It's an interesting perspective at the very least. Joseph Conrad traveled around the world in the merchant marine and saw what came from the British Empire and colonialism in general. He didn't consider Heart of Darkness to be all that important when he wrote it, and it didn't get much attention when it was published either. I believe it was included in an aggregation of short stories. Experts on colonialism dispute how he portrays native Africans and find it to be xenophobic.

Honestly, Apocalypse Now has probably added to people thinking it's a cornerstone of the literary world that everyone should read. That's my own personal opinion.