The Making of 'Apocalypse Now' (Part 1)
6/10/202646 min
In the mid 1970’s America stood at a crossroads. The Vietnam War had recently ended, leaving deep social divisions and a crisis of trust in government after the Watergate scandal...
Alongside this, American cinema was re-inventing itself after the demise of the old Hollywood studio system…
A new breed of young, hungry and fearless filmmakers are forging a new path - Scorsese, Lucas, Spielberg, and the elder statesman of the group - Francis Ford Coppola…
Amongst this landscape, the visionary filmmaker - off the back of huge success with The Godfather and its sequel - risked his own fortune, health, and sanity, to go deep into the Heart of Darkness to make arguably the most infamous war film of all time…
This is the insane story of a doomed production - typhoons,
heart attacks, civil war, actors being overweight, high on drugs, and even removed from the film completely…
This is the story of Francis Ford Coppola and the most infamous and psychologically destructive film production in Hollywood history…
This is the incredible story of the Making of Apocalypse Now…
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJosh Widdicombe· Host0:00
[tape rolling] Hello and welcome. I am Josh Widdicombe. For today, I'm the curator of a place of incredible artifacts and exhibitions, a place that stores the greatest thing on Earth. This is my Archive of Pop Culture. [upbeat music] As a self-confessed pop culture obsessive, I love the geniuses, the scam artists and, dare I say, the absolute madmen that have made the records, shows, and films that we love. In each series, I will tell you a story of unlikely triumph and usually an enjoyably crushing failure, featuring celebrated stars that in any other industry would probably be politely sacked. It's a show for people more interested in David Hasselhoff than David Lammy, Elizabeth Taylor than Queen Elizabeth I, which let's be honest, is all of us. Joining me to discuss the making of Apocalypse Now, comedian and friend Tom Crane. [gentle music] In the mid-1970s, America stood at a crossroads. The Vietnam War had recently ended, leaving deep social divisions and a crisis of trust in government after the Watergate scandal. Alongside this, American cinema was reinventing itself after the demise of the old Hollywood studio system. A new breed of young, hungry, and fearless filmmakers are forging a new path.