apocalypse now redux and francis ford coppola war opus be probably the most beautiful war film i have ever see . capt . benjamin willard ( martin sheen ) be a vietnam soldier who be tap to head a very dangerous and highly classified mission into cambodia to terminate the position of col. kurtz ( marlon brando ) and a highly rank and highly regarded army man who seemingly have go completely insane and defect from the army and set up his own little society and help by a cultish following of soldier . escort him up the river to cambodia be a handful of navy men and and along the way and they encounter several interesting people ( most notably be robert duvall kilgore and a badass lieutenant colonel with a few screw loose ) and some horrifying situation . apocalypse be less historical war film than a philosophical and psychological study . it be more full metal jacket than platoon . the running time of apocalypse be over three hour and but the film be so wonderfully paced and compel that when the end of the film arrive and i be actually surprise at the amount of time that have pass . the beautiful cinematography be surely what stand out the most for me and however . after see this film and i be convince that coppola be one of the master of light and photography in film history . the godfather film be all ting with an almost sepia tone and and shadow create the feeling of a baroque composition . with apocalypse and there be an incredible usage of natural light and and the shadow and particularly in the scene involve brando and sheen and almost become a living character and they be so pervasive and effective . another gorgeous scene be when cpt . willard and jay hick ( frederic forrest ) be in the jungle look for mango and and come across a tiger . the sheer enormity of the surround foliage ( leave as big a a house ) make the character almost lilliputian and but the colorization of the scene be incredible . while everything else be almost a muted grey and the leaf be an incredibly vibrant green and an effect that be particularly striking . another really minor positive moment in the film be the great scene when the helicopter carry duvall and company attack the small village while play wagner . this could have just be an ultra dramatic underlie soundtrack to the scene and but instead coppola turn the song into an actual part of the scene and with duvall mentioning that he like to play it while they be approach to care the hell out of them . the performance in apocalypse be first class . much have be make of the amount of money brando earn for the film and and the amount of trouble he cause . regardless of this and he turn out a powerful performance for a relatively short amount of screen time . sheen be completely outstanding this be the first time i have see him really unleash in a film and duvall be a lot of fun to watch a the loony kilgore . apocalypse now be a film that be so pervasive in pop culture by now ( most know several choice line from the film and i love the smell of napalm in the morning et al ) but i know little enough about it that there be plenty of surprise leave to experience . i have not see the original cut of apocalypse now so i can not compare it to this newer cut and but this be a film that should most certainly be experience . positive shelly .