An embarrassing question...

Agreed - as with 'SPR', I refuse to watch Apocalypse Now on the small screen !

 

As you may know or not know, "Apocalypse Now" is based on the oh-so-painful-to-read novella "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad. The time and place were changed from the mid-1890s and the Congo River to late-1960s and Vietnam.

The book was more enjoyable than the movie even though both are difficult to sit through IMHO. I would recommend reading Conrad's masterpiece novel to get an understanding of where Coppola received his inspiration for the movie.