"Apocolypse Now" was a spectacular war movie.
But was it a REALISTIC war movie? Was it a realistic Vietnam War movie? What was or wasn't.
But was it a REALISTIC war movie? Was it a realistic Vietnam War movie? What was or wasn't.
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You people in the know, please help me out......
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No, certainly not realistic.
Ivan the Butcher
Member
I was told by people that were there, next to people high as a kite, that the strung out dopers thought that was what it was like!
The movie was based on the novel "The Heart of Darkness", it was supposed to be a close knock of but Marlin Brando, blew the Million Dollar advance payment, never read the novel as he was supposed to and apparently never read the script either! Brando did marvelous adlib work but, the audience paid the price. Nobody involved with the movie was in the Vietnam war!
Ivan
The movie was based on the novel "The Heart of Darkness", it was supposed to be a close knock of but Marlin Brando, blew the Million Dollar advance payment, never read the novel as he was supposed to and apparently never read the script either! Brando did marvelous adlib work but, the audience paid the price. Nobody involved with the movie was in the Vietnam war!
Ivan
THE PILGRIM
Member
There was a Army Colonel up in Northern Laos who went rogue.
He was advising - leading local paramilitary tribal troops fighting the Patho- Lao Forces.
The nearest US Thai Base was Udorn.
Planes flew back and forth on a daily basis, but he refused to fly down for a meeting.
So they cut off his supplies.
He then did fly down and he was put on a plane headed stateside.
Knew an AF E-7 aircraft maintenance man who went up to Luang Prabang, Laos, the old traditional capital up in N Laos.
An AF Colonel briefed him down at Udorn, then said , your ready to go.
Just one thing. Give me your ID Card.
Sir! My ID Card!
Yes, I’ll put it right here in this little safe behind my desk.
When you depart, me or somebody will be here and return it to you.
Apparently somebody did, he told me that tale in Vegas!
He was advising - leading local paramilitary tribal troops fighting the Patho- Lao Forces.
The nearest US Thai Base was Udorn.
Planes flew back and forth on a daily basis, but he refused to fly down for a meeting.
So they cut off his supplies.
He then did fly down and he was put on a plane headed stateside.
Knew an AF E-7 aircraft maintenance man who went up to Luang Prabang, Laos, the old traditional capital up in N Laos.
An AF Colonel briefed him down at Udorn, then said , your ready to go.
Just one thing. Give me your ID Card.
Sir! My ID Card!
Yes, I’ll put it right here in this little safe behind my desk.
When you depart, me or somebody will be here and return it to you.
Apparently somebody did, he told me that tale in Vegas!
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oink
Member
My brother, a Riverine Ranger from the the era of Tet and the following year, told me there was about 15 to 20 seconds of the movie that were very realistic and kinda put him back there. But that was all.
r.w.,
I'm a huge Robert Duvall fan ("The Great Santini"), but this movie was way "over-the-top" for me although the massive gunship scene with Duvall ("Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore" - 9th Air Cav I think) with the loudspeakers on the attack helos playing "Flight of the Valkyries" was way, way too much!
I agree with the above posts, even though Francis Ford Coppola produced it, this movie again speaks graphically to the fantasy world in which the people in Hollyweird live. This quotation is unbelievable:
"Apocalypse Now" was honored with the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered unfinished before it was finally released on August 15, 1979, by United Artists. The film performed well at the box office, grossing $78 million domestically and going on to grossed over $150 million worldwide. Initial reviews were mixed; while Vittorio Storaro's cinematography was widely acclaimed, several critics found Coppola's handling of the story's major themes to be anticlimactic and intellectually disappointing. "Apocalypse Now" is today considered to be one of the greatest films ever made. [Bull Manure] It was nominated for eight Academy Awards at the 52nd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Coppola), and Best Supporting Actor for Duvall, and went on to win for Best Cinematography and Best Sound. It ranked No. 14 in Sight & Sound's greatest films poll in 2012,[6] and No. 6 in the Director's Poll of greatest films of all time.[7] Roger Ebert also included it in his top 10 list of greatest films ever in 2012.[8] In 2000, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant"
Bill
Vietnam 1966-1967
I'm a huge Robert Duvall fan ("The Great Santini"), but this movie was way "over-the-top" for me although the massive gunship scene with Duvall ("Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore" - 9th Air Cav I think) with the loudspeakers on the attack helos playing "Flight of the Valkyries" was way, way too much!
