Day 65: Apocalypse Now (1979)

Movie #36 – Apocalypse Now (1979) - 153 min, cert 15.

During the Vietnam War, Capt Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent deep into enemy territory to assassinate a rogue Green Beret who is running his own private army.

This is a film of two halves. The part is an excellent account of the sheer hell that was the Vietnam War. The battle scenes are breathtaking, and have gone down in history as the best ever made about this particular conflict. The second part, after Capt Willard & co. arrive at Kurtz’s headquarters, is a load of rambling, directionless nonsense which trails off into a hastily cobbled-together and unsatisfactory ending. Also, the version I saw, which I think was the Redux version, had a long and rather pointless section in the middle where Willard stops off at a French mission and they talk politics (mainly in French) over dinner.

I know most people consider one of the greatest movies of the 20^th century, but for me it is somewhat spoilt by the over-indulgent final section. I’ve never understood what all the fuss was about regarding Marlon Brando. Maybe the roles I’ve seen him in are bad examples, but I just don’t rate him as an actor. He was pretty average in The Godfather, and he’s downright awful in this. There are two other Brando movies in the list: On the Waterfront, and A Streetcar Named Desire, both made much earlier in his career, so I shall have to see if either of these changes my opinion at all.

Score – 6/10. Some great battle scenes, but ruined by the unfathomable claptrap in the final hour or so.

Next up is American Beauty which I have on DVD, although I think I’ve only seen it once.