaulay

I think the 'making of' documentary of this is actually more interesting than the movie itself.

Henry Graham

Rather than rolling my eyes, the way you feel deeply is the reason I love watching these films with you, Cassie. Your emotional reactions are so raw and true, and it makes revisiting these films recapture the experience of seeing them for the first time.

Richard

R. Lee Ermey, the drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket, has a brief cameo as one of Kilgore's helicopter pilots.

Celeste McAllister

'On the Waterfront' 'A Streetcar Named Desire' two of Marlon Brado's Oscar winning films,back in the day when the Academy Awards actually meant something. :)

Alex Gorell

I haven’t not seen this movie so I’m gonna be watching it for the first time with ya. I’ve heard it’s a really tough watch. Update: I did not like this movie one bit.

Raj K. Dixit

An all time great film, but it can be tough to watch. So proud of you, Cassie! Can't wait for the YT cut

JL_83

haven’t seen this one in a long time so the rewatch should be interesting…

Rose

Francis Ford Coppola had to sell the script of “The Black Stallion” to United Artists so he could finish “Apocalypse Now.” You should really checkout “The Black Stallion” for your next comfort film. Coppola believed in the script so much - when most did not - to make this heartwarming epic come to life. It’s a beloved classic and I think you and your kids would love it. Coppola’s dad Carmine Coppola and Shirley Walker composed the stirring score and Caleb Deschanel’s cinematography is stunning. Pure cinema!

D. T. Nelson

Unfortunately the only place this is available to watch for free (Amazon Prime) only has the Redux version with the extra 40+ minutes of additional footage, so it wouldn't sync with the reaction. I won't pay money to subject myself to this movie again. Maybe I'll watch the YouTube edit version when that is posted.

Odd Thomas

Yeah, I can't say I'm a fan of Apox Now in any form

Stick Figure Studios
>>137456276

It is, but it's worth it. A truly great film. :-) Update: That's too bad.. :-( I will say that it's a movie that can take multiple viewings to fully appreciate. I wasn't too enamored of it the first time I saw it either, but a few more rewatches over the years has turned it into one of my top 10 favorite films.

Stick Figure Studios
>>137455341

I didn't know that. Cool. I just heard Ermey's voice make a cameo appearance in the third X-MEN film during that rewatch.

Stick Figure Studios
>>137455142

I think it's equally as interesting. The doc is one of the all-time great documentaries about the making of a film ever done (RIP Eleanor Coppola). I actually saw it before I saw the movie.

Stick Figure Studios
>>137453130

"Surreal" is a good word ("hypnotic" another one). The further upriver he gets, the more dreamlike and hallucinatory the imagery gets .

christopher b swanson

not just Vietnam..........no one comes back from war unscathed ever

Steve Mercier

'Horror has a face and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not, then they are enemies to be feared.'

Story Archer

I really wish people would keep in mind their audience when requesting reactions. It's not always about what we might personally enjoy, it's about what we might enjoy sharing with them. There are plenty of movies that I love that I would never try to get these two to watch, especially with so many more appropriate choices still out there... Some of these films, especially lately, you can tell they're doing their best to put a good face on it, but they're just grinning and bearing it.

Phil Stubblefield

My high school English teacher got parental permission to take students to see this film shortly after we read the novel "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad on which it was loosely based. Having been shell-shocked by the insanity of the Vietnam experience, we emerged from the theater only to find the lobby packed with soldiers from a nearby Army base, all waiting for the next showing. Needless to say, with characters like Col. Kilgore (the air-cav commander) and Col. Kurtz on fresh on our minds, we were more than a bit freaked out and got out of there as quickly as possible!

David Freese
>>137461843

Just so I know what other movies lately are they just putting in a good face because I don’t see anything really in the last few months before today that was something they just finished just to finish. I’m sometimes bad at reading people so I’d just like to know specifically what movies I’m totally reading wrong.only examples is this Big Trouble in Little China and maybe True Romance.

Phil Emral

Art is not always just meant to make you feel good and happy, there’s a full range of human emotions that artists are trying to work with. Coppolla had to make a horrific film to properly express how horrific the Vietnam War was for everyone, but especially and primarily the Vietnamese. A very difficult watch and definitely not what you’re used to, but a very important film. You should be proud of yourself.

pinkdino99

Would be interested to know which hit hardest... this or Platoon ? (Platoon for me personally every time). The documentary Hearts of Darkness A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is a movie unto itself describing the hell it took to get this thing on the screen. The redux has a crazy 30 min scene just before they get to Kurtz camp where the boat comes into a French plantation. There is a mansion set up with the French staff and owners whom throw the Americans a dinner party. The Vietnamese had been at war with the French before this war for their colonisation of French Indochina in the late 1800s. It is a wildly surreal scene in a wildly surreal movie.

John Cranberry

Platoon is a far superior film in my opinion.