I agree with the above posts, even though Francis Ford Coppola produced it, this movie again speaks graphically to the fantasy world in which the people in Hollyweird live. This quotation is unbelievable:
"Apocalypse Now" was honored with the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered unfinished before it was finally released on August 15, 1979, by United Artists. The film performed well at the box office, grossing $78 million domestically and going on to grossed over $150 million worldwide. Initial reviews were mixed; while Vittorio Storaro's cinematography was widely acclaimed, several critics found Coppola's handling of the story's major themes to be anticlimactic and intellectually disappointing. "Apocalypse Now" is today considered to be one of the greatest films ever made. [Bull Manure] It was nominated for eight Academy Awards at the 52nd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Coppola), and Best Supporting Actor for Duvall, and went on to win for Best Cinematography and Best Sound. It ranked No. 14 in Sight & Sound's greatest films poll in 2012,[6] and No. 6 in the Director's Poll of greatest films of all time.[7] Roger Ebert also included it in his top 10 list of greatest films ever in 2012.[8] In 2000, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant"
Bill
Vietnam 1966-1967
I saw nothing real other than some scenery that could have been anywhere in SE Asia or S Pacific islands. I don't like most Vietnam movies.
They either have far out plots or lean to making US look like the bad guy.
They either have far out plots or lean to making US look like the bad guy.
usmc2427765
US Veteran
No it was not ,it was Hollywood. Vietnam was 95% hot, humid, miserable and disease ridden with 20 hour days and little sleep. I had Dysentery, a touch of malaria( yes, I did take the pills) and numerous bouts of fever of an unknown origin. The other 5 % was sheer terror and explosions. I served with Marines that I knew always had my back and I had theirs and we would gladly lay down our lives for each other. That type of loyalty is lost on the current generation, with the exception of military and law enforcement. I believe I am out of Wild Turkey, so it is time for me to get off my soap box.
I am not a vet, although I am of the Vietnam War generation. I saw the movie, way back when it first came out. And I’ve seen it a coupla times since.
Where I think the movie fails, as a war movie, is it does not show how war dehumanizes, or desensitizes, or adversely affects, those in the thick of it. Soldiers.
In the movie, all the characters, our soldiers, it seems to me, are crazy from the git go.
“The Thin Red Line,” for example, 1951 original version, shows the effect on young men thrown into war and, to me, anyway, was a movie that made one reflect, and sympathize, with our combat veterans.
The characters in “Apocalypse Now,” by comparison, are cartoonish.
But, I am just a movie goer. Not a vet.
Where I think the movie fails, as a war movie, is it does not show how war dehumanizes, or desensitizes, or adversely affects, those in the thick of it. Soldiers.
In the movie, all the characters, our soldiers, it seems to me, are crazy from the git go.
“The Thin Red Line,” for example, 1951 original version, shows the effect on young men thrown into war and, to me, anyway, was a movie that made one reflect, and sympathize, with our combat veterans.
The characters in “Apocalypse Now,” by comparison, are cartoonish.
But, I am just a movie goer. Not a vet.
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rockquarry
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Weird, depressing film.
HOUSTON RICK
Member
I enjoy the long version (Redeaux?) which has more depth. At no time did I take it for a documentary or really specific to Vietnam. Not in the same league with Full Metal Jacket (or even Iron Triangle) regarding Vietnam as far as my limited second hand knowledge goes. Apocalypse was meant to be provocative anti-war movie and I think it succeeds there. I had several uncles there.
I was in the Army's Navy working on landing craft and tug boats, I knew crews that worked up and down the rivers both Army and "Brown Water" Navy types. Most of that movie was pure b.s., I never talked to anyone that served on a firebase that had any kind of Hollywood action going on. I was in Danang when Ann Margaret showed up, it was a big deal, but there was a full airport there, no helicopter fly-ins.
