I think Killgore loves the war. When he says "Someday this war is gonna end" the thought saddened him.

@luismarioguerrerosanchez4747

3 жыл бұрын

The delivery by Robert Duvall is so perfect because he says it so ambiguously, you can interpret it as him wanting the war to end, as the opposite, wanting to be in war for the rest of his life, or just having a cyinical point of view where he knows the war is going to end but couldn't care less when will it end. This movie is such a masterpiece.

@robdixson196

3 жыл бұрын

@drew sale I think Kilgore see's himself as the star in a movie running through his own head. The star of the movie can't be killed, he can only look really cool and brave ignoring mortars pounding in around him. His men are supporting roles at best, and the entire rest of the world are extras. It's why he is unconcerned enough to ignore the battle his men are in and instead focus on surfing. They matter... Only a little. Less than his interest in surfing at that moment. i can see Kilgore after the war working as a mercenary. A kind of diminished second act of his story where he reminisces on his glory days in Nam. Who knows....Maybe eventually he starts a karate dojo name Cobra Kai in Van Nuys.:))

@robdixson196

3 жыл бұрын

@@luismarioguerrerosanchez4747 Yes, i love when film makers leave some ambiguity. Unfortunately it seems in 2021 the audience demands everything be dumbed down and spoon fed to them.

@robdixson196

3 жыл бұрын

@drew sale The guy leaves way too many corpses in his wake with gleeful indifference. He does have a certain magnetism to him, but i am thinking psychopath.

@ConradMarbourg3635

3 жыл бұрын

Kilgore is the best, he is a bit like Ernst Junger, there is one in a thousand of man like him. Would not tell them if I met them cause I would not tell tha to anyone but the truth is I admire them very much. They are the pinnacle of mankind 🙏💪💪💪💪💪

"Someday this war's gonna end." My take on that line, along with his expressions, is that Kilgore has already come to the realization that when the war is over, there will be no further use for him. He seems to know going home and reintegrating back into civilized society will be problematic. It may also explain why he is so fond of integrating elements of home into his battle space. He recognizes that may be the only way for him to enjoy what time he has left.

@goobytron2888

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly! That’s why he doesn’t fear death. Outside the war he has nothing to live for, as you said no purpose. Remember the line from Full Metal Jacket? “We’re going to miss not having them around as we’re shouting”

@angelsy1975

3 жыл бұрын

All he has to look forward to is coming home and becoming the title character in "The Great Santini". I don't even mean it as a joke, or as a lampshade due to both characters being played by Duvall, but pointing to the "warrior without a war" archetype... the guy who has difficulty relating to his family or anybody - or anything - else outside of the military. When the war ends, Kilgore knows his number will be up... what career will be left for him, so he'll be shuffled out, lucky to make full bird... maybe write a book or become a consultant on a news channel for the next war which he himself will no longer be able to take a direct part in...

@pagamenews

3 жыл бұрын

I fully agree with your analysis. In some forgotten movie that I watched long ago, they talked about how they had trained K9 (dogs) to become killers that would only obey their handlers while in Vietnam. When their handlers went home, the dogs had to be "destroyed" because no one else could manage the dogs and the dogs, as trained killers, would not fit into a tame American society. Same is true of many soldiers - past and present.

@yankeejake

3 жыл бұрын

@@goobytron2888 "We are jolly green giants, walking the Earth with guns. These people we wasted here today are the finest human beings we will ever know. After we rotate back to the world, we're gonna miss not having anyone around that's worth shooting." : Full Metal Jacket

@goobytron2888

3 жыл бұрын

@@yankeejake AhhhHaaa! It’s even better now. Thanks!

I always found Kurtz's line most poignant where he says "We train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders won't allow them to write 'fuck' on their aeroplanes because it's obscene!" They strive to clean up the image of war in all manner of inconsequential ways to make it palatable to themselves and the people back home in an effort to gloss over the one thing that should make it the most distasteful - the one that can't be cleaned up - the killing.

@bigpapi6688

3 ай бұрын

That really is the story of the US and war isn’t it. The US has struggled between being the moral good on the surface, and being the moral good by letting the end matter more than the means. Politicians swear each war we enter is just, and you certainly can make a case for a lot of them, but they care about looking good during the war more then they care about looking good by what they do after the war. And all that ends up achieving is failing our troops by tying their hands, making the people that would hate us either way hate us even more, and trying to over-justify every single war. I.E. Afghanistan. It’s perfectly moral to go in to Afghanistan to take out the Taliban and any Al quaeda holds. But when they have to come up with fifty other reasons why we’re at war and so moral, it ends up creating a war with no clear end in sight.

@RastaAfricanGentleman

2 ай бұрын

@@bigpapi6688 I agree with you. But why is there a need to take out the Taliban or Al Queeda? It seems when their people were under their rule, the country was much safer and functional

@bigpapi6688

2 ай бұрын

@@RastaAfricanGentleman That’s halfway my point actually. It’s perfectly understandable to go to fight Al qaeda and the Taliban for our own reasons; Al Qaeda attacked thousands of American civilians, the Taliban sheltered them and refused to hand them over to us after the attack. That’s a perfectly good reason to go to war. But the government has the constant need to make everything more moral than it needs to be, which only hurt all involved. So instead of just getting revenge, we turned it into a mission to take out both groups not because of what they did, but to help the Afghan people. At least supposedly. And all that did was cause more trouble for our troops, more trouble for the civilians of Afghanistan, and radicalize more young men in that country. So in short, you’re basically right. We didn’t need to defeat these groups to benefit the afghans. Of course it would’ve been a phenomenal good if we did liberate those people completely, Al Qaeda and the Taliban truly are horrific people that subjugated their civilians, but in an effort to try and uphold the history of American morality we essentially did more harm than good for the people we promised to help. If we wouldn’t have made any promises to the people of that country then they’d probably be better off, and the actual wars would’ve been overwhelming successes. We defeated the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and Saddam’s Baathist military all within a few weeks. (Not all at the same time, I mean each of those individually). As crazy as it would’ve sounded at the time, in hindsight the people of those countries would’ve been better off if we had just left after the wars without trying to nation build. We definitely did more harm then good to the civilians by trying to completely take over the countries, as you said.

@mitchrichards1532

10 күн бұрын

@@RastaAfricanGentleman "But why is there a need to take out the Taliban or Al Queeda?" Afghanistan was a safe haven for Al Queda as they pursued international terrorism. That's where the 9/11 terrorists were trained and funded from. I think we could have cleaned out that nest in 2002 and left there, we didn't need to stay. We could have paid the Taliban and bought their loyalty for much cheaper than the price tag of our failed nation building adventure.

Kilgore also stands out visually from all the other characters in the film. The hat, the glasses, clean, neat, and with a certain swagger.

@bluegregory6239

9 ай бұрын

One of the best performances by an actor in cinematic history.

@uncledan2u

5 ай бұрын

Also, his body is slim and fit. Ready for action.👍

@cattuslavandula

5 ай бұрын

@@uncledan2u Hehehe, yeah baby! 😊

@elflakeador09

5 ай бұрын

When I say surf we surf! 🏄‍♂️

@erickamakeeaina1649

5 ай бұрын

Hundredth like

Kilgore represents the worst aspects of the Vietnam war. He acts like war is a party, and it's a jolly time being with him. He's not a bad guy, but his philosophy is pure bravado in the face of nightmarish shit. But you like him for that. He's funny, and his battle scenes are the typical popcorn stuff you love to see. Kurtz is far less fun. He's the harsh reality. The guy that will do *anything* to end the war as quickly as possible. Not just fight it, but make it end. And Kurtz sees the leadership as hypocrites for seeing his methods as cruel, when the army at large was bombing civilians left and right. "We train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders won' t allow them to write 'fuck' on their airplanes because it's obscene!"

@dr32803

3 жыл бұрын

Absolutely. Well said.

@G58

3 жыл бұрын

You made comment redundant. Thank you for sharing

@rippleyaliens8275

3 жыл бұрын

LOL... Kilgore, is a Man, to which EVERYONE in his unit, will fight till is over. It is one thing to be an officer, who directs movement, and thats it. IT is an ENTIRELY different BEAST, that Leads from the FRONT.. Who can Trivialize CHAOS, as if it was nothing. When in combat... Its these types of officers, that Men, who are scared shitless.. WHEN they see their Commanding Officer.. With NO FEAR.. That changes the narrative. IN MY Past.. While serving. IT is these types of leaders, that Win battles.. To turn the scariest event, into a walk in the park.... That my friend, is MOST IMPORTANT.. Kurtz.. He is level 10. He knows. When you are that good, yet the higher ups, constantly shut you down. Put obstacles infront of you, to STOP,SLOW you down. Kurtz, via the STATS on his character. He is one, who has witnessed the horrific nature of War. And knows, that when you fight an Enemy at home, who would rather die, than give up. You know the war is over.

@G58

3 жыл бұрын

Ronald Fleming Kilgore is a caricature, a cardboard cutout, one dumb piece of bravado from Col. Slade.

@rippleyaliens8275

3 жыл бұрын

@@G58 LOL, Kilgore's mindset, mentality, blah.. IS nothing.. Compared to some of the CO's I had.. When a MF sniper is shooting at you, and you turn in the direction, and yell out.. "YOU MISSED ME Bleep".. You would truly be surprised on how much a Moral booster that ONE single act, does.. Until you are getting shot at.. It is easy to characterize a movie character.. Versus seeing it in REAL LIFE. When you are scared out of this world, and you see a officer, strut around like he is back on the block, with a "I wish a MF WOULD" mindset.. It suddenly calms many a person down.

F.Y.I. - This is really off subject, but might be of interest to some. One of the film editors, Walter Murch, wrote a book titled In The Blink Of An Eye. Murch says that for an average feature film, the ratio between raw film to final product is about 20:1. For Apocalypse, the ratio was about 95:1. Coppola shot 1.25 MILLION feet of film on this project! (230 hours was edited down to a finished film of just under 2-1/2 hours.) The Kilgore scenes ran to over 220,000 feet. The editors (there were three) worked for a year doing the visual edits and another year working out the sound track. The unsung heroes of the motion picture industry are the editors.

@bellavia5

3 жыл бұрын

I don't know if the editors were heroes but they sure did put in a lot of work.

@carolinem.6747

3 жыл бұрын

editors are underrated

@jackrenglish

3 жыл бұрын

YEP..WALTER KNOWS..JE. WEHO. 5/2021

@markheller76

3 жыл бұрын

How true...2001 for sure Star Wars...

