Apocalypse Now, meanwhile, is a film that most definitely has a political agenda worn on its sleeve. Made as part of the rebel yell against the contemporary Vietnam War, Francis Ford Coppola's epic masterpiece depicts the battle as one that was totally untethered from common sense, waged by psychopaths and kids who didn't know any better. It's not a film that's particularly sympathetic to the American army for blundering into the South Asian country in an effort to stop communism, which is why it's surprising that it's anti-war sentiment made it through intact for its US release... but not when they tried to take the film to South Korea. Perhaps there's some lingering allegiance to the US after siding with them in the Korean War, but whatever the reason, during Park Chung-hee's militaristic regime over the country in 1979, importation of the film was banned because of its coming out thoroughly on the side against armed conflict. He was later assassinated. Is that irony?
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
