Kilgore vs. Kurtz: What Apocalypse Now Is Really About (Film Analysis) 

I think Killgore loves the war. When he says "Someday this war is gonna end" the thought saddened him.

Kilgore represents the worst aspects of the Vietnam war. He acts like war is a party, and it's a jolly time being with him. He's not a bad guy, but his philosophy is pure bravado in the face of nightmarish shit. But you like him for that. He's funny, and his battle scenes are the typical popcorn stuff you love to see. Kurtz is far less fun. He's the harsh reality. The guy that will do *anything* to end the war as quickly as possible. Not just fight it, but make it end. And Kurtz sees the leadership as hypocrites for seeing his methods as cruel, when the army at large was bombing civilians left and right. "We train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders won' t allow them to write 'fuck' on their airplanes because it's obscene!"

I always found Kurtz's line most poignant where he says "We train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders won't allow them to write 'fuck' on their aeroplanes because it's obscene!" They strive to clean up the image of war in all manner of inconsequential ways to make it palatable to themselves and the people back home in an effort to gloss over the one thing that should make it the most distasteful - the one that can't be cleaned up - the killing.

“It is well that war is so terrible or we should grow too fond of it.” - Robert E Lee

"Someday this war's gonna end." My take on that line, along with his expressions, is that Kilgore has already come to the realization that when the war is over, there will be no further use for him. He seems to know going home and reintegrating back into civilized society will be problematic. It may also explain why he is so fond of integrating elements of home into his battle space. He recognizes that may be the only way for him to enjoy what time he has left.

F.Y.I. - This is really off subject, but might be of interest to some. One of the film editors, Walter Murch, wrote a book titled In The Blink Of An Eye. Murch says that for an average feature film, the ratio between raw film to final product is about 20:1. For Apocalypse, the ratio was about 95:1. Coppola shot 1.25 MILLION feet of film on this project! (230 hours was edited down to a finished film of just under 2-1/2 hours.) The Kilgore scenes ran to over 220,000 feet. The editors (there were three) worked for a year doing the visual edits and another year working out the sound track. The unsung heroes of the motion picture industry are the editors.

Kilgore also stands out visually from all the other characters in the film. The hat, the glasses, clean, neat, and with a certain swagger.

In my opinion, Kurtz went insane when he witnessed the inoculated children's arms being cut off, and he realizes how strong the will to fight is within the enemy-and that our forces will never have that same will to win the war. (That's why is report to high command and LBJ was restricted) His decision to fight the war "his way" ended up costing him his career, and his life.

The soldier Roach, and his M79 granade launcher are based on an actual occurrence. War correspondent Michael Herr wrote a book called: Dispatches. Herr was a consultant on the set of Apocalypse Now, and partially based the photographer on war correspondents he knew. Herr ended up stuck in Khe Sanh during the 7 month siege. (Do - Long bridge metaphor). Herr describes soldiers spending months underground during the siege. At one point in the book he describes seeing a black soldier with a cut down, Tiger stripe painted M79 grenade launcher that the soldier doesn’t aim, just feels his way to a screaming VC out on the wire and kills him.

I tried to show this movie to a bunch of recent graduates from west point, they were bored after twenty minutes. Made me feel like an relic in a modern war.

"As long as our officers and troops perform tours of duty limited to one year, they will remain dilettantes in war and tourists in Vietnam." Shame this line is only in the extended cuts as it neatly sums up the difference between how the wars being run with leaders like Kilgore and how Kurtz thinks the war needs to be run.

"As long as cold beer, hot food, rock 'n' roll and all the other amenities remain the expected norm, our conduct of the war will gain only impotence." Another quote from Kurtz that sums up Kilgore's way of fighting the war pretty well.

Killgore is the American way of war personified. He's courageous and caring of his men (on some level), but thoughtless, headless, technological, impulsive and wantonly destructive. Killgore loves the war and is utterly blind to the suffering he both creates and leaves in his wake. Kurtz is no less destructive and no less inhumane, but he fully understands what he's doing and had consciously decided to pay the emotional and spiritual price for his actions.

