20 Favourite Films of the 20th Century #3

Apocalypse Now

(Directed by Francis Ford Coppola; Written by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola; Starring Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, and Robert DuVall; 1979)

The line I most associate with this film: "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning."

 Need I say anything? From the king of the New Hollywood, this is THE best war film ever made, period! There hasn't been any other war movie that has even reached the ankles of Apocalypse Now in its incredible both realist and surrealist portrayal of war (because war is both a real and surreal thing). It's also probably the most truthful portrayal of the Vietnam War produced in the USA. This is definitely the best work of Francis Ford Coppola, who has brilliant masterpieces under his belt, like The Godfather trilogy and The Conversation, which are also brilliant masterpieces of cinema. However, in my opinion, Apocalypse Now surpasses every work done by Coppola in the way that he mixed both his genius and madman sides so perfectly to make this masterwork of cinema (the stories of the production of this film are world-famous). In this nightmarish film, we follow a US army captain, who is tasked with the assassination of a Colonel who went rogue and has gone mad, in a surreal voyage through the madness of a meaningless war. With one of the best performances from Martin Sheen, a performance from Marlon Brando that will haunt your dreams, and one of the most iconic performances from Robert DuVall, this is surely one of the highest expressions of the seventh art!