@Jimmy1982Playlists

3 жыл бұрын

Terrence Malick shot over a million feet of footage on at least one of his films, probably several, including _The Thin Red Line,_ which upended _Apocalypse Now_ as my favorite war film of all time when it came out in '98... "The Conversations" is my favorite Walter Murch-related book. Just as mandatory as "Blink Of An Eye".

“It is well that war is so terrible or we should grow too fond of it.” - Robert E Lee

@Wordsalad69420

Жыл бұрын

He lost tho...

@Daniel-wy2kx

Жыл бұрын

@@Wordsalad69420 he’s still right, no?

@Wordsalad69420

Жыл бұрын

@@Daniel-wy2kx Didn't say he wasn't. I'm just not in the habit of quoting losers.

@TheCullousus

Жыл бұрын

@Robert Chitoiu before losing in the Civil War he was a decorated and respected General. He sided with whom he felt most bond to something all humans do.

@Wordsalad69420

Жыл бұрын

@@TheCullousus He sided with slavery and racism. What a wonderful man.

In my opinion, Kurtz went insane when he witnessed the inoculated children's arms being cut off, and he realizes how strong the will to fight is within the enemy-and that our forces will never have that same will to win the war. (That's why is report to high command and LBJ was restricted) His decision to fight the war "his way" ended up costing him his career, and his life.

@CoolGobyFish

Жыл бұрын

I think at the end, Kurtz also got consumed by the power he had. He pretty much set himself up as a war god in the jungle. When you realize that you have a power to kill anyone you want without any consequences, that changes you

@isiahalcindor6278

Жыл бұрын

@Cool Goby Fish that's the only thing I say is wrong with his ideology he ended up not facing the truth, like how eventually a nihilist will end up believing in nothing, making him not a nihilist

@pannobhasa

Жыл бұрын

Apocalypse Now is a kind of remake of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, and also of course a remake of Conrad's Heart of Darkness: A thinking man tries to go totally beyond good and evil, and he can't, and goes insane as a result.

@sonnyc3826

Жыл бұрын

but he was winning the war his way teh allies werent..if the object was to win the war he was achieving that goal...the frustration of his allies not being on the same page wouldv ebene much to deal wiht he sees what they dont see or refuse to do

@louiscolborn6715

11 ай бұрын

Kurtz was not insane at all. He seen the value of total brutality that is necessary to win a war. To Washington then same as now winning is irrelevant, fighting is the goal, it makes money. Kurtz fought to win, that didn't fit Washington's game plan.

I tried to show this movie to a bunch of recent graduates from west point, they were bored after twenty minutes. Made me feel like an relic in a modern war.

@LifeIsAStory

3 жыл бұрын

That’s too bad! They’re missing out. Also modern entertainment sort of caters to short attention spans nowadays.

@CiardisInferno99

3 жыл бұрын

They haven't seen combat yet. Give them time.

@DaveKraft1

3 жыл бұрын

They would be equally bored and dismissive of the Lt. Hugh Thompson story. It's because -- that's who we have become as a people.

@whattowatchrightnow

3 жыл бұрын

Bored! I must have watched this movie twenty times as a kid right after it came out. Sheen's narration is amazing.

@conway573

3 жыл бұрын

These current graduates are the “everyone got a trophy and are in need of instant gratification(s)”...that’s why they would rather rub-one-out in their hand then chase a live skirt...too much effort for the reward...but these are now our current and future leaders that we the people depend upon to keep us safe...a “woke” military can’t save themselves or us...we are on our own...be safe everyone.

I'm obsessed with the way he delivers the line about napalm. It definitely sounds like a guilty little admission.

@LifeIsAStory

3 жыл бұрын

Duval’s acting was genius.

@daveyboy_

3 жыл бұрын

Thats good soldier cause u either surf or fight !

@derangedmaniac5582

3 жыл бұрын

Duvall’s acting is always genius. He doesn’t act as a character; he becomes the character.

@stuffnva

2 жыл бұрын

VN vet Here. I have actually seen napalm light up a hill as depicted in the scene with Kilgore when the hill is strafed. In my opinion the journey up the river to encounter Kurtz represents a journey into insanity. The further up the river the greater the insanity.

@stephenscott2533

Жыл бұрын

I think of it more as ‘I love how it smells after a strong storm.’ I think he associates it with getting through a hard situation to get back to normalcy

"As long as our officers and troops perform tours of duty limited to one year, they will remain dilettantes in war and tourists in Vietnam." Shame this line is only in the extended cuts as it neatly sums up the difference between how the wars being run with leaders like Kilgore and how Kurtz thinks the war needs to be run.

@scootertooter6874

10 ай бұрын

Wonderful info...!

@hegemonycricket2182

8 ай бұрын

The Redux is the only cut for me.

@jeffduncan9140

6 ай бұрын

Kurtz was not wrong.

"As long as cold beer, hot food, rock 'n' roll and all the other amenities remain the expected norm, our conduct of the war will gain only impotence." Another quote from Kurtz that sums up Kilgore's way of fighting the war pretty well.

@RaptorFromWeegee

Ай бұрын

Of course in REAL life, all those ameneties helped with troop morale. It helped our fighting ability, it didn't hinder it. It certainly helped us win WWII. Bob Hope entertained the troops back then too. And lets be real, people wanted movies at that time about Vietnam but Hollywood would never allow anything but an anti-american message in any of its movies.

The soldier Roach, and his M79 granade launcher are based on an actual occurrence. War correspondent Michael Herr wrote a book called: Dispatches. Herr was a consultant on the set of Apocalypse Now, and partially based the photographer on war correspondents he knew. Herr ended up stuck in Khe Sanh during the 7 month siege. (Do - Long bridge metaphor). Herr describes soldiers spending months underground during the siege. At one point in the book he describes seeing a black soldier with a cut down, Tiger stripe painted M79 grenade launcher that the soldier doesn’t aim, just feels his way to a screaming VC out on the wire and kills him.

@pannobhasa

Жыл бұрын

Do Lung bridge was the symbolic barrier between the conscious and subconscious mind as the protagonist travels deeper into the darkness of the human heart. The bridge was destroyed every night and rebuilt every morning. And the two black soldiers, especially Roach, were clearly a few steps away from ordinary consciousness.

@canerguener8664

Жыл бұрын

THX. Great story.

@richardjames1939

Жыл бұрын

Fantastic book, War thrives because enough men love it.

@mortimersnerd8044

Жыл бұрын

Michael Herr actually wrote most of Willard's monologues throughout the movie.

@dougreid2351

Жыл бұрын

Tigerstriped M79? Yes. Cut down? No, I don't think so. DOUG out

You can't praise Robert Duvall's performance in this picture enough. He's so charismatic in this movie, I would wanna serve under this guy. To create such a memorable Character that has no less than Marlon Brando's giving a stunning performance deserves the highest praise IMHO.

@mark.8949

Жыл бұрын

As an actor, Robert Duvall is one of the best all time. His characters are always the most memorable no matter how much screen time they get.

@mariozd971

Жыл бұрын

@@mark.8949 He's great in Godfather too but not as Al Pacino

@Everton176

7 ай бұрын

He is an absolute legend. Man, I love watching the dude

@shaddiegradyorielly6380

6 ай бұрын

@@mark.8949 Loved him in Lonesome Dove.

@bakkels

5 ай бұрын

@@mariozd971 To be fair, his character was always written to be kind of subdued, more in the background, and down to earth. His character also balanced the whole movie for me. Sonny was an incredible hothead. Franco was a slight hothead but mostly dumb. And Michael of course was the star. I think Duvall squeezed everything out of that role that he could. (disclaimer: I always had a soft spot for consiglieres / second guys. Tom Hagen, Silvio Dante, those are my fictional heroes 😄)

I am gonna start by saying that this is just my perspective on the matter. I think the journey through the river is nothing but a metaphor for Kurtz's life as a soldier, and the characters we meet along the way reflect the different stages of the trauma that Kurtz experienced. Kilgore is just a younger Kurtz. At first, they seem different, they are different people after all, but I think their goal is the same. They just want to escape the war and their trauma. Kilgore's unflinching attitude can be thought of as bravado and courage but I think that it's bleaker than that. Flinching is not a bad thing, it's a survival mechanic. The soldiers who duck and take cover don't do it out of cowardice, it's the result of their training. They transformed their flinching into a ducking\prone motion, similar to how a fighter transforms his flinches into reactive blocks and parries in order to survive. This leads me to think that Kilgore is suicidal. He just doesn't recognize the danger of having something blow up near him anymore. It might be the result of trauma or the constant exposure to the threat of death, but either way, it seems to me like he wants to exit this war in any way possible, even if it was in a body bag. Kurtz, on the other hand, wants to escape the war by trying to end it. The vaccination incident seems to have tipped him over the edge, and it scared him to the point where he became ready to do whatever it takes to silence the war. While he looked calm and collected, deep down, he was struggling constantly with what he saw, to the point where death became his only way out. But, he wanted to die a soldier's death, so he allowed Martin Sheen to assassinate him. When he was taking his last breaths, Kurtz could say nothing but "The horror". He couldn't feel at peace even when he knew it was over. The horrors of war haunted him to the very end. The journey through the river started with Willard, a man who became unable to function in civilian life due to trauma. Then it shows you Kilgore, the man who broke down and accepted his new life, but he still hangs on to fragments of his old life. Roach, however, is cut off in the jungle. He's grown so accustomed to death and violence that killing is just a boring routine for him. And finally, you got Kurtz the man who's surrounded by corpses and death, a man who tried his hardest to escape this war, but he recognizes that even if he got out, his trauma won't let him be. Their philosophies are just coping mechanisms.

@rongibson9702

Жыл бұрын

The use of the river journey is a classic literary device of an epic metaphor. No such river exists in Vietnam. It is created to make use of the metaphor. One wants to think Mekong River but the Mekong is not located along the east coast of Vietnam and stops far short of the "highlands". Repeated references are made to the challenges imposed by the river and that the boat is salvation. IMO its brilliant.

@malanders7305

Жыл бұрын

The river journey is from the novel Heart Of Darkness. I suggest you read it, else you'll never know what this film is really about. "This too has been one of the dark places of the earth."

@malanders7305

Жыл бұрын

@@rongibson9702 A classic literary device of an epic metaphor? The river journey is from the novel Heart Of Darkness. I suggest you read it, else you'll never know what this film is really about. "This too has been one of the dark places of the earth."

@maybe1day639

Жыл бұрын

damn that was a really good way of explaining it!

