Apocalypse Now 1979 Apocalypse tells the story of a man tasked with killing a man who has been declared the god of a local tribe. Captain Willard and his team's mission is to kill Colonel Walter Kurtz, who rebelled against the American army in Vietnam and brutally led a jungle tribe. Following Kurtz's trail, Willard begins to resemble the person he follows under the brutality of the war. Adapted by Francis Ford Coppola, benefiting from Joseph Conrad's book "In the Heart of Darkness" and his wife's notes, the film is considered one of the most famous war films in the history of cinema. Coppola adapted the story in the book to the Vietnam War.