Loosely based upon Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam epic deals with morality and corruption. Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent into Cambodia to terminate Colonel Kurtz (Marlin Brando) who has abandoned the Army and begun operating on his own. Kurtz's madness stems from a rejection of the war, the military itself, and a great confusion over morality in an immoral world. Dennis Hopper is brilliant as a reporter who becomes enamored with Kurtz. Coppola released Apocalypse Now Redux, which contains a wealth of new scenes. This version is definitely worth seeing, but only after watching the original.

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse details the making of Apocalypse Now. During filming, Coppola eventually journeyed to the brink of madness and beyond, eerily paralleling Kurtz's experiences. After learning about the Typhoon that wrecked sets, Martin Sheen's near-fatal heart attack during filming (his character smokes heavily in half of the scenes in the movie), and Marlin Brando's appearance on the set, grossly overweight and unfamiliar with Conrad's book, it is amazing that the movie turned out so well.

Return to the SAGE/PLs Home Page

This page was designed by Andrew Van Alstyne. Please direct all questions/comments to him.