Apocalypse Now (1979)
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” is such a famous quote most audiences forget everything else about the famous war drama Apocalypse Now. While I was in film school, the film was made a subject of study; part of the course’s curriculum was to show the first fifteen minutes of classics in hopes that students would clammer to the library to rent DVD copies and finish their education on their own. Alas, I was uninspired to watch the rest of this Vietnam drama, although I knew it was among the most famous.
Perhaps it’s because we lost the war, or perhaps it's because many liberals who were so angry about it in the first place found their way to Hollywood to make their statements, but I’ve yet to find a Vietnam War movie that I can classify in the realm of entertainment. As it was Marlon Brando’s highlighted week on Hot Toasty Rag, I felt compelled to watch the rest of this very long movie, and I turned it off twice, only rallied by my best friend to continue the journey. I complained to her that the film’s attitude towards the soldiers was smug. Robert Duvall’s projection of a war mongering “Patton-esque” commanding officer strutted about and puffed his feathers – so obviously making the point that he was a “rotten person”. In countless scenes, young soldiers are seen goofing off, listening to the radio, trying to get Playmate of the Month girls into bed. One boy admits to dropping acid and isn’t on his right mind to be on alert. In two instances, men are firing upon “the enemy” only to be discovered that they have no commanding officer, no orders, and have merely gone out of their minds from the war.
Obviously, there are lots of people who loved this movie (my best friend included). I just couldn’t get past the self-righteous tone that seemed to say, “Aren’t we realistic? War is so awful, isn’t it, and the only ones who actually try to be good soldiers are sadistic monsters? Isn’t this message deep?” There’s one scene where a soldier gets killed and while his friends are weeping over his body, we hear a voice over of his mother’s last letter to him, trying to make the audience feel terrible that a young boy was needlessly killed. But, as Anthony Hopkins so perfectly stated in Legends of the Fall, “He was a soldier, and soldiers die!” Yes, it’s sad when a man gets killed; but if he was a soldier, it shouldn’t be unexpected. The entire scene felt, once again, that the filmmakers were pushing their agendas on the audience.
My friend also likes similar classics Full Metal Jacket and Platoon, so if your tastes match hers, you probably really like Apocalypse Now. I don’t like all three. I don’t find it entertainment to see desolate, despondent circumstances for the sole purpose of making the audience feel a smug satisfaction that they also opposed the war. I don’t find it entertainment to show a cow getting hacked to bits by machetes, and I maintain that effective war movies can be made without being so gruesome. Every WWII movie made during the time had to abide by the Production Code, and they managed to be violent, upsetting, and realistic all the same.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. In nearly every scene, the camera swirls around to follow helicopters or fast war action. In particular, about 2.5 hours in, after Martin Sheen says, “If I was still alive, it was because he wanted it that way,” the camera spins upside down a few times, and that will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to violence, gore, and an upsetting scene involving an animal, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.
More Marlon Brando movies here!
Perhaps it’s because we lost the war, or perhaps it's because many liberals who were so angry about it in the first place found their way to Hollywood to make their statements, but I’ve yet to find a Vietnam War movie that I can classify in the realm of entertainment. As it was Marlon Brando’s highlighted week on Hot Toasty Rag, I felt compelled to watch the rest of this very long movie, and I turned it off twice, only rallied by my best friend to continue the journey. I complained to her that the film’s attitude towards the soldiers was smug. Robert Duvall’s projection of a war mongering “Patton-esque” commanding officer strutted about and puffed his feathers – so obviously making the point that he was a “rotten person”. In countless scenes, young soldiers are seen goofing off, listening to the radio, trying to get Playmate of the Month girls into bed. One boy admits to dropping acid and isn’t on his right mind to be on alert. In two instances, men are firing upon “the enemy” only to be discovered that they have no commanding officer, no orders, and have merely gone out of their minds from the war.
Obviously, there are lots of people who loved this movie (my best friend included). I just couldn’t get past the self-righteous tone that seemed to say, “Aren’t we realistic? War is so awful, isn’t it, and the only ones who actually try to be good soldiers are sadistic monsters? Isn’t this message deep?” There’s one scene where a soldier gets killed and while his friends are weeping over his body, we hear a voice over of his mother’s last letter to him, trying to make the audience feel terrible that a young boy was needlessly killed. But, as Anthony Hopkins so perfectly stated in Legends of the Fall, “He was a soldier, and soldiers die!” Yes, it’s sad when a man gets killed; but if he was a soldier, it shouldn’t be unexpected. The entire scene felt, once again, that the filmmakers were pushing their agendas on the audience.
My friend also likes similar classics Full Metal Jacket and Platoon, so if your tastes match hers, you probably really like Apocalypse Now. I don’t like all three. I don’t find it entertainment to see desolate, despondent circumstances for the sole purpose of making the audience feel a smug satisfaction that they also opposed the war. I don’t find it entertainment to show a cow getting hacked to bits by machetes, and I maintain that effective war movies can be made without being so gruesome. Every WWII movie made during the time had to abide by the Production Code, and they managed to be violent, upsetting, and realistic all the same.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. In nearly every scene, the camera swirls around to follow helicopters or fast war action. In particular, about 2.5 hours in, after Martin Sheen says, “If I was still alive, it was because he wanted it that way,” the camera spins upside down a few times, and that will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to violence, gore, and an upsetting scene involving an animal, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.
More Marlon Brando movies here!