I appreciated the periods of boredom that they tried to capture and how G.I.s will figure out something to do, to me the intermittent boredom was the worst thing.
We heard stories from guys that went deep in country about Montagnard's and head hunter rumors. I learned that Charlie was one tough opponent and was due respect, I had very little respect for the ARVN's but in the area I was we only dealt with them on water. The ROK Marines were tough little buggers and the local population was terrified of them, if you wanted a security detail those were the guys you wanted around, they hated the Vietnamese.
Its pretty tough to make all of the elements work, its amazing how quiet it can get for periods of time while everything is going crazy around you...you learn to appreciate those quiet moments.
I appreciated the periods of boredom that they tried to capture and how G.I.s will figure out something to do, to me the intermittent boredom was the worst thing.
We heard stories from guys that went deep in country about Montagnard's and head hunter rumors. I learned that Charlie was one tough opponent and was due respect, I had very little respect for the ARVN's but in the area I was we only dealt with them on water. The ROK Marines were tough little buggers and the local population was terrified of them, if you wanted a security detail those were the guys you wanted around, they hated the Vietnamese.
Its pretty tough to make all of the elements work, its amazing how quiet it can get for periods of time while everything is going crazy around you...you learn to appreciate those quiet moments.
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About how it looked to me, except that despite my general ignorance, I didn't take it seriously enough to have it be very depressing.
LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
There is good fiction, there is good entertainment, and there is reality. The movie makers don't rely on customers who demand reality, knowing that fiction and entertainment will put dollars in the box office.
In most of the Vietnam movies I have tolerated watching the actors are usually 10 to 20 years older than anyone I saw in the field in Vietnam. Most of us in real combat units were 18 to 22 years old, even the company-grade officers were usually in their early 20's. Sure, there were senior NCO's and officers in their 30's, even 40's, but they were almost always in rear secure areas, not out in the weeds.
Drugs, and drug use (marijuana and heroin primarily) were common, especially among rear area and support troops. In actual combat units drug use was not tolerated at all. Not unusual for a doper to be beaten to a bloody pulp when caught using drugs in the bush or while on perimeter guard duty, etc. One way or another, dopers were shunned until transferred out of the combat units. Military brass did not want criminal charges or court-martials (adverse publicity) so the troops did what we had to do in order to safeguard our own welfare.
Most non-military folks don't understand that for every soldier at the sharp end of the stick there are a dozen or more troops serving in supply or support roles. Not every soldier who went to Vietnam saw actual combat, most served in relatively secure areas and positions. I'm not saying that as a criticism (I would have gladly traded places many times), I'm just explaining the realities of military structure and deployment in a combat theater.
My primary MOS (military occupational specialty) was 11F4P, Infantry Operations & Intelligence, skill level 4 (non-commissioned officer, pay grade E5-E6), paratrooper, with a sub-specialty as a Pathfinder. I went to Vietnam as a 18-year old Private First Class, promoted to Sergeant by the time I was 19 (generally responsible for 8 or 10 troops, nearly all my own age or younger). I went back to Vietnam a second time, got promoted to Staff Sergeant (generally responsible for 30-40 troops), and came home before I was 21 and old enough to vote or buy a drink in a civilian bar. I proudly display the Combat Infantryman Badge (google-search that, only one way to earn it), and I hold four awards of the Purple Heart Medal (turned down a fifth because it was USAF close air support fire, third gun run, and I was shooting back at the *** who wounded everybody in my team before he flew back to his air conditioned quarters in Thailand after his hour and a half in "combat"). Just about all of my "awards and decorations" (impressive looking display) arrived courtesy of the US Mail, months after I left Vietnam, and I can read the award citations without recognizing anything about a reported incident.
"Apocolypse Now" and a dozen other Vietnam-based movies are dramatized and fictional accounts, mostly produced in the aftermath of an unpopular military venture by anti-war, anti-US, anti-everything know-it-all types with no attempt whatsoever to present truth or reality, just drive the box office revenue while pursuing a political agenda.