I'm obsessed with the way he delivers the line about napalm. It definitely sounds like a guilty little admission.

I am gonna start by saying that this is just my perspective on the matter. I think the journey through the river is nothing but a metaphor for Kurtz's life as a soldier, and the characters we meet along the way reflect the different stages of the trauma that Kurtz experienced. Kilgore is just a younger Kurtz. At first, they seem different, they are different people after all, but I think their goal is the same. They just want to escape the war and their trauma. Kilgore's unflinching attitude can be thought of as bravado and courage but I think that it's bleaker than that. Flinching is not a bad thing, it's a survival mechanic. The soldiers who duck and take cover don't do it out of cowardice, it's the result of their training. They transformed their flinching into a ducking\prone motion, similar to how a fighter transforms his flinches into reactive blocks and parries in order to survive. This leads me to think that Kilgore is suicidal. He just doesn't recognize the danger of having something blow up near him anymore. It might be the result of trauma or the constant exposure to the threat of death, but either way, it seems to me like he wants to exit this war in any way possible, even if it was in a body bag. Kurtz, on the other hand, wants to escape the war by trying to end it. The vaccination incident seems to have tipped him over the edge, and it scared him to the point where he became ready to do whatever it takes to silence the war. While he looked calm and collected, deep down, he was struggling constantly with what he saw, to the point where death became his only way out. But, he wanted to die a soldier's death, so he allowed Martin Sheen to assassinate him. When he was taking his last breaths, Kurtz could say nothing but "The horror". He couldn't feel at peace even when he knew it was over. The horrors of war haunted him to the very end. The journey through the river started with Willard, a man who became unable to function in civilian life due to trauma. Then it shows you Kilgore, the man who broke down and accepted his new life, but he still hangs on to fragments of his old life. Roach, however, is cut off in the jungle. He's grown so accustomed to death and violence that killing is just a boring routine for him. And finally, you got Kurtz the man who's surrounded by corpses and death, a man who tried his hardest to escape this war, but he recognizes that even if he got out, his trauma won't let him be. Their philosophies are just coping mechanisms.

I read the book 'Apocalypse Now' is based on and if you liked the movie I'd recommend the book 'Heart of Darkness', but I think to understand Kilgore better, you should understand his counterpart in the book. I don't remember the details all too well, but the main character of the HoD is having to make his way through the jungle to meet up with Mr.Kurtz to replace him. At this point in his journey he's travelling overland with his companions and he is just dying, life sucks for him. He's hot, he's sick, he looks ragged and can't think straight and out of the bush comes this white company man in a white suit acting all chipper and cavalier, treating the MC being on deaths door as a trivial matter. He bring him back to his trading post on the river where he lays in recovery for a few days and this obvious Kilgore equivalent keeps up his strange antics until something important happens; a ship in dry dock catches fire. Now this trading post head has rubbed off on his employees who have all adopted a similar attitude and as chaos ensues and the workers are trying to put out this fire there is this one white fellow in a chipper mood talking to the MC about how lovely of a day it is and how genuinely happy he is to be working in the middle of nowhere on the Congo river surrounded by cannibal tribes with a massive fire currently raging. He's talking and going back and forth with his bucket, scooping up water and going on until the MC notices a hole in the bucket and that this man is in fact going back and forth between the river and the fire with his bucket leaking all of the water out before he can get to the fire. This is Kilgore. Kilgore doesn't just try to make war like home, he is insane, he is more insane than Col. Kurtz, Kurtz is living the war and Col. Kilgore is denying that there even is one going on. Commanding his troops, leading them to victory is an after thought, an annoyance swept under the rug unti, he has to face the situation and when he does he never coordinates his men in a fine balanced orchestra of combined arms warfare, re-adjusting his plans to meet the enemy, he just says "fuck it, napalm everything." He is frantic to get the surfer out on the surf, more so than he is to engage an enemy entrenched in a civilian position. The war does not exist to Kilgore, it is not that he is brave or at peace, it is that he is in denial. Now Kurtz is not insane. Kurtz is the harsh reality of war. His belief is humane, he believes the only good war is a quick one and that to save your enemies you must be so brutal to him that he does not want to face you. Kurtz no longer has a problem with his enemies, the VC has left him alone and the tribes he once fought for a brief time now gather around him as allies. What was once a small special forces team in the middle of the jungle was made into a small army of a few hundred whose enemy refused to face them. As fucked up as it is, Col. Kilgore was worse than Kurtz in the end. Kilgore was blowing up villages, packing away the survivors off to God knows where because he wanted to surf a little, while Col. Kurtz had his saved the people and kept the war away from them

