20 Iconic Movie Scenes That Nearly Killed Their Stars
13. Martin Sheen: Apocalypse Now
It shirks realism in favor of a moody, atmospheric aesthetic, bringing you deeper into the madness of these soldiers on their futile quest to bring justice to the cult leader, Colonel Kurtz.
It won the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and has been listed by many critics as the greatest war film of all time. There was time when the film might never have seen the light of day, however.
Coppola wanted realism in his Vietnam movie, so that meant five years of shooting in the jungles of the Phillipines, battling malaria and inclement weather. Nearly all of the cast and crew suffered from some form of disease, be it dysentery, flu, or pneumonia, as well as constant splinters, sprains and injuries from moving heavy equipment through the jungle at night.
Martin Sheen was a heavy drinker and abuser of drugs, at the time. He suffered a heart attack in the middle of production and ended up having to crawl half a mile to receive help. He was back on set less than a month later, ready to complete Coppola’s opus. In terms of both acclaim and difficulty, few films can hope to match “Apocalypse Now”.
