(out of )'Based' became a very loose word during filming, after the screenplay underwent vast changes. That was a concern not to be concerned about, for Martin Sheen was often drunk and possessed so much abomination that it was visible. Then overpaid Marlon Brando would turn up at the set without any preparation and halt the scene halfway through because he forgot his lines. It amused me to learn what he said to Val Kilmer during the filming of the rather recent The Island of Dr. Moreau (where he again had trouble remembering lines). Brando accused Kilmer of viewing the his paycheck as more important than his talent.
Apocalypse Now was a project that Coppola tried to get the funds for in the early 70s. It was rejected because of cost and filming difficulties. Coppola went on to make the Academy Award winning films The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, and also The Conversation, taking in, of course, enormous sums of money.
In the film, Sheen's character Captain Willard is assigned to the mission of assassinating the insane Colonel Kurtz, played by Brando, who doesn't appear until very much later in the film. While Coppola examines the devastation of the Vietnam War, Willard discovers that everyone around him is insane, not the eventual victim of his mission.
There are four films in history that have really made an impact while deglamorizing war. This has nothing to do with my preferences; they are merely public consensus. The four are All Quiet on the Western Front, Apocalypse Now, Platoon (which, interestingly, starred Sheen's son), and Saving Private Ryan.
I personally do not accept that Apocalypse Now is a great film, though I can understand its success. Many critics have acknowledged that Apocalypse Now has innumerable plot holes and an ending that doesn't work (Coppola agrees). It seems as though this film in particular does not require a script for greatness. I don't think so. This is not quite Citizen Kane.
� 1998 Michael Chen
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