Visible crew/equipment: After Clean is killed there's a shot of Lance sitting on the back of the boat holding a mirror in his right hand. This is not the actor Sam Bottoms but a longer haired thinner stand-in who's not wearing the black wristwatch that Sam wears in every other scene in the movie. (01:54:10)
Continuity mistake: As he first spots the French plantation from the bow of the boat Captain Willard's watch reads 12:45. Then when Chef puts his rifle down it's 4:00. then two shots later as the captain walks forward towards the Frenchmen it's 5:50. (01:55:10)
Continuity mistake: Chief Phillips says, "Lance, take a 16 on the bow," and we see him walk to the front of the boat past the spot where Captain Willard was hiding for cover during the attack that killed Clean. The molding was blown off by machine gun fire during the attack, but now it's good as new. (01:55:30)
Continuity mistake: When they approached the French plantation both doors of the demolished building are open. Later as Captain Willard walks through them, the door on the right is closed. (01:55:35)
Continuity mistake: Before they arrive at the French plantation there's a shot of the back of the boat with Clean's dead body lying there. If you look closely the blood splatter is entirely different from the shot when Chief Phillips turns around and first sees that Clean's been killed. The two main differences are that at this point there's blood on the rear machine gun where there wasn't any before, and there's no blood on the right of the V shaped support bar of the 60-caliber machine gun where it had been covered prior. (01:55:40)
Continuity mistake: As they approach the French plantation we see a close-up of the right side of the boat which was just in a horrific Vietnamese rocket and machine gun attack. There's none of the damage that you would expect to see on the side of the boat. But specifically we saw close ups of where the hand-held machine guns are stored, and the spot where Captain Willard is standing which were all hit with heavy fire and riddled with holes. (01:55:40)
Continuity mistake: As they approached the French plantation there are two distinct shots of this area, one is from further back then ten seconds later there's a close-up. The clouds in the background are entirely different in these two shots and the clouds change again when the Frenchmen show up. (01:55:50 - 01:59:20)
Continuity mistake: As they get close to the French plantation dock we can see inside the building and it's dark. Several shots later as Captain Willard is walking around inside the building it's lit up from the inside. (01:56:00)
Continuity mistake: In the close-up of Chief Phillips piloting the boat up to the French plantation dock look closely at the pair of boots hanging evenly by their shoe laces over the 50 BMG that Chef is pointing towards the dock. He hasn't taken his fingers off that machine gun but when Chef gets ready to leave the boat the boot on the right is now higher than the one on the left. (01:56:10)
Continuity mistake: As they approached the French plantation the partially crushed fuel drum on the back the PBR that we saw after Clean was shot, has been replaced with one that is only slightly dented. (01:56:15)
Continuity mistake: As Captain Willard jumps off the boat at the French plantation we see a wide shot of the debris on the dock. The fuel drums to the right of the screen are rearranged two shots later as he walks up to the door. (01:56:25)
Character mistake: After Captain Willard walks through the front door of the burnt out French plantation dock there's a close-up of Chief Phillips at the wheel the boat. He turns around and looks right at Chef and says, "Lance". (01:56:40)
Continuity mistake: As they pull up to the French plantation there are several close-up shots of Chief Phillips where you can see Clean's legs lying on the floor board of the boat behind him. As some dead bodies in movies do, they move (six inches to their right) between shots without being touched. (01:56:40)
Continuity mistake: At the French plantation dock Lance and Chef get off the boat and it's clear to see that it's not tied to the dock. In subsequent shots sometimes it's tied and sometimes it isn't and in all the close-up shots of Chief Phillips it isn't tied up. (01:57:00)
Audio problem: On the French plantation dock Lance picks up what looks like the sole of an old shoe and smells it. If you look closely you hear a sniffing sound that isn't in sync with the movement of his chest because he doesn't really inhale while that horrible thing is near his nose. (01:57:05)
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)
Continuity mistake: Chief Phillips yells, "Lance, cover the captain" and we can see the shadow of the flag waving behind him on the floor the boat. In the next shot the flag is motionless. (01:57:15)
Continuity mistake: As captain Willard, Lance, and Chef stand on the dock they hear the voice of a Frenchmen shouting at them. If you look closely at Chief Phillips on the bridge of the boat, he doesn't have a rifle in his hands but in the next shot he does. (01:57:20)
Continuity mistake: As they stand on the French plantation dock we see the front of the boat a lot and the chipped paint from the rocket attack in the previous scene has been repaired. There's also a camouflage shirt under the radar dome that sometimes has a T-shirt next to it and sometimes doesn't. (01:57:25)
Continuity mistake: On the dock Chef listens intently to the Frenchmen who is yelling at them. A smoke canister is lit up on the back of the boat but in the next shot there's a close-up of Chief Phillips with no smoke behind him. (01:57:25)
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