Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American Vietnam War epic film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness.

Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American Vietnam War epic film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness. The film follows U.S. Army Captain Benjamin Willard on a secret mission to travel into Cambodia and assassinate the rogue Colonel Walter E. Kurtz. It is widely regarded as a major work of late-20th-century cinema and is known for its difficult production and critical legacy.

Plot

The story follows Captain Benjamin Willard as he travels upriver from South Vietnam into Cambodia on a classified mission to assassinate Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, a Special Forces officer who has gone rogue and is believed to be insane.

Production

The film was made under difficult conditions in Southeast Asia and became known for budget overruns, delays and other production problems. Contemporary accounts and later retrospectives frequently cite these difficulties as part of the film’s legacy.

Literary sources

Apocalypse Now is loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, with the setting and conflict transposed from the Congo to the Vietnam War. Critics and reference works consistently identify this connection as central to the film’s meaning.

Legacy

The film is widely discussed as one of the defining American war films of its era. Its later recut, Apocalypse Now Redux, reflects continuing interest in the work and its unfinished or evolving form.