Continuity mistake: The attack on Vin Din Dop starts out as a bright sunshiny morning and stays that way until Clean and Chief Phillips watch their boat drop into the river. There's no cut in the action but after this shot the cloud cover turns darker and it's late afternoon. (00:47:35)
Continuity mistake: There are four shots of the fighters that drop the napalm. The first time we see the jets there's only three of them and the part of the nose in front of the cockpit is painted black. The second time we see them there are five planes, the third time we see them there are four without black paint and the last time we see them there are three. (00:47:55 - 00:48:45)
Continuity mistake: Before the napalm attack as Colonel Kilgore gives Lance a pair of shorts to wear while he's surfing, there is yellow smoke visible on the beach between them and the other side of the bay. As the jets fly by and this spot is again visible the yellow smoke canister is not there. (00:48:35)
Continuity mistake: During the napalm attack there's one group of men marching on the other side of the bay. The next time we look over there right after the explosions there are two groups of men marching. (00:48:55)
Continuity mistake: Right after the napalm explosion there's a wide shot of the beach as Colonel Kilgore and the two soldiers with him look across at the destruction. We also see Lance sitting alone in the crater and Captain Willard is nowhere near them. They cut away to the PBR for three seconds then back to the crater and the Captain is sitting next to Lance again. (00:48:55)
Continuity mistake: The actual napalm attack burns quite a large area of the tree line and just two shots later Colonel Kilgore speaks the famous lines, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning!" At this time, when we see this area is still smoking, quite heavily, however, the amount of destruction is much less and there is very little fire visible. (00:48:55)
Continuity mistake: After the napalm attack we see the back of the PBR as the men prepare to continue up the river. Later we see the back again after the scene at the Do Lung Bridge and the boys have a different boat, which now has three lights on its back section. (00:49:00 - 01:49:10)
Continuity mistake: When Colonel Kilgore talks to the men and says, "It smelled like victory," a line of sweat and dirt appears on the right side of his chest around his dog tags between shots. (00:49:45)
Continuity mistake: Before Colonel Kilgore looks at Captain Willard and says, "Someday this war's gonna end," the Vietnamese women and the soldier waving behind him to his left have moved between shots. (00:49:45)
Continuity mistake: After Colonel Kilgore looks at Captain Willard and says, "someday this war's gonna end" he gets up to walk away and the soldier to his right straps his rifle around his right shoulder twice between shots. (00:49:55)
Continuity mistake: Kilgore walks towards the beach and notices that the wind is starting to blow on shore and ruin the surf, and intense red green and yellow smoke canisters appear on his left between shots. (00:50:00)
Continuity mistake: As he looks towards the surfers, Colonel Kilgore says, "Lance, the wind, the wind" and it's quite overcast. Then in the next shot of the surfers the sun is out. This scene switches between close ups of Kilgore and the other men and the sun is out in the close-ups but not in the other shots. (00:50:10)
Continuity mistake: As Captain Willard tries to get Lance away from Colonel Kilgore the band-aid on his right cheek angles upward as it nears his eye. Later we see it up close as they pull him into the boat with the surfboard and it does not angle upward but goes straight across his face. (00:50:40 - 00:51:45)
Continuity mistake: Captain Willard and Lance run away from Lieutenant Col. Kilgore and the captain says, "get the f&% outta here". As this happens a helicopter is flying towards the colonel and two soldiers are helping an injured soldier. The camera cuts away for three seconds then back to a wide shot of the colonel again and the helicopter and the injured soldier have disappeared. (00:51:00)
Continuity mistake: As Captain Willard and Lance run away from Colonel Kilgore, their boat is coming towards them with no colored smoke behind it. A few seconds later we see it again with green and purple smoke behind it. (00:51:05)
Continuity mistake: Chef and Clean pull Lance into the boat after they ditch Col. Kilgore but in the next shot as Lance climbs in the boat Clean has disappeared. (00:51:15)
Continuity mistake: Chef and Clean pull Lance entirely into the boat. Than Captain Willard says, "Don't leave without me "as he runs to steal the colonel's surf board and we see Lance's legs dangling over the side as he is pulled into the boat a second time. (00:51:20)
Continuity mistake: Captain Willard steals Colonel Kilgore's surfboard from the men sitting in the colonel's helicopter. The helicopter has changed since the colonel and his surfboard flew in on it earlier in this scene. The words "Death From Above" and the two crossed sabers that were painted on the front of the helicopter are not on the front of this one. (00:51:20)
Continuity mistake: On the beach at Vin Din Dop Captain Willard steals the surfboard from Lt. Col. Kilgore's men and the tail rotor on the lieutenant's helicopter that just flew in has been removed. (00:51:25)
Continuity mistake: At the beach party Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore says, "bring me my Yater Spoon the eight-six". Later when Captain Willard steals this surfboard from his helicopter it's not a Yater Spoon, which has a distinctive flat tail and can be seen at www.yater.com. (00:51:25)
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