Apocalypse Now

This movie relies heavily on the social commentary regarding the mess the Vietnam war was, its third act, and Brando’s performance. I like Coppola’s stance. He wants us to know how ridiculous the war and the situation was. How it drove people to madness. How it was all a shitshow. What he doesn’t do is build characters. We don’t care about any of the crew members. A tape recording is supposed to make me care all of a sudden? First act of the movie is a disaster. It is so disengaging and unbearably long. This movie gets lost in what it’s trying to say. We don’t get to see Brando’s character long enough to know him. We don’t see what his doing wrong. For all we know the people loved him. This movie is ultimately a failure with some redeeming moments which are not enough to carry it. As for the show of brutality, there are movies out there that show this far better, such as come and see. Even saving private Ryan is more brutal and nothing in this movie even compares to the opening scene of SPR. Coppola manipulated the minds of Americans and used their open wounds and their feelings on the Vietnam war against them to gain publicity for this movie.