Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script by John Milius (rewritten by Coppola) which was inspired by Joseph Conrad's classic novella Heart of Darkness. Set in the Vietnam War, a taciturn American soldier is sent to "terminate with extreme prejudice" the command of a rogue United States Army Special Forces colonel. The narrative of his journey and its culmination are studded with events which, while bizarre, are based on real Vietnam stories. The soldier's journey becomes increasingly nonlinear and hallucinatory. Coppola's agenda clearly involves larger themes; the film's subtext concerns a journey into the darkness of the human psyche.

Spoofs

As one of the most iconic films of the 20th century, the film has been referenced and parodied countless times.

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• The film was parodied in a short film called "Porklips Now", about a health inspector Will Dullard, who makes a trip to inspect the meat processing shop of a man named Mertz.
• In an episode of Seinfeld, Elaine Benes visits her employer in a scene that parodies Sheen's eventual meeting with Marlon Brando's character.
• The same scene is also parodied in an episode of Sealab 2021, with Captain Murphy as Kurtz and Marco as Willard.
• Parodied in the episode "Kamp Krusty" of The Simpsons. Marge Simpson also tells her husband Homer Simpson in another episode, "your character provides the comic relief, like Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now".
• In an episode of The Critic, one of the films Jay reviews is a musical remake titled "Apocalypse Wow."
• In True Romance, Clarence Worley calls Apocalypse Now "the greatest Vietnam film ever made".
• The episode "Eekpocalypse Now!" of the cartoon series Eek! the Cat parodied the movie, with Eek as Willard, Elmo the Elk as Colonel Kilgore and Sharky the Sharkdog as Colonel Kurtz.
• Apocalypse Pooh is a 9 minute short which marries visuals from Winnie the Pooh cartoons with audio from Apocalypse Now. Amazingly, they fit perfectly, following the basic plot well.
• In the videogame World of Warcraft a series of quests in the Stranglethorn Vale zone take you to the camp of a crazed Colonel Kertzen who has brainwashed his men, in an attempt to kill the Colonel.
• Hot Shots! Part Deux starring Sheen's son Charlie Sheen parodies the film. Willard's character and Charlie Sheen's character Topper are depicted staring at each other while passing in opposite directions on PBRs on a river. As they meet each shouts in unison, "I loved you in Wall Street!". Incidentally, Martin Sheen was unable to appear in the sequence so his younger brother Joe Estevez stood in. Being similar in appearance and remarkably similar in voice, Joe Estevez stood in for the unwell Sheen in much of Apocalypse Now and most of the narration is by him.
• Another movie starring Charlie Sheen, The Chase, has a gag scene after the end credits, in which Charlie Sheen quotes Kilgore's famous napalm line.
• In Buffy the Vampire Slayer the episode Restless (at the end of season four) contains Xander's dream of Apocalypse Now, including Principal Snyder as Kurtz.
• Claymation cartoonist Corky Quakenbush produced "A Pack of Gifts Now", which is part of his Rudolph Trilogy (the other two being "Raging Rudolph" and "The Reinfather"). The short is set in Sasketchewan, with Rudolph in the Captain Willard role and Santa Claus in the Col. Kurtz role. Rudolph's mission is to "terminate the Kringle (Santa) with extreme prejudice". This short would air on the Christmas edition of MadTV in 1999.

Award wins:

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• Cannes Film Festival : Palme d'Or
• Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Vittorio Storaro)
• Academy Award for Sound (Richard Beggs, Mark Berger, Nathan Boxer and Walter Murch)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Director (Francis Ford Coppola)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor (Robert Duvall)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score - Motion Picture (Carmine Coppola & Francis Ford Coppola)

In 2000 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Related Topics:
2000 - Library of Congress - Culturally significant - National Film Registry

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Award nominations:

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• Academy Award for Best Picture
• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor - (Robert Duvall)
• Academy Award for Best Art Direction - Set Decoration (Angelo P. Graham, George R. Nelson and Dean Tavoularis)
• Academy Award for Directing (Francis Ford Coppola)
• Academy Award for Film Editing (Lisa Fruchtman, Gerald B. Greenberg, Richard Marks and Walter Murch)
• Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Francis Ford Coppola & John Milius)
• WGA Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen (John Milius & Francis Ford Coppola)
• Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture (Carmine Coppola & Francis Ford Coppola)