Lists
- ranked 1 in Roger Ebert's Best Films of 1979
- ranked 2 in Channel 4's 100 Greatest War Films
- ranked 9 in Chris's List
- ranked 13 in The Guardian Top 100 Films
- ranked 17 in Men's Journal 50 Best Guy Movies Of All Time
- ranked 20 in My Favourite Film
- ranked 20 in Total Film's 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time
- ranked 21 in Cinema Fusion Movie Bloggers' Top 100 Movies
- ranked 22 in Empire 100 Greatest Movies
- ranked 28 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies
- ranked 35 in Empire 100 Greatest Movies
- ranked 37 in The IMDb Top 250
- ranked 39 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (March 2006)
- ranked 41 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (August 2005)
- ranked 44 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (December 2006)
- ranked 55 in WGA 101 Greatest Screenplays
- one of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
- one of 101^w102 Movies You Must See Before...
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies Nominees
- one of Cannes Palme d'Or Winners
- one of Guardian 1,000 films to see before you die
- one of Leonard Maltin's 100 "Must See" Films of the 20th Century
- one of The New York Times Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies, 10th Anniversary Edition
Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent deep into the jungles of Vietnam to kill the rogue Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). It's the episodic journey, vignettes of death and atrocity, sometimes satirical and almost always violent, that explains the destination.
Roger Ebert said that:
But even to focus on its darkly illuminating message is to understate the quality of the screenwriting, the arresting images, the performances. Just astonishing.