“Don’t get off the boat, unless you’re willing to go all the way.” This is part of Willard’s narration after he and Chef have an encounter with a Tiger in the bush. (Chef was hysterically insisting that he would not ever get off the boat.) Kurtz got off the boat and couldn’t come back. He was no longer a soldier, officer etc. Kilgore, on the other hand, stays on the boat. He clings to American culture by way of his surfboard (this also allows him to disassociate from what is happening around him.). Willard, when the film begins, has already gotten off the boat during his first tour. Ironically, killing Kurtz saves him.

Kurtz's story is not just haunting, he is explaining the moment he went insane. Like being shot with a diamond in the forehead...the crack with reality started then in that moment of emotional pain and utter anguish that became physical and overwhelming. That was the moment he resolved to cross over and make a friend of horror....never to return.

You may not see this comment but I like that you bring up The Roach. The M79 and M203 grenade launchers were extremely common tools during Vietnam. So much so that soldiers became extremely accurate with them. It got to the point that they didn’t really use the sights, rather they could just feel where the grenade would land. It’s pretty incredible.

I saw the redux version in an arts theatre and at the end of the movie everyone sat there in silence for a few minutes and then slowly and quietly everyone left the theatre. Watch this movie in a cinema and its really powerful!

"I will not hurt or harm you, i will not hurt or harm you. Just give me back the board Lance."

My favorite quote from Du Long bridge was: "Do you know who is in charge here".."Yes"

A brief aside: when Harlequin (Dennis Hopper) is doing his manic bit claiming that Kurtz is talking about Dialectics, Kurtz is reading from T.S. Eliot's _The Hollow Men_ - The Hollow Men is prefaced by the quote _"Mistah Kurtz, he dead"_ - 'Mistah Kurtz, he dead' is itself a quote from the Joseph Conrad book "Heart of Darkness", which is the novel upon which Apocalypse Now is based.

There are three values at play in this movie. Love for America, loyalty to the army, and lastly the desire to win the war. Kilgore has all of these values, however he knows the war is going to end. So in reality he is a self defeating character. He succumbs to the brutality, knowing full well it won't make a difference. But he hangs onto notions of American culture like surfing to cope with it. Granted, if he did return to civilian life like Willard, he would realise very quickly that there is no normality left for him. So he too would want to fight the war with renewed vigour Willard, having realised that the war has destroyed his ability to enjoy normal American life does not hold American values in any regard. That is why he doesn't surf and he doesn't play with the bunnies. He has realised that fighting the war has no real relation to loving America. However he still believes in military loyalty and in winning the war. He becomes increasingly at odds with military honour as he sees more and more of his men die and succumb to the madness. Kurtz has realised that American values do not justify the war, and the military cannot win the war. So he has abandoned both. He is therefore only stuck with the notion of winning the war. No matter the cost he has devoted himself to the cause. The French plantation family have been fighting since the 1950s. The reason they remain is because they don't identify with the French, they see themselves as a unique community. Kurtz aims to do the same so that he can fight the war for decades. But Kurtz needs a method to justify the brutality and the madness around him. So he starts his own cult of war. The French in contrast used their ideal perception of the 1950s to stay afloat. This I think is the ultimate point of the movie. War strips men of all of their values and morals until all thats left in them is that primal, animalistic brutality. Nothing else can last the war. Not the love of ones country, not ones loyalties but only the desire to win remains. And with no other values or wants than desire to win the war degrades men into monsters.

You can't praise Robert Duvall's performance in this picture enough. He's so charismatic in this movie, I would wanna serve under this guy. To create such a memorable Character that has no less than Marlon Brando's giving a stunning performance deserves the highest praise IMHO.

