Apocalypse Now (1979)
This is the end...
At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.
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| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 19 May 1979 |
| Genre | Drama, War |
| Director | Francis Ford Coppola |
| Starring | Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando and Frederic Forrest |
| Runtime | 147 min |
| Rated | R |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 9.1/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 91% · Metacritic 94/100 · IMDb 8.4/10 · Letterboxd 4.4/5 · TMDB users 8.3/10 |
| Budget | $32 million |
| Box office | $92 million worldwide |
Where to watch Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is streaming on Paramount+ ($13.99 a month) in the US. If that is the only reason to subscribe, one month of Paramount+ is $13.99 at list price.
We check availability daily. Page last updated 27 October 2026. Prices are standard monthly plans and change often, so check with the service before you sign up.
Rent or buy
You can rent Apocalypse Now on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube and FlixFling. It is also for sale on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play and YouTube.
Where to watch Apocalypse Now in 16 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Andorra | Prime Video |
| Australia | ARD/ZDF, Max $15.99 AUD |
| Austria | Max €11.99 |
| Denmark | Viaplay 159 kr DKK |
| Finland | Viaplay €13.99 |
| Germany | Max €11.99 |
| Iceland | Viaplay 799 kr ISK |
| Italy | Prime Video €4.99 |
| Japan | U-NEXT ¥2189 JPY |
| Netherlands | Prime Video €4.99 |
| Norway | Viaplay 169 kr NOK |
| Portugal | Prime Video €4.99 |
| San Marino | Prime Video |
| Spain | Prime Video €4.99, Filmin |
| Sweden | Viaplay 169 kr SEK |
| Vatican City | Prime Video |
Subscription, free and ad-supported services we track; prices where Binge Boss has a price list for the country. "About" marks a price the service bills in another currency, converted at the day's rate. All countries as data.
What kind of watch this is
Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 war drama is a 147-minute descent into the fog of Vietnam. The hook is a mission that officially does not exist, sent to find a rogue colonel who has built his own kingdom in the jungle. It is not a clean story about winning a war. It is a long, humid look at what happens when the mission stops making sense. The film plays like a fever dream, where the enemy is as much internal as external. It asks how much sanity you can spend before you break.
What the critics said
Rotten Tomatoes lists 91% positive reviews with a 9.3/10 average. Metacritic assigns 94/100, a score it labels as universal acclaim. Roger Ebert called it the best film of 1979, praising how it recreates the experience of Vietnam rather than analyzing it. He later noted it pushes into the dark places of the soul. Not everyone agreed. Frank Rich found it emotionally obtuse. Vincent Canby called it an adventure yarn with delusions of grandeur.
How it did with audiences
$32 million in the budget, $83 million in the United States, and $92 million worldwide. The math works out, which is rarer than it should be for a war epic. TMDB users give it an 8.3, a solid number for a film that asks you to sit with the mud.
Awards
The film collected 4 awards from 8 nominations. Vittorio Storaro took the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, while Walter Murch won for Best Sound. It also snagged the 1979 Palme d'Or and made the National Board of Review's Top Ten Films list. The AFI later ranked it No. 28 on its 100 Years...100 Movies list. It is a heavy hitter with a light touch.
What came next for the cast
Martin Sheen moved from Catch-22 to The Departed. Marlon Brando went from The Godfather to The Island of Dr. Moreau. Frederic Forrest stepped out of The Conversation and into Falling Down. The timeline does not explain the pivot. It just lists the doors that opened next.
Where it left its mark
The initial reception was mixed, but the critical consensus shifted hard. Roger Ebert called it the finest film on the Vietnam War and backed that view in the 2002 Sight & Sound poll. It sits at number 28 on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list. The screenplay by Milius and Coppola ranked 55th in a 2006 Writers Guild of America survey. The 2010 Guardian named it the best action and war film of all time.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Apocalypse Now.
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Sources
- Apocalypse Now on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q182692 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Apocalypse Now” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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