Apocolypse Now (1979)

What do you call it when the assassins accuse the assassin? A lie. A lie and we have to be merciful.

— Colonel Kurtz

I have no idea what is my problem. There are so many classic movies that I have never seen. Francis Ford Coppola’s epic movie, the #36 Film of All-Time on IMDb, Apocolypse Now is one of many. I knew very little about this movie when I saw it. It was a good thing, because would not have enjoyed it more than I did. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won two for Best Sound and Cinematography.

A disillusioned Army Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen) is tired of waiting around to find action in and around Saigon. he is finally recruited by Con-Sec Intelligence for a top-secret mission in Nha Trang. Willard meets with Colonel Lucas (Harrison Ford) and General Corman (G.D. Spradlin) to talk about the mission.

There is a decorated Green Beret named Col. Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando) that has played renegade with his own missions with the consent of the US government. At first, Kurtz was praised for his efforts, but soon his leadership skills are questioned when he goes rogue. The men listen to secret tapes of Kurtz talking about the possibility that he is insane and that his actions are monstrous.

They let Willard know that Kurtz has crossed into Cambodia with his Montaguard army to take over a tribe there. There is a warrant out for Kurtz’s arrest for the murder of four Vietnamese Intelligence agents that he thinks were working as double agents. His ultimate mission to follow the Kurtz’s path to Cambodia, infiltrate his team and eliminate him.

To accomplish his mission, Willard is take on a Navy patrol boat down the river.  There is the surfer, Lance B. Johnson (Sam Bottoms), Jay “Chef” Hicks (Frederic Forrest) and 17-year-old, Tyrone “Clean” Miller (Laurence Fishburne) make this ragtag group that Willard has to deal with. There is the captain of the boat, Chief Phillips (Albert Hall) that knows that Willard is not being escorted down the river just for R&R. He knows something big is about to happen.

The movie was an example of how war cam fuck you up mentally, physically, and emotionally. Sometimes when you are in a life and death situation for so long that your moral core erodes away and you don’t know the difference between right and wrong. The actions of some of the characters are awful and despicable, but their conscience is not there.

The movie is dirty and beautiful at the same time. Who knew that Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” could fit perfectly with bombing of a Vietcong village?

Judgment: This movie shook me to the core.

Rating: 9.5/10

The Warriors (1979)

Can you dig it?

— Cyrus

I heard about The Warriors ever since I could remember, but I have never seen the movie in its entirety. I heard about that the video game came out in 2005, I wanted to see the movie. Now that I have, I don’t know what the fuss it all about.

The movie centers around a one night in New York City when all of the gangs of New York City are gathered together for a summit by Cyrus (Roger Will), the wise leader of the Gramecy Riffs. They are like Bruce LeRoy clones from The Last Dragon. They wanted to have a truce for one night to discuss the territory that they are fighting for.

A gunshot is heard from withing the crowd, Cyrus falls by the hand of Luther (David Patrick Kelly), the leader of the Rogues. He is witnessed by one of the members from The Warriors, Fox (Thomas G. Waites). Luther points out that The Warriors orchestrated the plot to cause a turf war between the hundreds of gangs.

The police shows up to break the summit and arrested anybody on sight. The Riffs catches the leader of The Warriors, Cleon (Dorsey Wright) and supposedly beats him to death.

The second-in-command, Swan (Michael Beck) assumed the leadership role and orders the rest of the guys to get back to their place of Coney Island to be safe. They have a price on their head.

I thought being a movie about gangs, I thought there would be more action. It was just The Warriors running away. That’s it. The acting was was atrocious. The action sequences were few and far between. When there was action scenes, it was done badly.

The various gangs were ridiculous. They are the Orphans that are outcasts that nobody respects in Bronx. The Baseballs Furies that dress up like Babe Ruth was paint on their faces. The Hi-Hats that are mimes. Say what now? Also, The Punks, a bunch of white boys on wearing roller skates and overalls.

I wondered when watching this movie, Lynne Thigpen as the deejay reporting that movements of the Warriors from the Bronx to Coney Island, how did she know about what happened to The Warriors and the various gangs they encountered. This movie was in 1979. They didn’t have cell phones are anything.

Judgment: I don’t know if I could recommend this movie unless you want to see some bad acting, ridiculous gang outfits and horrible action sequences.

Rating: **1/2