Apocalypse Now released

Apocalypse Now Released: August 15, 1979 Studio: United Artists Genre: war/drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 83.47 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 335.50 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Francis Ford Coppola Screenwriting: Francis Ford Coppola, John Milius Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper Review: “Orson Welles abandoned plans to film Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and made Kane instead. In the early ‘70s, Francis Coppola returned to the idea, with George Lucas down to direct on location in the middle of the Vietnam conflict. Eventually, Coppola grasped the reins himself, and the project mushroomed into” T98 “a masterful, thought-provoking, pretentious film” FS “about the nightmarish, moral madness of the Vietnam War.” FS It is filled “with beautifully-chaotic,” FS “staggering, Oscar-winning photography by Vittorio Storaro,” LM “incredible battle scenes, and the famous helicopter raid.” VD Considered by many to be the best war movie of all time.” FS The movie tells “an almost surreal account of a captain’s journey [Sheen] into the depths of the Vietnam jungle to assassinate a demented, decorated AWOL officer [Brando] who started his own loyal tribe.” VD “But it is the insanity of the Vietnam war…that really blows his mind. By the time he reaches renegade Green Beret Brando, his crew is dead, and he has nearly become the man he was sent to kill.” A07 A “grueling production in the Philippines led to vast budget overruns and physical and emotional breakdowns.” FS However, it was marked by “incredible performances, especially that of hawkish Lt. Colonel Kilgore (Duvall) who ‘loves the smell of napalm in the morning.’” FS “The casting of Brando is…brilliant as movie-making, but it turns Vietnam into a vast trip, into a War of the Imagination.” T95 The “film’s conclusion…is cerebral and murky [but it is] still a great movie experience most of the way.” LM Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” LM Leonard Maltin “100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century” T95 Time Out (1995). “Centenary Top One Hundred Films” T98 Time Out (1998). “Readers’ Top 100 Films” VD Video Detective (1997). “Top 100 Films of All Time”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Oscars: Wins: 2, including Best Cinematography, Best Sound Nominations: 8, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor – Robert Duvall, Best Film Editing Other Awards: Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Roger Ebert Leonard Maltin Quentin Tarantino First posted 8/3/2019; last updated 5/30/2023.

Alien released

Alien Released: June 22, 1979 Studio: 20th Century Fox Genre: sci-fi/monster/horror/action Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 80.93 Worldwide: 184.93 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 286.35 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Ridley Scott Screenwriting: Dan O’Bannon Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Harry Dean Stanton, Veronica Cartwright, Yaphet Kotto Review: Alien was “a grisly, futuristic, suspenseful, atmospheric, memorable and popular” FS “science fiction film that broke new ground by adding horror and gore and, more importantly, Weaver, as the action heroine.” AFI07 “Ridley Scott’s deep-space monster-slasher…[is] a movie which can handle as many re-watches as you can throw at it.” EM’18 “It’s so intoxicatingly atmospheric and deeply compelling, it sticks to you like a parasite.” EM’18 In addition to Weaver in her starring debut role as warrant officer Ripley, the crew consists of Dallas (Skerritt), Kane (Hurt), Ash (Holm), and others on Nostromo, a commercial space cargo freighter. They “are awakened from hyper-sleep to investigate a distress signal on a mysteriously bleak, dead planet with a crashed alien spacecraft.” FS They unknowingly take on “an alien stowaway that incubates in some humans and hunts the rest.” AFI07 The “lifeform with tentacles clings to Kane’s helmet/face, incubates inside his host body, and ultimately bursts from his gut. The hideous, indestructible, carnivorous creature grows in size and hides within the hyper-tech spacecraft, menacing and picking off one crew member after another until self-reliant, resourceful Ripley outsmarts the primal, lethal monster in the explosive conclusion.” FS “This classic sci-fi horror flick had its roots in comedy, believe it or not. Screenwriter Dan O’Bannon made a film with John Carpenter when both were studying film at USC called Dark Star. One of the characters was an alien in the form of a beach ball. The alien got a massive reworking to become the Alien.” MSN Followed by three sequels, including James Cameron’s Aliens (1986), Alien3 (1992), and Alien Resurrection (1997).” FS Sources: AFI07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” EM’18 Empire (3/20/2018). “The 100 Greatest Movies” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 1: Best Visual Effects Nominations: 2, including Best Art Direction/Set Direction Other Lists/Honors: First posted 9/12/2019; last updated 5/27/2023.