Audio problem: When Colonel Kilgore offers the wounded VC soldier a drink of water from the canteen he says, "any man that's brave enough to fight…" and his lips don't match what he's saying. (00:29:30)
Audio problem: On the boat while reading Kurtz' file Captain Willard says to himself, "The charges are unjustified, they are in fact and in the circumstances of this conflict, quite completely insane". In this shot they show the Captain reading the letter to himself but looking at his lips the words he is mouthing do not go along with what he's narrating. (01:21:20)
Audio problem: When Captain Willard meets him for the first time Colonel Kurtz is laying on a bed as the camera pans in. We hear Kurtz coughing but it's an overdub because his hands are on his chest and they don't move at all when he coughs or speaks. (02:37:50)
Audio problem: In the first aerial shot of the schoolyard the closed captioning reads, "this should make everything burn" but if you listen closely what the pilot is actually saying is, "can somebody cover that downed bird". Also the helicopter he's talking about hasn't been shot down yet. (00:40:20)
Audio problem: Clean listens to his transistor radio as the DJ says, "Â…and we have an important message for GI's who are living off base from the Mayor of Saigon". The volume that we hear stays the same but watch his thumb on the left of the radio as he turns the volume knob up. (01:14:05)
Audio problem: On the French plantation dock, Lance picks up what looks like the sole of an old shoe and smells it while Chief Phillips yells, "Lance, cover the captain". Look closely at Chef's lips, for the next ten seconds he's talking but we don't hear anything. (01:57:10)
Audio problem: Right when Captain Willard introduces himself to Colonel Kilgore, the audio track for the background battle sounds cuts out for few seconds. (00:27:20)
Audio problem: As the colonel reads his poetry out loud Dennis Hopper says, Oh, he's out there. He's really out there". If you look closely at Hopper's lips, he says something else that's edited out. (02:55:40)
Audio problem: At dinner as they all listen to Colonel Kurtz' voice there's a close-up of the tape recorder and you can see that his voice is overdubbed because the level meters are not moving as he speaks. (00:13:30)
Audio problem: As Captain Willard walks Lance away from Kilgore you hear him say, "just keep walking". If you look closely at his lips you'll see he's saying much more before that which is dubbed out. (00:50:45)
Audio problem: We see and hear Chef rip the picture from his Playboy magazine of Miss December in half. In the next shot as he tapes it up behind Chief Phillips it's all in one piece. (01:12:05)
Audio problem: When the natives start shooting arrows at the boat, Chief is imploring his crew to "fire...fire...FIRE.". Then if you listen to the scenes at Do Lung Bridge, they have reused the sound of this battle as a background sound. Its just after Willard says he needs some information, and to pick him up on the other side of the bridge. It's very clear on the Apocalypse Now (2 CD version) soundtrack, track 1 at 3:06. (01:42:14)
Audio problem: As they approach the Do Lung Bridge Lance tells Chef that he dropped a tub of acid and Chef says, "far out " but if you look at his lips he's not saying anything at all. (01:40:50)
Audio problem: As they lie there in bed Roxanne says, "you are alive captain" and you can only see the side of her face. Her jaw is not moving and if you look closely at her face, all she's doing is returning the captain's smile, not talking. (02:18:10)
Audio problem: After Captain Willard grabs the sergeant by the throat and pulls him over his desk Lance says, "Dog starts barking" and his lips don't move. (01:05:35)
Audio problem: After they all get into the helicopters and take off, a soldier is blowing "charge" on his trumpet. This is an obvious over-dub, as he takes a deep breath in the middle of it without missing a note. (00:35:10)
Audio problem: As they look at the B-52 strike from the boat Clean says, "Secondary burning," then he says something else that was edited out. (00:24:25)
Audio problem: As the natives grab Captain Willard, turn him over and drag him through the mud you hear many natives chanting. If you look closely at their mouths only one guy standing in the crowd to the right of the Captain is lip-syncing correctly. (02:36:50)
Audio problem: After leaving the Do Lung Bridge Chef hands out the mail to Clean who says, "Is that it?" If you look closely at Clean's lips he also says, "Thanks," which was edited out. (01:49:30)
Audio problem: As he leaves the USO show Bill Graham ignites a smoke canister before he gets into the helicopter and says, "So long," but his lips indicate that he's just whistling. (01:10:10)
Chosen answer: Kurtz was protected by political connections and his military record from being relieved of command, and the Montagnard people whose village he was in were considered American allies, so they couldn't just send a force in to kill him or relieve him of command, but an individual assassin. (The US Government's "official" policy is that they do not engage in assassination, which is why "this mission does not exist, nor will it ever exist").
Captain Defenestrator