Apocalypse Now- Sukhpal Dhillon
Since the dawn of cinema, countless war films have been produced and viewed by all nations across the world. America’s war cinematography ranges from Sahara to Apocalypse Now to Saving Private Ryan. If one were to watch such war films one can often get the sense of attitude that the American public had for war. In the earlier part of the 20th century when the film industry was just blossoming, a lot of pro America-going-to-war films were produced. What I mean is often the situation portrays Americans as the defenders of freedom fighting evil and corruption throughout the world. Characteristically these types of movies always spread the notion that war is good, American’s should do everything within their power to help in the war effort whether that be fighting on the front lines, recycling metal to build tanks or even just being patriotic. War films for this era glorified war. Basically implying that all U.S. soldiers are honorable, fighting by the rules and that at the end of the day everything will be all right. The Vietnam War changed that impression greatly. The change in attitude towards war films and war itself really actually started to change during the cold war; Dr. Strangelove being an appropriate example. Before this the American public just believed everything that their government told them and smiled. Due to the unpopularity of these wars films became more antiwar leaning. The main characters Captain Benjamin L. Willard and Colonel Walter E. Krutz show that U.S. soldiers and warfare is not what it’s all cracked up to be! Emotions run high; war is portrayed in a darker lens than it was in Sahara. Characters must choose what is right and what is wrong within the film. It is clear that war messes with a man’s psyche and that glory and honor cannot always be achieved. Coppola does an excellent job of the pain and struggle of warfare. Overall I enjoyed this film more than that of Sahara due to its accuracy of warfare.