Revolution in Sound - Apocalypse Now

A Scene From Apocalypse Now

The 1979 war-movie masterpiece Apocalypse Now is a long-lived favourite of many critics and fans alike. Apocalypse Now illuminates the changing times of the 60's and 70's while standing as one of our most powerful anti-war statements of the 20^th century. In a time when their friends at home were fighting for civil rights and campaigning for social justice, these men were dying by the thousands in a meaningless war.. This film's conscience and cultural value should not be forgotten. It was the first realistic vision of war that did not glorify the actions of soldiers, but showed death and destruction as the horrors they are. What could never be the same after this film is the way producers use sound in their productions, a huge influence on music for tv and all types of media. Walter Murch has become the first sound designer to reach legendary status thanks to the way his work enhances the film. Right from the opening of the film we are subjected to the ominous thuds, whirrs and beating of helicopters, the main theme of the sound design throughout. The audio layers of helicopter noises were made using synthesisers, to provide the control that was needed. The feelings of the young American men lost in the jungle are perfectly portrayed by the popular music blasting from radios throughout the movie. Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries is used to great and horrific effect as a flight of American helicopters senselessly destroys a village in order to go surfing. The psychedelic absurdity is brought to a head when Lance takes acid deep in the jungle, surrounded by scary sounds and weird distortions on the front line music library. As Willard nears his quarry, confused and un-motivated to kill, he begins to question his orders while listening to the sounds of war receding into the distance. In the end, Kurtz is slain for his madness, like a sacrificial cow aren't all soldiers in war? - as he is slain to the sounds of the Doors' This is the End, he uses his last breath to say

"The horror, the horror."

Watch Apocalypse Now again, with your ears open. There has been nothing quite like this soundtrack before or since.

Raoul Duke is a writer, composer and musician based in south east England. When he isn't working on copy, Raoul is currently creating music for websites.