@lisalmitchell

Жыл бұрын

Yes, but doesn't Kurtz have many of the natives killed there at various times when he loses it-Hopper's character saying, 'sometimes he goes too far, but he's the first one to admit it?' He wants out because he can't stop himself from being part of the horror that he originally feared. He didn't have the strength--like Willard does-to see it and live through it while maintaining one's own sense of self and humanity. Like you stated, the other characters reflect different responses, or perhaps different stages in response to dealing with war-Chef, Lance, Chief, and Clean as well as The Roach.

I read the book 'Apocalypse Now' is based on and if you liked the movie I'd recommend the book 'Heart of Darkness', but I think to understand Kilgore better, you should understand his counterpart in the book. I don't remember the details all too well, but the main character of the HoD is having to make his way through the jungle to meet up with Mr.Kurtz to replace him. At this point in his journey he's travelling overland with his companions and he is just dying, life sucks for him. He's hot, he's sick, he looks ragged and can't think straight and out of the bush comes this white company man in a white suit acting all chipper and cavalier, treating the MC being on deaths door as a trivial matter. He bring him back to his trading post on the river where he lays in recovery for a few days and this obvious Kilgore equivalent keeps up his strange antics until something important happens; a ship in dry dock catches fire. Now this trading post head has rubbed off on his employees who have all adopted a similar attitude and as chaos ensues and the workers are trying to put out this fire there is this one white fellow in a chipper mood talking to the MC about how lovely of a day it is and how genuinely happy he is to be working in the middle of nowhere on the Congo river surrounded by cannibal tribes with a massive fire currently raging. He's talking and going back and forth with his bucket, scooping up water and going on until the MC notices a hole in the bucket and that this man is in fact going back and forth between the river and the fire with his bucket leaking all of the water out before he can get to the fire. This is Kilgore. Kilgore doesn't just try to make war like home, he is insane, he is more insane than Col. Kurtz, Kurtz is living the war and Col. Kilgore is denying that there even is one going on. Commanding his troops, leading them to victory is an after thought, an annoyance swept under the rug unti, he has to face the situation and when he does he never coordinates his men in a fine balanced orchestra of combined arms warfare, re-adjusting his plans to meet the enemy, he just says "fuck it, napalm everything." He is frantic to get the surfer out on the surf, more so than he is to engage an enemy entrenched in a civilian position. The war does not exist to Kilgore, it is not that he is brave or at peace, it is that he is in denial. Now Kurtz is not insane. Kurtz is the harsh reality of war. His belief is humane, he believes the only good war is a quick one and that to save your enemies you must be so brutal to him that he does not want to face you. Kurtz no longer has a problem with his enemies, the VC has left him alone and the tribes he once fought for a brief time now gather around him as allies. What was once a small special forces team in the middle of the jungle was made into a small army of a few hundred whose enemy refused to face them. As fucked up as it is, Col. Kilgore was worse than Kurtz in the end. Kilgore was blowing up villages, packing away the survivors off to God knows where because he wanted to surf a little, while Col. Kurtz had his saved the people and kept the war away from them

@JoelAntoinette

Жыл бұрын

He doesn't flinch from a mortar explosion because it didn't happen in his reality/ his denial. Thanks for telling us this story!

@artmarkham3205

Жыл бұрын

That's a great comment, though I don't think we have to see the character in the film in exactly the same way as in the book. But I agree that Killgore probably doesn't quite show the interior thoughts that this video suggests - the theory probably overstretches a little there, for me. As I see it, Killgore loves the freedom that his command gives him. It's like being 18 or 20 - a time when many of us have no real commitments or responsibilities, and can go where we please and do what we like to enjoy ourselves. Killgore has found a moment and a place when he can do that, but 100 times more - when he sends in helicopters and planes to blow things up, there is no accountability, no requirement to consider the consequences. Just pure, joyful hedonism. This is why the surfing and cook-outs are such a good fit - it's the same spirit of irresponsible youth. And, of course, he knows one day it will end, as those days do for us all.

@stevenlight5006

Жыл бұрын

Good words wwg1wga

@jamiebixby6782

Жыл бұрын

To me the book and the film are about the extent you have to go to to fully subjugate a population and if that level of horror is acceptable to the human race.

@kurthasedd7923

Жыл бұрын

@@jamiebixby6782 Fully agree with that. I would add too that it's about unreasonable things becoming reasonable. Mr. Kurtz and Col. Kurtz both didn't start off as men worshipped by tribal savages as wrathful god kings, lining their kingdom with the skulls and severed heads of enemies. They had high ideals, both men are described as being men who could've done anything they wanted; art, politics, becoming a higher ranking officer etc. they wanted to take these people out of the dark ages and give them protection and stability, but saw that the only language that mattered was violence and who had the capacity to be more violent and that in the end the only thing that mattered was compliance

Killgore is the American way of war personified. He's courageous and caring of his men (on some level), but thoughtless, headless, technological, impulsive and wantonly destructive. Killgore loves the war and is utterly blind to the suffering he both creates and leaves in his wake. Kurtz is no less destructive and no less inhumane, but he fully understands what he's doing and had consciously decided to pay the emotional and spiritual price for his actions.

@ShinigamiInuyasha777

3 жыл бұрын

I love a great detail showed in the Redoux Cut that Kurtz studied the Philipines War as a thesis. That was the last "great war" of colonialism of the US. And i think is not coincidence, Kilgore represents the post-WW2 ideal of the US Armed Forces, the one that fought the "good war" and is doing its best to save the world. While Kurtz, as brutal as he is, represents the purest form of "american imperialism" that is older and more authentic than Kilgore for most of the world.

@Waltham1892

3 жыл бұрын

@@ShinigamiInuyasha777 While the story that Apocalypse Now is derived from has colonialism as a very strong theme, I don't really see it in play here. Killgore doesn't have a colonial agenda. He's not even trying to hold territory. He's just "tear-assing" around winning battles, battles that don't matter and don't bring the war any closer to a conclusion. Kurtz is on a separate path. He doesn't care about territory either. He's trying to step beyond the contradictory morality and self-defeating strategy of American way of war into a pure warrior ethos. This puts him at odds with not only his enemy, but with the American establishment that sent him there. Kilgore is the "good officer" who is ineffective but is fully supported by the American way of war. Kurtz is the "bad officer" who is effective but who would destroy the illusion of the American way of war (and in doing so, the wider culture). Neither Kurtz or Kilgore is moral or humane and neither really has a story arc. They are more archetypes that characters.

@spirits_

3 жыл бұрын

Yes Kilgore loves the idea of war, and fighting, not caring about much about anything else than completing his next assignment. Kurtz is talking about doing what it takes to win totally, quick, efficiently and ruthlessly.

@violent_bebop9687

3 жыл бұрын

In the net effect of war, I dont see a difference in the two. Different philosophical perspectives, but the end game of killing your enemy remains.

@Waltham1892

3 жыл бұрын

@@violent_bebop9687 Kurtz would agree with you, Kilgore might not...

Kurtz's story is not just haunting, he is explaining the moment he went insane. Like being shot with a diamond in the forehead...the crack with reality started then in that moment of emotional pain and utter anguish that became physical and overwhelming. That was the moment he resolved to cross over and make a friend of horror....never to return.

@jimmyrustler8983

2 жыл бұрын

It wasn't insanity, it was clarity.

@gs7828

2 жыл бұрын

@@jimmyrustler8983 Hyper-reality without breaks leads to insanity often. That's why smart academics need breaks: being trained in recognising the complexities and unfairness of life is no good to one's health.

@Chase-vq6eq

2 жыл бұрын

@@gs7828 you mean truth?? Lol

@gs7828

2 жыл бұрын

@@Chase-vq6eq Partially. Hyperreal is a consequence of the hypermodern. It means considering a symbol as attract (let's say an emoji; academic term: trope) that is vague enough, but its vagueness becomes its definitive form. A generalisation that does not find meaning in the smallest applications, but remains void and general. Understanding the vagueness of some parts of modernity like this lead some thinkers to either sadness or real depression.

@TheGunnCat

2 жыл бұрын

That's the moment he became sane. A diamond bullet represents the clarity of existence shot into his third eye revealing the dichotomy of existence.

You may not see this comment but I like that you bring up The Roach. The M79 and M203 grenade launchers were extremely common tools during Vietnam. So much so that soldiers became extremely accurate with them. It got to the point that they didn’t really use the sights, rather they could just feel where the grenade would land. It’s pretty incredible.

@Townesvanwaits

4 ай бұрын

The roach didn't even need to SEE. Motherf*cker did it just by SOUND. At night, in a jungle, in the middle of a battle, he could pinpoint exactly where that wild VC was and while barely lining up the sights, blew his a$$ up on the first try, and all while probably high on multiple substances. And then just went back to chillin. No wonder they were all like "get the roach man! Get the roach!!" like he was some sort of secret weapon lol

@mastergator9641

4 ай бұрын

Kinda like an arrow

A brief aside: when Harlequin (Dennis Hopper) is doing his manic bit claiming that Kurtz is talking about Dialectics, Kurtz is reading from T.S. Eliot's _The Hollow Men_ - The Hollow Men is prefaced by the quote _"Mistah Kurtz, he dead"_ - 'Mistah Kurtz, he dead' is itself a quote from the Joseph Conrad book "Heart of Darkness", which is the novel upon which Apocalypse Now is based.

@sheltr9735

10 ай бұрын

WOW! Those are some fascinating connections! Thank you

@davidguardado4739

3 ай бұрын

Very interesting 👍👍

My favorite quote from Du Long bridge was: "Do you know who is in charge here".."Yes"

@OpusBuddly

3 жыл бұрын

Is it Charlie? Is it the Devil? Is it Roach? We decide.

@kimuvat2461

3 жыл бұрын

I always thought Roach was insane and shooting things that werent there, only in his paranoid mind. Good soldier is not a killer. That is why you dont win wars anymore.

@apextroll

3 жыл бұрын

@@kimuvat2461 The truth of war is that once you apply rules such as the Geneva Convention, you can not win a war. One of the lessons Kurtz is saying, it is the "primordial instinct" that wins wars. Having rules to wars is like having one hand tied behind your back.

@patrickcannady2066

3 жыл бұрын

@@apextroll A war between peer nation-states, such as the two World Wars, is a different matter than a colonial war in Asia. Both were terrible, but it's far different when a peer nation state's government is completely decapitated, or its most warlike factions rendered impotent, its land occupied by its adversaries, its industries destroyed by aerial bombardment, its armies routed in the field and compelled to surrender, its air force and navy decimated and rendered ineffective due to lack of fuel, ships, spare parts, and serviceable aircraft, its people tired, hungry, and traumatized, and willing to accept a fresh start. In a colonial war in Asia, you have to be ready to commit genocide on a scale so massive as to be unthinkable and unacceptable to sane, moral people, that it is far better to just let things be and try to effect your political will by other means.