It's about the horror of murder in "reverse". It begins with the most distant and removed killing, the B-52 strike. Then there's the helicopter attack, where the dying is visible but the killer is still high above it and removed. Then there's the bridge scene with "Roach" where you hear the VC he kills, but the weapon is still indirect. Finally you have the death of Kurtz, where he's face to face with the man who was sent to terminate his command. That's what makes "the horror" line so visceral.

I remember when it first came out. Several of my Vietnam combat vet buddies did not like it. They thought it was a anti-war movie as they told me. They were not angry about it, just disappointed. Talked about it for a few minutes, that was it.

The Roach wasn't asleep he was high as a kite, probably on heroin. The Roach showed another coping mechanism for dealing with the horrors of war, inebriation to the point of complete emotional numbness. This is similar to the character of William Muny in Clint Eastwoods' film Unforgiven. Bill Muny agonizes over the rotten things he did in his youth, however in the final shootout in the saloon he reverts to a cold hard remorseless killer after drinking about a half bottle of whiskey to become numb to the horror of it all. The Roach uses heroin in a similar manor.

"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." G.K. Chesterton

I lived in Zaire in 1991 when President Sese Seko Mobutu fell to an army mutiny and then civil war. I watched this in my apartment, which overlooked the prime ministers house, while the mutineers shot him dead and tanks rolled down the street. This movie defines the Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. That is what it is about.

Second best quote,"Never get off the boat."The Joseph Conrad book that the movie was based on is a quick must read in order to understand the symbolism throughout the story.A great story in a completely different time and location.Heart of Darkness is a classic.

Excellent analysis - subscribed. “Some day this war is going to end” is the key phrase to unlocking Kilgore's character. The fact it's delivered without emotion is masterful (directing and acting). Kilgore knows that when that time comes, his world is going to change completely. He doesn't know whether this will be for the better or the worse, but he also knows there will likely be a reckoning for what he is doing. Until then, he carries on doing the terrible things he does, to keep his boys as safe as possible, and his masters off his back… Kurtz, on the other hand, knows that what he's being asked to do is make an omelette without breaking eggs. The answer to the task he is being given is to be inhuman, like the guerillas who hacked the children's arms off. He also knows that this would be utterly unacceptable to the society that sent him to Vietnam, and that is what drives him to madness…

I'm really glad you acknowledged Roach's importance. He is a very underrated character imo.

"If your not willing to kill everyone you deem your enemy, don't go to war"

I am 100% sure that Kilgore does not "regret" his role. As a vet, what he says immediately resonates with me - doesn't require outspoken understanding. It just is. Top 3 movies all time. Thanks for the review.

"You have to have men who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill; without feeling, without passion, without... judgement..." -Kurtz "You wanna live forever?" -Kilgore

When I was young I used to think this was a movie about helicopters boats and guns, now I see it more like a movie about mental health in absurd situations.

Kilgore lives for war. He is not affected by the act of war, just war itself. I do not believe any other actor could have pulled his charachter. Robert Duval is a legend...

My favorite scene is definitely Roach's appearance. During that entire section of Willard going along the river, it all felt like madness. It didn't feel that way during other scenes where there are explosions and guns being fire, but that whole scene at the bridge felt like some kind of fall of man. The way soldiers try to board as Willard's boat passes through, the darkness broken by sudden muzzle flash and flares, this is where I saw the apocalypse.

