this film is captivating.
I was considering just leaving it at that, but this film is such a great look at some of the more deeply affecting consequences of war. While there are some battle scenes, this takes more of an observational role as we follow the main character Lt. Willard, assigned to a secret ops mission, as he makes his way up the river to find a single man: a Colonel who has apparently become extremely mentally unbalanced, and to take him out "with extreme prejudice." Through this journey we see the more disturbing acts of war on the human psyche, and how asinine it can all really be sometimes.
So this movie is really tops, from the cinematography and sound (which both won Academy Awards) to the editing and the acting. Martin Sheen does a great job as Willard, as do the various officers and soldiers he meets along the way. Especially good are Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, and the relatively small but effective turn of Colonel Kurtz by Marlon Brando. There is even a brief appearance by R. Lee Ermy as a helicopter pilot. While most hard-core war films leave your nerves raw from the sheer violence, this one leaves you shuddering and thinking about the horrors.