@apextroll

3 жыл бұрын

@@patrickcannady2066 I see what you are saying, but there were plenty of accepted atrocities during the world wars. The point being, "war crimes and rules to war" are euro-centric concepts. Prior to the US Revolutionary War, European combatants fought war, face to face along a front line. Then during the war Europeans learned from the natives and started to fight asymmetrical, hit and run, guerrilla warfare. That is where the word ambush came from. Then during the US civil war went back to the "more honorable" face to face, front war.

I'm really glad you acknowledged Roach's importance. He is a very underrated character imo.

@dogslobbergardens6606

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely. Willard asks him if he knows who's in charge here, and Roach just says, "Yeah." Meaning - Death is in command. There's no right or wrong, good or evil left, just... death. The video is correct about him turning off the music being symbolic, but it's also starkly realistic. Roach can't see exactly where the enemy is, but when the other soldier asks if he wants a flare sent up, Roach just says, "Nah." He turns off the radio so he can hear the enemy in the wire. He's become so skilled at killing that he can zero in on the wounded man's screams in the dark. The VC screaming in the wire isn't a threat anymore, he's not even firing back... it's just his time to die.

@ResidentStump

Жыл бұрын

When I first saw the film, Roach was the one character and sequence I could not stop seeing in my head. I was surprised I hadnt heard the scene mentioned elsewhere before because it has this sublime quality to it.

@luke8857

Жыл бұрын

@@dogslobbergardens6606 Fuck all zips in the wire. FUCK EM DAMMIT. PUNGEE STICK UP THE BUM BUM!!!!! -Some random vietnam soldier for sure

@albertgrant1017

Жыл бұрын

I believe the person who played ROACH died last year !

@fuzzballzz36

Жыл бұрын

Roach was unforgettable. The first time I ever saw the film I remember thinking "It would take 20 years of psychotherapy for this guy to even START to rejoin society." He's just so far gone. To paraphrase an underground comic, you look into Roach's eyes and see the back of his skull.

I saw the redux version in an arts theatre and at the end of the movie everyone sat there in silence for a few minutes and then slowly and quietly everyone left the theatre. Watch this movie in a cinema and its really powerful!

@gsmdo8836

Жыл бұрын

The Redux is a travesty of the original film. God knows what Coppola thought he was doing when he released it. Do yourself a favour and watch the theatrical release...

@Jason-hg1pc

Жыл бұрын

I almost saw it in the theater as a kid, I saw it up until the Army Police wake up Willard, then the theater police kicked out my mom and her boyfriend, to this day I am thankful for their discretion and concern for an eight-year-old boys' exposure to the violent content of the film, but it also haunted me until I was old enough to acquire my own VHS copy, which also led to reading "The Heart of Darkness", which I suggest to everyone.🤘

@daboos6353

9 ай бұрын

I imagine everyone was asleep watching the shitty redux version.

@JoshButterballs

3 ай бұрын

@@daboos6353 probably too much diet cola and tap water lol

@oliverholmes-gunning5372

2 ай бұрын

@@daboos6353 Personally it's my favourite version and the only one I ever rewatch, but I recognise I'm in a minority there. Sure, objectively the theatrical release is a tighter, cleaner movie, but I love all the backstory and ambience that the redux version adds to the story, not to mention all the characters that don't make it into the final cut. Hell, I've even sat through the five hour bootleg First Assembly version, which I'll admit was a bit of a drag because the video and audio quality are pretty bad...

Excellent analysis - subscribed. “Some day this war is going to end” is the key phrase to unlocking Kilgore's character. The fact it's delivered without emotion is masterful (directing and acting). Kilgore knows that when that time comes, his world is going to change completely. He doesn't know whether this will be for the better or the worse, but he also knows there will likely be a reckoning for what he is doing. Until then, he carries on doing the terrible things he does, to keep his boys as safe as possible, and his masters off his back… Kurtz, on the other hand, knows that what he's being asked to do is make an omelette without breaking eggs. The answer to the task he is being given is to be inhuman, like the guerillas who hacked the children's arms off. He also knows that this would be utterly unacceptable to the society that sent him to Vietnam, and that is what drives him to madness…

@glyndwr15

10 ай бұрын

Put it in context. He says "napalm smells like victory." Victory, meaning the point where the war ends and everybody can go back to cookouts and surfing. He's wistfully looking forward to victory, the point where the war ends.

“Don’t get off the boat, unless you’re willing to go all the way.” This is part of Willard’s narration after he and Chef have an encounter with a Tiger in the bush. (Chef was hysterically insisting that he would not ever get off the boat.) Kurtz got off the boat and couldn’t come back. He was no longer a soldier, officer etc. Kilgore, on the other hand, stays on the boat. He clings to American culture by way of his surfboard (this also allows him to disassociate from what is happening around him.). Willard, when the film begins, has already gotten off the boat during his first tour. Ironically, killing Kurtz saves him.

@LifeIsAStory

3 жыл бұрын

Appreciate the comment! Those are great things to point out. The end of Willard’s story is something I haven’t spent enough time thinking about.

@alexanderveiluva115

2 жыл бұрын

Very underrated comment, the Tiger being associated with getting off the boat and becoming one with the jungle. (and its savagery) Worth adding on is that because Willard has already gotten off the boat, he wears the special forces "Tiger Stripe" uniform which symbolically shows this departure. The Roach also resides off of the boat, and wears a Tiger claw necklace that compliments his M79, which is also painted like a Tiger.

@mrttripz3236

Жыл бұрын

That is how I see it. There are three values at play in this movie. Love for America, loyalty to the army, and lastly the desire to win the war. Kilgore has all of these values, however he knows the war is going to end. So in reality he is a self defeating character. He succumbs to the brutality, knowing full well it won't make a difference. But he hangs onto notions of American culture like surfing to cope with it. Granted, if he did return to civilian life like Willard, he would realise very quickly that there is no normality left for him. So he too would want to fight the war with renewed vigour Willard, having realised that the war has destroyed his ability to enjoy normal American life does not hold American values in any regard. That is why he doesn't surf and he doesn't play with the bunnies. He has realised that fighting the war has no real relation to loving America. However he still believes in military loyalty and in winning the war. He becomes increasingly at odds with military honour as he sees more and more of his men die and succumb to the madness. Kurtz has realised that American values do not justify the war, and the military cannot win the war. So he has abandoned both. He is therefore only stuck with the notion of winning the war. No matter the cost he has devoted himself to the cause. The French plantation family have been fighting since the 1950s. The reason they remain is because they don't identify with the French, they see themselves as a unique community. Kurtz aims to do the same so that he can fight the war for decades. But Kurtz needs a method to justify the brutality and the madness around him. So he starts his own cult of war. The French in contrast used their ideal perception of the 1950s to stay afloat. This I think is the ultimate point of the movie. War strips men of all of their values and morals until all thats left in them is that primal, animalistic brutality. Nothing else can last the war. Not the love of ones country, not ones loyalties but only the desire to win remains. And with no other values or wants than desire to win the war degrades men into monsters.

@dogslobbergardens6606

Жыл бұрын

@@LifeIsAStory Willard's constant internal conflict is not knowing whether to stay on the boat or get off it. Early on he explains that when he was first in Vietnam, all he wanted to do was go home, get off the boat. But when he got home all he could think about was Vietnam. So he returned - got back on the boat. "I wanted a mission. And for my sins, they gave me one." Willard is a military man by choice, a volunteer, "regular Army" not a draftee; he was on the boat. But he's Special Forces, operating outside the usual channels. He's able to do things normal soldiers aren't supposed to get away with, like secret missions to go kill an American officer - one foot on the boat, one foot off of it. Every time he and/or the crew literally get off the boat, something really strange and/or dangerous happens. Get back on the boat - they're safer on the boat, they can escape on the boat. Heading upriver after the tiger incident, Willard says, "Kurtz got off the boat. He split from the whole fucking program." He decides to figuratively stay on the boat long enough complete his mission: killing Kurtz. Because not just the Army, but "even the jungle wanted him dead." (Keep in mind that the film juxtaposes the killing of the Colonel with the butchering of a water buffalo, like a sacrifice; that's important.) About sacrificing Kurtz to atone for all their sins, Willard says, "They were gonna make me a major for this - and I wasn't even in their fuckin' Army anymore." He's finally decided to get off the metaphorical boat for good, and split from the whole fucking program.

@dogslobbergardens6606

Жыл бұрын

@@mrttripz3236 well-said. But I think Kilgore has already realized he could never go home, that's why he's dreading the end of the war. He's good at waging war and he's got everything he needs from America with him - the steaks, the beer, the surfboards and music - and he's now very much at home in the midst of battle. He loves the process, war for its own sake; he loves the smell of napalm even when it didn't do any good - "...we didn't find one of them, not one stinkin' gook body. But that smell, that gasoline smell... smells like... victory." He's comfortable, he's found his purpose. War is his purpose. Death is his life. That's why he's fearless and stands up straight with mortars exploding all around him. It's not so much that he thinks he's invincible; rather, deep down he'd just as soon get killed there rather than go back to a world that doesn't need or want him. Willard's comment that Kilgore "wasn't going to get so much as a scratch here" could be seen as a premonition that Kilgore will indeed be forced to go home and wrestle with his demons just as Willard himself did.

"I will not hurt or harm you, i will not hurt or harm you. Just give me back the board Lance."

@stevebrescia3764

3 жыл бұрын

It is a good Board and I like it, You know how hard it is to find a Board that you like...Kilgore is like Brooks in Shawshank "At home and wants nothing more but to stay right there...!!!

@daveyboy_

3 жыл бұрын

Fuk it , im gonna get me some mangoes .

@DANTHETUBEMAN

3 жыл бұрын

It was a good bord,,

@curtismack7351

3 жыл бұрын

Chef - A fucking tiger!

@DANTHETUBEMAN

3 жыл бұрын

@@curtismack7351 he was to high strung for viatnam

I remember when it first came out. Several of my Vietnam combat vet buddies did not like it. They thought it was a anti-war movie as they told me. They were not angry about it, just disappointed. Talked about it for a few minutes, that was it.

@telescopicS627

Жыл бұрын

It's so anti-war, that it's actually super pro-war.

@newman7316

Жыл бұрын

Coppola himself said it is NOT an anti-war film.

@OroborusFMA

Жыл бұрын

@@newman7316 He sure doesn't say that in the audio commentary. He removed the original end credits (wrongly, and foolishly, imo) because he was worried it didn't keep with the endings anti-war message.

@Baldwin-iv445

Жыл бұрын

Why would they be disappointed?

