Apocalypse Now

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⭐ 10.0/10

(Originally written by Tim)

This movie is an overwhelming experience from start to finish. A story set in the Vietnam War about the breaking of the souls of the people involved, it feels like a boat ride taking the characters down the river to hell. You watch in a psychedelic haze as soldiers become complicit and accustomed to the horrors around them.

The visuals in this movie are stunning, with colourful smoke bombs and blood red sunsets lighting the dirty shadowed faces of the characters. The set pieces are spectacular, the standout being a devastating and iconic helicopter attack on a beach that the general wants to surf on ("I love the smell of napalm in the morning"). I can only imagine the amount of work, and money, involved in a scene like this, between the explosions and helicopters and choreography. The combination of my fascination with how they did it paired with how completely mesmerizing it was to watch makes it one of the greatest scenes in a movie I have ever seen.

To speak for the acting and writing in this movie, just check out the IMDB page. Stacked cast, directed by the guy who made the godfather movies. My expectations were high knowing the credentials of the people involved, and it still blew me away.

It feels unoriginal to call it a masterpiece, but there aren't many movies on this level.

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