Continuity mistake: In a close-up after he burns the picture of his wife with his cigarette, Captain Willard says to himself, "When I was there all I could think of was getting back into the jungle". Look closely at his left cheek and note a red scratch missing from previous shots and not visible in later shots during his drunken dance. (00:05:20)
Continuity mistake: After Lance and Captain Willard return to the boat Chief Phillips says, "which way captain". As the captain sits on the front of the boat look closely at his tee shirt, he has something underneath resembling a large newspaper or package. When he takes his tee shirt off there's nothing under there except his dog tags. (01:47:55)
Continuity mistake: As Jerry takes a piece of roast beef from the tray we get a close-up of the captain's table setting. Just about everything has been moved from the previous shot but his bread dish and napkin are the most notable as they have both moved to the right of where they were before. (00:12:10)
Deliberate mistake: Martin Sheen has a cut on his cheek that starts as a scar and becomes an open wound. (00:02:27)
Revealing mistake: A Medevac helicopter lands in the courtyard and later explodes when a Vietnamese woman throws a grenade into it. The copter that lands is not the one that explodes. The front of the helicopter that blows up is older and beat up and the window on the pilot's door does not have any green sun shade on top as the other chopper had when it landed. The one that explodes is also on a platform that collapses as it blows up. (00:44:15)
Continuity mistake: At dinner, the Frenchmen sitting to the right of Captain Willard says, "Why don't you Americans learn from us, from our mistakes?" When he says this there's a shadow falling on his face but in the next shot his face is lit up again by the sun. (02:10:10)
Continuity mistake: Three soldiers carry Captain Willard into a room by a window where a woman gives him some water from a ladle. As first the sunlight falls across his waist then in the next shot as she gives him the water the sunlight is now on his face and chest. (02:53:35)
Continuity mistake: In a shot from behind his head Captain Willard sits and looks at Roxanne as the man in the tan jacket to the left of her says, "Look, Captain". In the next shot the captain's right hand is raised shielding his eyes from the sunlight. (02:07:15)
Continuity mistake: When Captain Willard looks out his window at the streets of Saigon you can tell by the shadows that the sun is overhead. But in the next shot the sun is coming directly through the window and shining on his face. (00:04:20)
Visible crew/equipment: The boom mike, camera and lights can be seen in Lieutenant Kilgore's sunglasses as he gets out of his helicopter. (00:27:05)
Continuity mistake: As Captain Willard arrives to kill him, Colonel Kurtz stands in the doorway looking at the tribal festival and it's not raining, but in the next shot of the Captain, with the festival in his background, it is now raining. Finally, in the next shot, as the Captain runs to the doorway, it is again no longer raining. (03:06:10)
Continuity mistake: Just before Colonel Kurtz falls to the ground we catch a glimpse of him with blood running from the top of his head down the right side of his face. Several seconds later as the lies on the ground dying there are only a few small drops of blood on the right side of his face. (03:08:05)
Continuity mistake: As Colonel Kurtz reads his poetry out loud we see Dennis Hopper gesturing with both hands as he speaks with the captain. When the colonel gets mad and throws the bowl of bananas at them Dennis Hopper is holding his camera in his left hand. His bandana is also rolled up differently with the corner sticking up in one shot and down in the other. (02:56:20)
Continuity mistake: As Colonel Kurtz opens up the steel doors to the room where Captain Willard is being held we see thick black smoke engulfing the entire area behind the colonel. They cut away to the captain for few seconds then back to the colonel as he stands in the doorway, this time with no smoke at all behind him. (02:49:05)
Continuity mistake: As he gives the captain some water Dennis Hopper says, "Why would a nice guy like you want to kill a genius?" The tip of Dennis Hopper's right ring finger is black with soot. In the next shot the soot is not there. (02:42:50)
Continuity mistake: Dennis Hopper holds his cigarette between the first and second finger of his left hand before he gives the water to Captain Willard in the bamboo cage. In the next shot as he gives him the water the cigarette is between his thumb and first finger. Then in the shot after that it's between his first and second finger again. (02:42:50)
Continuity mistake: As they approach the severed heads Dennis Hopper says, "Wrong, wrong, if you could've heard the man just two days ago". The lock of hair falling over the left side of his bandanna is combed differently between shots. (02:33:35)
Continuity mistake: As Captain Willard approaches Lieutenant Colby there is a woman standing in the crowd to the right of him. The next time we see him a few seconds later everyone in the shot is standing in the same spot except the woman is gone and a man wearing a green beret appears in her place. (02:32:40)
Continuity mistake: After Dennis Hopper comes onto the boat Captain Willard asks him, "Who are all these people?" The Captain has more dark makeup on his cheeks now than he had when they approached the camp a few seconds ago. (02:30:15)
Continuity mistake: As the boat approaches Kurtz' compound the natives in the canoes are looking forward. In the next shot they're facing sideways looking at the PBR. (02:28:15)
Answer: It should be noted that "transmutation" is a word Coppola has used to describe the film making process. Https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LFTQcwgq4CY.
Bishop73