2. Apocalypse Now
Are there many people who would disagree that Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam war film is a true masterpiece? If there are then those people require sectioning. How many people, though, would have expected Apocalypse Now to be a disaster of epic proportions based on problems during its production? Were it being made today the answer would likely be: everybody! Apocalypse Now was a film dogged by problems, not unlike the war itself. Constant re-writes as filming progressed, Martin Sheen suffering a heart attack mid-filming, which lead to Coppola having an epileptic fit, a doped up Dennis Hopper who couldn't remember any of his lines (although with no script at that time he didn't actually have any) and Marlon Brando arriving on set a tad overweight for a Green Beret uniform and insisting on improvising his scenes with Sheen the film looked in dire straits and was often referred to as "Apocalypse When". Yet despite all of its troubles upon release the film was a critical hit and stands today as one of, if not the greatest, film ever made.