Apocalypse Now: appreciation thread

Still, imo, underrated (when compared to something like The Godfather).

This is a movie that was made against all expectations and took on a life of itself: massively over-budget ($30m as opposed to $14m), incredibly tough location & political problems and by all accounts everyone caning drugs & alcohol throughout.
Not a Vietnam War movie per se, but a look into the madness of war and it's causes....

 

How is Apocalypse Now underrated? It's universally regarded as one of the best war movies ever, and one of the best movies ever period. It's rated correctly.

But yeah, it's a amazing film.

 

A lot of people will disagree with me, but I do prefer the longer "Redux" version much better. Ties together a lot of the plot points that were mangled in the editing of the original.

 

I'm one of those people: I despise Redux and hated it on the first viewing.
* the Playboy Bunnies in the helicopter scene: totally irrelevant
* French Plantation scene: offers little to the original story
* Air-Cav napalm attack: utterly ruins the original and whole point of the craziness of war as narrated by Willard

Apocalypse Now: 8/10
Apocalypse Now Redux : 6/10

 

This is one of the best movies of all time full stop, not just a war movie.

Redux was shitty and I'm glad I watched the original before the redux.

 

Great scene, ends perfectly, Kilgore walking off after his profound speech:


Now ruined by complete silliness by stealing the surfboard and laughing in the boat:

 

The problem with Redux fans is they picked up on it in the mid-to-late 90s when it had already taken on the mythical proportions and had been evaluated as a 'classic', hence any version after that would be an automatic improvement because they were that 'brainwashed' by it.

They don't really 'get' the movie.
e.g. they quote lines to their mates down the bar or at parties



People like me who watched it when it first came out in '79 had the steady, slow-burner effect...more appreciative.

 

You're such a precocious cunt sometimes.

 

I agree with you. It was just overlong and out of pace. Original is much better IMO.

 

Yep.
Basically it was Coppola being the fat greedy cunt he became in the early 90s with his endless re-releases of The Godfather for home video then DVD with various 'cuts'.

Apocalypse Now was just intended to make some money by pandering to and taking advantage of its cult-status that was expanding as I posted a couple of posts ago....

 

Overrated film

Super compelling until he actually finds Kurtz where it devolves rapidly into a convoluted mess

This film could never be considered "underrated"... it's got one of the largest and fiercest fanboy contingents on Earth

 

An overrated war movie is The Thin Red Line. What a pretentious piece of shit from a pretentious ass director in Terrance Malick.

 

War films stink!! Only 'muricans like them (for obvious reasons).

 

Hmmmm...you might be right in some ways.
It's still a great movie...the final quarter with Col. Kurtz is better now - you get an idea if his frustration that led to his going off the reservation and doing things his way.

But since the late 80s...Yeah the fanboys have 'ruined' it somewhat.

That and the fuckin 'Redux'.

 

Oh btw, the original is a lot better than the extended version.