Rant over, for now.
In most of the Vietnam movies I have tolerated watching the actors are usually 10 to 20 years older than anyone I saw in the field in Vietnam. Most of us in real combat units were 18 to 22 years old, even the company-grade officers were usually in their early 20's. Sure, there were senior NCO's and officers in their 30's, even 40's, but they were almost always in rear secure areas, not out in the weeds.
Drugs, and drug use (marijuana and heroin primarily) were common, especially among rear area and support troops. In actual combat units drug use was not tolerated at all. Not unusual for a doper to be beaten to a bloody pulp when caught using drugs in the bush or while on perimeter guard duty, etc. One way or another, dopers were shunned until transferred out of the combat units. Military brass did not want criminal charges or court-martials (adverse publicity) so the troops did what we had to do in order to safeguard our own welfare.
Most non-military folks don't understand that for every soldier at the sharp end of the stick there are a dozen or more troops serving in supply or support roles. Not every soldier who went to Vietnam saw actual combat, most served in relatively secure areas and positions. I'm not saying that as a criticism (I would have gladly traded places many times), I'm just explaining the realities of military structure and deployment in a combat theater.
My primary MOS (military occupational specialty) was 11F4P, Infantry Operations & Intelligence, skill level 4 (non-commissioned officer, pay grade E5-E6), paratrooper, with a sub-specialty as a Pathfinder. I went to Vietnam as a 18-year old Private First Class, promoted to Sergeant by the time I was 19 (generally responsible for 8 or 10 troops, nearly all my own age or younger). I went back to Vietnam a second time, got promoted to Staff Sergeant (generally responsible for 30-40 troops), and came home before I was 21 and old enough to vote or buy a drink in a civilian bar. I proudly display the Combat Infantryman Badge (google-search that, only one way to earn it), and I hold four awards of the Purple Heart Medal (turned down a fifth because it was USAF close air support fire, third gun run, and I was shooting back at the *** who wounded everybody in my team before he flew back to his air conditioned quarters in Thailand after his hour and a half in "combat"). Just about all of my "awards and decorations" (impressive looking display) arrived courtesy of the US Mail, months after I left Vietnam, and I can read the award citations without recognizing anything about a reported incident.
"Apocolypse Now" and a dozen other Vietnam-based movies are dramatized and fictional accounts, mostly produced in the aftermath of an unpopular military venture by anti-war, anti-US, anti-everything know-it-all types with no attempt whatsoever to present truth or reality, just drive the box office revenue while pursuing a political agenda.
Rant over, for now.
Factual movies are called documentaries or docudramas. Movies made for entertainment are “loosely based” on fact. Sometimes very loosely.
Apocalypse Now never impressed me.
Apocalypse Now never impressed me.
Rpg
Member
It is a GREAT movie: it has Marlon Brando in it!!!!
What more can be said?
What more can be said?
straightshooter1
US Veteran
I thought it was an awful movie, and truly fiction all around.
I am not a fan of any VN movies and rarely watch them, though Full Metal Jacket is worth watching IMO.
Bob
I am not a fan of any VN movies and rarely watch them, though Full Metal Jacket is worth watching IMO.
Bob
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OP
Thanks for the comments....
All I hear is how great the movie is and I thought it was b.s.ical but I didn't want to slant the comment as per any 'expectations' that I might have held. I wasn't there (I'm 63).
I didn't even watch 'Rambo' after seeing him knocking off North Vietnamese like tenpins single handed with every weapon known.
I'll take "All Quiet on the Western Front", Das Boot, 'Saving Private Ryan' and a few others.
All I hear is how great the movie is and I thought it was b.s.ical but I didn't want to slant the comment as per any 'expectations' that I might have held. I wasn't there (I'm 63).
I didn't even watch 'Rambo' after seeing him knocking off North Vietnamese like tenpins single handed with every weapon known.
I'll take "All Quiet on the Western Front", Das Boot, 'Saving Private Ryan' and a few others.