Stick Figure Studios
>>137469170

PLATOON is certainly a more straightforward and conventional Hollywood war movie, but I think APOCALYPSE NOW is transcendant.

zynjams

the ending is they dropped napalm on the village

Doc Larry

There is so many reasons why your channel is so successful. One of the reasons is you’re able to suspend reality and put yourself in the movie that is a talent. Walt Disney had that talent that’s why his movies were so successful and he let the audience take the ride with him. When he did sleeping beauty, he had adults crying at a cartoon just think about that.

James Cade

I know it's a hard watch Cass, but good on you for doing it. One of the most important anti-war films ever.

MikeLL

I'm proud Cassie got to this one. I'm not sure that she was the intended audience for this movie, but I should not have doubted her. Her excellent outro proved she got what was expected out of this movie and was as concise an analysis of this film as any I've ever heard.. Francis Ford Coppola made three very important films in the 1970's, and Cassie has seen all three of them now: The Godfather, The Godfather Part 2, and Apocalypse Now. And he reused some actors in some of the films: Marlon Brando who played Kurtz was the godfather Vito Corleone in The Godfather Robert Duvall, who Cassie recognized in Apocalypse Now was Tom Hagen in The Godfather and Part 2. One of the early officers who gave Martin Sheen his mission to go after Kurtz was actor G. D. Spradlin was Senator Geary in Godfather Part 2. Glad she recognized Harrison Ford, but Clean, the young 17 year old soldier on the boat who was killed while his mothers tape played was a very young Laurence Fishburne from the Matrix and John Wick movies. And the crazy photojournalist with Kurtz was Dennis Hopper, was just recently seen as the father of Christian Slater's character in True Romance.

Stick Figure Studios

"Terminate with extreme prejudice." Golly, there's so much to talk about with this film. As you mentioned in your intro, it's based on Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" but transposed to Vietnam by screenwriter John Milius (the writer director of RED DAWN; this, incidentally, explains all the weird surfing in the movie). Interestingly, HEARTS OF DARKNESS became the title of the documentary chronicling the film's troubled production. It features an extensive use of on-set footage shot by Francis Ford Coppola's wife Eleanor (who just passed away last week) and is definitely is one of the greatest docs ever done on the making of a film. I actually saw it as an adolescent before I ever watched APOCALYPSE NOW. As other have mentioned, it was a nightmare shoot with sickness, injury, tempers, destruction and all manner of adversity, but through the madness, the blood, the sweat and the tears, Coppola managed to pull out a masterpiece. A brutal, harrowing yet often surprisingly beautiful (thanks to the gorgeous cinematography of Vittorio Storaro) and profound meditation on the insanity of war and what it does to the human psyche. It is not as straightforward and conventional a narrative as, say, FULL METAL JACKET or PLATOON. It's more mysterious. More abstract. More philosophical. For those reasons among others, I consider it the best war film ever made (surpassing even SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and THE THIN RED LINE, my other two "favorites") because, like all truly great works of art, it transcends its subject matter to become Universal in its scope. It's about the darkness that lies within us all and it explores that darkness in increasingly symbolic and metaphorical ways as the film goes on. The further upriver Willard gets, the deeper he descends into the the madness that lies at the heart of all human conflict. This is a movie about the horrors that can be found in the depths of the human soul. At times, it is almost like a horror film, which is why it is no coincidence that the closing lines of the movie are Marlon Brando's dying words: "The horror... The horror." I knew this wasn't going to be a pleasant viewing experience for you, but I think that some films should just be seen, whether or not the viewer "likes" or enjoys them, simply because they are that great and/or important. APOCALYPSE NOW set the standard for every war film that followed it. It's filled with marvelous performances (my personal favorite of which is Dennis Hopper as the photojournalist, who is clearly high as a kite), sublime images (at times it feels positively dreamlike and hallucinatory), immersive sound design, spectacular set pieces that became hugely influential (the "Ride of the Valkyries" helicopter attack has been referenced in countless other movies), a hauntingly hypnotic music score, fantastic editing by the great Walter Murch, the occasional bit of humor (I like the guy recording the battle telling them to "not look at the camera;" that, incidentally, is the director of the film Francis Ford Coppola in a cameo appearance), provocative ideas and masterfully stylish filmmaking. APOCALYPSE NOW may not be to everyone's tastes, but it's still essential viewing for anybody who takes movies (or art) at all seriously. I appreciate you giving it a try. I am particularly glad that you watched the original theatrical cut. For my money, it's still the best version. The REDUX added an hour of footage including an odd subplot about Willard stealing Kilgore's surfboard, a positively ghoulish second scene with the Playboy bunnies and a moment of Kurtz reading a Time magazine article (that's one scene that I do wish was still present in the original cut). There is also an extended sequence of the boat coming upon a French plantation. That whole set piece is fascinating in isolation, but doesn't work in the context of the film itself imo (though it does at least explain what they did with Clean's body). When Coppola recently released the third and presumably final version of this movie (hence, it's subtitle "THE FINAL CUT"), he removed everything from the REDUX except the French plantation passage. It's still not as good as the 1979 version, but it's better than the REDUX. This, incidentally, was the version that I saw in the theater and it was utterly captivating. So glad I had the chance to finally see it on the big screen. It was, no exaggeration, like seeing it for the first time. "The horror... The horror."

