Apocalypse Now

Arguably one of the finest movies ever made, Apocalypse Now gains a re-release thanks to the addition of an extra fifty-odd minutes of previously unseen footage. For those of you unfamiliar with the premise, it's a simple one. In his finest screen performance to date, Sheen plays the mentally unhinged Special Forces operative Captain Benjamin L. Willard, who is loosely based on the central character of Marlow from Joseph Conrad's short novel Heart of Darkness. Willard is requested by his superiors to travel into deepest Cambodia and assassinate a rogue Colonel, Kutz (Brando) a man who has apparently lost his sanity and set himself as demagogue to the restless natives. What follows is both a metaphorical study of war and the effect it has on men's soul, and a hauntingly effective examination on the nature of humanity. Okay, it's a lengthy excursion at almost four hours, but it's one - if you profess to have any interest in the mechanics of great filmmaking - that you have to make. Trust me.