Apocalypse Now (1979)

Plot:  During the Vietnam War, an Army Captain is sent “Up River” to “terminate with extreme prejudice” a Green Beret who’s gone mad.
Stars: Marlon Brando (Kurtz), Martin Sheen (Willard), Robert Duvall

Best Quote: You can either surf, or you can fight!

The Good
Apocalypse Now is a wonderful “Light and Laser” show, full of brilliantly filmed scenes and camera work.  All you need to do is turn off your brain and enjoy the most sophisticated “popcorn movie” ever.

We get: helicopters blaring Wagner while attacking a village, wonderful shots of the jungle, Half-crazed Robert “I Love the smell of Napalm in the morning” Duvall demanding soldiers surf under mortar fire, Playboy bunnies getting mobbed, Swift Boats playing bumper cars with live ammo, and a nightmarish Bridge scene where the question “Who’s in Command?” is answered with “I thought you were”.

The Bad
What we *do not* get is a reasonable plot, believable characters, or anything recognizable as the real, actual, Vietnam war.  For example, no Vietnamese has more than one line.  They’re all just nameless, faceless people who exist to be killed or pitied.  Nor does the Cambodian Government seem to exist.

And there are so many goofy plot holes. Why would anyone trust drunken, druggie, “Captain Willard” with an important mission? Why does Willard go by boat to Du Long Bridge, when he can helicopter there in perfect safety? Why is Col. Kurtz an “important threat” given his Cambodian tribe only has spears? And where are the NVA and Khmer Rouge?

The Ugly 
This brings up the movie’s big problem – the ending with Brando.  Up to the two-hour point (original Cut) the movie is a wonderfully shot “action movie.” But it grinds to a halt when they arrive at Brando’s Village.  For the last 20 minutes all we get is endless talk and meaningful looks. Brando (clothed in darkness & shadow to hide his obesity) mumbles *very slowly* to Willard about “The Horror, the Horror” after quoting Time Magazine and T.S. Eliot. And then he dies.  It’s not only boring, it’s incomprehensible.

Brando
Once again, Brando took a role only for $$$- receiving an amazing $3.5 million plus 11% of the gross, for six weeks of work.  Brando played “Kurtz” after Pacino & Jack Nicholson turned down the role. In August 1976, he arrived in the Philippines unprepared and overweight (supposedly 80 lbs).

It seems Brando had lied to Coppola about reading Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” and done no preparation. But after several meetings, Brando convinced Coppola to rewrite his part.  Now, Kurtz would only appear at the end.  He would be a mystery man, clothed in darkness, and Brando would improvise his dialogue.  This also, coincidentally, allowed Brando to have a smaller part and leave after 6 weeks.

The movie wouldn’t be released till 1979. Critics weren't kind to his performance, for example::

"When Willard reaches Kurtz - a Brando who has become an obscene, secular Buddha with shaven head and ballooning midriff, whose voice emerges like the squeal of a mouse from a ridiculous mountain... two dullards confront each other over a thin gruel of pretentious platitudes or portentous understatement, and the film becomes worse than bad - abject."