APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)

Hailed by many as one of the greatest war films ever made and a landmark film about the Vietnam War, Francis Ford Coppola’s film combines an epic vision of war and its consequences with deep philosophical questions.  Drawing on Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the film follows a U.S. Army Captain (Martin Sheen) sent upriver in Vietnam to find the AWOL Col. Kurtz (Marlon Brando) and terminate him “with extreme prejudice.” Capturing that journey proved to be a massive undertaking as weather problems, health issues, and personal conflicts caused the shoot to balloon from a planned six weeks to 238 days. Nevertheless, it earned Oscars for Vittorio Storaro’s evocative cinematography and its sound design.

d. Francis Ford Coppola, 147m, 70mm

70mm print of original theatrical release version courtesy of the George Eastman Museum from the personal collection of Martin Scorsese.