Apocalypse Now

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Apocalypse Now

R

1979

2h 27m

War

Drama

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Popcornmeter

90%

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146 Reviews

94%

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250,000+ Ratings

In Vietnam in 1970, Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) takes a perilous and increasingly hallucinatory journey upriver to find and terminate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a once-promising officer who has reportedly gone completely mad. In the company of a Navy patrol boat filled with street-smart kids, a surfing-obsessed Air Cavalry officer (Robert Duvall), and a crazed freelance photographer (Dennis Hopper), Willard travels further and further into the heart of darkness.

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Critics Consensus

A voyage to hell where the journey is more satisfying than the destination, Francis Ford Coppola's haunting, hallucinatory Vietnam War epic is cinema at its most audacious and visionary.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Years and years from now, when Coppola’s budget and his problems have long been forgotten, “Apocalypse” will still stand, I think, as a grand and grave and insanely inspired gesture of filmmaking.

Rated: 4/4

Sep 23, 2024

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Gene Siskel

Chicago Tribune

It's precisely in the last 25 minutes that Apocalypse Now dissolves into gibberish. I've seen the film three times with two different endings, and neither ending has been satisfactory. That's because the problem with the picture isn't at its very end.

Rated: 2.5/4

Sep 23, 2024

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Bruce McCabe

Boston Globe

Some critics fault Coppola for not delivering a seamless, flawless film. But this is to misperceive and misread the film in a crucial way. The film by definition couldn't be flawless. It attempts too much.

Sep 23, 2024

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Megan Fisher

Loud and Clear Reviews

It’s an enthralling, powerful miracle of a movie.

Jan 11, 2025

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Bill Cosford

Miami Herald

Though as high art this movie may have its problems, it is a complete movie, a huge piece of work that is at once a technical masterpiece and a thing of lyrical, lethal beauty. This will be the film to see in 1979.

Sep 23, 2024

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Jeff Simon

Buffalo News

Decompression [after leaving the theater] takes a long time. You're still submerged for quite a while in its climate of oppressive sin and maddened dissolution... The parking lot doesn't seem quite like a parking lot.

Sep 23, 2024

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Harry H.

Hot Take 🔥 i do not like this movie very long very drawn out

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

11/20/25

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Jack F

Like The Deer Hunter, this movie is not your typical war film, mainly because the movie doesn't focus on the war itself. You obviously need to watch it of you like movies.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/17/25

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Dean S

The greatest Vietnam film of them all. The helicopter scene WOW!!!! The end scene WOW!!! "Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right. Unless you were going all the way” 10/10 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/11/25

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Merick H

Visually stunning and just completely engrossing from beginning to end! Brilliantly captures the absurdity and hypocrisy of war...

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/09/25

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Colin S

Apocalypse Now is a film that draws you in the moment the first scene opens with the burning jungle and the music of "The End" by The Doors. Director Coppola shows the craziness of war through the journey of Captain Willard and the cinematography is brilliant. Everything seems heavy as the helicopter attack plays "Ride of the Valkyries" to Kurtz's eventual death. The cinematography and sound make you feel it was real and like you were there. 4.5 stars for the raw emotion, brilliant visuals, and the way it depicts the madness of war.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

10/22/25

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Daniel N

I've never understood why this movie has such a cult following. It is one of the most boring movies of all time. Literally nothing happens. There's a 5 minute chopper battle and a couple amusing one-liners, but otherwise it's just 2+ hours of people sitting around talking. From a purely entertainment point of view it's rubbish. Had to force myself watch it over several sittings, just to get to the end.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

09/27/25

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Francis Ford Coppola

Director

Marlon Brando

Colonel Kurtz

Martin Sheen

Captain Willard

Robert Duvall

Lt. Col. Kilgore

Frederic Forrest

Chef

Albert Hall

Chief

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Synopsis

In Vietnam in 1970, Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) takes a perilous and increasingly hallucinatory journey upriver to find and terminate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a once-promising officer who has reportedly gone completely mad. In the company of a Navy patrol boat filled with street-smart kids, a surfing-obsessed Air Cavalry officer (Robert Duvall), and a crazed freelance photographer (Dennis Hopper), Willard travels further and further into the heart of darkness.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Producer: Kim Aubry
Screenwriter: Joseph Conrad, John Milius, Michael Herr
Distributor: Miramax Films, United Artists, Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Zoetrope Studios
Rating: R
Genre: War, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 15, 1979, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 29, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $74.4K
Runtime: 2h 27m
Sound Mix: Surround

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