In behind-the-scenes footage in Hearts of Darkness, Coppola expresses his anger, on the set, at the technical limitations of the scenes, the result of shortage of money. On August 15, 1979, Apocalypse Now was released in North America in only three theaters equipped to play the Dolby Stereo 70 mm prints with stereo surround sound: [99] the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City, the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles and the University Theatre in Toronto. By September, Coppola told his wife that he felt "there is only about a 20% chance [I] can pull the film off". Corman, military intelligence ( G-2), an authoritarian officer who fears Kurtz and wants him removed.

Throughout the book, Gerretsen’s astute reflections of his experience on set are as fascinating as his photography. Their willingness to go all the way terrifies their superiors, who do not want to be so blatantly reminded of their real goals (ivory in the Heart of Darkness and power in Apocalypse Now) and methods of attaining them. It is the extraordinary saga of Coppola and his crew and actors-who included Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Harvey Keitel, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, and Harrison Ford-battling hurricanes in the jungles of the Philippines, the calamity of a lead actor's heart attack, and crises both psychological and financial . The helicopter squadron, playing " Ride of the Valkyries" on loudspeakers, raids at dawn with a napalm strike. S. Army, telling her that he was never coming back and to sell everything they owned, including their children.Francis Ford Coppola ( cameo) as a TV news director filming beach combat; he shouts "Don't look at the camera, go by like you're fighting! By the time he reaches Kurtz, he has gone back to the era of primitive tribalism, of “savages”, to use Frazer’s word.

It was also listed as the second-best war film by viewers on Channel 4's 100 Greatest War Films, and was the second-best war movie of all time based on the Movifone list (after Schindler's List) and the IMDb War movie list (after The Longest Day).

Kurtz has given into the primordial temptations of jungle life, killing at random and leaving dead bodies and severed heads as testament to his omnipotent mayhem. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Coppola), and Best Supporting Actor (Duvall); it went on to win Best Cinematography and Best Sound. When his health shows the first sign of failing, he must be put to death and power must pass to a younger, more vigorous specimen. Nevertheless, the depiction of Kurtz as a god-like leader of a tribe of natives and his malarial fever, Kurtz's written exclamation "Exterminate all the brutes! Apocalypse Now used novel sound techniques for a movie, as Murch insisted on recording the most up-to-date gunfire and employed the Dolby Stereo 70 mm Six Track system for the 70 mm release, which used two channels of sound behind the audience as well as three channels from behind the movie screen.

He approached Apocalypse Now as a black comedy, [50] and intended to shoot it after making THX 1138, with principal photography to start in 1971. As Marlow's jaunt to Africa becomes much more to him than an adventure, so does Willard's mission to kill Col. Ermey was himself a former USMC drill instructor and Vietnam War veteran, and later achieved fame for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket. His status as a double agent was reportedly confirmed by the Central Intelligence Agency, which, according to the sources, suggested that he either be isolated or 'terminated with extreme prejudice. He is based at a remote jungle outpost in eastern Cambodia, where he commands American, Montagnard, and local Khmer militia troops.

Kilgore's quotation, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning", written by Milius, was number 12 on the AFI's 100 Years . Writing for The Nation, critic Robert Hatch felt the "moral indignation" behind Apocalypse Now was "lost in giantism", saying that the film presented the war as "one bloody huge circus" and that Coppola had "done no more than demonstrate the obvious — that in Vietnam we fought a bad war. The opening scene—which features Willard staggering around his hotel room, culminating in him punching a mirror—was filmed on Sheen's 36th birthday when he was heavily intoxicated.