It’s much easier easier to pass through life in a delusion then to cope with the cold hard truth. Kilgor represents humanity in general, dealing with the hardships of everyday life by numbing down the senses with his favourite distractions. I’m sure we can be all relate. Kurtz demonstrated how psychologically difficult it is remove the veil and process the blunt and horrific realities of the corrupt world we live in on a daily bases. The truth is hard to digest for both parties and most who speak it are rejected or labeled insane by those who are not willing to see it or admit to it. “Ignorance is bliss “

"No poor bastard has ever one a war by dying for his country; you win wars by making the other poor bastard die for his" -Patton

After being in the army for near 30 years and watching AN well over 100 times - Kilgore was not what you think. The entire movie can be summed up with one line. "Good does not always triumph, sometimes the dark side overcomes what Lincoln called better angels of our nature." LTC Kilgore is another name for Charon and CPT Willard is Hades. Charon (Kilgore), a psychopomp carried Hades (Willard) with the "souls" of the newly deceased (Chef, Chief, Clean, and Lance) across the river Styx (picking up the boat and setting it down in the river - where there's no way out) to death (Kurtz). It's a journey to death - to hell - and along the way harmony and chaos are depicted. The French family can never return. The tiger (never get out of the boat), just trying to scare us - is mankind being fooled into a false sense of security. - The playmates represent pleasure and joy, man's chaos is defined by the bridge at do long "hey soldier, do you know who's in charge?" "yea", "there's one still alive underneath them" represents death is going to find you. CPT Colby represents man's giving up on the fight against death. And then there's Kurtz. Kurtz represents the "dark side" itself. In all the chaos of the Viet Nam War where at that time - the war was being run by a bunch of morons LBJ, Nixon, McNamara et al. There was no clear direction. Kurtz (the dark side) had a clear sense of direction - guided by the actions of his one time "enemy" as identified by Kurtz recounting the old man running to him, crying, because the NVA had hacked off all the inoculated arms of the children - "If I had just 10 divisions of men like that - our troubles here would soon be over". The beginning to the end is when Kurtz converses with Willard one last time - that's when he understands death is for everyone - and everything - and he engages Willard in a civilized conversation about flowers along the Ohio river - then the finality is when Kurtz ask Willard if he's an assassin, I am a soldier "you are neither" you're an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill - Everything ends - the sin's of mankind must be paid in full - there's no getting around it - the grocery clerk (Satan) is coming for his due. It's not a movie about war per se, it's a movie about the road or journey to death. That's what the movie means to me after watching it over the course of 40 years and fitting the pieces of the puzzle of life in the right spots..

Frederick Forrest's character 'Chef' lives through all the horrors the war can throw at him but his chance meeting with a Tiger in the jungle reduces him to tears and releases all the madness built up inside him

Unless you’ve not been in the military, you may see a similarity in Kilgore to other like ranked officers in the infantry and Marine Corps. Trying to even out the responsibilities to mission accomplishment, taking care of troops and accepting the savagery of war. Kubrick did an outstanding job in bringing forward the actual experiences of soldiers and officers during times of war.

I was a Recon Marine when I saw this. I reconsidered my life choices and got out. Went back to school and studied philosophy and ecology.

Kilgore wants the war to last as long as possible, because his world and life lies in those war. Kurtz wants to end the war as soon as possible, with the fewest dedicated men if needed, because he's done taking order from the higher up that prolong the war.

agree, that shot of the downed B-52 was so eerie. one of the best indeed. great vid.

When you mentioned characters in other war movies, I know you used Barnes from Platoon, but Bunny from the same movie I feel is absolutely nearly perfect for Kurtz. He trusts his leader above all else, he will kill whoever, be it man, woman, or child, if they step in his way. He says, “ you know Junior some of the things we done man, I don’t feel like we did something wrong, but I get this bad feeling inside.” He acknowledges that what he’s done isn’t normal and that people shouldn’t do that, but in the context of the war, he feels it’s basically just a job that needs done one way or another. He continues “I told the Padre the truth man, I like it here. You do what you want, nobody fucks with you, the only worry you got is dying. And if that happens you won’t know about it anyway. So fuck it.” He is totally at peace with what he is and what he’s doing. In a kind of morbid sense he just may be one of the most rational characters in the movie. He knows what he’s doing and seeing is “the horror” but he, like Kurtz, has made the horror his friend. He’s not taken by the darkness, but he uses it all the same.

One of the greatest things about Apocalypse Now is that it leaves room for opinions about the nature of evil and contemplating morality. Great video I enjoyed your analysis.