Dan M
>>137455218

I feel the exact same way. There’s always something new that I experience when I watch along with Cassie and Carly, even if it’s a movie I’ve seen several times in the past. And I usually find myself getting more emotional or more excited, or laughing more, than I did the first time I experienced certain movies.

Clay F

"Please ... don't try to be their god." Thanks for doing a tough reaction. In your intro, you said you "deeply feel what I am watching... Feels very real." I have noticed. You immerse yourself. I am envious b/c must be a rich experience but the downside is dark or scary movies may be too much. Kurtz recording: "That's my nightmare." You've said that in other reactions. "The horror. The horror." Now, you will be in the know when you hear that. I like the scene w/Harrison Ford. The other guy states "terminate ... with extreme prejudice." The general is the Nevada US Senator in The Godfather. As others indicated above, Kurtz = Marlon Brando (The Godfather - Vito Corleone). Francis Ford Coppola directed both The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. M. Sheen excellent narration like his son in Platoon. I like the lighting in this movie. Robert Duval nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscar. “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” Dennis Hopper (Clarence's dad in True Romance) is the photojournalist. “Hey, man, you don't talk to the Colonel. Well, you listen to him.” Excellent performance. As indicated in a comment above, Laurence Fishburn (The Matrix, John Wick, Akeelah and the Bee) is the skinny teenager "Clean" who was killed. The Mom recording playing gets to me. Cambodia was neutral in the Vietnam War. North Vietnam moved soldiers and supplies through Cambodia (Ho Chi Minh Trail). For an excellent movie of what happens in Cambodia (1975-1979) after conclusion of Vietnam War, see "THE KILLING FIELDS" (1984) (based on true story) (currently 17 requests at popcornrequests.com) starring Sam Waterston and John Malkovich. Raquel Welch (in USO Bob Hope show in 1967 in Vietnam): "Sending girls like me to Vietnam to entertain the troops is like teasing a caged lion with a piece of raw meat." Chef mentions Raquel Welch in wanting to search for mangoes. She died last year at age 82. Colby sent on the identical mission but joined Kurtz is Scott Glenn. He is in Silverado, The Hunt for Red October (commander of USS Dallas), Silence of the Lambs, and The Right Stuff. The brief glimpse of what he said in letter to his wife: "Sell the house. Sell the car. Sell the kids. Find someone else. Forget it. I'm never coming back. Forget it." At least you were spared a sadistic bootcamp as in FMJ. As you may have noticed, a helicopter pilot w/Robert Duval character is the harsh sergeant who leads the FMJ bootcamp.

Stick Figure Studios
>>137471353

That's actually not what happened. The shots of explosions that originally played under the end credits of the first 35mm wide release version of the film were never intended to suggest that the compound was blown up. Coppola just thought those were cool images to roll the end credits over, but when he found out that people were interpreting it as Willard calling in the air strike, he immediately pulled those prints and removed those shots in them. They are absent from all subsequent cuts of the film.

Stick Figure Studios
>>137465243

Part of the point of art is to challenge and provoke and this film is certainly one of the most challenging and provocative to ever emerge from the Hollywood system.

Damien beatty
>>137472650

I would like to think he made four very important films in the seventies. "The Conversation" (1974) to me fits right in between the others in greatness, and often but not always gets overlooked.

Damien beatty
>>137472789

I personally do not think any of the scenes in redux matter, they just bog down the storyline, but I do think the part with the French plantation is important in that many people do not realize that Vietnam was colonized by the French in the 1880's and to me that is a very important subject on its own, and it would be nice to hear this part of history brought up more when speaking of Vietnam.

Damien beatty

It's okay to be scared of films Cassie, and it is okay to be emotional about them as well, that is the point of well made films. There are quite a few films I love that I have to be in the mood for. There are also films I can only watch once for one reason or another, but I am glad I watched them, not just because I get to say I saw them, but because of all great art the invoke an emotion in me that is too sad, or makes me angry, or has something in it that I am physically repulsed by. You made the journey and I am proud of you for taking the leap.

Shehab Dawoud

I jumped straight from watching my team qualify for the Champions League final to this. The greatest war film, one of the greatest films ever, with arguably the greatest cinematography ever. Although I call it a war film, it's not really. Not when you compare it to some of the other stuff you've seen. It's more of a psychological horror that just happens to take place in the Vietnam war. It's a journey through one's self, one's heart, and one's own sanity. How far can you slip in circumstances like this? It's fitting that the longer they go up the river, the more insane and otherworldly everything becomes. As others have mentioned, watch the documentary. The making of this film is just as much of a film as the actual film itself. Nothing will ever compare to what they went through to produce this. To answer your question as to why Kurtz was always lurking in the dark.. it's because Marlon Brando showed up to the set bald and FAT. He was supposed to be wearing his uniform but he couldn't fit it. So Coppola decided to have him wear black and shoot him in the dark. Stylistically and thematically, it paid off. That wasn't that bad.

