# Apocalypse Now

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Apocalypse Now and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a landmark war film, alongside other classics people name as favorites. Critics say the Redux cut hurts pacing and over-explains, and the production was painful.

## Why people recommend it

- Ranked with other classic films (2 comments): "It belongs up there with Apocalypse Now, Mad Max / The Road Warrior, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Blade Runner, and the rest." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48016607)) "Like the other sleeper, Apocalypse Now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47039749))

## What people warn about

- Redux cut hurts pacing (2 comments): "The Redux version killed the pacing and explained too much." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49406925)) "it brings the entire movie to a grinding WTF halt" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49887449))
- Production was painful and difficult (1 comments): "Was it worth the pain and suffering of its production? Absolutely not." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47390732))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Shawshank Redemption](https://hackerapproved.com/p/shawshank-redemption.md): 18 recommend
- [Good Will Hunting](https://hackerapproved.com/p/good-will-hunting.md): 10 recommend
- [Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/stalker.md): 9 recommend
- [The Lives of Others](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lives-of-others.md): 8 recommend
- [Margin Call](https://hackerapproved.com/p/margin-call.md): 7 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Apocalypse Now", https://hackerapproved.com/p/apocalypse-now/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).