"Apocalypse Now one of the ten best movies ever made. Best war movie ever made." *LIKE* earned

Fascinating character contrast dissertation. Love the added insight about Roach. Well done. 👏🏻

Yes, one of the greatest movies of all time in all aspects -- script, acting., cinematography, sound, music. special effects. It was shot on film, not video. Some of the most iconic actors of all time. Dennis Hopper, Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duval all perfectly cast.

As a former US Marine in the early '70s I think your analysis was very good. Thank you.

I want to present an alternative reading on the complex double-meaning of "some day this war's gonna end". Listen closely to how Duval reads the line and how he looks off into the distance whistfully. He is almost saying it to himself. The wiki page is right: the line has been direct to have nostalgia. Kilgore is expressing it with a kind of timid sadness. You're right that Kilgore is sheepish when he's confessing to loving the smell of napalm. He loves that feeling. He's confessing the thing we can all see so clearly: he loves every inch of this. And someday... it's gonna end.

Kilgore simply embraced the circus, and made the most of it. Kurtz actually wanted change to change the ringmasters, and simply got dismissed over his concerns, thus completely checking out and fighting the war his way.

One of the most profound movies I watched in my teens shortly after its release. Your analysis is thought provoking, and insightful. Thank you

"Someday this war's gonna end." I think you can interpret this line in two ways which show what a real actor can do with a line like that: In one sense Duval's Kilgore is sorry that when the war ends he won;t be able to do what he seems to enjoy; but there is also a wistful quality to the line that - like most sane people - Kilgore will be glad to see the war end. It's that uncertainty, that paradox of intent that makes this line so memorable and not just a cheap throw-away to dismiss the character.

Hearing you talk about Kurtz reminds me of a quote from general Sherman when discussing his drive to the sea. "War is all hell. There is no need to reform it! The more horrible it is the sooner it will be over!"

I once made friends with a Vet, who served on a swift boat (PCF) in the Mekong river and delta region, and survived his tours. He worked at a local material supply shop after he left the navy. Being that I was a 20 year old weekend warrior at the time, we would have some interesting chats, and not just about military life. When AN came out in the local theater, I happened to be at the supply shop a few days afterward, and asked him if he was going to see it. He laughed, said before he went, he took a hit of acid (LSD) and had to leave halfway through the movie. I couldn't help but laugh with him. He told me charlie didn't use tracer rounds, like portrayed in the river scene. He said on one trip, his buddy fell over dead, and a firefight ensued from their boat with an unseen enemy inland. About a year later, I went back to the supply shop and asked about the guy. They said he up and left one day and never heard back from him. Hope it's well for you my friend, wherever you are. Peace.

Took a while for the viewing public to realize Duvall's presence and vitality in every scene he was in... From a mob lawyer to a grizzled old plainsman.... Thanks Maestro!

its so funny when kilgore sends out the "cavalry" with a recording of his voice to scare his surfboard back into his life

This analysis may have glossed over a very important theme for this movie. In fact, it seems to be the main theme of the story Heart of Darkness, from which the movie is based; that of human sanity and the idea that when it comes down to it, everyone is nuts. However, so long as you're "playing within the lines" your personal version of "nuts" is tolerated until one "goes off the reservation" to use Marlowe's words. As this synopsis highlights, Kilgore is a kind of anointed figure, protected from the havoc he wreaks, not because he wishes to escape it, but because he is at home in it. The chaos isn't as important to him as long as he can bring along his favourite iconoclastic Americanisms with him. He finds solace in conquering and making the world American. Kurtz by contrast has gone so crazy as to discover sanity. Cold-hearted, calculating savage war mongering in order to establish peace. Yet, that is a step too far for those in charge of the war.

"it is impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means" is possibly the best line in cinema history, perfectly explains the fundamental problem with society

Duvall's stature really helped sell this character. He stands taller than everyone else, his outfit makes you immediately notice him, and throughout his scenes, he's easily picked out as the main point of attention.

“Someday, this war’s gonna end”. Kilgore wanted it not to end obviously. He’s having fun right where he is.

I am in Duvall’s town the Plains Virginia, from time to time. Everyone knows him and they all say what a wonderful person he is.

