Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now (viewed June 5th and 6th).
1979 American Zoetrope; distributed to DVD by Paramount.
Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms, Albert Hall, Joe Estevez (uncredited)
Produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Available from Amazon as part of Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier.

The story of the making of Apocalypse Now is probably just as well known as the film's story itself. Director Coppola had originally cast Harvey Keitel as Captain Benjamin Willard, but replaced him with Martin Sheen only a few days into filming, unsatisfied with Keitel's portrayal as the troubled veteran. Filming on location in the Philippines saw its share of troubles, ranging from Typhoon Olga striking the region in May of 1976, halting production for a month. In addition, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos agreed to let his army provide helicopers and pilots to help work on the film, but the government would sometimes recall them from the set to help battle bands of rebels nearby.

Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack during production (his brother, Joe Estevez, stood in for him and also provided voiceover work where needed in post-production), and when it was his time to appear, Marlon Brando showed up reportedly drunk, very overweight, and unfamiliar with the script, or the novella it was based on, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. A compromise was reached, and Brando was allowed to largely improvise while Coppola filmed him in shadows and using a taller stand-in to disguise the actor's weight gain. Coppola did not escape the filming unscathed either: he threatened to commit suicide several times.

As for the rest of the story...

Army Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Sheen) is a special operations veteran. He has returned to Saigon after finding it nearly impossible to adjust back to civilian life back in America. Willard is actually still battling his demons even after returning to the scene of the war. Despite all of his hardships, Willard is assigned by two intelligence officers to travel up the Nung River deep into Cambodia, and find the rogue officer Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Brando), who has assembled a large platoon of Montagnard troops who worship him like a god. Citing some very disturbing radio broadcasts and recordings made by Kurtz, Willard is assigned to terminate Kurtz's command "with extreme prejudice". Willard would prefer to make the trip alone, but he is assigned a crew comprising of the no-nonsense Chief Phillips (Hall), the chemically enhanced surfer dude Lance (Bottoms), the young South Bronx hepcat Clean (Fishburne), and Chef (Forrest), someone totally unprepared for what he's seeing away from his native New Orleans. Before the mission to find Kurtz begins, Willard and his men end up taking part in a mission led by the loud and boisterous Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore (Duvall), where they seize a Viet Cong village near a beachhead that seemingly is perfect for surfing. After the fighting stop, Kilgore cheerfully informs Willard that he "loves the smell of napalm in the morning" since you all know it smells like victory.

Willard, whose mission is classified, so his companions are pretty much in the dark as to why they're going so far up the river, spends much of the time reading up on Kurtz, becoming more obsessed with his target, even coming to understand Kurtz's motives. In due time, several crew members are killed, Lance goes insane, and after encountering a loopy American photojournalist (Hopper) upon arrival at the compound who seems to idolize Kurtz, it remains to be seen if Willard will complete his mission to terminate with extreme prejudice.

Highly, highly recommended movie.