Philip Alan

You handled that movie surprisingly well, Cassie. Nice CHECK OFF! Onto the next!

Shehab Dawoud

Speaking of Marlon Brando, he was born just over 100 years ago, and died almost 20 years ago. To me he's not the greatest actor of all time, De Niro takes that honor, and quite comfortably. But Brando is arguably the most influential actor of all time. He revolutionized acting for good with the method of fully immersing himself into the character he's playing. Nowadays so many are doing it, but Brando is the one that made it popular. And without Brando, we wouldn't have gotten De Niro, Pacino, Nicholson, Hoffman, etc. They all wanted to be like Brando. His public rebellious, eccentric persona was also something that people hadn't seen before. The stars that came before him like Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Humprhey Bogart, Gregory Peck were polar opposites in the way they portrayed themselves and the characters they played. I think it'd be nice if we got more of him on the channel. Some of his work from the 50s would be obvious as those were his glory days before he started to unravel. The two big ones are 'A Streetcar Named Desire' and 'On The Waterfront'.

Chris Thom

Stunning movie. So many of the shots and that look like they could be framed and put in a gallery. The cinematography is that good. Definitely not a typical war movie by any means, but a very special film all around. One of the most well-made ever. Francis Ford Coppola is such a major talent. He has a new one with Adam Driver coming out this year called Megalopolis. Or something to that. Glad you knocked that one off the list Cassie! You look a little shook...kinda like you had your first acid trip. But again...movie movie movie. Though it is important to contemplate that real war is NOT just a movie, and the consequences of it are very...consequential. For individuals and society. Think I'm going to finally read Heart of Darkness.

Chris Thom
>>137476598

The fact that he was in the dark worked really well actually. Puts more focus on his words rather than his image or personality quirks.

Larry Darrell

About to watch now, but gotta say before… Apocalypse Now was a Must Watch. No Ifs, Ands, Buts about it. There is at least one more Vietnam related film which is a Must Watch, and that is… The Deer Hunter (1978). If you are going to attempt to become even just a Quasi-Film Buff, Both of these films Must Be Watched. Period. IMO, The Deer Hunter is a Masterpiece and not as bleak as others like to make it out be. I hope Cassie doesn’t get too weary of the Vietnam subject before She gets to it. It has more rewards than Apocalypse. Now before anyone else recommends any more Vietnam films that Cassie Must Watch, let me suggest a Vietnam film to Cool things down with, if it’s needed… Operation Dumbo Drop (1995), starring Danny Glover, Ray Liotta and Denis Leary. It’s not the greatest film, but it’s fun and interesting to see Three actors mainly known for rated R films do a PG Disney film. Just an idea if you need another lighter War film as a buffer.

JPDotCom23

"The horror. The horror"

JPDotCom23

You should check out the documentary 'Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse'

Chris Thom
>>137468096

This was definitely more of an art film than most other war movies, which makes it a bit more applicable to other events and scenarios. Like how they took out the central themes from Heart of Darkness, taking them away from imperialism and exploitation in Africa, and moved it into the Vietnam War. Platoon is more personal.

Chris Thom
>>137458427

Yeah I was bummed about that. I just went ahead and rented it for the 3.50. First time in six months I've rented a movie.

Lamar Smith

Dearest Cassie, I’m sorry for the length. On your outro, you said, “War is insane.” I think ‘Kurtz’ response to that would be “War fought by half-measures is the true insanity.” A famous German philosopher warned “not to stare too long into the abyss, for the abyss stares back into you,” or some such. I’ll try to take it piece by piece, it’s a truly slippery slope: To go in to a war without the will or intent to win is insane. If your enemy has no limits on what they’ll do to win, then for you to hold on to some arbitrary moral standard, no matter how virtuous is, at the very least, guaranteed to continue the war, the horror, longer which is, ultimately, immoral. Sherman used the same rationale for burning his way from Atlanta to the sea. ‘Kurtz’ grease pencil addition to his, what, memoir, “Drop the bomb, kill them all!” is an agreement that the most merciful war is the shortest. War’s effects, however, causes a moral dilemma in everyone serving. In order to end the war quicker, you must be willing to become horror to end it. Every military in existence forces its men to become horror then hopes the horror they experienced won’t stay with them, negatively affect them forever. It very frequently does. This is all just moralizing. I’ll make it more concrete: Vietnam is a long, skinny coastal country with two nations inland; Laos & Cambodia. Laos & Cambodia were nominally neutral, meaning any sort of air strike or land incursion into them was, at worst, an invasion of a small impoverished country, at best, a war crime. The North Vietnamese supply network, the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ran through both countries, funneling men and supplies into South Vietnam. I’m sure you’d agree that allowing enemy supply lines to flow freely into areas where your own troops were stationed makes you both dumb and morally culpable for every death and injury of your own troops, especially when you have the mightiest Air Force in the world. Nixon authorized B-52 strikes on the Ho Chi Minh trail; a blatant act of aggression against two impoverished neutral nations. We were caught in a moral trap: to bomb and send forces in to interdict the lines of supply was immoral. To NOT do the same was also immoral and dumb. Finally, back to the horror piece, even had we completely shut off their supply lines, the Vietnamese people had a centuries long tradition of fighting off much stronger invaders, most notably China multiple times. The Vietnamese were willing to fight forever, sustain the loss of vast swaths of their population to keep their independence. ‘Kurtz’ was, in a sense, right. To defeat them, we would have had to kill every one of them and that sort of thing has many names but genocide and ethnic cleansing spring to mind. If we weren’t willing to do that, then every day we spent there plunged us deeper into the moral trap I described. If you have to fight, fight all the way and win or don’t fight. Anything else is madness, horrible and immoral. Again sorry for the length.

