Apocalypse Now is one of the most awe-inspiring films of all time. It truly is, in every sense of the word, a masterpiece.

The time comes for everyone. Never at the same time or under the same circumstances. But it does arrive. Loss is unavoidable. Whether it's our sanity. Our dreams. Our hopes. The very identity of who we once were. Definitely friends and family. Those usually go or rearrange themselves into a new unexpected landscape. Loss. One way or another. Whether we admit it or choose to live in denial. Loss is there to stay.
Milius and Coppola made it clear. Their message of loss and madness stays with you in a haunting way. You just can't wash it off. "The horrors," Brando insists. The things we see. We experience. We find ourselves doing. Who are these new men we've become along the way. Where is that guy I left behind when I started? Is there ever a true way back? And if so, to where?
There is no doubt the content of the film carries a truly emotional and psychological impact. Yes. The context is war. The most extreme of violent acts. A perfect metaphor for the loss of innocence and the discovery of life's real intent. It turns out life doesn't always have your back. No matter how good you are. No matter how good a side you fight for. Sometimes life just doesn't have your back. All characters are great studies of humanity's journey. But some of the more obvious ones can't be avoided. Like those Playboy models. So glossy and hopeful in their early arrival. Fireworks was the theme. The object of everyone's dreams. Dreams finally buried in mud and despair inside that rain soaked tent. Innocent beauties confessing their sacrifices while handing over their honor as if it was a buffet. Tall price to pay for one's dreams. "They made me do all kinds of horrible things," she says. "I just want a simple boy to like me... Are you a simple boy?" And then the next guy interrupts, "I'm next madam." The things we sold along the way. And to make the irony colder let's not forget that those girls traveled to the front lines to 'help' the soldiers. They just didn't know how deep a sale this was going to be.
Remember the French? Holding on to their family land next to the river? There for generations? But they do say they came from France, brought the supplies from Brazil, and taught the locals to work with them. To save them, as they say. Was this education in exchange for slavery? I didn't see any Vietnamese workers at that lavish dinner table. Are the once ignorant locals glad to be enslaved? Whose land is it then? Perhaps the French will die in this land after all. Perhaps someone will educate them on a new form of slavery. The slavery to your land that was never yours.
The final discovery of Marlon Brando was epic. You can feel that man's energy jumping out of the screen. Each and every one of his words perfectly calculated. Telling us of the propaganda of war. The perpetuity and necessity of the lies. The machine that moves all of us. Influences us. Tricks us to participate willingly. Is this war just a backdrop for life's journey. Who do we lie to? Others? Ourselves? One day this war will end. And then what? There is always room for fresh new lies to believe.
Martin Sheen was amazingly handsome in this movie. Great shape. A man's man. I always forget Martin was once a great good looking stud. He seems to have aged fast into his more mature roles of late. Regardless, the acting was on point at all times. As if made of steel. Where do you take your acting career from that? Perhaps that's why his role seemed to mature so quickly after Apocalypse.
Marlon Brando can't truly be congratulated in words. The man's talents are pure art in motion. You simply surrender to the beast and let him take you whole. He's barely in the movie, yet there were times when I though he was going to reach out of the screen and grab me. Amazing.
The rest of the cast was rounded to perfection. Who could forget Robert Duvall? Genius! The part reads as if written expressly for him. I would have given him back the surf board. Don't wanna mess with that guy.
The film made me a bit nostalgic of older movies. We have to keep in mind this production took place before digital imagery was the soup of the day at fifty cents a pop. Those explosions are real. The groups of helicopters are real. The airplanes doing fly overs and blowing up crap, well, they are real. That's film making with balls. Coppola had the privilege of directing the real thing. No green screen in sight. It must have been an amazing experience. Although, if we put the time of production in perspective, that is, the seventies, Francis was probably doing business as it should be done. "OK. We need a dozen helicopters over there!" Awesome. What balls.… Expand

My personal favorite film of all time. It changed the way I view film, art, and even life. The acting is flawless, it has the most beautiful cinematography in the history of film, the messages are powerful and haunting. It stays with you the rest of your life. Which is something not many films can claim.

