Apocalypse today...

IFC has been showing the 'Apocalypse Now Redux' Director's cut (not to be confused with the 5 1/2 hour 'workprint version' which is on my wishlist. I have watched this movie several times and am still in awe.

The movie's pace and plotting is masterful. As we, the viewer, follow the boat down the river we are brought deeper into Kurtz's, and the war's, insanity. Each stopping point is decidedly more bizarre than the last. Carmine Coppola's score, especially the disturbing carnival music at the last outpost, is a study in perfection. Hollywood's current crop of music men, Randy Newman and Danny Elfman, could learn a thing or two about not upstaging the movie. It's no surprise that Francis Ford Coppola had a breakdown during production and is still trying to perfect the movie.

Many people argue that there are better Vietnam movies but for my money there are only three that are worth their salt, Full Metal Jacket, Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now, with the latter being the best.

FMJ is brilliant in the first act but falls apart and victim to cliches after boot camp. I'm really sad to say that about Kubrick but after a recent viewing I was less than impressed by the overall film. If the intensity of boot camp were maintained throughout the film it would have held up better.

The Deer Hunter isn't a war film but it is about Vietnam. Cimino leans towards excess (evidenced later in his career) but the strength of the performances and the story make this a classic. I don't think the depiction of the war's effects on a small town have ever been shown in any other movie (maybe you can jog my memory?). Although it is a great movie the tendency towards melodrama takes it down a few pegs.

Apocalypse Now is as fresh today as 25 years ago. The characters, story, plot points, art direction, cinematography, performances and direction are still unparalleled in a Vietnam film and may be the greatest war movie of all time. The insanity, confusion, hypocrisy, terror, fear, camaraderie and bravado of war have never been depicted with as much passion and compassion. Coppola doesn't indict the Vietnam War. He is merely telling a story. Because the movie doesn't get weighed down in politics and pontificating it soars above the rest of the pack.

Vietnam film trivia...R. Lee Ermey is in both Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket. He is famous as the Drill Sergeant in FMJ but he had a small, uncredited, roll in AP as Eagle Thrust Seven helicopter pilot. He can be seen in the 'Flight of the Valkyrie' sequence.

This wouldn't be a blog without a little Bush bashing so...on such a horrible day when Iraqi patriots, er, insurgents, mortar a chow tent in Mosul killing 20 G.I.s I think it's important to look back at the horrors of the Vietnam War. There are still many lessons to be learned from the polarizing geo-politics of that era. I highly recommend Apocalypse Now to the crazy brave who are gung ho about Iraq. Some reminders of the insanity of a badly planned and morally pointless war could rattle some sense into the Bushie hawks.