Hell yeah. One of my fav shots too. The music and the eerie vibe when they cross by it.

Wow! Great analysis of one of my favorite movies. You helped me understand why I feel that way.

I love the effort that must have gone in the helicopter scene... all these little details, like the bugle, they were cavalry, the petting of the rocket launcher, the peaceful happy village, ... also memorable, the guy at the end going insane after meeting a tiger... the straw that breaks the camel's back... Charly don't surf is a wonderful quote that polarises... us against them, clash of culture, ... a polite way of saying: they're animals...

Kilgore...he just ..KNOWS ...he won't get killed. It's an inbuilt positive energy /light/ untouchable entity that some people have . Nothing can harm you when one is in that state. Robert Duval portrayed this with such accuracy and skill. He nailed it..

"Charlie don't surf" is my favorite quote from this film.

Apocalypse Now is director Francis Ford Coppola's film based on Heart of Darkness. Apocalypse Now was not actually filmed in Vietnam, but in the little fishing town of Baler in the northern Philippines. Apocalypse Now is a Coppola masterpiece. And it’s not even his only one.

Killgore seems like the Vet who would be a regular at the VFW post, keep in contact with the Vets, still be a little crazy & intimidating in conversation, but reenter society as a basically good guy.

I'm surprised that Kilgore is on the Villains Wiki. I find him amoral at worst.

Great video, very interesting discussion on the two characters.

I'm reminded of two things. A passage from a companion book to the British TV series "Soldier: A History of Men in Battle" where in the section on logistics describes how extensive the logistics were in Vietnam. One soldier described how they could drive a jeep up to a PX where they were would a drive-in like set up that was like a "A&W or a Dairy Queen" and have an order of a hot dog and a beer. I'm also reminded of what Army Air Force General Curtis Lemay was quoted as saying. General Lemay was the officer who directed the bombing of Japan which included the Tokyo Firebombing. His job essentially was to bomb Japan out of the war by destroying it to prevent the need to invade it. "All war is immoral, if you can't understand that you aren't a good soldier." (I may be paraphrasing here but this is what he said). Despite his dark reputation today he was considered a good officer especially by the airmen who served with him.

I liked your analysis. I think you're spot on with Kilgore representing a fragmented, romantic idea of war. Kurtz is the reality of war that everybody tries to forget and deny. Willard's journey down the river represents a dive into the subconscious. Kilgore's view is the image of war that society imposes on us. Kurtz is like the subconscious talking to Willard, buried deep in the mind, that knows our way of viewing war is hypocritical and flawed.

Great analysis, man. Those are great characters that deserves more videos on it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I just discovered your channel today and I subscribed. I'm watching a bunch of your videos and I'm loving them!!

For me Apocalypse Now is about the perspective of the war from all the characters throughout the movie that's what makes this an absolute masterpiece from Gung-ho to Horror and total insanity.

The problem is true war, or total war as envisioned by Sherman and carried to extreme practice by Kurtz really is the only way to fully win a war. Problem is in doing so you become what you are fighting against times 1000. War is a catch-22. In reality, no one, no side can actually win a war because in doing so you must become that which you hate.

woah really loved your perspective on both the characters

As noted earlier, the story is directly taken from Joseph Conrad's novella, "The Heart of Darkness." In H.o.D it's Mr. Kurtz instead of Col. Kurtz, but their dying words, "The horror, the horror" are the same. (The events that happen where they stop the boat are almost all from Michael Herr's "Dispatches".) It's actually important that they are going UP the river, and not down. As you go down any river, there are more people, more 'civilization', more commerce, more rules, and more people to enforce those rules. Far up the river, there is only Kurtz who creates the rules. In A.N., the narrator goes to kill Kurtz, in H.o.D., it just works out thar way. But either Kurtz can only exist far up the river. For an opposite journey, from 'the horror' to the world of rules, there's "Deliverance," Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, Ronnie Cox, and in his absolutely best role, Burt Reynolds.

When he mentions that someday the war will end, it's a reference to General Patton. He told one of his staff that the war was almost over, and the staff said he seemed distraught over that fact. It is showing you that he enjoys the chaos and excitement of war. He wants the war to last forever.

