Francis Ford Coppola’s seminal Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now takes place in the midst of a real conflict, but its narrative seems too surreal and outrageous to be based on a true story. After a notoriously troubled production, Apocalypse Now emerged as one of the most ambitious efforts in cinema history. Although initial reviews were mixed, Apocalypse Now has since been widely praised as one of the greatest movies ever made. To this day, it is considered a landmark in the war genre. At times, Apocalypse Now plays like a horror film, which is what makes it such a poignant portrait of the harrowing psychological impact of warfare.
Set at the height of the Vietnam War, Apocalypse Now stars Martin Sheen as Captain Willard, who is sent on a black-ops mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz (played by an enigmatic Marlon Brando), who has gone rogue in the jungle. John Milius’s screenplay — bolstered by voiceover narration written by war correspondent Michael Herr — takes an episodic approach to the storytelling. On his way to Kurtz’s compound, Willard meets all kinds of colorful characters and witnesses all kinds of horrible events. But the movie leaves audiences in the dark as to whether any of those characters or events have any basis in reality.
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Apocalypse Now Isn't Based On A True Story
Apocalypse Now is not based on a true story in the sense that Dunkirk and Hacksaw Ridge are; its characters and storylines are inventions of the filmmakers. However, there are elements of the movie that are taken from reality. Milius told CNN that he included surfing in the script because he noticed “how many California surfers went to Vietnam and how many didn’t come back.” Kurtz, the movie's perfect antagonist, is similar to Anthony Poshepny, a CIA operative who raised a secret army in Laos (via The Wall Street Journal). However, the tale of the U.S. military sending an assassin to terminate one of its own colonels is pure fiction.
While Apocalypse Now isn’t directly adapted from a true story, Coppola has described it as “an anti-lie film” (via the Guardian). The director explained, “The fact that a culture can lie about what’s really going on in warfare – that people are being brutalized, tortured, maimed, and killed – and somehow present this as moral is what horrifies me.” A scene like U.S. military helicopters flying over a Vietnamese village, blasting Wagner from their speakers and gunning down innocent civilians for fun, might not have really happened in the literal sense, but it’s symbolic of the disturbing truths that the American government hid from the public during the Vietnam War.
Apocalypse Now Is A Reimagining Of Heart Of Darkness
The plot of Apocalypse Now was inspired by the acclaimed novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. In the book, a sailor named Marlow is sent on a voyage up a river in the Congo to meet a mysterious man named Kurtz, who is said to have “gone native.” John Milius’s script took the basic setup and structure of Conrad’s novella and recontextualized it into a Vietnam War setting. He turned Kurtz from an ivory trader into a disgraced colonel but explored the same themes of power and morality. The book also inspired the movie Ad Astra, which places its story in space, and the video game Far Cry 2.
MORE: Apocalypse Now: 10 Things That Still Hold Up Today
FAQs
Was the film "Apocalypse Now" historically accurate? The story was entirely fictional. It was a loose interpretation of Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, which was set in Africa, in the “Congo Free State,” in the late 19th century.
Is Apocalypse based on a true story? ›
Apocalypse Now Isn't Based On A True Story
Apocalypse Now is not based on a true story in the sense that Dunkirk and Hacksaw Ridge are; its characters and storylines are inventions of the filmmakers. However, there are elements of the movie that are taken from reality.
What is the deeper meaning behind Apocalypse Now? ›
Apocalypse Now illustrates the horror, the absurdity, and the futility of war, but most important it portrays war's damaging psychological effects. As it charts the characters' descents into literal and metaphorical darkness and fog, the film suggests that war indulges the darkest, foggiest parts of human nature.
Why is Apocalypse Now controversial? ›
Many of the cast and crew members got hooked on drugs and subsequently suffered mental breakdowns, all whilst Coppola somehow made the greatest Vietnam War movie of all time. Still, there was one scene where Coppola indeed went too far, significantly riling up animal rights activists across the world.
Was a real bull killed in Apocalypse Now? ›
Two water buffalo were also promised. "That was a big part of their compensation," he said. After his wife, Eleanor, a documentary filmmaker, captured the locals' first water buffalo sacrifice, he decided to film the second, equally bloody and brutal slaughter for the final scenes of "Apocalypse Now."
Was Vietnam really like Apocalypse Now? ›
The Vietnam War historian broke down the use of helicopters in Apocalypse Now, which is "pretty accurate," and napalm, though he seemed to take issue with the scene's iconic use of "Ride of the Valkyries." Allison admits that Apocalypse Now, "as a piece of film," is a perfect 10, but in terms of its realism, is only a ...
What is the famous line from Apocalypse Now? ›
Kurtz: “The horror, the horror.” These are Kurtz's last words, uttered after Willard brutally slaughters him with a machete and repeated as the film fades to black at its end.
What war was Apocalypse Now based on? ›
For those of you who don't know Apocalypse Now, it's Francis Ford Coppola's look at the Vietnam War, through an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's book, Heart of Darkness. It stars Martin Sheen as Captain Willard, an assassin on a hunt for a rogue Colonel Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando.
Is Colonel Kurtz based on a real person? ›
Director Francis Ford Coppola denies that CIA operative Tony Poe – also known as Anthony Poshepny – was the basis for Marlon Brando's Colonel Kurtz in the 1979 movie “Apocalypse Now.” Coppola says Kurtz was based on real-life Special Forces officer Robert Rheault.
Was Colonel Kurtz insane? ›
Indeed, he has turned his back on morality and chosen horror as his lifestyle. Whether Kurtz is insane is up to the viewer. The hanging corpses and severed heads flung around his compound attest to madness, but one could argue that Kurtz's methods are perfectly sound in the context of a war that is itself insane.
The horror, as Kurtz repeats in his death, is that it never ends. Willard sails away, silently, and we know that the Vietnam War would continue to wreak havoc and cause countless suffering. We know now that war still exists, and that the reason it exists is because the darkness within our own being is never-ending.
What does Kurtz represent Apocalypse Now? ›
Green Beret Colonel Walter E.
Internalizing the primitive values of the Montagnard army he commands, Kurtz has made himself a godlike figure who is judged by no one, not even himself. He speaks in grandiose statements about life and death and represents the unconscious, sinister side of humankind.
What went wrong during the filming of Apocalypse Now? ›
The production of Apocalypse Now faced numerous obstacles, including replacing lead actors, dealing with a heart attack, and facing the practical demands of recreating a war-torn environment.
Is there any truth behind Apocalypse Now? ›
Scholars have never found any evidence to corroborate Rexer's claim, nor any similar Viet Cong behavior, and consider it an urban legend. The title Apocalypse Now was inspired by a button badge popular with hippies during the 1960s that said "Nirvana Now."
Why is Apocalypse Now so disturbing? ›
The violence in this movie is more disturbing than anything and there really isn't a lot of blood. While not as violent as a lot of other war movies, the imagery throughout is more comparable to a horror movie and it is more disturbing and unsettling.
Is the Nung River real? ›
The fictional Nung River is the setting of a literal and metaphorical journey. As the river takes the boat up to Cambodia and Kurtz, the crew moves beyond civilization to the heart of darkness within themselves. After Chef and Willard venture into the jungle, Chef screams that he should not have left the boat.
Has apocalypse ever been killed? ›
Apocalypse was the principal adversary in the mid-1980s X-Men spin-off series X-Factor (1986–91) until being apparently killed at the climax of issue #68 (July 1991). Since then, the character has died and been resurrected several times thanks to his power and advanced alien technology.
