A brilliantly constructed ‘masterpiece’ war film is being broadcast on Film 4 this evening, with critics hailing it as a “classic.”

Released in 1979, Apocalypse Now draws loose inspiration from Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness. Helmed by Francis Ford Coppola, who spent an entire year directing and filming, the production boasts a stellar ensemble including Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Harrison Ford and Dennis Hopper.

The picture claimed the Palme d’Or at Cannes, secured two Academy Awards, and is today regarded as a cinematic masterpiece, with numerous film enthusiasts asserting it depicts “the horrors and the darkness of what war and chaos can create.”

It’s being shown this evening on Film 4, giving film enthusiasts the opportunity to watch a war film classic. The picture transports audiences to Vietnam in 1970, where Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) embarks on a dangerous river journey to locate and eliminate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a formerly distinguished officer who has allegedly descended into complete madness.

Accompanied by a Navy patrol vessel crewed with street-wise youngsters, a surfing-obsessed Air Cavalry commander (Robert Duvall), and a deranged freelance photographer (Dennis Hopper), Willard ventures deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness and the Vietnam conflict. The picture holds an outstanding rating on film review platform Rotten Tomatoes, where it achieves 90% on the Tomatometer, reports the Mirror.

One five-star review said: “The greatest Vietnam film of them all. The helicopter scene WOW! ! ! ! The end scene WOW! ! !’Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right. Unless you were going all the way’ 10/10.”

Another added: “Visually stunning and just completely engrossing from beginning to end! Brilliantly captures the absurdity and hypocrisy of war..

“The absurdity and hypocrisy of war captured perfectly. Like many soldiers, Kurtz probably wanted something more profound, but what he encountered was the aggressive emptiness of a war with no meaning, in a place he didn’t belong, against a people that had a purpose. A masterpiece,” a third viewer said.

Another reviewer wrote: “This movie will pull you from reality and set you in the dark despair that is war a genuine stray from. The Hollywood good feeling war movies of the present a true physiological thriller to leave you on edge and almost uncomfortable reality of the affects of mortal combat.”

One fan simply said: “Classic for a reason. A must see.”

Another cinema enthusiast recommended repeat viewings, saying: “Gotta watch it multiple times to catch everything but there are many scenes that just stick with you. A top-3 Vietnam movie.”

The film is now more than 40 years old but remains regarded as a classic, with the original 1979 release of Apocalypse Now taking over $78 million in the US and Canada and approximately $150 million worldwide. The 1979 release alone grossed $78,977,709 worldwide, with later releases and re-releases bringing the total worldwide gross to over $105 million.

The acclaim for the film extends beyond fans and film critics, as it was also selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2000 for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”