Danny Boyle reveals his favourite movie of all time
Whenever we discuss the greatest directors of modern cinema, often the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Denis Villeneuve, Greta Gerwig and Wes Anderson are brought up, but too rarely do we throw Danny Boyle’s name into the ring. One of the most decorated British filmmakers of all time, Danny Boyle is responsible for some of the greatest films of modern cinema, including the 2002 effort 28 Days Later and 2008’s Slumdog Millionaire.
Emerging onto the scene with a number of independent British movies in the late 1990s, Boyle found great success with both Shallow Grave in 1994 and, most notably, Trainspotting in 1996, a film that would put the likes of Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle on the map. Years later, he would kick off the new millennium with a collaboration with screenwriter Alex Garland and burgeoning Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio for The Beach in 2000.
With a clean, fresh and snappy style that well fuses classic British cinema with contemporary Hollywood, Boyle has established himself as a filmmaker working on the cutting edge of the industry. After winning ‘Best Picture’ in 2008 for Slumdog Millionaire and impressing with 127 Hours in 2010, the filmmaker was even trusted to orchestrate the opening of the 2012 London Olympics, putting together a marvellous spectacle.
So, who are the filmmakers that influence one of British cinema’s most iconic minds? In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, the director revealed some of his biggest inspirations.
Whilst revealing his five favourite movies of all time, Boyle named Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 epic Apocalypse Now as his all-time favourite. “Always, and always number one for me in every list is Apocalypse Now,” Boyle stated, “There are lots of reasons. It’s imperfect, which every film should be. I love action movies. I believe in motion, in the motion picture industry. And Apocalypse Now is the ultimate action movie.”
Continuing, he adds: “Firstly, it’s the only period film you’ll ever watch where nobody ever says it still ‘stands up after 30 years.’ Every other film — like Alien, and I’m a huge fan of Alien, I even did some promotion for it when they re-released it — the main thing you say are phrases like ‘Even after 25 years, it still stands up.’ You never have to use that (phrase) for Apocalypse Now. Everyone always just says: Wow.'”
Concluding his thoughts on the influential Marlon Brando-starring classic, he exclaims: “The second reason it’s the ultimate action movie is every time it stops moving, it’s weird and unnatural and disturbing.”
Telling the story of man’s madness in the heart of darkness of war, Coppola’s film is a study of existential human crisis, approaching the Vietnam War in a way that other filmmakers were simply too scared to do. With a number of seminal cinematic moments, we agree with Danny Boyle: Apocalypse Now will always be the greatest Vietnam War movie ever made.
