This may be one of the most intense opening scenes of a movie ever. One of the most amazing thing about this scene, featuring a then relatively unknown Martin Sheen (Captain Willard), is that it was completely unscripted. He told the camera man to just let the tape roll. Sheen was actually drunk in the scene and punched the mirror on his on volition, which was real glass. Apparently, Sheen also began weeping and tried to attack Francis Ford Coppola. The crew was so disturbed by his actions that they wanted to stop shooting, but Coppola insisted they keep the cameras going. Talk about tone-setting. Sheen also suffered a heart attack during the filming of this movie.

The soundtrack for Apocalypse Now was released in 2001 by Nonesuch, and mostly contains original tracks, the score composed by Carmine and Francis Ford Coppola, (although some tracks were co-composed by Mickey Hart and Richard Hansen). The Doors‘ “The End” is the 11-minute unabridged version.

Fun fact #1: Martin Sheen’s character name combines the names of the two eldest sons of Harrison Ford, Benjamin and Willard.

Fun fact #2: The emcee accompanying the Playboy Playmates is rock concert producer Bill Graham.

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