Apocalypse Now - Eddie Sung

Apocalypse Now is my favourite all-time movie. I’m lucky to have met the Visionary responsible for the iconic mythical movie – Francis Ford Coppola. He suffered for his epic movie – financially, emotionally, physically and spiritually. He bankrolled the movie himself. Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack during the making of the epic.

I also had the honour of meeting Francis’ wife Eleanor (pix below). She painstakingly documented the entire saga of the making of Apocalypse Now in her book Notes: On The Making Of Apocalypse Now. I bought a signed copy at the awesome award-winning Niebaum-Coppola winery in Napa Valley in the mid-90s. I also fondly recall buying an excellent bottle of the winery’s flagship Rubicon red wine (limited to one per visitor) for US$75.

Eleanor Coppola

Years later in 2004, Eleanor signed my name to her signature (pix below) on her Notes book. Meeting the Coppolas was a highlight of my Life.

You can also see my other Apocalypse Now memorabilia – original movie double CD with movie dialogue, still-sealed 20th Anniversary VHS video tape, still-sealed The Complete Dossier DVD movie box set, limited edition Seiko Prospex “Captain Willard” watch.

A rock music fan, I paid a visit to Jim Morrison’s grave in Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris in the mid-90s. He was the singer of the Doors. The band’s song The End ironically provided the opening sonic salvo to the movie. The sweaty scene featuring the rotating ceiling fan that slowly transform in the menacing deadly blades of a Bell UH-1 Iroquois “Huey” helicopter was pure cinematic genius. Martin Sheen wasn’t acting during the filming of the drunk-naked mirror-smashing hotel room scene, he was having an actual melt-down before the camera, urged on by Coppola for movie authenticity.

Mr. Coppola graciously signed my copy of Wine Spectator magazine on which he was featured on the cover. He also kindly signed two copies of my Apocalypse Now laser discs. They are stored, at the time of writing this blog, in my storage facility.

My Frank Kozik Apocalypse Now themed signed Ho Chi Minh skate deck (above image) with “Terminate With Extreme Prejudice” inscribed on it (image below).

I’ve also personalised my Superdry Japanese-stylised military jackets with the two iconic protagonists Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (played by Marlon Brando) and Colonel Bill Kilgore (played by Robert Duvall) from the movie. I will wear one or the other jacket depending on my “duality of good and bad” moods.

So, folks, yes, Apocalypse Now is my all-time favourite movie. My second choice? The volcanic You Only Live Twice.

Not quite as explosive as the Apocalypse Now Nung River “Charlie Don’t Surf” beach scene, here’s me involved in an epic Star Wars Rogue One Stormtroopers photo shoot.