Apocalypse Now, the acclaimed Vietnam War film directed by
Francis Ford Coppola, opened in theaters around the United
States on August 15, 1979.

The film, inspired in part by Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novella
Heart of Darkness, among other sources, told the story of
an Army captain (played by Martin Sheen) and crew of men
who are sent into the Cambodian jungle to kill a U.S. Special
Forces colonel (Marlon Brando) who has gone AWOL and is
thought to be crazy.

Francis Ford Coppola (86)

Martin Sheen (85)

Robert Duvall (94)

Harrison Ford (83)

On August 10, 1939, The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland
and featuring words and music by E.Y. “Yip” Harburg and
Harold Arlen, received its world premiere in Green Bay,
Wisconsin. It opened widely in U.S. theaters some two
weeks later.

On August 10, 1984, the action thriller Red Dawn, starring
Patrick Swayze, opened in theaters as the first movie to
be released with a PG-13 rating.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which
oversees the movie rating system, had announced the new
PG-13 category in July of that same year.

Founded in 1922 as a trade group for the American film
industry, the MPAA introduced its first-ever movie rating
system in November 1968.

On July 20, 1988, Die Hard, an action film starring Bruce
Willis as wisecracking New York City cop John McClane,
opened in theaters across the United States.

A huge box-office hit, the film established Willis as a movie
star and spawned three sequels. Die Hard also became
Hollywood shorthand for describing the plot of other
actions films, as in “Speed is Die Hard on a bus.”

Bruce Willis (70) was spotted in public for the second time
since announcing his battle with frontotemporal dementia
and aphasia, on January 22.

On July 13, 1990, the romantic-thriller Ghost, starring Demi
Moore, Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg, opened in
theaters across the country.