Stick Figure Studios
>>137477555

I think ON THE WATERFRONT would be an excellent movie for Cassie to watch to get a sense of why Brando became such an icon.

Lamar Smith

Dearest Cassie, you missed one glaring actor identification. ‘Mr Clean/Clean’ was none other than an extremely young Laurence ‘Morpheus’ Fishburne. ‘Kurtz’ was an extremely overweight Marlon ‘Don Corleone’ Brando. You did, of course, spot your crush, your man Harrison. When Martin Sheen went ashore and there was a ‘TV crew’ that was Francis Ford Coppola. The crazy surfer commander was Robert Duvall.

Lana Gorgeous

Hey sis, the young black actor who played the character of Clean, was the famous actor Lawrence Fishburne. He was only 14 years during filming of his movie. I think this might have only been his 2nd or 3rd movie role. He played the lead character in another movie when he was around 12 called Cornbread, Earl and Me. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072822/. If you ever get a chance you should check it out sometimes. Even as a little kid he was a very talented actor.

David Fuchs

It all depends on WHY you used to "turn to the last page, & make sure it's a happy ending."

Carol_White
>>137480698

I really like how you make a habit out of calling her "Dearest Cassie." You should continue this forever, it makes you seem super-possessive. as if you have some sort of mental problem.

Zachary K. (Swiftie)

Francis Coppola initially wanted Steve McQueen to play Willard but McQueen didn't want to spend three weeks out of the US and Coppola didn't want to pay McQueen's $3 million dollar fee.

Gray

Hadn't seen it since i was young and couldn't really remember it well and wow what a trip that film was lol So when's the happy movie poll :D

Terry Yelmene

"A dark and evil place and I don't like it." ~ Cassie "The Horror... the horror." ~ Kurtz

Mike Gallagher

I admire the artistry all around, but cannot say I like the film. I watch it roughly every 10 years, but I think this is the last time. I feel how Samuel Johnson felt about Paradise Lost: "Paradise Lost is one of the books which the reader admires and lays down, and forgets to take up again. None ever wished it longer than it is. Its perusal is a duty rather than a pleasure. We read Milton for instruction, retire harassed and overburdened, and look elsewhere for recreation"

Mike Gallagher

I won't go too deep in this film, but I'll do a 9-10 paragraph analysis of Smokey and the Bandit when the time comes. j/k

Brian's Dog

The jaw drop expression while they were surfing, that's the best thumbnail for the youtube. Great reaction.

Uncle Phoenix

Did anyone else notice CHARLIE SHEEN’s cameo???

Stick Figure Studios
>>137486019

Coppola also initially cast Harvey Keitel as Willard and even shot for a few weeks with him, but after looking at the footage, he realized that, for whatever reason, it just wasn't working and he made the (expensive) decision to fire Keitel and then hired Martin Sheen.

Uncle Phoenix

I was honestly more disturbed by the book than the movie. Joseph Conrad really wrote a HORROR. In fact when I first heard of CHATGPT, the first thing I did was log on and asked it, “What did Kurtz mean when he said, THE HORROR; THE HORROR?”

Uncle Phoenix
>>137455034

I read the first few words and my jaw dropped. LOL, didn’t recover until I finished your post.

Larry Darrell
>>137452009

Never understood what is wrong with socks in bed. If you’re feet are cold in bed, what else are you gonna do to warm them up… put another blanket at the foot of the bed? Now you have too much weight on your feet and legs and it feels uncomfortable and it makes your legs too hot. Just put some dad blasted socks on for crying out loud!! (Excuse me… I’ve had that bottled up for a while ;-)

Larry Darrell
>>137453051

I didn’t know Michael J. Fox was in A Room with a View!! (-: JK JK JK ;-) +1 on All 3

Larry Darrell
>>137475764

Well Said. Films like these give you a taste of something that you don’t get in your everyday, real life. You can learn things about yourself, while watching. Sometimes the Soul needs more than Chicken Soup.

Bennett Holleman

After this turmoil Smokey and the Bandit will offer fun, romance and relief.

JPDotCom23

I have five different versions of this movie, what's the running time for the Amazon version she watched?

Clay F
>>137500435

My Amazon stream (apparently theatrical version - 1979) that I synced with her gives 2 h 27 min in the description.

Rose
>>137490928

Hmm .. AP English - bad memories reading Heart of Darkness. My class presentation interpreting the novella was a horror in itself.

