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No, no, no, no. No. And once again. No.

'Platoon' is bollocks. Cardboard cut out goodies and baddies, a pretty boy lead, and an absurd fire-fight at the climax. Stone's usual heavy-handed and didactic direction swamps a join-the-dots morality tale. He may have served there but it's a popcorn film, not far off 'Top Gun' in terms of its homo-erotic value.

'Apoc Now' remains one of the few films to capture the chaos, lack of organisation, complete absence of morality and lunacy of war. (Mirrored by the shambolic production itself). It's stuffed full of iconic cinematic moments and lines. It has real edge. I'm always amazed it was made by an American.

Not really fair to compare it to Conrad's masterpiece which was only ever a narrative framework for the film.

Incidentally, anyone read 'Chickenhawk'? A great 'Nam read.

Fabulous book, but then I like helicopters. Also worth a read is, 'Once a Warrior King' by David Donovan. Told from the perspective of an officer who believed in what he was doing, during his time working with local militias in the Delta, despite all his government's and fellow soldiers attempts to screw the whole thing up. And 'Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War' by Michael Maclear, a history of the conflict from when we, the British, rearmed the Jap army in 1945 to keep the peace for us, to the final fall of Saigon. And not forgetting 'The Tunnels of Cu Chi' by Tom Mangold.

Must have missed the homoerotic value, but then I wasn't looking for it so.....
Re. Apocalypse Now.
And Kilgore ISN'T a cardboard cut-out character?!?
And Brando? I suppose under rehearsed mumbling is what gave him his legendary status
I struggled with a film that is overly pretentious, with an anticlimax for an ending and quite frankly could stand to lose a good 45/50 mins. of it's run time.
Sums up the over indulgent aspects of 70's auteur film making for me....

I'm sure there are two endings to the film. When I saw it on original release in the West End, Willard calls in an air strike which destroys the place. Whenever I see it on TV it just ends in, as you say, rather an anti-climax.