Preview

Apocalypse Now Analysis

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
562 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Apocalypse Now Analysis
Apocalypse Now is based on Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness which is not about Vietnam. Heart of Darkness was written in 1902 and is about a journey up the Congo River into the heart of darkest Africa to find a power-crazed white trader named Kurtz. It is conceivable that an African tribe may have treated Kurtz as a god in the early days of colonization but I find it hard to believe the Montagnard tribesmen of Cambodia would have done so in the Vietnam War. And I don't really believe that in the Vietnam War soldiers were surfing while battles raged around them.
If you want to see movies about the Vietnam War I recommend the Oliver Stone movies Platoon, Born on the 4th of July and Heaven and Earth.
You should see Apocalypse Now for a spectacular depiction of the insanity of war and mankind in general. …show more content…
Coppola took note of this. 'The End' by the Doors is used to great effect in Apocalypse Now. Sixties rock music became de rigueur in movies about the Vietnam war.
Harrison Ford played a small role in Apocalypse Now, as he did in American Graffiti. His character was named G. Lucas.
Apocalypse Now could have been a classic but it is spoiled by a confused ending. Coppola brought in Marlon Brando to play Kurtz in the hope that he would repeat the success of his performance in The Godfather. Brando came in unprepared and improvised his role. The result was aimless mumbling and raving. Without Brando the movie would have been better and Coppola would have saved himself a lot of money and anguish.
Perhaps I am being too harsh in my criticism of Brando. Nobody could have saved the ending of Apocalypse Now. The real problem was that Coppola took on too much himself as producer, director, co-writer and financier. He even composed some of the music with his father Carmine. He really needed an independent producer to rein the movie
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Differences Between The Crucible Book And Movie
    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Differences Between The Crucible Book And Movie

    I think that all of the characters were portrayed very well in the movie. If I had to…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Mission Movie Analysis
    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Mission Movie Analysis

    I would assume the movies he has directed have been very good to have received these awards and nominations. As for the actors, I believe they did an excellent job overall. The only parts I have mixed feelings about were how the deaths were acted out. It took away from the movie for me personally because they did not seem realistic. Instant blood and dramatic falls did not provide an accurate depiction of how devastating this event was. De Niro and Irons did an especially great job portraying their characters. In the very end of the movie, you could see Rodrigo’s struggle to hold on and Father Gabriel’s fear, although he would not turn his back on the natives who had put their trust in him. The other actors who played the other Jesuit missionaries did an excellent job as well, but in my opinion, did not have as an important position in the movie like De Niro or Irons. The actors portraying the Portuguese slave traders really took hold of the ignorance the Portuguese had towards the Natives. Ray McAnally, who had the role of the Cardinal, did a great job of showing how difficult the decision was for him to give Portuguese control as well as his regret and grief for the destruction that…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Eddie Adams Famous Photographers Analysis
    • 1382 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Eddie Adams Famous Photographers Analysis

    "War is partly madness, mostly insanity and the rest is schizophrenia.”- Don McCullin. (BBC Imagine 2013 McCullin)…

    • 1382 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Tom Savini's Night Of The Living Dead
    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Tom Savini's Night Of The Living Dead

    Final thoughts, I'm not sure why I so greatly prefer this film over the original and often I feel like I'm the only one that does. Tony Todd's incredibly memorable performance has stuck with me for years and is part of what I most readily associate with the franchise. Just all aspect of this film is top-notch for me and I feel it's one of the strongest films to be part of the Dead series.…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Compare And Contrast Dear America Letters Home
    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Compare And Contrast Dear America Letters Home

    Fallen Angels and "Dear America: Letters Home" both focus on the Vietnam war and giving us a look into the lives of a soldiers. Fallen Angels is a novel that gives readers insight into a soldiers mind. Throughout the whole book, the reader gets to know a soldier known as Richie Perry. We get to know what he is thinking and how he feels about the war, and we get to see the effects of war on a soldier. "Dear America: Letters Home" is a movie about the letters that soldiers wrote home. The letters are primary sources, so we can see exactly what the soldiers were feeling or thinking about.…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Hunt Movie Analysis
    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Hunt Movie Analysis

    All in all, I have no criticism for the film. In fact, I believe this film is such that it could be expanded upon to create a full-length feature or at least a more substantial film. But of coure, that requires time and resources that the filmmakers may not have at their disposal. Both the joy and agony of indie films. Phenomenal stories without the restrictions of the studios but also without the funding of the studios.…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Explain the Impacts the Vietnam War Had on Soldiers
    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Explain the Impacts the Vietnam War Had on Soldiers