@RailRoad188

9 ай бұрын

​@alexanderv.domanski9246 They still believed the lying premises of the war I guess.

There are three values at play in this movie. Love for America, loyalty to the army, and lastly the desire to win the war. Kilgore has all of these values, however he knows the war is going to end. So in reality he is a self defeating character. He succumbs to the brutality, knowing full well it won't make a difference. But he hangs onto notions of American culture like surfing to cope with it. Granted, if he did return to civilian life like Willard, he would realise very quickly that there is no normality left for him. So he too would want to fight the war with renewed vigour Willard, having realised that the war has destroyed his ability to enjoy normal American life does not hold American values in any regard. That is why he doesn't surf and he doesn't play with the bunnies. He has realised that fighting the war has no real relation to loving America. However he still believes in military loyalty and in winning the war. He becomes increasingly at odds with military honour as he sees more and more of his men die and succumb to the madness. Kurtz has realised that American values do not justify the war, and the military cannot win the war. So he has abandoned both. He is therefore only stuck with the notion of winning the war. No matter the cost he has devoted himself to the cause. The French plantation family have been fighting since the 1950s. The reason they remain is because they don't identify with the French, they see themselves as a unique community. Kurtz aims to do the same so that he can fight the war for decades. But Kurtz needs a method to justify the brutality and the madness around him. So he starts his own cult of war. The French in contrast used their ideal perception of the 1950s to stay afloat. This I think is the ultimate point of the movie. War strips men of all of their values and morals until all thats left in them is that primal, animalistic brutality. Nothing else can last the war. Not the love of ones country, not ones loyalties but only the desire to win remains. And with no other values or wants than desire to win the war degrades men into monsters.

@maddoxdavidson1403

Жыл бұрын

I agree with you this is what the movie means

@beanpods

4 ай бұрын

Your last paragraph, 70 words I believe, are magnificent. . Its a hard return to any normacly.

"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." G.K. Chesterton

@iseegood5609

3 жыл бұрын

Don't think Oliver Stone knew this quote. But its a good one. Thanks.

@Johnconno

3 жыл бұрын

A slum? G K Chesterton wasn't acquainted with those, was he?

@DarkPablo

3 жыл бұрын

@@Johnconno What do slums have to do with anything?

@Richter-89

3 жыл бұрын

Kinda goes to show its a bit of both philosophies. If you are to conduct war, then conduct war with a start and an end. At the same time, you must give those who will fight your war cause to fight. Being too lenient will ensure the only end to your war is your own eventual defeat. Going too far will leave you with no men to fight because one can only be pushed so far away from their own humanity before they have "crossed the rubicon" and see no reason to continue. Put more simply, If you have a job that allows you to fuck off all day, most folks are gonna fuck off all day. If you have a slave job, then you ain't going to put up with that shit for very long.

@Johnconno

3 жыл бұрын

@@DarkPablo Everything.

It's about the horror of murder in "reverse". It begins with the most distant and removed killing, the B-52 strike. Then there's the helicopter attack, where the dying is visible but the killer is still high above it and removed. Then there's the bridge scene with "Roach" where you hear the VC he kills, but the weapon is still indirect. Finally you have the death of Kurtz, where he's face to face with the man who was sent to terminate his command. That's what makes "the horror" line so visceral.

@spirits_

3 жыл бұрын

@WorldFlex you could say those represent the next level, death by gun up close, the killing of Kurtz is the most intimate kill-scene. Up close, with knife.

@daveyboy_

3 жыл бұрын

The Horror- The Horror

@MrZachgonz

3 жыл бұрын

Well this film is basically a reinterpretation of The Heart of Darkness. It’s a good read, not a long novel.

@jackrenglish

3 жыл бұрын

KURTZ DIES?

@daveyboy_

3 жыл бұрын

@@jackrenglish Dont u remember Willard hacks him to death

Fascinating character contrast dissertation. Love the added insight about Roach. Well done. 👏🏻

Second best quote,"Never get off the boat."The Joseph Conrad book that the movie was based on is a quick must read in order to understand the symbolism throughout the story.A great story in a completely different time and location.Heart of Darkness is a classic.

@marknewton6984

Жыл бұрын

Watch out for The Intended.

I lived in Zaire in 1991 when President Sese Seko Mobutu fell to an army mutiny and then civil war. I watched this in my apartment, which overlooked the prime ministers house, while the mutineers shot him dead and tanks rolled down the street. This movie defines the Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. That is what it is about.

@unlock07

3 жыл бұрын

I don't understand the final part of your comment. I haven't read Conrad's book.

@simonorr594

3 жыл бұрын

@@unlock07 the movie is based on The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. It captures the raw fear that pervades Zaire/Congo - and is a journey up the river to Kisangani to find a lost Belgian- Kurtz in the movie. Totally worth reading!

@mortarriding3913

3 жыл бұрын

My ancestor's trip through Congo was one of the inspirations for that book. Have you heard of the video game Spec Ops: The Line?

@DK-nv9zu

3 жыл бұрын

Read Heart of Darkness in a literature class years ago. After we’d finished the book, the professor revealed that Apoc Now follows the same basic plot points as the book and my mind was blown.

@mortarriding3913

3 жыл бұрын

@@DK-nv9zu have you heard of the video game Spec Ops: The Line? It does the same thing, and is in many ways truer to the original book.

Kilgore lives for war. He is not affected by the act of war, just war itself. I do not believe any other actor could have pulled his charachter. Robert Duval is a legend...

@Edax_Royeaux

2 жыл бұрын

George C. Scott springs immediately to mind.

I am 100% sure that Kilgore does not "regret" his role. As a vet, what he says immediately resonates with me - doesn't require outspoken understanding. It just is. Top 3 movies all time. Thanks for the review.

The Roach wasn't asleep he was high as a kite, probably on heroin. The Roach showed another coping mechanism for dealing with the horrors of war, inebriation to the point of complete emotional numbness. This is similar to the character of William Muny in Clint Eastwoods' film Unforgiven. Bill Muny agonizes over the rotten things he did in his youth, however in the final shootout in the saloon he reverts to a cold hard remorseless killer after drinking about a half bottle of whiskey to become numb to the horror of it all. The Roach uses heroin in a similar manor.

"If your not willing to kill everyone you deem your enemy, don't go to war"

@ogghost7248

3 жыл бұрын

It’s so cool that I earned the right to wear one of the stetsons he is wearing

@HoldenNY22

3 жыл бұрын

Is that a line from the Movie or is that a line that Sensei John Kreese taught his students or is it from some other place.?

@prestonross6942

3 жыл бұрын

@@HoldenNY22 those are my words, because I lived it. Not some stupid movie!

@lesterscates774

3 жыл бұрын

Damn straight!💀💀💀💀

@slartibartfast2977

3 жыл бұрын

@@prestonross6942 you're all talk, nothing but a scared child behind them. Probably cosplaying, and on youtube we will never know. Waste of time is all you got.

One of the greatest things about Apocalypse Now is that it leaves room for opinions about the nature of evil and contemplating morality. Great video I enjoyed your analysis.

@LifeIsAStory

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@oswaldjr.

3 жыл бұрын

Kurtz understands that without evil, good wouldn’t exist. It’s an eternal balance (some of his reading material somewhat delves into this). His monologue about how the trained cadres who’s hearts were filled with love, could still commit such atrocious acts of barbarity on their own people sums this up pretty well. Then we have the photographer who constantly harps on about how much Kurtz loves his people, how he feels at home with his people, even though he’s surrounded by dead bodies that had been tortured to death. Kurtz went there to do a job, and very shortly after he’d witnessed the horrors that job entailed, he realised that morality is relative. By the end, he no doubt views himself as being beyond good and evil. He just wants to carry out his job as best he can, even though his superiors view this as him going completely off the reservation. One of Sheen’s voiceovers while reading his files earlier in the film explains how all enemy activity had stopped in his sector, because he executed double agents his superiors hadn’t sanctioned. Kurtz understood if they really wanted to win that war, they needed men who were willing to rise above the morality of the situation, and just do the job. In his words .... “If I had ten divisions of those men, our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment! Because it's judgment that defeats us.”

@Hotdogwateryum

2 жыл бұрын

If you've read Heart Of Darkness, the ending leaves lots of room for opinion as well. I gained a lot of appreciation from the movie after having read the book and a subsequent essay in undergrad on what Kurtz meant by "the horror". I was super proud of that essay.

One of the most profound movies I watched in my teens shortly after its release. Your analysis is thought provoking, and insightful. Thank you

My favorite scene is definitely Roach's appearance. During that entire section of Willard going along the river, it all felt like madness. It didn't feel that way during other scenes where there are explosions and guns being fire, but that whole scene at the bridge felt like some kind of fall of man. The way soldiers try to board as Willard's boat passes through, the darkness broken by sudden muzzle flash and flares, this is where I saw the apocalypse.

@bautibonzini2835

Жыл бұрын

Definitely. Everything else feels like a long introduction to the true horror that is waiting for them deep into the jungle. The bridge feels like the gate of hell: there's no turning back. It's claustrophobic, loud, yet quiet and sinister. Feels otherwordly, like a forgotten land in which war doesn't matter anymore, there's anything to fight for, just chaos... and it doesn't get better the further they move. The movie's title couldn't fit better.

@djdeemz7651

10 ай бұрын

It was primarily about lance being on acid and the thing is a piece of music, that you don't really notice unless you have done acid , there is the twisted carnival music playing but then you got the gun fire that's like drums and screams and shouts that sound like singing it starts when he says " you know that last tab of acid I was saving" and finish on the "Beverley hills" bit . I have taken alot of acid but fuck taking in a war zone the dudes doing that were Fucking insane and yes they would of being hearing the noises of the battlefield like one big fucked up piece of music and music has a habit of taking control of a psychedelic trip can dictate the way it plays out . Nam was fucking insane really

@johnnymarin5035

5 ай бұрын

​@@djdeemz7651when I first saw this movie I took acid, and this part tripped me out because it was just too perfect.

@djdeemz7651

5 ай бұрын

@@johnnymarin5035 im a scratch dj and I use that whole section for scratch samples it's gold

@Townesvanwaits

4 ай бұрын

Some buddies and I dropped 3 tabs of acid each (and got a lil drunk/coked out too) while watching this movie once and it was wild. I almost wanted to BE THERE lol. Just thinking how crazy it would be to witness something like the Do Lung bridge "battle". After we finished the movie we really wanted to go for a swim in a river lmao, and luckily we lived literally like 200 yards from the Chattahoochee. It was 3 AM and we were just trippin n geeked as hell and swimmin in the river, even our dog swam with us.

I was a Recon Marine when I saw this. I reconsidered my life choices and got out. Went back to school and studied philosophy and ecology.

@buttneked3963

3 жыл бұрын

FarOut!!!! I’ve got to go back and watch it again, I haven’t seen it since the mid 80’s and must have been high because I don’t remember much about it other than I liked Kilgore’s badassery

@davidcoffman9326

3 жыл бұрын

coincidentally, I watched this and full metal jacket the night before I went to meps in July of 2000. Was an LAV crewman for 8 years. only spent 18 months stateside, the rest split between north Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan, loved it, all of it. Philosophy that. Semper fidelis

@klown463

3 жыл бұрын

How’s that debt working for you?

@boathemian7694

3 жыл бұрын

@@klown463 who are you asking?

@conway573

3 жыл бұрын

@@boathemian7694 The government paid his college education aka The GI Bill...one of the benefits of serving your country honorably.

"No poor bastard has ever one a war by dying for his country; you win wars by making the other poor bastard die for his" -Patton

@sethstine4698

3 жыл бұрын

@Laocoon that was a Patton quote. Don't like Patton? Don't think we should have fought Nazi Germany? Cool.

@sethstine4698

3 жыл бұрын

@Laocoon Hitler and Nazi Germany wasn't an "old man's fear". They were real. Grow up

@chriswaters2327

3 жыл бұрын

@@sethstine4698 Do some deeper research. All wars are banker wars.

@chriswaters2327

3 жыл бұрын

@@sethstine4698 Patton also said we fought the wrong enemy.

@ColoradoStreaming

2 жыл бұрын

@@chriswaters2327 He also died in a suspicious "Jeep accident".

When you mentioned characters in other war movies, I know you used Barnes from Platoon, but Bunny from the same movie I feel is absolutely nearly perfect for Kurtz. He trusts his leader above all else, he will kill whoever, be it man, woman, or child, if they step in his way. He says, “ you know Junior some of the things we done man, I don’t feel like we did something wrong, but I get this bad feeling inside.” He acknowledges that what he’s done isn’t normal and that people shouldn’t do that, but in the context of the war, he feels it’s basically just a job that needs done one way or another. He continues “I told the Padre the truth man, I like it here. You do what you want, nobody fucks with you, the only worry you got is dying. And if that happens you won’t know about it anyway. So fuck it.” He is totally at peace with what he is and what he’s doing. In a kind of morbid sense he just may be one of the most rational characters in the movie. He knows what he’s doing and seeing is “the horror” but he, like Kurtz, has made the horror his friend. He’s not taken by the darkness, but he uses it all the same.

@Townesvanwaits

4 ай бұрын

Bunny seems like he woulda been a cool guy to hang around if he wasn't such a psycho piece of trash.

It’s much easier easier to pass through life in a delusion then to cope with the cold hard truth. Kilgor represents humanity in general, dealing with the hardships of everyday life by numbing down the senses with his favourite distractions. I’m sure we can be all relate. Kurtz demonstrated how psychologically difficult it is remove the veil and process the blunt and horrific realities of the corrupt world we live in on a daily bases. The truth is hard to digest for both parties and most who speak it are rejected or labeled insane by those who are not willing to see it or admit to it. “Ignorance is bliss “

@angusyates828

Жыл бұрын

Spot on.

@glyndwr15

10 ай бұрын

This is exactly what this movie is about. It seems like most people who watch this movie actually make the mistake as the high command in the movie. They assume Kurtz is the crazy one, but he isn't. It's the war that is insane. Kurtz is the only sane person in the movie.

When I was young I used to think this was a movie about helicopters boats and guns, now I see it more like a movie about mental health in absurd situations.

After being in the army for near 30 years and watching AN well over 100 times - Kilgore was not what you think. The entire movie can be summed up with one line. "Good does not always triumph, sometimes the dark side overcomes what Lincoln called better angels of our nature." LTC Kilgore is another name for Charon and CPT Willard is Hades. Charon (Kilgore), a psychopomp carried Hades (Willard) with the "souls" of the newly deceased (Chef, Chief, Clean, and Lance) across the river Styx (picking up the boat and setting it down in the river - where there's no way out) to death (Kurtz). It's a journey to death - to hell - and along the way harmony and chaos are depicted. The French family can never return. The tiger (never get out of the boat), just trying to scare us - is mankind being fooled into a false sense of security. - The playmates represent pleasure and joy, man's chaos is defined by the bridge at do long "hey soldier, do you know who's in charge?" "yea", "there's one still alive underneath them" represents death is going to find you. CPT Colby represents man's giving up on the fight against death. And then there's Kurtz. Kurtz represents the "dark side" itself. In all the chaos of the Viet Nam War where at that time - the war was being run by a bunch of morons LBJ, Nixon, McNamara et al. There was no clear direction. Kurtz (the dark side) had a clear sense of direction - guided by the actions of his one time "enemy" as identified by Kurtz recounting the old man running to him, crying, because the NVA had hacked off all the inoculated arms of the children - "If I had just 10 divisions of men like that - our troubles here would soon be over". The beginning to the end is when Kurtz converses with Willard one last time - that's when he understands death is for everyone - and everything - and he engages Willard in a civilized conversation about flowers along the Ohio river - then the finality is when Kurtz ask Willard if he's an assassin, I am a soldier "you are neither" you're an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill - Everything ends - the sin's of mankind must be paid in full - there's no getting around it - the grocery clerk (Satan) is coming for his due. It's not a movie about war per se, it's a movie about the road or journey to death. That's what the movie means to me after watching it over the course of 40 years and fitting the pieces of the puzzle of life in the right spots..

@gs7828

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this interpretation.

@ArmyofFallenOnesOfficial

2 жыл бұрын

you might be right

@anthonylewis2080

2 жыл бұрын

Brilliant observation : however fictional a movie is, that sense of reality isn't far away from it and that alone makes "Apocalypse Now" extremely appealing - no DVD collection should be without it.

@czr7j9

2 жыл бұрын

I wouldn't be suprised

@lisaparker9311

2 жыл бұрын

Yes an operates on a much higher plane than most peeps realize MASTERPIECE Brando is chilling

agree, that shot of the downed B-52 was so eerie. one of the best indeed. great vid.

"You have to have men who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill; without feeling, without passion, without... judgement..." -Kurtz "You wanna live forever?" -Kilgore

As a former US Marine in the early '70s I think your analysis was very good. Thank you.

@josephdeliz3455

2 жыл бұрын

Hope it's going well man. When you get out you start to self analyze with the time you've got. Keep the demons at bay brother. God bless you.

"Apocalypse Now one of the ten best movies ever made. Best war movie ever made." *LIKE* earned

@SuperEman500

3 жыл бұрын

Black Hawk Down.

Great summary bro. I think you make a lot of thought provoking points. I salute you 😂✌👏

Great analysis, man. Those are great characters that deserves more videos on it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hearing you talk about Kurtz reminds me of a quote from general Sherman when discussing his drive to the sea. "War is all hell. There is no need to reform it! The more horrible it is the sooner it will be over!"

@LordVader1094

3 жыл бұрын

@James Patrick Amazing. Every word you just said was wrong.

@eagle1ear

3 жыл бұрын

@James Patrick Are you talking about the honorable slave owners and KuKluxKlan founders? The South lost because the North had more cannon fodder and because it was industrialized and could manufacture weapons to scale.

@gfarrell80

2 жыл бұрын

@James Patrick the claim that Sherman was a 'butcher' is a pretty big claim. Did Sherman round up and murder people the way that, say, the Nazi SS did in the Eastern Front with Russian villages? Or the way the Mongols would bring everybody outside a town and murder them? Or the way the US did in Vietnam with peasant villages? Sherman primarily destroyed war-useful property. He did not butcher civilians. The real question to me is, if Sherman was born in the age of strategic bombing, what would Sherman's feelings have been on the use of mass incendiary bombing of civilian targets? I'm betting he would not have been in favor of it. Might have had to do it, but I doubt he would have been an enthusiastic Bomber Harris or Curtis LeMay.

@gfarrell80

2 жыл бұрын

@James Patrick there is a lot of primary source evidence showing the Nazis intended to wage a war of annihilation. Neither party, Soviets or Germans, obeyed the Geneva Conventions at all. The Germans allowed 2 million soviet POW's to starve. Look up the Commissar Order and Hitler's 16 July 1941 Memorandum. Einsatzgruppen killing squads. 'clean war' my ass.

@attackmaster519

2 жыл бұрын

@@gfarrell80 I think it is incredibly dangerous to define such terms by using comparisons. Someone could just as easily justify horrible acts from the Nazis or Mongols, like you brought up, by comparing them to even worse acts. Sherman was a butcher, he was a monster. A justified one? Indeed, if one feels the end of the war with a Union victory to be justified, then he is indeed justified. But it is also important to understand that justified and right, justified and good, are not always one and the same.

"Someday this war's gonna end." I think you can interpret this line in two ways which show what a real actor can do with a line like that: In one sense Duval's Kilgore is sorry that when the war ends he won;t be able to do what he seems to enjoy; but there is also a wistful quality to the line that - like most sane people - Kilgore will be glad to see the war end. It's that uncertainty, that paradox of intent that makes this line so memorable and not just a cheap throw-away to dismiss the character.

@jedwing

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for that. That is very astute. I have to watch this movie again. I saw it the first time it was released - in San Francisco. On mushrooms. And in one of the first surround sound theaters. Crazy I know.

@westington1

Жыл бұрын

@@jedwing haha, fair play geez, that must have been fucking intense 😂

I just discovered your channel today and I subscribed. I'm watching a bunch of your videos and I'm loving them!!

Wow! Great analysis of one of my favorite movies. You helped me understand why I feel that way.

Kilgore wants the war to last as long as possible, because his world and life lies in those war. Kurtz wants to end the war as soon as possible, with the fewest dedicated men if needed, because he's done taking order from the higher up that prolong the war.

@ReeseMac

3 жыл бұрын

I think they both want the war to end ASAP. They both have different approaches. I'd definitely have to lean towards Kilgore's approach.

@MarcillaSmith

3 жыл бұрын

@@ReeseMac Nominally, sure, but in his heart of hearts? Where's he going to get that "smell of victory" in the morning? Work at a gas station?

@ReeseMac

3 жыл бұрын

@@MarcillaSmith Kilgore likes that napalm "smell of victory" because it makes him feel as if the war is a step closer to being over and won. He finishes that speech with "Someday this war's gonna end." He's looking forward to the war being over.

