MovieChat Forums > Apocalypse Now (1979) Discussion > A truly great movie, but also, a bloated...

A truly great movie, but also, a bloated, disgustingly egotistical and deceptive mess.

posted 2 years ago by whynotwriteme (7725)
7 replies | jump to latest

Don't get me wrong. I love Apocalypse Now and it's one of the movies I can watch an infinite number of times without getting bored, but still...

Think of these Hollywood Liberals packing up and going to a 3rd World country to film an epic war movie based on a literary classic about Africa. None of them had any real military experience AFAIK, (except Harvey Keitel, who was soon fired, and R. Lee Ermey, who played a chopper pilot) They built all these huge sets, cast an entire tribe of Filipino natives as members of an evil cult army, and blew up huge tracts of jungle, with no substantial speaking roles for any Asians, and then Coppola says "It's not about Vietnam, it IS Vietnam!"

It's not at all Vietnam, or even about Vietnam. Rather, it's the Leftist's worst nightmares about Vietnam brought to the screen. This movie singlehandedly created the stereotype of the American soldier in Vietnam as a drugged-out mindless renegade.

My late father-in-law was a Vietnam Veteran and he hated Apocalypse Now. He called it a "depraved fantasy". He said the only accurate film treatment of what he experienced in the war was the movie "We Were Soldiers". He even said that John Wayne's "The Green Berets" was a more accurate depiction of the Vietnam War than Apocalypse Now.

Still, regardless of it's inaccuracies and pretentiousness, it's a great movie experience.

[–] SooBee (129) 2 years ago

It's on later tonight and I was debating whether to record it but your review has decided me against it. I couldn't even watch 'The Deerhunter' !

[–] whynotwriteme (7725) 2 years ago

Actually, give it a shot. It's not overtly Liberal in its presentation. After all, one of the writers was the greatest Conservative of Hollywood, John Milius. Think of it as a comic book version of Vietnam.

[–] pjl69 (2647) 2 years ago

The first time I see John Milius labeled as liberal leftist...

[–] whynotwriteme (7725) 2 years ago

Milius only provided the first draft of the script. Coppola changed a great deal of it. It's not Liberal in the sense of being preachy or PC, but in the sense it portrays America and its soldiers as basically chaotic evil crazies.

[–] [deleted] 2 years ago

Not bloated at all. It could easily been 2 hours longer.

[–] Wuchak (8769) a year ago

then Coppola says "It's not about Vietnam, it IS Vietnam!"

It's not at all Vietnam, or even about Vietnam.

Context is everything. Coppola went on to say: "...the way we made it was very much like the way the Americans were 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."

So, yeah, the cast & crew weren't under fire with the constant threat of death, but their making of the movie in a third world jungle was similar to the Vietnam experience in that sense.

Since the story was loosely based on "Heart of Darkness" from 1899 updated to the American Vietnam situation of the late '60s, viewers know up front that the movie isn't a realistic account of Vietnam like "We Were Soldiers," which was historically-based on the first major battle of the conflict. Of course there are realistic bits throughout Apocalypse Now but, as you say, it's like a comic book version of the experience, just with the sheen of artistic excellence (not to mention Martin Sheen, lol).

That said, it has a potent message still applicable today: The American Govt was more interested in playing the game of war for political reasons and to support the war machine, which is why the Brass backed officers like Col. Kilgore, who fed off the war. Col. Kurtz came to realize this and so "got off the boat" to actually win the conflict in his sector. This was a no-no and so the Brass slandered him as "insane" with the intention of assassinating (murdering) him.

Switch this to modern times: $2 trillion was spent on training the Afghan military over the course of two decades and they fell in a week, which shows that it was never about real training, but about military contractors and corporations raking in the profits, etc.

Switch it to 2000 years ago: The only way Jesus Christ could actually help people and make positive changes was to "get off the boat" of the religious-political complex, which explains why those in charge wanted to murder him... and did.

Switch it to an occupation today, including art and cinema: If you want to get something effective done and make real progress, you'll have to "get off the boat" of the system. Those in power aren't going to like it though. They'll slander you and try to take you out, one way or another.

[–] whynotwriteme (7725) a year ago

If you want to get something effective done and make real progress, you'll have to "get off the boat" of the system. Those in power aren't going to like it. They'll slander you and try to take you out.

HUGELY relevant in today's world.