---
title: 'Apocalypse Now (1979)'
type: 'film'
director: 'Francis Ford Coppola'
released: '1979-01-01'
runtime_minutes: 147
certification: 'R'
genres:
  - 'Drama'
  - 'Action'
  - 'Horror'
  - 'War'
  - 'Adventure'
countries:
  - 'United States'
themes:
  - 'Order and Chaos'
  - 'Water That Rises'
canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/movies/apocalypse-now-1979'
review_count: 0
imdb: 'https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078788/'
publisher: 'CinePixo'
---

# Apocalypse Now (1979)

1979 · R · 147 min · Drama, Action, Horror, War, Adventure · United States


## Synopsis

Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American anti-war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, written by Coppola and John Milius, with narration by Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella Heart of Darkness, with the setting changed from the late 19th-century Congo to the Vietnam War. The film follows a river journey from South Vietnam into Cambodia undertaken by Captain Willard, who is on a secret mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz, a renegade Special Forces officer who is accused of murder and presumed insane. The ensemble cast also features Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, G. D. Spradlin and Harrison Ford.

## Credits

- **Director of Photography:** [Vittorio Storaro](https://cinepixo.com/people/vittorio-storaro)
- **Director:** [Francis Ford Coppola](https://cinepixo.com/people/francis-ford-coppola)
- **Screenplay:** [Francis Ford Coppola](https://cinepixo.com/people/francis-ford-coppola), [John Milius](https://cinepixo.com/people/john-milius), [Michael Herr](https://cinepixo.com/people/michael-herr)
- **Original Music Composer:** [Francis Ford Coppola](https://cinepixo.com/people/francis-ford-coppola), [Carmine Coppola](https://cinepixo.com/people/carmine-coppola)
- **Producer:** [Francis Ford Coppola](https://cinepixo.com/people/francis-ford-coppola)
- **Editor:** [Richard Marks](https://cinepixo.com/people/richard-marks), [Gerald B. Greenberg](https://cinepixo.com/people/gerald-b-greenberg), [Walter Murch](https://cinepixo.com/people/walter-murch), [Lisa Fruchtman](https://cinepixo.com/people/lisa-fruchtman)

## Cast

- [Albert Hall](https://cinepixo.com/people/albert-hall) as Chief Petty Officer George Phillips
- [Vittorio Storaro](https://cinepixo.com/people/vittorio-storaro) as cameraman
- [Jack Thibeau](https://cinepixo.com/people/jack-thibeau)
- [Dennis Hopper](https://cinepixo.com/people/dennis-hopper) as Sean Flynn
- [Tom Mason](https://cinepixo.com/people/tom-mason-2)
- [Charlie Sheen](https://cinepixo.com/people/charlie-sheen) as extra
- [Harrison Ford](https://cinepixo.com/people/harrison-ford) as Colonel G. Lucas
- [Laurence Fishburne](https://cinepixo.com/people/laurence-fishburne) as Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Tyrone "Mr. Clean" Miller
- [James Keane](https://cinepixo.com/people/james-keane)
- [Colleen Camp](https://cinepixo.com/people/colleen-camp) as Playboy Playmate
- [Frederic Forrest](https://cinepixo.com/people/frederic-forrest) as Engineman 3rd Class Jay "Chef" Hicks
- [Roman Coppola](https://cinepixo.com/people/roman-coppola)
- [Damien Leake](https://cinepixo.com/people/damien-leake)
- [Sam Bottoms](https://cinepixo.com/people/sam-bottoms) as Gunner's mate 3rd Class Lance B. Johnson
- [Evan A. Lottman](https://cinepixo.com/people/evan-a-lottman)

## Themes & motifs

- [Order and Chaos](https://cinepixo.com/topics/order-and-chaos) (theme) — Military order thins out with every mile upriver until command is one man in the dark reciting poetry — the chain of command as a thing that evaporates.
- [Water That Rises](https://cinepixo.com/topics/water-that-rises) (motif) — The river is the plot — a current that runs one way only, and every mile it carries them is a mile that cannot be taken back.

Editorial, not imported: every axis and every sentence above was written here.

## Criticism on CinePixo

No reviews published yet.

Official site: https://www.lionsgate.com/movies/apocalypse-now
Source: https://cinepixo.com/movies/apocalypse-now-1979
Film facts: Wikidata (Q182692); synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Reviews, themes and notes are the work of this site's members.