@MarcillaSmith

3 жыл бұрын

@@ReeseMac "Someday this war's gonna end," he ends with, as if he wants to say more, but knows he shouldn't, and with a forced smile that fades to a frown before he walks off, tossing the debris he was fiddling with off to the side as if to say, "ah to H311 with it." This is one of the greatest actors in American cinema being directed by one of the greatest directors. It also parallels Captain Willard's character arc from itching for a "mission" at the beginning, to never wanting another, by the end

@slartibartfast2977

3 жыл бұрын

False. Kurtz knows that the civilian world will never return for him. He has been fully given over to animal nature. I think you missed the point of the movie entirely

Killgore seems like the Vet who would be a regular at the VFW post, keep in contact with the Vets, still be a little crazy & intimidating in conversation, but reenter society as a basically good guy.

Frederick Forrest's character 'Chef' lives through all the horrors the war can throw at him but his chance meeting with a Tiger in the jungle reduces him to tears and releases all the madness built up inside him

woah really loved your perspective on both the characters

I want to present an alternative reading on the complex double-meaning of "some day this war's gonna end". Listen closely to how Duval reads the line and how he looks off into the distance whistfully. He is almost saying it to himself. The wiki page is right: the line has been direct to have nostalgia. Kilgore is expressing it with a kind of timid sadness. You're right that Kilgore is sheepish when he's confessing to loving the smell of napalm. He loves that feeling. He's confessing the thing we can all see so clearly: he loves every inch of this. And someday... it's gonna end.

@LifeIsAStory

3 жыл бұрын

I think that’s a reasonable side to take. For sure.

@apextroll

3 жыл бұрын

I took it to mean he was indifferent, as wars begin and wars end.

@brettmajors69karaoke

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly he gave the reassuring nod after saying that quite but he seemed like he dreaded the coming of that day.

@annandune

3 жыл бұрын

But you also need to look at Sheen's face while he listens to Kilgore's closing line. Perhaps Kilgore is trying to convince himself he wants it to be over but isn't necessarily doing a good job of that.

@gcs7817

3 жыл бұрын

My theory is that Kilgore loves war... no rules, he's the god, he can take the enemy's beach and surf on it as if to say "F you charlie!"

I'm reminded of two things. A passage from a companion book to the British TV series "Soldier: A History of Men in Battle" where in the section on logistics describes how extensive the logistics were in Vietnam. One soldier described how they could drive a jeep up to a PX where they were would a drive-in like set up that was like a "A&W or a Dairy Queen" and have an order of a hot dog and a beer. I'm also reminded of what Army Air Force General Curtis Lemay was quoted as saying. General Lemay was the officer who directed the bombing of Japan which included the Tokyo Firebombing. His job essentially was to bomb Japan out of the war by destroying it to prevent the need to invade it. "All war is immoral, if you can't understand that you aren't a good soldier." (I may be paraphrasing here but this is what he said). Despite his dark reputation today he was considered a good officer especially by the airmen who served with him.

@williamfritz189

3 жыл бұрын

Great French philosopher and Jewish survivor of Nazi occupation Emmanuel Levinas wrote, "War makes all morality derisible. (sic)"

@tommyl3207

3 жыл бұрын

LeMay WAS a good man. He saved 1000's of U.S. lives. He saved Japanese lives too. Hid chose the lesser of 2 evils, and did his sworn duty, both.

@feastguy101

2 жыл бұрын

LeMay did nothing wrong.

@dogslobbergardens6606

Жыл бұрын

Lemay told Robert McNamara after WW2, "If we had lost, we'd be the ones on trial for war crimes." And he was correct. The United States and Britain knowingly, purposely bombed and firebombed hundreds of thousands of civilians to death in order to crush Germany's industrial capacity and destroy Japan's will to fight. Especially in Japan, they knew damn well they weren't bombing tank or airplane factories, or troops. They were burning up non-combatants. Women and children. When attacking Japan, they used firebombs - napalm - specifically because they knew almost all the houses, schools, hospitals etc were made of wood, not brick or concrete. So fire would spread rapidly, killing more people than standard explosive bombs. For those unfamiliar with him, McNamara later became Secretary of Defense and was in charge of running the Vietnam War from 1961-68. He was REALLY into adding up body counts, because there just wasn't a lot of industry to bomb. His basic policy was that of attrition - if the US just kept killing more and more people, hammering both South and North Vietnam with more and more bombs, sooner or later the VC and NVA would either run out of men or just give up. It didn't quite work out that way. North Vietnamese generals later admitted that in fact, they were indeed extremely short on men and if the US had continued bombing at that pace, they probably would have had to give in. But the American public, and finally American politicians, lost the nerve to drag the war out further. Too many Americans were coming home in body bags. It just wasn't worth it anymore. McNamara discussed all of this at great length many years later in the documentary "The Fog of War." It's just McNamara himself telling his story, with some questions from the director. McNamara is very candid throughout. At one point, he lists one-by-one many of the cities in Japan they wiped out with firebombing, comparing each one in turn to an American city with the same population. Almost none of those cities was a military base or major manufacturing center. That's a war crime.

Unless you’ve not been in the military, you may see a similarity in Kilgore to other like ranked officers in the infantry and Marine Corps. Trying to even out the responsibilities to mission accomplishment, taking care of troops and accepting the savagery of war. Kubrick did an outstanding job in bringing forward the actual experiences of soldiers and officers during times of war.

@bluegregory6239

9 ай бұрын

That would be Coppola, although Kubrick also made a great Vietnam film.

Great video, very interesting discussion on the two characters.

This analysis may have glossed over a very important theme for this movie. In fact, it seems to be the main theme of the story Heart of Darkness, from which the movie is based; that of human sanity and the idea that when it comes down to it, everyone is nuts. However, so long as you're "playing within the lines" your personal version of "nuts" is tolerated until one "goes off the reservation" to use Marlowe's words. As this synopsis highlights, Kilgore is a kind of anointed figure, protected from the havoc he wreaks, not because he wishes to escape it, but because he is at home in it. The chaos isn't as important to him as long as he can bring along his favourite iconoclastic Americanisms with him. He finds solace in conquering and making the world American. Kurtz by contrast has gone so crazy as to discover sanity. Cold-hearted, calculating savage war mongering in order to establish peace. Yet, that is a step too far for those in charge of the war.

@LifeIsAStory

3 жыл бұрын

I’m not lost on the theme; I’ve read HoD. There are too many themes in the film to cover in one video.

@slartibartfast2977

3 жыл бұрын

True, he establishes his own tribe. In reality the only way we could have won that war was to turn the place to glass. War crimes, and the setting up of a totalitarian state. This is because every NLF communist was prepared to die before they gave up their country. Home turf guerrilla warfare Advantage is something you would think America would have known about.

@Isaiah54V7

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, it’s really about the horrors of colonialism

@WeThyKings

3 жыл бұрын

Hardest novel that I ever read... glad someone pointed out the book

@joeycmore

3 жыл бұрын

@WorldFlex I think you may have missed something friend? When Kurtz praises the enemy who hacks off the arms of the inoculated children as "genius" and stating one can "kill but never judge", along with his raids "over the fence" into restricted territory of neutral Laos, I definitely feel this highlights a warmongering type that is not content to "just chill". The book displays this attitude a bit better and why Kurtz has become a warlord, the same as those he hunts.

I love the effort that must have gone in the helicopter scene... all these little details, like the bugle, they were cavalry, the petting of the rocket launcher, the peaceful happy village, ... also memorable, the guy at the end going insane after meeting a tiger... the straw that breaks the camel's back... Charly don't surf is a wonderful quote that polarises... us against them, clash of culture, ... a polite way of saying: they're animals...

@Darling137

3 жыл бұрын

Funny you mention the little things in the air assault scene. When I was in the Army (90s and 00s) I reflexively always tapped my magazines on my helmet at the range, no doubt influenced by this movie as a kid and teenager.

@dogslobbergardens6606

Жыл бұрын

The helicopters in the movie were rented from the Philippines Army where it was filmed. At times scenes were called off for the day because the choppers were called into action elsewhere on the islands, where they were still fighting guerilla forces.

Yes, one of the greatest movies of all time in all aspects -- script, acting., cinematography, sound, music. special effects. It was shot on film, not video. Some of the most iconic actors of all time. Dennis Hopper, Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duval all perfectly cast.

its so funny when kilgore sends out the "cavalry" with a recording of his voice to scare his surfboard back into his life

“Someday, this war’s gonna end”. Kilgore wanted it not to end obviously. He’s having fun right where he is.

@Edax_Royeaux

2 жыл бұрын

He reminds me a lot of Patton, only Kilgore doesn't have a Berlin to strive towards.

Man, that was a fantastic analysis!!👍👍

Such a good analysis video, no fluff or pretentiousness

Kilgore...he just ..KNOWS ...he won't get killed. It's an inbuilt positive energy /light/ untouchable entity that some people have . Nothing can harm you when one is in that state. Robert Duval portrayed this with such accuracy and skill. He nailed it..

I am in Duvall’s town the Plains Virginia, from time to time. Everyone knows him and they all say what a wonderful person he is.

@LifeIsAStory

3 жыл бұрын

That’s really cool. He comes off as pretty genuine in interviews so it’s good to know that’s not just a media persona.

Great job- loved it!⚡️

I really enjoyed this video. Thank you.

I'm surprised that Kilgore is on the Villains Wiki. I find him amoral at worst.

@dy031101

3 жыл бұрын

@Major Mike I think he just has accepted the futility of this war (or, more precisely, taking this war seriously from a military point of view). He'll burn down everything that puts him within its striking distance, but rather than the defeat of VC or NVA (he probably recognizes that he has no say in the matter), victory means to not die, staying alive long enough to go home.

@laserpmr

2 жыл бұрын

@@dy031101 KIllgore wouldn't want to go home. Somebody like him would probably drink himself to death in civilian life (as seen with Willard at the beginning of the movie)

@karlzipp181

2 жыл бұрын

Kilgore was the essence of the American war effort. Win at all cost, coddle and encourage the temporary involuntary soldier, ignore the occupants, and threaten the communist expansion. War to Kilgore, was his office which he hated to leave. The only thing propping up his value to the world was his ability to wage war, knowing he is useless in civilian life.

@thatguy22441

2 жыл бұрын

He's not amoral. I've served under commanders like him, and they are very moral people, but are as guilty of own-group preference as anyone else. The idea behind war is not to fight fair, but to win. Period.

@guyr3618

2 жыл бұрын

Almost everyone in this movie is a villain, really.