    The Vietnam was a war like no other and the nature of the fighting in this war had great impacts on the soldiers. At this time, communism was seen as a great threat, especially by Western countries, and so extreme emphasis was placed on the domino theory that when one country falls to communism, others would follow and that forward defence would be the only solution to this issue. Also during this time, Vietnam was artificially split into the communist South, led by Ho Chi Min who defeated and drove out the French, and the government led South, which was in the power of Diem who was clearly corrupt and had little supporters so the spread of communism was quite likely. In response, American and Australian troops were sent to fight for the South and stop this spread of communism but there were many difficulties.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ender's Game Book vs. Movie
    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Ender's Game Book vs. Movie

    I like the book more than the movie. Audience reaction has to be taken into consideration in a way that books don't have to. The audience, cannot, even for a moment, be confused as to who the "bad guy" is. Otherwise, you can have a teenage Scarface.…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Shulzinger Vietnam War
    • 1324 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Shulzinger Vietnam War

    In A Time For War: The United States and Vietnam, 1941-1975 by Robert D. Shulzinger basically paints this image of the time span of the conflicts leading up to the war and the…

    • 1324 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Plan 9 from Outer Space
    • 987 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Plan 9 from Outer Space

    Regardless of what the plot was intended to be, it is difficult to not be distracted from the message in the film by the poor acting. The lines are not particularly good that the actors are given for their characters, but they are spoken in such a way that the viewer is not as aware of what they are saying, but in the strange manner they are…

    • 987 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Horsemen Of Apocalypse Analysis
    • 3888 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Horsemen Of Apocalypse Analysis

    The five horsemen of apocalypse are not beings that were created or made. They simply are. They never came from a single source, but instead were seemingly ripped from reality itself and brought into existence. They are the ones dealt with bringing upon the end when the time comes, and then rebuilding once the deed has been done. Once the four first horsemen have taken their toll, it is left up to the fifth horsemen to rebuild the realms. They are Death, Pestilence, Conquest, War, and Providence.…

    • 3888 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Green Berets and Casualties of War
    • 1636 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Green Berets and Casualties of War

    The films I chose to do my comparative paper on are The Green Berets and Casualties of War. Both of these films deal with issues concerning the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was viewed as unpopular and pointless by society; The Green Berets objective was to gain support for the Vietnam War. The film puts great emphasis on liberal war journalist George Beckwith (David Janssen). Beckwith originally doubts America's involvement in the war, but after spending time with the Green Berets, his attitude changes significantly. Casualties of War has a different perspective on the Vietnam War. The film is based on a real-life incident and it focuses on the emotional and psychological aspects of war. The film puts emphasis on Sergeant Meserve (Sean Penn) and how he is becoming changed by the savagery of war and his uncertainty…

    • 1636 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now
    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now

    Apocalypse Now uses the setting uses the same dynamics of Heart of Darkness’s dense Congo setting, but converts it into a Vietnam War setting. It uses the same heavy feelings of constriction, tightness, and uncomfortable limitation to create a similar result. The director uses tight camera angles and dense jungle footage to create a claustrophobic effect that disrupts the characters’ psychological normality and warps their basic human morals. The director is making a point that this was not the right place for young American men to be wielding guns. This is evident in a scene where the soldiers,…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Hustler Movie Analysis
    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Hustler Movie Analysis

    Most movies that come out today are practicable, I'm not saying that this is bad thing, but in the movie "The Hustler" the unsuspecting scene's drove the movie. I really enjoyed watching this movie and I was really surprised to enjoy a film this much that was made in 1961. Robert Rossen was the director of this movie, and I thought he did a wonderful job picking out the cast for this film. Every character was believable, and they all played excellent roles, but the role of "Fast" Eddie stuck out to me because of the strengths in the character.…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Anaylsis Yusef Komunyakaa's poem, "Tu Do Street"
    • 1277 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Anaylsis Yusef Komunyakaa's poem, "Tu Do Street"

    "One day President Roosevelt told me that he was asking publicly for suggestions about what the war should be called. I said at once 'The Unnecessary War ', Winston Churchill." War is a part of every nations history, and our great nation is no different. Winston Churchill made this statement in the 1940 's, and less than twenty years later, America had found its way into another 'Unnecessary War '. The Vietnam War was the most highly controversial war that the United States has ever been involved in. Thousands of citizens protested the war, while their sons, friends, and family were fighting and dying across the Pacific. What cannot be captured by a history lesson is how the soldiers felt. Men of all race and backgrounds were being sent off to fight. With racial tension still high in the U.S., how would a black soldier be treated overseas by his white comrades? The award winning poet, Yusef Komunyakaa not only took a tour of duty in Vietnam, he wrote many poems about his experience while in Vietnam. I will analyze Komunyakaa 's poem, "Tu Do Street," from a historical perspective to attempt to understand some of the tribulations that an African American soldier would endure during a tour of duty in Vietnam.…

    • 1277 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics