Apocalypse Now is one of those movies for which I frequently had been confronted with mouths opened wide in astonishment, how come you have not seen it ? Never heard of the phrase: I love the smell of Napalm in the Morning ? Well, now I have, thanks very much.

In defense of my reputation I must say, I have read the book upon which the movie is based upon years ago (Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness). While the movie follows the book to a large extent, the story is a basic and working formula of a man’s journey both into the world as well as into his heart (of darkness).

The movie is set in Vietnam, instead of the African continent, which works very well and the often cited ‘Horrors’ are many and illustrious in this movie, ranging from physical violence to mental degeneration.

A very good and solid cast (except Dennis Hopper, that moron almost ruined the movie with his horrible performance).

I have never seen a movie whose starpower (concerning Brando) was so evidently woven into the structure. The movie builds up to the climaxing moment when we finally meet the enigmatic man in the middle of darkness, and personally I wanted to meet the character in the story as much as looking forward to the stellar performance (so Ive been told) of the legendary Marlon Brando.

I was not disappointed.

There is an interesting documentary around, called Hearts of Darkness which basically documents the movie’s making. It took 16 months (instead of the scheduled 6 weeks) to make, Martin Sheen suffered from a heart attack, Coppola treated suicide and Brando did not care about his lines.

An epic masterpiece, highly recommended