Phil Emral

I don't know if anyone has said this, or if you even read these comments, but the water buffalo slaughtered at the end was killed in a religious ceremony for a local tribe that Coppolla was permitted to film, it would have been killed in the same way with or without the film, it wasn't slaughtered just for the film.

Ike
>>137454174

Fantastic plug, Celeste! If you don’t mind I’ll piggyback on that and plug the Special Operations Warrior Foundation @ https://specialops.org which helps so many families.

Stick Figure Studios
>>137501530

Sort of like the horse head in Coppola's GODFATHER. It was going to be killed anyway, so they just made use of it because the one props made looked fake.

Larry Darrell

Well, I think October came early this year. I was trying to think if I remembered seeing you that visibly freaked out and drained before, but couldn’t. I never watched your Full Metal Jacket reaction, but I feel like I should now. Only seems right. (By the way, 1:36 to 1:41, on the film timestamp was a goldmine of YT thumbnails. Also, maybe around 2:12) Cassie reacted just the way the film intended her to… Merit Badge received. Rest assured, you’re not the only one who feels strongly during movies. I’ve talked before about Cathartic experiences in movies and how I feel like it’s a healthy thing. I also think that it’s good to know that your Heart and Soul is working. When you find yourself not reacting to a horrific sight with the proper emotion… there may be a problem happening, that needs attention. Watching this film, it feels more like a hypnotic dream than a nightmare… at least until we get to Kurtz’s. I empathize with Willard’s character, who is really just along for the ride most of the time. I’m watching all the other characters and events and just observing the insanity, but without freaking out. It’s just a wild trip that I have no control over. The boat check scene for instance. It was horrifying and I felt sick afterwards, but I didn’t cry. There didn’t seem to be any reason to… which is an entirely different horrifying thing. This film takes you down a dark, helpless and hopeless path where normal emotions no longer apply and Humanity feels lost. It only really hits me when the film is over, that I realize that WAS a nightmare all along. Nothing in that film was normal and it wasn’t supposed to be normal. Like I said before… When you find yourself not reacting to a horrific sight with the proper emotion… there may be a problem happening, that needs attention. Well I assume, that is what War is like. This film masterfully makes you feel like you are in the middle of it. Nothing is Normal, there is Little to No Room for Humanity and Hopelessness is your constant State. Of all the Films that try to tell us, “War Sucks!” This is definitely one of the Best. ———————————- This reaction wasn’t totally a downer. Watching Cassie try to remember Robert Duvall’s name was a pretty good laugh. I have to mention the writer of Apocalypse Now… John Milius. He wrote Jeremiah Johnson (1972). He wrote and directed Red Dawn (1984). He worked on the screenplay for Clear and Present Danger (1994). He wrote Sean Connery’s speech to his men in The Hunt for Red October (1990). He wrote Quint’s USS Indianapolis speech in Jaws (1975). He worked as a Script Doctor on The Temple of Doom (1984), Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Behind Enemy Lines (2001). There is a terrific documentary on John Milius, titled… Milius (2013) which I highly recommend. He was a very talented filmmaker, that never really got his due. He was even best friends with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. There is a funny true story about Spielberg and Lucas swapping Gross Points for Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Star Wars (1977) with Milius for Points on his film, Big Wednesday (1978). Other Milius films I recommend… Dirty Harry (1971)… script doctored by Milius… starring Clint Eastwood The Wind and the Lion (1975)… written and directed by Milius… starring Sean Connery, Candice Bergen and Brian Keith. Big Wednesday (1978)… surfing film written and directed by Milius… starring Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt and Gary Busey Lastly… I will also throw my hat in the recommendations of… Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991) It’s really worth your time, even if you didn’t like the film. It’s just a terrific film on its own… but so much cooler after watching Apocalypse Now.

JPDotCom23

War is insane, people go insane, Kilgore was crazy and so was Kurtz, that's the point of this movie, they wanted to show how insane it all was, what it did to people, all that killing, that's the point of all this.

Ike

Noooo comment. …. what’s next up?

Michael Enos

This was a hard, hard watch. Made harder by the idea that it wasn't telling you how to feel about it... especially the starkness of no beginning or end credits. That made it even moee unsettling. I'm glad you made it through. Felt for ya. No better time to watch Smokey And The Bandit next. 🤣

Chris Thom
>>137503205

This one definitely has a dreamy quality to it. All the smoke, and sunsets, and weird lighting with even weirder music. The whole thing has a nightmarish quality to it but the shots are so darkly beautiful it's hard to be mad at it. Plus the trip down the river has such a Tom and Huck adventure vibe to it, it's easy to get caught up in the excitement and anticipation. Also in watching it again I was struck by how good Dennis Hopper was. He really ties together the last act.

Richard Maurer

I rarely comment on whether or not Cassie will enjoy a film before she watches it, but even I was strongly implying that wouldn't enjoy this one in the Coming Up comments section. It was just so obvious that she wouldn't enjoy it. But it's still good that she watched it, although it's probably the one time that she will. It's an important film, even if it is a bit of a drag to get through.

