Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier (Apocalypse Now / Apocalypse Now Redux) Reviews

Apocalypse Now is a contemplative, nightmarish, powerful piece of cinema with a lot on its mind. Inspired in part by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the film follows Capt. Willard upriver in his mission to locate and dispatch Col. Kurtz, a once decorated soldier and officer of impeccable standing, now untethered by his identity as a U.S. soldier and citizen, surrounded by shadowy myth and speculation. Using Viet Nam as its setting, Coppola focuses on the absurdity, chaos, and yes, horror, of contemporary warfare. As we travel further upriver, and further into the dark, philosophical core of the film, the focus shifts from warfare and engages more and more in an existential interrogation of the human condition. Unsettling surreal segments collide with fierce and brutal realism and Coppola packs immense visceral power into frame after frame of this stunning work with the artistry of a true master. Ghosts of Albert Camus and Franz Kafka seem to be fluttering all about this film and if you're familiar with the way one of our great contemporary storytellers, Tim O'brien, tells his war stories, I think you'll find easy comparisons there as well. Apocalypse Now is a true masterpiece that excels in every technical and artistic aspect of film to achieve a whole even greater than the sum of its parts.