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Francis Ford Coppola v. Stanley Kubrick

Which movie do you like better?

  • Apocalypse Now

    Votes: 17 63.0%

  • Full Metal Jacket

    Votes: 6 22.2%

  • The Carrots of Vietnam

    Votes: 4 14.8%
  • Total voters
    27
  • Poll closed .
Bloodhammer

Bloodhammer

Twinkle Twinkle Black Star
Jul 7, 2009
1,721
10,056
Shreveport, Louisiana
#1
I just made a run through Game Exchange a few days ago and got a big stack of used DVDs for practically nothing per disc and watched these two movies back to back that night. I grabbed the "Redux" version of Apocalypse Now, so that might make it unfair since it's way longer than the theatrical version, but I think it's darker than Full Metal Jacket. I love both movies, though.
 
#2
Short answer, possibly a longer one later: Apocalypse. It feels like a full-blown work of art. I like the training camp section of Full Metal Jacket, but the war part pales by comparison IMO.

I've watched both versions of Apocalypse and I think it's darker either way.

Also, Brando and Martin Sheen give Apocalypse a big advantage over Modine/D'Onofrio/Ermey.
 
#3
I think GregC summed up the way I pretty much feel about that comparison as well. Full Metal Jacket does have more memorable dialogue overall I think, but I also think Apocalypse Now was the better film. Both are great directors. I don't think I could say who's work I like more overall.
 
#4
Apocalypse Now is dark but not depressing for me. Full Metal Jacket is depressing.

Barry Lyndon is a beautifully shot film. Have you seen it? Some scenes shot in candlelight. The Shining also has some really great shots. I guess I'm more of a john alcott fan.
 
#8
Actually I prefer the SNL spoof of the make of Apocalypse Now. That was genius!

2 great directors. I kinda prefer Kubrick overall but it is as much about the movies he chose to make as opposed to directorial chops... He made many of my favorite movies... Lolita, Strangelove, The Shining, Clockwork Orange ,Space Odessy... The guy was just on another plane from his peers...

That said... Apocalypse is in my opinion the better film... Or maybe the more interesting film.
 
#9
GregC said:
Short answer, possibly a longer one later: Apocalypse. It feels like a full-blown work of art. I like the training camp section of Full Metal Jacket, but the war part pales by comparison IMO.
Click to expand...

Agreed

chuck norriss said:
Barry Lyndon is a beautifully shot film. Have you seen it? Some scenes shot in candlelight. The Shining also has some really great shots. I guess I'm more of a john alcott fan.
Click to expand...

I have it, just have to block out 3hr of time to watch it.
 
#12
4Mal said:
2 great directors. I kinda prefer Kubrick overall but it is as much about the movies he chose to make as opposed to directorial chops... He made many of my favorite movies... Lolita, Strangelove, The Shining, Clockwork Orange ,Space Odessy... The guy was just on another plane from his peers...

That said... Apocalypse is in my opinion the better film... Or maybe the more interesting film.
Click to expand...

I agree completely. Kubrick made so many of my favorites, and while Full Metal Jacket is a really good, gritty movie, there is something mystical about Apocalypse Now that makes it a memorable experience and not just a film to me. There is a certain unreal aspect to it that brings me to a headspace I would expect to find in a David Lynch film.
 
#13
OT, isn'it?
Anyway, being a huge filmlover, I'd say that in terms of "darknes", Apocalypse now is a masterpiece.

In terms of cinema genius, no one (in his times: don't forget Stroheim, Keaton, and so on...) can beat SK.
By the way, pay attention on how SK uses the music in ALL his movies.


And, even though few people know it, SK himself took off the frets with a butter knife fro his '62 J, invented slap bass before Larry Graham did, and he also played in ALL Motown hits although people think it was Carol Kaye (James Jamerson? not at all!)
 
#14
Love both.

What I love about Full Metal Jacket is how it's like two seperate films in one.

In the Vietnam vein, Hamburger Hill is another favourite of mine, very under appreciated (IMO).

Though this talk of war films has got me in the mood for watching an older conflict, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch Kelly's Heroes...
 
#15
It's hard to argue with Apocalypse Now's source material. That, combined with the sheer madness of the actual shoot (if you haven't seen Hearts of Darkness do yourself a favor and rent/buy it immediately) makes it an astounding piece of art, to me. Overall I also prefer Kubrick's films, but between these two it's pretty much a no-brainer in my mind. That said, I definitely do dig Full Metal Jacket.
 
#16
Meh. What I'd like to see is a rom-com/sci-fi/costume drama set in the Falkland war starring Rob Lowe and Jennifer Lopez as the fancily clad lovers seperated by international politics and a vast ocean populated by bionically modified alien combat-squid, with an animated midget-version of Vin Diesel playing both the part of the British prime-minister and the Argentinian president.

Directed by Michael Bay.
 
#17
DeathFromBelow said:
Meh. What I'd like to see is a rom-com/sci-fi/costume drama set in the Falkland war starring Rob Lowe and Jennifer Lopez as the fancily clad lovers seperated by international politics and a vast ocean populated by bionically modified alien combat-squid, with an animated midget-version of Vin Diesel playing both the part of the British prime-minister and the Argentinian president.

Directed by Michael Bay.
Click to expand...

Not quite as epic as what you describe, but I suggest you see Invalid Link Removed.

You know those paintings of American Founders riding bears and shooting lasers and stuff? It's kinda like that.
 
#18
This isn't even close. Apocalypse Now has no equal. It's one of the greatest war films ever made, and the ONLY good PSYCHEDELIC war film ever made. It has a level of acting and commitment that just blows me away.

Full Metal Jacket is just a good war film.

Hell, I like PLATOON better.

For the record, Iron Sky is awesome. It is truly a one of a kind freakout.
 
#19
Both are truly great films. And yes everyone needs to see "Hearts of Darkness" to comprehend just how crazy the AN shoot was. Brando showing up bloated and fat and not following the script. Martin Sheen busting the hotel mirror. And much more.

The boot camp part of FMJ is equally compelling.
 
#20
mellowinman said:
(...) Full Metal Jacket is just a good war film. (...)
.
Click to expand...

No, I think it isn't a "War film". Neither Apocalypse Now is a "war film".
They are two movies (or maybe three, as Full Metal Jacket can be seen as two different movies on the same character) that, IMO, talk about the condition of man in extreme situations: space situations like a boot camp, or a destroyed town, or a jungle, but they both concern the inner feelings of man, like his stupidity. Has anybody seen "Paths of glory", by SK? No? Well, you should. It's a story of simple trench war in WW I, where a general blinded by patriotism and glory orders an attack that turns into a massacre, and then tries to discharge his fault on somebody else: it's not a "war movie", it's a movie about men. And so are FMJ and AN.
Two great movies, anyway. I don't want to vote this poll, there is no better or worse, depends on you.
 

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