12-21-2018, 07:22 PM
I decided to revisit this, since it's streaming on Netflix. I had pretty much the same reaction as the first time. Good but not great.
On both viewings I felt that it paid short thrift to the dangers of war. A good portion of the movie has the characters slowly boating up a narrow river, where they would be sitting ducks for any Vietcong. Yes, there are encounters here and there, but very little, and I suspect veterans of that war may feel that the dangers of such an endeavor were not sufficiently realized.
Still, on this viewing I see more clearly that Coppola was focused on the psychoses of war, the crazy ways people cope with the specter of death on a daily basis. I still think it misses the mark on the whole, though with some very powerful and effective scenes.
Anyway, after considerable thought, I've decided not to suggest this as a candidate for an unsung Xmas movie.
P.S. I forgot that Harrison Ford has a small part in this. My goodness he was young.
On both viewings I felt that it paid short thrift to the dangers of war. A good portion of the movie has the characters slowly boating up a narrow river, where they would be sitting ducks for any Vietcong. Yes, there are encounters here and there, but very little, and I suspect veterans of that war may feel that the dangers of such an endeavor were not sufficiently realized.
Still, on this viewing I see more clearly that Coppola was focused on the psychoses of war, the crazy ways people cope with the specter of death on a daily basis. I still think it misses the mark on the whole, though with some very powerful and effective scenes.
Anyway, after considerable thought, I've decided not to suggest this as a candidate for an unsung Xmas movie.
P.S. I forgot that Harrison Ford has a small part in this. My goodness he was young.
I'm nobody's pony.