I liked your analysis. I think you're spot on with Kilgore representing a fragmented, romantic idea of war. Kurtz is the reality of war that everybody tries to forget and deny. Willard's journey down the river represents a dive into the subconscious. Kilgore's view is the image of war that society imposes on us. Kurtz is like the subconscious talking to Willard, buried deep in the mind, that knows our way of viewing war is hypocritical and flawed.

@spirits_

3 жыл бұрын

Interesting thoughts.

@Ck-zk3we

3 жыл бұрын

Up the river and into the Heart of Darkness

@Edax_Royeaux

2 жыл бұрын

I would disagree, Kilgore's way of waging war mirrors the British way in several aspects. The British Officer is not suppose to react to enemy fire to inspire his men and show his contempt for the enemy. The British would also try and make time for tea and bare in mind this is the military super power that conquered half the world. Such a mindset was already a proven method of waging war, soldiers don't want to be made into machines. Kurtz is someone whose gone off the deep end, the kind of person who would accept nothing less than full victory. Kurtz is the kind of person who would turn Vietnam into another Korean War, with millions of Chinese soldiers swarming across the border to fight a total war with the Americans to stop the horror Kurtz wants to unleash. Japan and German fought the very war Kurtz wants to fight, and they were utterly ruined by the horror they created, becoming enemies of the world. No Asian lamented the loss of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, as gruesome as the Philippines-American war was, the Filipinos still prefer the Americans to the Japanese Occupation that turn them into slaves.

@billtr8516

2 жыл бұрын

I find your analysis of the analysis , right connect the two with river between them. I was to Vietnam twice , and the propaganda I was brain wash prior to deployment , to fight the evils of communisms All wars are a waste time, money & people, I wonder with the penning civil war here in the US , and which of the sides they will be on? Kilgore or Kurtz?

@crabtrap

2 жыл бұрын

@@Edax_Royeaux why the fk do you keep saying that? Kilgore is NOT a Brit nor trained by them. his charector was to show contrast between high brass desktop commandos vs real warrior(Kurtz)

NICE, thank you, I felt it somewhere in the back of my head; that these are two very real and distinct ways to react to the war Even the soldiers' reactions are representative; some are terrified, others toughing it out; Martin Sheen has seen it all before and this time he's prepared

Hell yeah. One of my fav shots too. The music and the eerie vibe when they cross by it.

When he mentions that someday the war will end, it's a reference to General Patton. He told one of his staff that the war was almost over, and the staff said he seemed distraught over that fact. It is showing you that he enjoys the chaos and excitement of war. He wants the war to last forever.

@jakubcygan8265

Жыл бұрын

I came to the comments to say exactly that haha

@jamessweet5341

Жыл бұрын

Patton realized the horror of it, but he considered it his highest duty and his purpose in life. Without war, he had little in life.

@bluegregory6239

9 ай бұрын

A perceptive comment.

@alphabeta492

6 ай бұрын

“ his glory, our blood” eff these war mongering 🐽🐖🐷’s

For me Apocalypse Now is about the perspective of the war from all the characters throughout the movie that's what makes this an absolute masterpiece from Gung-ho to Horror and total insanity.

@musiquefrique

3 жыл бұрын

Astute.

Excellent analysis. Well done.

Thank you for this.

The problem is true war, or total war as envisioned by Sherman and carried to extreme practice by Kurtz really is the only way to fully win a war. Problem is in doing so you become what you are fighting against times 1000. War is a catch-22. In reality, no one, no side can actually win a war because in doing so you must become that which you hate.

@RD-lt3ht

3 жыл бұрын

God but you really GET this classic...KUDOS!

@RJLbwb

3 жыл бұрын

And you have General McClellan as the antithesis to General Sherman. But Sherman's point was war is nasty and kindness only prolongs the cruelty. Just get the war over with as fast past as possible.

@gcs7817

3 жыл бұрын

I doubt Kurtz was all about killing civilians like Kilgore. "You have the right to kill me, but you do not have the right to judge me" - kill without judgment, but only kill enemy combatants.

@clinttaylor4032

3 жыл бұрын

“ Only the dead have seen the end of war “ Plato

@fortyninehike

3 жыл бұрын

We must make monsters out of men, so man can live without becoming monsters. For those who seen, the American world (or the western world for that matter) is like a bubble and everyone in it lives a dream life escaped from the reality of the world. Kurtz integrated himself with the world and all the inescapable truths of it. Kilgore fought to stay in that bubble, regardless to the inevitable outcome that it would lead to. Kilgore’s “victory” didn’t move the war any closer to a conclusion. Kurtz’s “crimes” did and the civilians were safer for it. People sleep safely in their beds at night because rough men are willing and able to preform violence on their behalf. The trick is having people who can be both Jekyll & Hyde at the appropriate time. That, and freakin politicians staying out of it.

Damn, you hit the nail on the head about the downed B-52. Just a small but powerful detail that makes this movie perfect

@LifeIsAStory

3 жыл бұрын

It’s shots like that remind me why I love movies.

@brucetucker4847

3 жыл бұрын

Historically problematic, though. B-52s weren't shot down over the remote South Vietnamese or Cambodian jungle because there was nothing there that was capable of shooting them down at the altitudes they flew. The B-52s that were lost in combat were lost to MiGs or, in most cases, SAMs over North Vietnamese cities like Hanoi and Haiphong, and much later in the war than the period the movie portrays. (There were also losses in accidents, but most of those would have been at the airfields the buffs were flying from.)

@davidjurban

3 жыл бұрын

I thought it was a F4 Phantom tail...

@jackrenglish

3 жыл бұрын

YEP..JE

@dpforth

2 жыл бұрын

@@davidjurban Whatever it was, I think it was too small to be a B52.

You could also draw a comparison between these two and the officers at the start - Harrison Ford's character and the other guy, who of course we see first. Those are the guys who are playing along the way they are meant to, even if they also show some interesting thoughts about war during that scene. But mainly, their existence sets up a baseline against which we can measure Killgore and Kurtz. Great video - really interesting.

Thank you for this analysis

It is based on the novel Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad. Apocalypse now is a must see film even more so after you read the novel.

Roach is the man! Chill dude. Using that M79 with his ears instinctually. Almost like a musical instrument. He's the final gong. No need for sights. He has that trigonometry in his head.

@bogusmogus9551

Жыл бұрын

Like he killed that VC like he was a pest.

Fantastic video!! Nailed it.

Bravo. Seriously. This is excellent.

"Charlie don't surf." An outstanding comparative analysis. I played this video for some background while I swept the floor, but then found myself leaning on the broom and gaping at the screen, engrossed in the commentary and not getting a damned thing swept. I look forward to viewing more of your uploads, but not while doing chores because I'd get nothing at all done. Subscribed!

@LifeIsAStory

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed! And thanks for the sub!

The Movie scene with the Crashed B-52 Tail sticking out of the Jungle was clearly inspired by the impact of 1968 Movie Planet of the Apes scene of the Statue of the Liberty sticking out of the Beach, the only survivor of the American Civilization.

@LifeIsAStory

3 жыл бұрын

Yes! That’s the scene it reminds me of, I just couldn’t put my finger on it! Thank you very much 😂

@AirsoftReviewArgentina

2 жыл бұрын

Isn't it an F4? A b52 is a gigantic plane...

@ccfmfg

2 жыл бұрын

@@AirsoftReviewArgentina No it is a B-52. Just do a Google Images search for B-52 or B-52 Tail.

@MrWoohoo

2 жыл бұрын

@@ccfmfg no, airsoft guy is right. It is definitely a phantom tail. The distinctive drooping/inverted-V horizontal stabilizer is unique to the phantom.

@MrWoohoo

2 жыл бұрын

@@AirsoftReviewArgentina you are right

This was a great analysis, I never looked at it like that

Nice work! Thank you...

"Charlie don't SURF!" Got a t-shirt with that quote and Kilgore standing by a crater

@austins.2495

3 жыл бұрын

I bet you do

@Burt_Cokaine

3 жыл бұрын

@@austins.2495 lol man i love sarcasm. Got it at a smoke shop, years ago, called Planet 3..... but since proving a claim is tough to do thru youtube comments .... fuck it

@daveyboy_

3 жыл бұрын

That's good soldier cause u either surf or you fight

@RomeoDelta-gw7dd

3 жыл бұрын

I have the same shirt Kilgore wore in the movie. Santa barbers surf shop with the big Yater logo

@daveyboy_

3 жыл бұрын

I seen a guy with a pic of Charles Manson and underneath it said ' Charlie Dont Surf ' .. man the double entendre there is crazy .

They didn't play music on the helicopter to lighten the mood it was like stukas of Germany from World War making screaming sound before they actually cause damage to make the terror the primary weapon and in the movie he states that it "scares the s*** out of the....."

@robdixson196

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly, but there is a bit more to it. The Valkyries are gods that swoop in from the heavens to decide who lives and dies in battle. Odds are Kilgore knew this and made sure his men knew it too. The idea that were gods swooping in from heaven to determine who lived and died would be very motivating and give them a sense of invulnerabilty, and justification for whatever they did. It is of course fucking nuts, but insanity is very much a strong theme in this movie.

@xapocotacox

3 жыл бұрын

Umm you would not be able to hear that music over the sound of all those helicopters. This is Hollywood lmao. Psychological warfare was used in Vietnam but not like this.

@robdixson196

3 жыл бұрын

@@xapocotacox I remember an account of one of the big battles in Vietnam in a book called Dispatches that there were helicopters flying over the battle cranking Monster by Steppenwolf. The irony here is Monster is an anti war song. So this actually did happen.

@kazak8926

3 жыл бұрын

He literally says PSYOP i think

@larryglowacki5312

3 жыл бұрын

It means scared the s*** out of you

Steve from Florida I enjoyed your video thank you for making it really an

Took a while for the viewing public to realize Duvall's presence and vitality in every scene he was in... From a mob lawyer to a grizzled old plainsman.... Thanks Maestro!

Kilgore is a natural leader. He is an absolutely positive person.

@TheFbiFilesRepeat

3 жыл бұрын

And he likes to surf. Fact

@M0butu

3 жыл бұрын

And he is nuts, perhaps even a danger when he is back in the world. 😂

@maximusdecimusmeridius5500

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah he's a natural psychopath no training needed.

@JaimeNoro

3 жыл бұрын

Comments like yours are what really worries me about humankind in the 21st century.

@someguy5444

3 жыл бұрын

The fact that you idolize him shows that you might have a complete lack of value for human life. While that can be effective in a war it also slowly eats a man when he has to return home and then once it finally becomes completely clear it eats others around that person. Don’t become a live grenade because you think it’s what’s necessary but instead create a clear distinction between the worlds of war and daily life while being surprised when war comes to you instead of expecting it around every corner.