Apocalypse Now Essay

The film Apocalypse Now tells the story of a group of soldiers who go on a mission to assassinate a rogue United States colonel who has established a colony in North Vietnam. The director of the film is Francis Coppola, who is known for his role in producing Jeepers Creepers and for his role in directing the film series of The Godfather. Coppola was “one of his era 's most impassioned talents” and “most erratic; in both his career and his personal life”. Perhaps his biggest success of his career; however, came from Apocalypse Now. The film he directed received eight Academy Awards nominations, won Oscars, and despite reviews was a huge success. Francis Coppola had an illustrious career full of successes and failures. The leading actors

One thing shown frequently in the film that Herring talks about in the text is the use of helicopters. Helicopters were essential to the war as they transported troops and picked up the wounded from the battles. This shows in several battles throughout the film where there are attack helicopters. In other scenes there are smaller surveillance helicopters as well. Another thing that the film possessed that is in the text from Herring is the large number of African American actors. Apocalypse Now was one of the first Vietnam War films to have several African American characters with prominent speaking roles. Herring talks about the large number of African American soldiers drafted in the text when he states, “African Americans correctly saw themselves as the primary victims of an inequitable selective service system that drafted their sons in disproportionate numbers. This shows that the film was correct by having more prominent roles for African American characters, despite not having them serve a completely accurate

One review, written by Gary Arnold states, “‘Apocalypse Now,” despite flashes of excitement, remains a colossal egocentric blur”. This showed that Arnold, a respected critic, thought the film could be better, although it had points of action and excitement. Arnold also goes on to state, “The movie…commences straining for greatness and never lets up”. Once again showing that he does not have much praise for the film. Another review that came out, takes a different view on the film. Roger Ebert, a famous critic, gave his thoughts on the film in a review where he states, “‘Apocalypse Now’ is the best Vietnam film, one of the greatest of all films, because it pushes beyond the others, into the dark places of the soul”. This is a remarkable quote, from of the most respected reviewers of the time. Ebert also can be quoted stating, “In any event, seen again at a distance of 20 years now, "Apocalypse Now" is more clearly than ever one of the key films of the century”. Once again the statement shows Ebert’s approval for the film. The film received harsh criticisms and raving