Episode #178

Apocalypse Now

(1979)

War is hell.

Based on the novella “Heart of Darkness,” Francis Ford Coppola is the real star of this ambitious, disturbing, madness-inducing look into the horrors of the Vietnam War. Starring Martin Sheen and a veritable cavalcade of other recognizable actors, this film might just be the best representation ever made of how war feels. Like Sheen’s Willard, it nearly cost Coppola his own sanity to make . . . and that might just be perfect. Let’s head down the river, kids. Everything will (not) be fine.