10 APOCALYPSE NOW
Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall), a macho 1st Cavalry commander and surfing enthu-
siast, who gets them past the Nùng River’s Viet Cong– held coastal entrance at
“Charlie’s Point” by conducting a he li cop ter raid on the enemy village there to the
accompaniment of Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” on loudspeakers. Further up
the Nùng the PBR stops at a supply depot for diesel fuel and the men watch a night-
time United Ser vice Organ izations (USO) show featuring Playboy bunnies that
quickly dissolves into chaos as lustful soldiers try to get to the showgirls. The PBR
eventually reaches the American- held Do Lung Bridge at night, which is under
enemy attack. Failing to find the U.S. commander of the bridge outpost in all the
confusion, Willard orders Chief to continue upriver. The next day, Willard learns
from a radio dispatch that Capt. Richard M. Colby (Scott Glenn) was sent on an
earlier mission identical to Willard’s but joined Kurtz rather than kill him. Mean-
while, Lance sets off a smoke grenade that inadvertently alerts enemy soldiers on
shore, and Mr. Clean is killed in the ensuing firefight. Chief is hit by a spear released
by native tribesmen and tries to kill Willard. Willard finishes him off, and Lance
disposes of Chief’s body in the river. Willard shares his plan with Chef and the
two continue on together. When the PBR arrives at Kurtz’s compound Willard
encounters a manic freelance photojournalist (Dennis Hopper) who praises Kurtz
extravagantly. Returning to the PBR, Willard and Lance soon depart, telling Chef
to initiate an airstrike on Kurtz if the pair fails to return— a futile safeguard because
Chef is soon decapitated by Kurtz’s men. Willard is captured, caged, and then
brought before Kurtz in a darkened temple where he is lectured by Kurtz on war,
life, and the fanat i cism of the Viet Cong who cut off the arms of children newly
inoculated by the Americans. That night, Willard enters Kurtz’s chamber and
attacks him with a machete. Quoting directly from Heart of Darkness, Kurtz whis-
pers “The horror, the horror” and dies. When Willard leaves the compound, Kurtz’s
minions bow down to him but Willard refuses to supplant Kurtz as their new
demi- god; he leads Lance to the boat and they depart downriver as the screen
fades to black.Reception
Apocalypse Now shared the Palme d’Or for Best Film with Volker Schlöndorff ’s The
Tin Drum at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival and earned eight Oscar nominations,
winning two (for Best Sound and Best Cinematography). It also did well at the box
office, earning $81.2 million, and received almost universal accolades from film
critics. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranks Apocalypse Now as 30th among
the best 100 films ever made. On the other hand, critics remain divided as to
whether the movie is pro- war or anti- war. For example, Col. Kilgore’s Wagnerian
he li cop ter attack on the enemy village comes off as exhilarating, and if Kurtz is
supposed to represent war’s perversion of the human spirit, his rendition by Brando
achieves a certain tragic grandeur that seems to undermine the film’s putative anti-
war message.Reel History Versus Real History
Apocalypse Now is entirely fictional; none of the events depicted— including
the mass dismemberment incident recounted by Kurtz— actually happened.