@Manny Ramirez has inspired me. Work has been really slow the last week so I've been watching a YouTube series about the making of Apocalypse Now It's got a lot more background info and research than the Hearts of Darkness. Seeing all the stuff that happened leading up to filming and all the insanity that happened during filming it's amazing that the movie ever got made. It's also a good view into how the process of creating art changes the final product. That the original vision of something like Apocalypse Now wasn't the final product including some of the most iconic scenes of the movie. Full Metal Jacket is also a masterwork of one of the greatest directors and also an interesting view in the creation of art. Full Metal Jacket was far less chaotic in production than Apocalypse Now with all of it being shot in the UK. One of the biggest surprises from the production is the casting of R Lee Ermey as Seargeant Hartman. Originally he was only the technical consultant but proved to be so good that Kubrick gave him the role. Also the casting of Vincent D'Onfrio as the Private Pyle was a happenstance as he was a bouncer in Hollywood that Matthew Modine knew and it was Modine that got him the chance to be on the movie. That made D'Onfrio's career. In a side note R. Lee Ermey was in an uncredited role also in Apocalypse Now as one of the Air Cav pilots in the Flight of the Valkyries scene. Besides how unique the making of both movies are they really capture the madness of war particularly the Vietnam war. They address a deep sense of absurdity about young men turned into killing machines thrust into a war that they were losing without really a sense of why they were there. That is what really sets the Vietnam war and these movies from other war movies particularly Saving Private Ryan. In Saving Private Ryan it is held together by a strong sense of purpose. When Captian Miller addresses the platoon about why they are a difficult and possibly fruitless quest he lays out that Ryan doesn't mean anything himself but it is about ending the war and getting home faster. In Apocalypse Now Willard frequently riffs on the madness of his mission and they are frequently confronted with situations where things don't make sense. Best summed up at the Do Lung bridge where no one knows who is in charge. In Full Metal Jacket the soldiers are asked what they are fighting for and one called "Animal" says "poontang". I've heard from many former soldiers including those who served in Vietnam that both movies were very true to their experiences. The training in Full Metal Jacket is very authentic but so was the sense of fear and confusion captured in the battle scenes of both movies. The sense of isolation and distance from home is captured very well in both movies and is something that those who have served in recent US conflicts said feels very true. I think both movies are among not just the best war movies but among the best movies made. What do Clutchfans think?
Just to get things started I'm narrowly voting for Apocalypse Now. The breadth of the story, cinematography and music of Apocalypse Now edges out Full Metal Jacket.
My opinion: Full Metal Jacket is Stanley Kubrick's finest work. Francis Ford Coppola's finest work is the God Father. Full Metal Jacket all the way. Insane story and suspense
I don't remember actually watching Apocalypse Now fully, but I know I have, I need to rewatch with mature eyes but I think I have to go with Full Metal because it's a bit more straightforward and not as philosophical. AN is better visually, but there are some great visuals in Full Metal as well, especially the sniper scenes, they are embedded in my head.
One is a microscopic view of the war (FMJ) and the other is surreal panorama (AN). I'm partial to AN but I don't know why exactly. I guess I like the dreaminess and I've always loved the source material, where the river becomes more of a character than the human beings and the Kurtz character blends into the jungle, becoming a sort of fully feral version of humanity (and that's the horror, the horror of our most basic violent nature).
I like that analysis and how the river is a character. Really puts the line "never leave the boat" in context.
That scene is incredibly powerful especially the ending. The idea of a lone girl sniper trapping and holding off a heavily armed platoon of US troops encapsulates asymetric warfare and is metaphor for many recent conflicts including Ukraine.
This guy agrees The White Death Some of Häyhä's figures are from a Finnish Army document, counted from the beginning of the war, 30 November 1939: 22 December 1939: 138 sniper kills in 22 days[22] 26 January 1940: 199 sniper kills (61 in 35 days)[23] 17 February 1940: 219 sniper kills (20 in 22 days)[7] 7 March 1940 (one day after he was wounded): total of 259 sniper kills (40 in 18 days)[7]
I had not even remembered that the sniper was a girl, I just remember being in that courtyard with all the debris and the buildings being bombed out in the background, I guess I need to watch it again. Actually, when I think about it, there are a lot of great war scenes in that movie.
Good find. At first I thought that was Vasiley Zaitsez the Russian sniper in Stalingrad from "Enemy at the Gates".
AN is the superior movie imo a complete classic -- FMJ is 2 movies spliced together -- boot camp which I believe is up there with the greats then an average war/ action movie with sub par sets and special effects. Part of the problem was Kubrick not wanting to leave England and filming the war scenes in an abandoned factory with an occasional palm tree to remind the audience it was Vietnam.
Apocalypse Now is like a video game. A journey through different levels. To find a boss. As you find yourself (your character finds him/herself - Sheen). And try to finish the story.