Zane From Canada

Coppola spent about 3 years making and editing this movie. Filmed it in The Philippines 🇵🇭 The ordeal that everyone involved went through was crazy. The heat, the wildlife, the natural disasters, the fighting, the insanity, not to mention the amount drugs everyone was doing. Martin Sheen almost died twice from malaria I believe. Coppola got so out of his mind he threatened suicide multiple times. And that scene with the water buffalo was real. 🤯 And the end result: Apocalypse Now premiered at Cannes in 1979 and won the Palme d'Ore. Got a 10 minute standing ovation. Made about $100 million at the box office (pretty fetching good at that time). And, is now hailed as a masterpiece. Possibly the most visually stunning and transcendent war movie ever made. Talk about one helluva gamble that paid off. 😁 This is like most of Stanley Kubricks movies: meant to be experienced.

Thomas Thompson

The Ghost And Mrs Muir, the exact opposite of Apocalypse Now.

Shehab Dawoud

If you have a little half hour to spend, use it listening to Coppola speak about this film and some of his other great ones, including the upcoming ‘Megalopolis’. Truly a privilege to listen to the likes of him, Marty Scorsese or Michael Mann in detail break down the craft and artform that they’ve mastered. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SKY6SDDtRKA&pp=ygUHQ29wcG9sYQ%3D%3D

David Fuchs

Instead of just Replying, I'm drawing special attention to 2 things that Larry Darrell said, that we'll remember: (1) Ppl say we shd watch "an important film.' Darrell says, "and react to a horrific sight with the proper emotion." Why? Isn't it "important" to watch the news & "react to horror" of Real Events? (2) Darrell showed that it's good to laugh at Cassie's problem "pronouncing Duvall's name." I talked abt "Charm." I laughed at Cassie mangling "Wizard of Oz," bc it's part of her charm.

Biggman83

Which version is this…is it Final Cut? UK prime only has that version

Chris Retzlaff

I think I read Laurence Fishburne lied about his age to do this film. Fun fact: Back to the Future 2 had a Surf Vietnam sign behind them in the future

Above Average Dave

As JPDotCom23, war is insane. Or, at least through the vast bulk of human history, it's the abdication of morals when dealing with the enemy — one can judge the sanity of that on their own. Virtually every society from the beginning of civilization to the late 19th Century would laugh at the idea of "war crimes." War was the use of every defined violent and deceptive crime against one's enemies. The Vietnamese still subscribed to this (as Kurtz's "The genius of this act" speech attests). And that's essentially how every war had been fought throughout time. In fact, historians have remarked that, if the Nazis, Japanese or the Soviets had developed the nuclear bomb before the U.S., they would've used it to take over the world. That American didn't (and that they gave back virtually all the territory they captured during WWII) was an outlier in world history. But beyond fighting a so-called "moral war," what the Americans were doing in Vietnam defied any form of warfare the world had ever seen, too. It was engaging in "limited war," which is a contradiction in terms if there ever was one (and all limited wars since then have proved this). There was no clear definition of victory, nor any detailed plan for winning. Hence, the confusion and waste of lives. This looms large in APOCALYPSE NOW — and many of Coppola's and Milius' high school friends paid the price through the draft. No commander has clear objectives other than to engage the enemy. Ground is taken, then abandoned rather than occupied (we saw this at the end of WE WERE SOLDIERS and it was spelled out clearly in the NVA general's commentary). The bridge that marks the front line is a metaphor for all of this murderous futility. The VC blow it up every night, and the US Generals have it rebuilt every day. Just to say they did. Such a bad time in US history, and all under the control and direction of "The Best and the Brightest."

Larry Darrell
>>137508876

How ‘bout a little story ‘bout a Truck Driving Legend in the South, named Bandit, from Atlanta G A.

Jacob King

On this viewing I find myself despising Kurtz. His worldview is completely juvenile. The Manson comparison is interesting. Willard shoots the lady on the boat because he was disgusted by the idea of taking her to get medical help after they massacred her whole family. It’s hypocritical, fine. Kurtz with his poetry and his philosophy is just as bad, or even worse, because Kurtz is committing gruesome acts of indiscriminate violence but pretending to be this moral intellectual. The pile of little arms story sounds like BS. I’m not sure if it’s meant to be that in the movie or not but it doesn’t make sense in the context of the Vietnam War. What we do see in a lot of recent (at least three currently ongoing) wars is fabricated stories of atrocities perpetrated against children used to justify worse atrocities committed by armies. This stance of “my enemy is an inhuman monster so I must become the monster to defeat him” is generally used by monsters who were always monsters and just want to do monster stuff.

