10 Insanely Accurate War Film Details
4. The Dow Chemical Company - Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now stands as one of the more seminal war offerings of all time.
Francis Coppola's 1979 epic brought the desolating aspects of the Vietnam War to life in such vivid detail that the viewer almost feels as though they are actually on the river patrol boat itself, inexorably making their way upriver towards the ominous fortress of Marlon Brando's Colonel Kurtz.
Coppola went the extra mile in transporting his vision of Vietnam to the big screen, a fact perfectly exemplified by a throwaway instance in the midst of his picture. Martin Sheen's Benjamin Willard can briefly be seen passing a black chemical barrel. While the sight may appear perfectly innocuous at first, closer examination reveals the foreboding truth behind the container in question.
The bottom of the barrel is stamped with the words "The Dow Chemical Company", one of the largest suppliers of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. An enormously powerful pesticide used in industrial quantities to remove leaves from the trees that the Viet Cong hid amongst, Agent Orange caused multiple forms of cancer and other major health problems, as well as devastating vast areas of the Vietnamese countryside.
Apocalypse Now conveys the wanton cruelty of this brand of warfare in a brief but affecting moment, showing a young Vietnamese child casually sitting on a barrel of Agent Orange.