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Not in that situation in that there's alot of fiction there. The movie was written I'm sure to purvey the attitude of the Vietnam era. Alot different attitude exsist today toward our military,I,m glad. I spent most of my time in the Tonkun Gulf with some short trips inland,nuf said.

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"Apocolypse Now - Redux"

One of the Playboy bunnies in this movie plays Noah Vanderhoff's wife in Wayne's World........very excellent munchables on her.

If you have the DVD with all the extra commentary, etc., watch it and learn more about the movie creation. It is far out!

The Making of the movie is actually called "Hearts of darkness".........watch it!

A 14 yr-old Lawrence Fishburne is in it playing a 17-yr-old (Gunner's Mate)sailor. Do you see Scott Glenn in the movie towards the end? He plays "Colby"....no lines, of course, just a thouasand-yard stare.

One of the great pieces of commentary is from Dennis Hopper's character as the Journalist:

Hey, man, you don't talk to the Colonel. You listen to him. The man's enlarged my mind. He's a poet warrior in the classic sense. I mean sometimes he'll... uh... well, you'll say "hello" to him, right? And he'll just walk right by you. He won't even notice you. And suddenly he'll grab you, and he'll throw you in a corner, and he'll say, "Do you know that 'if' is the middle word in life? If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you"... I mean I'm... no, I can't... I'm a little man, I'm a little man, he's... he's a great man! I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across floors of silent seas...

Edited by Wizard_rkt
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"I can't get no satisfaction..."

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The boat's name is "Erebus", seen on the transom, referring to the son of the Greek god of utter darkness, as the movie's source novel was called Heart of Darkness. (Erebus and Terror were also the two lost ships in the famous 1845-6 British polar expedition of Sir John Franklin.) The back of the seat in the forward turret (with dual M2 .50 cal MGs) of the PBR (Lance's position) has the words "God's Country" written on it. The steel gun-shield protecting the gun mount (single M2 .50 cal MG) on the back of the boat is marked with the words "Canned Heat".

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Introduced my kids to to this movie last week. Had to wait until they were old enough. They really liked it. We have been trading lines all week. I think I will buy a copy to keep.

Cheers

Paul

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Those who hate this movie have good reason too. Those who like it have good reason as well.

The things that people hate about the movie is the very point of the movie....basically the absurdity of the situation in Vietnam. It is not surprising that it would make the traditionalist, stand up American military professionals uncomfortable.

I saw it when first came out. I loved it, but I recognized what Coppola was attempting to do. It is an artist film makers commentary, containing elements of truth represented in larger than life situations to get the point across. My stepfather, who was a WWII vet, detested it as it was so different than what he experienced in the Pacific during the war.

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The things that people hate about the movie is the very point of the movie....basically the absurdity of the situation in Vietnam.

The movie is a 're-imagining' of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness". Of course, it is not a perfect adaptation but the director came close enough. There were many parts to the book but, to me, the central theme was sanity and how we all have a very delicate hold over it. In the absence of societal rules or any form of consequences for our actions, does man go insane?

The movie captured that aspect of the story very well.

The crazy thing for me was when I found out that the world described by Conrad (the Belgian Congo) actually existed. Those crimes did take place. King Leopold's Ghost is a non-fiction account of what happened there in Conrad's time. Disturbing and fascinating.

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I know a lot of people like the movie, but I thought it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

Perhaps I'm too young to get it or something.

To me it was a meandering story that made absolutely no sense.

It definitely had some very cool scenes, but the storyline was so far out there that I couldn't grasp it.

One day I'll watch it again to see if a few years have made it clearer, but I'm not holding much hope of that.

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There are parts of the movie that are super cool and thee are parts that either just drag on or are so bizarre you're left scratching your head. Either way it's a classic American movie.

Because of this movie our entrance music to our wedding was Ride of the Valyries, or whatever the song is called when the helicopters come bursting over the beach. That's one of the best war scenes in any movie.

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I know a lot of people like the movie, but I thought it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

Perhaps I'm too young to get it or something.

To me it was a meandering story that made absolutely no sense.

It definitely had some very cool scenes, but the storyline was so far out there that I couldn't grasp it.

One day I'll watch it again to see if a few years have made it clearer, but I'm not holding much hope of that.

That era was like no other. You really had to be there to understand that America went through the the most tramatic change in modern history. Look at the attitude toward our military today. It was the exact opposite during the Vietnam era,people hated our military.

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I know a lot of people like the movie, but I thought it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

Perhaps I'm too young to get it or something.

To me it was a meandering story that made absolutely no sense.

It definitely had some very cool scenes, but the storyline was so far out there that I couldn't grasp it.

One day I'll watch it again to see if a few years have made it clearer, but I'm not holding much hope of that.

If you are looking for a movie that accurately portrays the Vietnam war, this one probably isn't it. I don't think the Army did a great deal of surfing during firefights (although this scene did result in a great song by the Clash a few years later - "Charlie Don't Surf").

It was a typical Hollywood stereotypical, anti-military hack job (the ruthless Army "lifer" officer killing civilians and not caring about his troops, the poor lowly grunts too stoned to fight, etc, etc).

Honestly, despite a few issues, I felt that Full Metal Jacket was a much better depiction of that conflict. That being said, I am not a veteran of that conflict so others may disagree with my opinion.

Edited by 11bee
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anti-military hack job

I don't believe the intent of the film was anti-military at all. Anti-war, yes. By all means anit-war.

In my opinion most truly great war films have any anti-war sentiment. That doesn't mean they are anti-military at all, just that a lot of the great ones illustrate the absurdity, insanity and cruelty of war. To me, that is what makes them great films; they lead you to give thought to what war is about and the true costs involved.

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I have to admit I enjoyed the original movie. Watching "Hearts of Darkness" when it came out added a lot to my understanding of the movie, the story, and the process. When "Redux" came out, I watched it too, but was left feeling that the additional scenes added nothing to the story. Most were meaningless to me; some even just stupid. I even read Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" after the film was released, and actually enjoyed the book. I have to admit however, it was pretty heavy reading for a high school kid in the early 1980s!

One thing that I've always kept in mind is most films are purely entertainment; this film being no exception. Depending on the production, I've even thrown some documentaries into the entertainment category. I respect other's feelings that this film was never (and may never be) entertaining to them, just as any film about the current conflicts (of which I have participated in extensively) are really not entertaining to me. It's hard to explain, but I don't even want to watch them. Maybe someday I will when my grandson asks me what I did as a Soldier, and an Airman during Desert Storm, ONW, OIF, and OEF, but I can't answer that today. I'll just remember that these films are for entertainment only.

Mark

Edited by F106A
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