Clay F

Category A. Types of movies Cassie watched before channel. Category B. Movies not in category A. Not too unsettling for her. Category C. Movies not in category A. Too unsettling for her. I am unsure what exactly is "too" unsettling. She is an intelligent adult and can/should choose what she reacts to, for any reasons and no matter what comments say. She has expanded her horizon. I thought maybe over time as the channel progressed and she becomes more able to deal with darkness, violence, scary, etc., she could enjoy positive production and acting aspects of category C movies. I do think some movies in category C have moved to category B. Yet, as she indicated in the intro, the way she experiences movies makes unsettling movies difficult. Apocalypse Now (dark) shows a lot of bodies and body parts, but less actual acts of violence than -- say Band of Brothers having aspects she liked and thus not too unsettling? I like (and want to see reactions to) some movies in category C, and have suggested/voted for such. Yet, I enjoy her reactions to category B the most. I wonder if she will look at Martin Sheen the same.

Stick Figure Studios
>>137652989

Another thing that I have observed over the years, is that on screen violence can affect people in different ways not just due to the differences between individuals but because of how it's represented. Is it realistic? Is it exaggerated? What is the context surrounding it? Do I care about the characters? Am I invested in the story? All of these things can make unpleasant occurrences in a movie hit harder or softer. In the case of APOCALYPSE NOW, while I know it was less violent than some other movies she has seen, it is also more haunting and atmospheric which can make her feel more disturbed and uncomfortable than she might in just a straightforward combat war movie. At times, AN is often more like a horror film (note how creeped out Cassie was by the early shots of Kurtz shrouded in shadow).

JohnnyUtah

Hard for me to watch this, the physical trauma the Vietnam war caused to me is not as severe as the mental trauma. My dad served 3 tours and never really came home.

Above Average Dave
>>137663070

God bless. We had a few close family friends who were there. Really before my time but I was told they came back deeply scarred. It's brutal enough to fight a war, but to fight a war the government had no intent of winning, and then coming back to be treated like filth must've been a ripping away of all their grounding. And to have all that and experience all the inhumanity and brutality of that war — I don't know how that doesn't destroy a part of you.

Rick Williams

This movie was to long. It dragged on to long. And there are even longer versions out there. Why would they want to even make it longer? I never understood the fascination with this movie that some people have. Weird movie. Great Reaction Cassie to a hard watch.

Stick Figure Studios
>>137673816

I think this version is just the right length (and impeccably paced) for the story that it's telling and the hypnotic spell that it's weaving. I do agree that the other versions are too long and add mostly unnecessary scenes but this cut is perfect. A masterpiece of filmmaking.

Clay F

I went to the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). There was a section honoring those women like the one who threw the bomb into the helicopter.

Carol Rocha

Don’t apologize for having those feelings. No empath is easily drawn to movies such as this. They can watch them but it takes them to a whole different level of stress than it might others. I’ve never watched it. For the same reasons as you. But I’m going to watch the YouTube version with you this time. People with PTSD are easily triggered by movies with certain story lines and that’s a hard watch as well. Ok. Let’s go

John Liebling

Cassie, are you going to give a Tom Cruise film, "Born on the 4th of July" a try? If you do, mix it up with some happy films, before and after.

Godzilla Jones

War is hell. Thank you for sitting through this.

Hail to the King

'I feel like it must have been really hard to make that movie' You could say that...

David Patterson

Now she needs to watch the parody short 'Pork Lips Now'.

Eddie Perkins

The Horror, the Horror. War is Horror! The hardest Vietnam movie for me to watch is 'The Deer Hunter (1978)' because of what my younger brother did right in front of me. If you know the movie, you probably know what I'm talking about. The water buffalo slaughter in this movie was hard to watch because I know it is real, and I love animals. Being a hunter my whole life, you would think it wouldn't bother me, but it did. Taking a life is more disturbing when it's right in your face than a 100-yard away.

Bert Towle

Didn't like it when it was new, still don't like it, and I feel bad that Cassie had to watch it for a credential.

Story Archer

Sometimes we just don't think of our audience (Cassie) when recommending movies...

warcrimes

I know this was rough but it's a very important movie to watch. People want to coddle you with some of these movies, I'm glad you persevered.

Clay F

Is "The Deer Hunter" (1978) next? (Maybe you need a break from Vietnam War movies) Nominated for 9 Oscars, winning 5. --Won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Sound. --Christopher Walken won Best Supporting Actor Oscar. --Robert De Niro nominated for Best Actor Oscar. --Meryl Streep nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscar. The three Vietnam War movies on the AFI Top 100 = The Deer Hunter (1978), Apocalypse Now, and Platoon. Looking forward to Pleasantville.

thansen
>>137550247

I love listening to some of these directors talk about their films, especially those in the 70s. And maybe none more than Scorsese, which is odd because I cannot stand most of his films.

thansen

Crazy that Martin Sheen didn't receive an Oscar nomination and yet Jack Lemmon did for The China Syndrome? Al Pacino for his overacting in ...And Justice for All? Hoffman won, but I have not seen Kramer vs Kramer. I liked the film Being There but Sellers, one of the great comedic actors of all time, didn't really have to stretch his acting talents in that role. I can only guess that Sheen at that time wasn't the big name actor the others were.

Ben Schwartz
>>137722567

Such an important war movie. One of Tom Cruise's best performances, I really hope she checks that one out.