Every Francis Ford Coppola Movie Ranked Worst To Best

Apocalypse Now is based on the Joseph Conrad classic Heart of Darkness, which Coppola wanted to use as the basis for his striking assessment of the madness, futility and horror of the Vietnam War. The movie's production took 16 months, saw Martin Sheen suffer a heart attack, and went so overbudget it's a wonder even today that the thing got made.

But all its infamous hardships paid off. Watching Captain Willard (Sheen) fight his way through the war torn country in his search for the mad Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) makes for one of cinema's most enthralling experiences, featuring some of the most troubling, epic and explosive imagery ever put to film.

From the fiery opening sequence, the surf-obsessed exploits of napalm-loving Kilgore (Robert Duvall) and Brando's disturbing final moments, Apocalypse Now works as both a searing anti-war drama, an exploration of humanism and obsession, and an exercise in epic, big-budget filmmaking.

With Apocalypse Now, Coppola ended his spotless 70s run with yet another all-timer, and cemented himself further into the upper echelon of modern moviemakers.