Continuity mistake: As they approach Kurtz' compound the dead body hanging from the tree changes between shots. At first it's facing outward, then as Dennis Hopper climbs on board it's facing the opposite direction and it's an entirely different body wearing a different jacket. (02:29:30)
Continuity mistake: Lance's facial makeup changes between shots. The area around his eyes and nose changes in the three seconds it takes for Dennis Hopper the jump onto the PBR. (02:29:35)
Continuity mistake: When Captain Willard climbs onto the top of the boat and again when he shakes Dennis Hopper's hand we see no rips or tears on his green T-shirt. But when he says to Dennis Hopper, "Take who away?" there's a huge rip in his T-shirt under his right arm. (02:29:40)
Continuity mistake: When they first approach Dennis Hopper we see the water on the left side of the boat past where Lance is sitting and there are no flames on it. After Hopper jumps on the boat and goes to shake the captain's hand we see an oil slick burning in the middle of the water. (02:29:40)
Audio problem: When they first meet Captain Willard asks Dennis Hopper who he is and he answers with a question, "Who are you?". If you look at the Captain's lips he answers the question but it was edited out. (02:29:55)
Continuity mistake: Dennis Hopper walks to the back of the boat and says, "I'll tell you one thing. This boat is a mess man, whoo!" As he stands in the middle of the boat note the machine guns are missing, yet in the following shot they reappear with their ammo. Later, as he moves back to the front of the boat the disappear yet again. (02:30:10)
Continuity mistake: Dennis Hopper stands on the back of the boat and says to Captain Willard, "Yeah, well, they think you've come to uh - , to take him away". If you look to the left of the screen you'll see a piece of seaweed hanging off the roof of the boat. When Dennis Hopper walks back to the front of boat it's gone. (02:30:15)
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: After they first meet Captain Willard looks at Dennis Hopper and says, "Take who away?". The red wind spinner to left of the Captain is in tatters, but a few seconds later when Dennis Hopper walks back to the front of the boat it's back together again. (02:30:20)
Continuity mistake: Dennis Hopper Says, " these are all his children, man, as far as you can see" and we see a large leaf covering Chef's head and held on with a rubber band. Then when Dennis Hopper says," the man's enlarged my mindÂ…. do you know that if is the middle word in life?" there's a different leaf on his head that has much more green in it. (02:30:30)
Continuity mistake: As Dennis Hopper leads Captain Willard up the steps we see the wall with "Apocalypse Now" written in white. In the previous shot there were a lot of sand bags there, now there is just a big boulder. (02:31:35)
Revealing mistake: Dennis Hopper says to Captain Willard, "He said 'If you take my picture again, I'm gonna kill you', and he meant it". Look closely at the dead bodies behind them because they're all moving. (02:32:05)
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: As Captain Willard stands in front of him the shrunken head hanging off Lieutenant Colby's rifle is not this same one we saw several seconds ago when the captain first set eyes on him. The second one has thicker darker hair and is attached to the rifle differently. (02:33:00)
Continuity mistake: As Captain Willard stands in front of Lieutenant Colby his hair is soaking wet with sweat dripping off of it. Several seconds later as they look at the severed heads on the steps his hair is dry. (02:33:10)
Continuity mistake: The first time we see the severed heads there's a lot of white dry ice-like smoke to the right of Dennis Hopper. The next time we see this spot several seconds later the smoke is just starting to appear. (02:33:20)
Continuity mistake: As Dennis Hopper and Chef walk away Lieutenant Colby towards the severed heads when Chef says,"He's gone crazy!" note Hopper's hands move from his sides to raised in one cut. (02:33:30)
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: When Dennis Hopper says, "The heads, you're looking at the heads, sometimes he goes too far, he's the first one to admit it" look at the two cameras around his neck. At first the lenses are both pointing outward then in the next shot he turns around and the left camera lens is pointing at the ground. (02:33:40)
Continuity mistake: Dennis Hopper and Chef are looking at the heads on the ground, Chef turns to face him as Hopper says, "You were gonna call him crazy?" In the next cut Chef is looking forward at the heads again. (02:33:40)
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