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Entertainment

31st Mar 2024

The best war film ever made is among the movies on TV tonight

Ryan Price

The horror… The horror…

Crack open the eggs, it’s Easter Sunday. There’s no better way to celebrate the bank holiday weekend than with some great movies on TV.

Among the films tonight is arguably the best war movie ever made – Apocalypse Now.

The 1979 war epic directed by Francis Ford Coppola is one of the most influential movies of all time and is hard to beat even 45 years after its release.

Starring an ensemble cast including Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper and Harrison Ford, Apocalypse Now tells the story of Captain Willard (Michael Sheen), a soldier sent to assassinate a renegade special forces officer (Marlon Brando) residing deep in the jungles of Vietnam.

Just as legendary as the film itself are the disastrous stories stemming from production on the project. These include severe weather destroying the sets, Brando turning up on set overweight and unprepared and Sheen suffering a near-fatal heart attack during filming.

Despite the incredible difficulties during filming and polarizing reviews upon release, Apocalypse Now is considered one of the greatest movies ever made and is acclaimed by retrospective critics and viewers alike.

You can catch Apocalypse Now on BBC Two at 10pm tonight.

If you’re looking for something else, here’s the rest of the movies on TV tonight.

Peter Rabbit – E4 – 6.10pm
2018 comedy film based upon the character of the same name created by Beatrix Potter, starring James Corden, Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson, Sam Neill, Daisy Ridley, Elizabeth Debicki, and Margot Robbie.

Transformers – E4 – 8pm
The original movie that kicked off the long-running franchise, starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox.

Inside Man – Film Four – 8pm
Spike Lee directs this 2006 crime thriller starring Denzel Washington as a negotiating officer overseeing a bank heist-turned-hostage situation. Clive Owen and Jodie Foster also star.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery – Comedy Central – 9pm
Groovy, baby!

Robin Hood – ITV4 – 9.30pm
Russell Crowe stars in this 2010 Ridley Scott-directed action adventure based on the legendary figure who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. It’s unfortunately not very good.

Antlers – Film Four – 10.40pm
Supernatural horror centering on a school teacher who suspects one of her students is suffering from personal problems in his home life, not knowing that he is harboring an evil demon in his house. Jesse Plemons and Keri Russell star.

Con Air – Channel 4 – 10.55pm
1997 thriller starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich which centers on a prison break aboard a JPATS aircraft.

The Ritual – Film Four – 12.40pm
British folk horror starring Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, and Sam Troughton as four friends on a hiking trip though a Swedish old-growth forest, where they encounter an ancient evil presence.