
Apocalypse Now - with Nick Dent
War Movie Theatre | for Fans of Classic War Films and Cinema HistoryShow Notes
Definitely Not Vietnam Month comes to a frankly confusing conclusion with a movie that everyone thinks is about Vietnam, but which Duncan argues is actually about something else. Apocalypse Now is Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 exploration of the madness of war. Making it turned into its own craziness, as costs spiraled, Martin Sheen had a heart attack and Marlon Brando was difficult even by his own high standards. Joining us is Nick Dent of the Brisbane Times. Next week: Duck Soup.
More from War Movie Theatre | for Fans of Classic War Films and Cinema History
Definitely Not Vietnam Month rolls on with The Wild Bunch, a 1969 film so violent it had viewers throwing up in the foyer. Director Sam Peckinpah was clear that he wanted to bring the violence of war, especially the war in South East Asia, into cinemas, and if he had to fire live ammunition at his crew to do that, then he would. The film pioneered a wealth of new techniques, with fast cuts and slow motion evoking the chaos of combat. Is it a war film? Did it chance the course of a different 1969 Western? And will Duncan ever tell his friends about his podcast?
Definitely Not Vietnam Month rolls on with a film about a US force with superior equipment and training going into a swamp, upsetting the locals, and being killed them. Yep, definitely not about Vietnam. Is this the first time that Nastiest Nazi has been won by a piece of geography? And who exactly are the baddies here?
Definitely Not Vietnam Month takes us to a galaxy far, far away as we discuss a 1977 film about a small resistance movement taking on and beating a powerful empire.
Definitely Not Vietnam Month opens with one of the greatest films ever to be made that definitely wasn't about the Vietnam War. Robert Altman's 1970 debut M*A*S*H was the tale of the 4077th Army hospital in the Korean - repeat Korean - War. It defied cinematic conventions, with no story arcs, overlapping dialogue, and a cynical attitude to life right from the opening song. The studio didn't expect much, but it was a critical and commercial hit, spawning a long-running sitcom and putting rocket boosters under the careers of not just Altman but also stars Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould.
Near the top of any list of war films, Full Metal Jacket was Stanley Kubrick's bleak take on Vietnam. It gave us cinema's greatest drill sergeant, a script full of unforgettable lines, and an Asian country as it could only look if it had been filmed in an East London gasworks.