Apocalypse Now

Free Vietnam War vector art illustrations inspired by Francis Copolla’s epic war movie "Apocalypse Now". The film with the legendary helicopter scenes is a controversial masterpiece about the tragedy of war, cinema's ultimate descent into hell. A great exploration of the senselessness of war, the movie’s most important message is that war is pure horror; fierce, senseless madness. Focusing on the emotional effects of war on soldiers, Copolla shared in the madness of his story: "This isn't a film about Vietnam. This film is Vietnam”.

Vector Graphics inspired by Apocalypse Now, Copolla’s masterpiece of modern cinema and a must-see for everybody who likes epic stories. The movie starts with dreamlike images of the jungle, and the sound of a helicopter passing. When director Francis Copolla brings in The Doors track “The End”, the viewer becomes a witness of the primal madness in the world and mind of captain Willard, the main character played by Martin Sheen. Inspired by Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness, Copolla used Conrad’s Congo travel story as a metaphor for another journey, upriver into the heart of a horrible war. Captain Willard is assigned to find and deal with colonel Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando who has lost the plot and lives as a local godhead in the Cambodian jungle.

Apocalypse Now’s legendary scene with crazed lieutenant colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall) leading his troops in a helicopter attack on a village is one of the most iconic battle scenes ever filmed. At the center of the war’s madness, Kilgore is a drug addict, hooked on surfing and Wagner's bombastic music. Movie quotes as "I love the smell of napalm in the morning” and “Charlie don't surf" have become popular catchphrases.

The deeper captain Willard and his men go up the river, the more they are drawn into a surreal nightmare where everything starts to blur: past and present, security and danger, right and wrong. The movie ends with Marlon Brando’s haunting whisper "The horror! The horror!” and a last outburst of violence and inhumanity. In war, there are obviously no unwounded soldiers…

Apocalypse Now vector art by Shaun Laakso for Vector.NET

License: CC 3.0 Attribution