One of the greatest war movies of all-time with many of the most iconic moments and quotes in cinema. This film took so many hardships to make and Francis Ford Coppola definitely made history.

The best war movie ever made.

A cinematic triumph in every way, excellent writing, superb cast and wonderfully acted (Sheen, Brando and Duvall and all excellent) I've only recently watched this for the first time as I purchased the collector's edition blu ray and haven't yet watched Redux, but the original is the best war film I have ever seen, and it has firmly put itself in my top 10 all time favourite movies

One of my favorite movies of all-time. It is absolutely unrelenting in maintaining a constant disorientation and incredibly disturbing tone throughout.

The BEST movie ever.

The added footage makes the film slower so that you can grow into the madness of war.

Surely, the best movie-going experience of the summer. Especially if one compares it to such drivel as "A.I.," "Tomb Raider," "Swordfish," and even "Planet of the Apes." I have seen the four hour rough cut of Apocalpyse, and always thought we needed to get deeper into Kurtz's head. The Redux version is definitely the best movie-going experience this summer.

Possibly a little swollen now, but you can't argue with one of the greatest movies of all time. Oh, you can (Edelstein) but you're wrong. And a moron. And wrong.

A remake of a movie that dosen't f... it up.

Much more coherent than the original cut version...the weird, haunting story line is allowed to unfold with fewer intuitive leaps required of the viewer. The French Plantation Scene is reason enough to see this augmented redux. The questionable premise of all U.S. military as being either incompetent, homicidal or insane is reinforced in the longer cut; this is the reason I rate this masterpiece of cinematography (and propaganda) only a 9 instead of a 10.… Expand

What was good is now outstanding.

Though longer than the original theatrical release this film moves at a more brisk pace and is more engaging. The original version had three movements. The opening and Kilgore which were both masterful. Then it slumbered into one long dull river journey. In Redux the meandering river journey is enlivened by a more multifaceted Willard(he's not only an outsider but at times one of the boys, a soldier's soldier), with interludes that offer some light contrasts--both in spirit and color--to the heavily dark tone of the movie. The scene with Brando in daylight reading articles from Time magazine is the best Kurtz scene by far, suggestive of not only of his madness and egomania but his charm and humor. The ending is still confused, not all new additions are firstrate but the overall scope of the film has been immeasurable enriched and enlarged. … Expand

The original is ultimately the better version, as a clumsy french plantation scene threatens to break the rhythm. But ANR gave people a chance to see one of the American masterpeices the way it was meant to see, on the big screen.

I loved this movie and recommend it to many from young-adult to adult. I enjoy Apocalypse now and it is one of my all time favorite movies

It's the best fim ever even people who haven't seen it know about the excellent helicopter flight seen with the flight of the valkyre bluring out. true classic.

Simply too good for words and even better for pictures. You HAVE to see this movie in its entirety to realize the crazed dream and hallucinagenic direction has gave forth to. Magnificent. All two hours and 15 minutes of it.

Apocalypse Now rushes at you like a bolt of lightning. By the beginning your confused and by the end let's just say your even more distraught. This classic by Francis Ford Coppola is genuine and brilliant in many ways. The movie obviously based on the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is very violent in a disturbing way but shows the reality and pain war causes. The movie has an all star cast including Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper who all do fabulous but don't forget about Little Laurence Fishburne who does a great job himself. The movie is a portrayal of mental objectives in a way. The themes that leave you awestruck in the movie are the themes that at times are the most brutal. One is war is total .... . [***SPOILERS***] By all the deaths that took place in this movie and the controversy of Marlon Brando's character Colonel Kurtz. The other theme that left me stunned that was really brought out through the whole movie but you only understood near the end when Kurtz is talking to Willard ( Sheen ). Death can only be your friends by the way you take actions towards people but if not the correct way death is your enemy. Which is definitely a very thought provoking and extremely disturbing idea. Still the movie suceeds in every aspect.… Expand