Our civilians leaders prefer Kilgore. He sticks to the program. Kurtz came back from his first tour, and his report had to be classified. They didn't dig what he had to say.

I really enjoyed this video. Thank you.

Thanks for helping me understand Kilgore a bit better, particularly with your close about how Charlie don't surf.

They didn't play music on the helicopter to lighten the mood it was like stukas of Germany from World War making screaming sound before they actually cause damage to make the terror the primary weapon and in the movie he states that it "scares the s*** out of the....."

It is based on the novel Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad. Apocalypse now is a must see film even more so after you read the novel.

"One day this war will end", comes across as an unfinished line from Kilgore, as he pauses without smiling then steps away. IMO, it's like he's wordlessly adding 'Make of that what you will, as who knows what such a time will really mean for us all?'...

I watched this with the full expectation that it would be yet another analysis of a movie that gets it entirely wrong. It started pretty good. You get the part where Kilgore is trying to distract his 'boys' from what they are actually doing, so that they can fight just a little bit easier. You miss the part with the death cards, which is about intimidation. This is actually quite important as winning in war is often about creating a high enough level of fear in your opponent that they quit and run. Then the slaughter can truly begin. Kilgore is trying to build the level of fear his opponents will feel when they see his unit. Kurtz uses this same strategy, but instead of cards and music, he bumps it up 1 thousand fold- with body parts; because the US will have to do this to win this thing. As Kurtz's story of the inoculation so clearly shows, Kilgore's methods will never be enough to win or cow the Vietnamese. And THIS is one of the major themes of the movie. How far does one wish to go to accomplish his task? Are you willing to strip yourself of all human decency to make (in the view of the pro war US at the time) a more decent society? Not that you are entirely wrong. Some of your observations are correct, or partially correct.

Damn, you hit the nail on the head about the downed B-52. Just a small but powerful detail that makes this movie perfect

Roach is the man! Chill dude. Using that M79 with his ears instinctually. Almost like a musical instrument. He's the final gong. No need for sights. He has that trigonometry in his head.

At the beginning of the mission the information on Kurtz was he started as an excellent soldier and leader but lost his mind in the war. My interpretation was Coppola was saying Kurtz is the US. We won WW2 and were on the morally right side. We were on the wrong side of the civil war in Vietnam and got more barbaric as an outsider as the war went on. Kurtz is a symbol of the US losing its mind in Vietnam.

Thank you for this analysis

The Movie scene with the Crashed B-52 Tail sticking out of the Jungle was clearly inspired by the impact of 1968 Movie Planet of the Apes scene of the Statue of the Liberty sticking out of the Beach, the only survivor of the American Civilization.

"Charlie don't SURF!" Got a t-shirt with that quote and Kilgore standing by a crater

Great summary bro. I think you make a lot of thought provoking points. I salute you 😂✌👏

This analysis is well done but I would add a few caveats. Killgore's use of music, Ride of the Valkyries, is in the tradition of morale boosting for his own troops. Techniques such as music, uniforms, i.e. the green or black berets, Stetson hats etc...honors, privileges all serve this purpose, also it simultaneously can strike fear into the enemy and demonstrates brashness and bravado on the part of the CO, which troops appreciate. The KIllgore quote, "someday this war is gonna end" is in line with similar actual quotes by historical generals from Robert E. Lee to Wellington, commenting on the alluring aspects of war. Also, if you can separate yourself from the 20th century, you see warriors in the past very often, had a far different relationship with fighting, killing and warfare in general. War was the pastime of Kings and the domain of men. All men of worth were warriors first and honor in battle was what was sought after and admired most in ancient and pre 20th century civilizations. So, the pearl clutching we often feel at such an honest embrace of fighting/killing, was not shared by our ancestors. Lastly, the horror aspect embraced by Kurtz, just as in the book Heart of Darkness, is not a necessary condition of military victory. It may be but there are plenty of history's greats, who consistently won, without reverting to such methods. All in all, a very good analysis on these two characters.

Kilgore is a natural leader. He is an absolutely positive person.