Apocalypse Now Redux

It seems a bit odd to review a movie that is about 30 years old. But what the heck, why not? Apocalypse Now is a ground breaker.

It deserves another look from time to time, and the Redux version deserves a viewing as well. It seems daunting at a running time of 3 hours and 15 minutes but it moves quickly.





A star studded cast directed by Francis Ford Coppola broke down all kinds of barriers and changed the way war movies were made. However, this isn't really a war movie. It's a story about a Captain, played by Martin Sheen, who is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to kill a renegade officer during the Vietnam War.

Did I mention how much Martin Sheen looked like Charlie Sheen? My goodness it was scary to watch. It was as if I was watching Charlie in Platoon.

The renegade officer is played by Marlon Brando but the amazing cast does not stop there. Laurence Fishburne, Harrison Ford, Dennis Hopper, and Scott Glenn all take their turns wowing the viewer.

As I mentioned this is a great film and it has the awards to prove it. The problem you are likely to have is that if you are watching this for the first time you will feel as if you have already seen it. And you have. It's the most copied war movie of all time.

My only problem with the film is the final 30 minutes. You will go through about 2 hours and 45 minutes of fabulous work. But the ending is something out of a hallucination. It just does not make sense to me and quite simply, does not work at all.

I don't want to dive into it and spoil it but I would love to hear some thoughts.

This is a must see for any war movie buff.

4 stars. I just couldn't go for a 5 with that ending.