Apocalypse Now Summary

Vietnam, 1969. US Army Captain Willard is sent on a top-secret mission that officially 'does not exist, nor will ever exist.' His task is to find and eliminate the renegade US Colonel William Kurtz, who has gone native, running a lawless and savage private army deep in the interior. The Colonel's rag-tag outfit is mercilessly attacking both US and Viet Cong forces, upsetting the 'order' of the war.

Captain Willard boards a US Navy patrol boat off the Nung River with the aim of penetrating deep into the jungle to find his target.

A Viet-Cong village controls the boat traffic through the river mouth. Willard enlists the help of surfer-mad Lt-Colonel Kigore to clear the village. The Lt-Colonel leads a helicopter attack (complete with Wagner music booming from the helicopters' speakers) to knock out the outpost. In the middle of the action, the Lt-Colonel spots a good wave-break on the shore next to the village - one of his men is ordered to brave the hail of bullets to check it out.

Willard and the boat's crew start down the river. As they travel further, the brooding jungle atmosphere and ever-present hostile forces start to wear the resolve of the men. Completing the mission looks a grim, difficult and thankless task.

The making of the film was so fraught with problem that it's become part of cinema lore. Martin Sheen had a heart attack, Brando was impossible to direct, as was a very unco-operative tiger. Much of the film was shot in the Phillippines. The Phillippine army, who had lent the helicopters, recalled them ahead of schedule because of a countrywide rebellion. Then to cap it all the annual typhoon arrived early and destroyed the movie sets.