Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest and others.
Synopsis
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 war drama directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Loosely inspired by Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness, it relocates that story to the Vietnam War and turns a journey upriver into a descent into the unknown.
The film opens in 1969 with Captain Willard, an army officer played by Martin Sheen, who is called to a military headquarters and given a classified assignment. Colonel Walter Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando, was once a respected Special Forces officer. He has since gone his own way, running a campaign from a remote jungle base deep in the interior, far beyond the reach of his superiors. Willard's orders are to travel there and deal with the problem quietly.
To reach Kurtz, Willard joins the crew of a small navy patrol boat. Among them is Chief Petty Officer Phillips (Albert Hall) and the cook known as Chef (Frederic Forrest). Their route follows a winding river into territory few of them understand. Along the way they meet Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, played by Robert Duvall, a cavalry commander whose confidence in the war is unlike anything the crew has seen. As the boat moves further from the coast, the journey grows stranger, and Willard begins to question what he has been sent to do and what he will find at the end of the river.
Crew & production
- Director
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Screenwriters
- Francis Ford Coppola, John Milius, Michael Herr
- Producer
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Director of photography
- Vittorio Storaro
- Composers
- Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola
- Editors
- Gerald B. Greenberg, Lisa Fruchtman, Richard Marks, Walter Murch
- Production company
- American Zoetrope
- Original language
- English
- Filming locations
- Philippines
- Budget
- $31.5 million
- Box office
- $92.2 million (worldwide)
Trailer
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Top cast
36 people
Marlon Brando
Robert Duvall
Frederic Forrest
Albert Hall
Dennis Hopper
Francis Ford Coppola
Vittorio Storaro
Sam Bottoms
G. D. Spradlin
Colleen Camp
Laurence Fishburne
Scott Glenn
More cast
- Harrison Ford Colonel G. Lucas
- Christian Marquand
- R. Lee Ermey a helicopter pilot
- Aurore Clément
- Martin Sheen Benjamin L. Willard, U.S. Army Captain Benjamin Willard
- Jerry Ziesmer Jerry
- James Keane
- Tom Mason
- Cynthia Wood Playboy Playmate
- Jack Thibeau
- Damien Leake
- Marc Coppola
- Bill Graham Agent
- Frank Villard
- Roman Coppola
- Gian-Carlo Coppola
- James Gaines
- Evan A. Lottman
- Nick Nicholson
- Charles Robinson
- Pierre Segui
- Charlie Sheen extra
- Kerry Rossall
- Joe Estevez Willard
Sources
- Wikidata (Q182692), accessed October 2026
- Cast photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited on each profile
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