What a wonderful job the makers of this restoration did. It looks fabulous. The additional footage with the Playboy Bunnies is so surreal it leaves the viewer wondering if it isn't a drug-induced dream. Maybe the scene is a dream since we know Willard is guzzling down a lot of liquor during his journey to Kurt's village. It makes no sense. Why would Willard give up a couple of drums of fuel, in exchange for Chef and Lance getting a few minutes with a couple of the bunnies, when he still has a considerable journey up the river ahead of him? Willard gradually becomes consumed with confronting Kurt, so it makes no sense for him to jeopardize his ability to meet Kurtz. It has to be a dream. I really liked the scene on the French plantation, especially the widows longing to spend the night in Willard's arms. It's amusing watching her wait for her loud mouthed relatives to leave the dinner table so she can be alone with Willard. This scene also leaves the viewer wondering if Willard's dreaming again. Get rid of the Playboy Bunny scenes, keep the French plantation scene and you've got a movie that is better than the original. Still one of the greatest of all time. It blows away most of the cookie-cutter dreck put out by Hollywood these days. … Expand

The colour, the sound, the smell... All new directors and producers of movies should study this film, and learn how to make a damn good piece of cinema. I have not seen a movie this good in over 10 years.

I loved this movie and recommend it to many from young-adult to adult. I enjoy Apocalypse now and it is one of my all time favorite movies

I wanted to write something here about how the extra footage in Redux adds nothing to Apocalypse Now and how it also does not resolve any of the many bathetic moments in this film ----- Brando's weird performance, the brick wall the film hits when the boat ride ends, Duval's over the top character, etc. But I can't do it. In either version this film is still mesmerizing, beautiful and continuously interesting. That's good enough for a 10 rating, I think.… Expand

30 from Slate? David Edelstein should be ashamed of himself.

Apocalypse Now is hands down the best movie ever made. Nothing comes close. The new scenes are of mixed affect making Redux as good but not better or worse than the original.

A very cool alternative to common pop-culture crap movies. Two thumbs up to good acting and a creative screen play!

I find this film stunning. I also recall seeing the original version in high school and thinking it was terrible and disjointed (compared to a film I loved at the time and still do, Full Metal Jacket). I said as much to my high school English teacher, who told me I didn't know what I was talking about. He was right. This isn't a movie that most teenagers can appreciate. Now at age 32, I think it's one of the best-realized meditations on war and insanity ever made. I strongly disagree with the handful of critics who pan Brandon's performance and dismiss the final 40 minutes of the film. I found the added material in "Redux" to be enriching, not excessive. Martin Sheen is amazing throughout. This is one of those great movies that is also addictively watchable, because of its stunning visuals, genuine excitement, and serious consideration of how human beings can be tempted to play God.… Expand

A perfect ten. One of the greatest movies of all time is now longer and even more surreal. I can see why many people would find the original to be better, but I think this gives us more of what was already great.

Reminds us that cinema can truly be literary. A masterwork made much better!

I was only disappointed that the movie ended. I could have watched hours more. The added scenes were all outstanding especially the additional Kilgore material. Even more than Platoon, it sums up my own Vietnam experience. Now where's Hearts of Darkness?

This is SO much better than the original! This version is never boring even though its 195 minutes! Everything you want more of is in this. PERFECT! This is now in my top 5, not Apocalypse Now, but Apocalypse Now REDUX!

Inenarrable cronica del horror de los hombres y de la locura generalizada que constituye la guerra. Gloriosa. Charlie no hace surf¡¡¡¡

What is left to say ? Nothing, I think. It's the best war movie ever, so that it belongs to the 10 best pictures of all time. Everybody who has never seen this one has missed a piece of culture !!!

Best film ever made. Simple as that. The effect it has on your emotions, one minute you're smiling and laughing along, then it will suddenly skip to silence, and death, and horror... The horror. You can't miss this one.

Best film ever... Wonderful depiction of human psyche transmitted by making you feel the message.