Apocalypse Now

Francis Ford Coppola's perfectly crafted epic is possibly the only film that really captures the semi-surreal, absurd quality of the Viet Nam experience  Loosely based on Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, the film chronicles special agent Willard's (Martin Sheen) quest through the jungle to find the elusive rogue officer Colonel Kurtz (Brando), who has set himself up as a sort of cult leader to a band of natives.  The film is unforgettable because of the way Coppola and master cinematographer Vittorio Storaro use all the tools and technical craft of filmmaking to explore the characters.  Few films have ever used cinematography and sound mixing to such great effect and the results are extraordinary.  As is chronicled in the fantastic documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, Coppola and those around him went through enormous emotional stress during the making of the film (Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack during a take) and those feelings of tension, anxiety and fear work their way into the movie -- to great effect.  Though many condemn the ending Coppola used (he reportedly shot several) as murky and pretentious, I think that only such an insane ending could be appropriate for for this work. 

Oscar Winner for: Cinematography -- Vittorio Storaro