Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now mistake picture

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)

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Continuity mistake: After Chef looks over the papers handed to him by the people on the Vietnamese sampan, he hands them to Chief Phillips, who puts them under a brown flak jacket tied around a metal roof pole on his left. This brown flak jacket appears, then disappears between shots. (01:35:45)

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Continuity mistake: As Bill Graham announces playmate of the year Carrie Foster she's still inside the helicopter. Two seconds later in the next shot she's in front of the helicopter standing on the platform that the Green Berets use to carry her into the middle of the stage. (01:07:15)

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Continuity mistake: After the tiger attack Chief Phillips asks, "What happened, how many is it?" and Clean is firing the 60-caliber gun behind him at the shoreline. Smoke pours out of the gun as he fires but in the next shot the smoke is not there and the gun has not been fired. (00:59:30)

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Apocalypse Now mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When we first see colonel Kilgore's helicopter there's thick black smoke behind it. In the next shot the smoke is grey and sparse. (00:26:25)

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Audio problem: On the French plantation dock Captain Willard walks over towards the Frenchman and they do an excellent job of overdubbing the sound of his helmet strap each time it hits his chest. Two shots later they don't put in the sound as the helmet strap hit's against his chest several more times. (01:58:00)

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Continuity mistake: As the smoke canister catches fire on the roof and Chef tries to put it out with the fire extinguisher Captain Willard goes from having his back towards Chief Phillips to facing him between shots. (01:16:40)

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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)

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Continuity mistake: On the boat Chief Phillips says to Captain Willard, "my orders say I'm not supposed to know where I'm taking this boat, so I don't". If you look at the binoculars next to Chief Phillips on the right of the screen they rotate 90 degrees between shots. (01:19:40)

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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)

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Continuity mistake: As the Captain goes looking for Colonel Kilgore, there's a sampan docked on the shore with it's sail unfurled. In the previous shot, as the PBR approached the shore, the sail had been folded up. (00:25:30)

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Apocalypse Now mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the rear close-up shot of the Vietnamese machine gun nest the soldier in the dark green shirt is to the right of the soldier in the tan shirt who is firing it. In the next shot the soldier in the dark green shirt is behind and to the left of the soldier in the tan shirt. (00:40:45)

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Apocalypse Now mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the first close-up shot of the soldier wounded in the courtyard the medic behind him tries to give him some water as the camera pans away to two Vietnamese civilians for a second. In the next shot the medic is still holding the canteen but the injured soldier now has something hanging out of his mouth, that looks like a piece of string, which wasn't there in the previous shot. (00:43:25)

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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)

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Continuity mistake: As they carry Clean's body to the grave there's a lot of smoke blowing through the area. The smoke is in each shot except the close ups of Clean's flag draped body when there is no smoke at all. (02:00:50)

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Apocalypse Now mistake picture

Continuity mistake: At the Playboy bunnies camp Captain Willard jumps off the boat with his rifle in his left hand. In the next shot as he turns around it's in his right. (01:23:30)

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Audio problem: We hear an over-dub of Playmate of the Year Carrie Foster shooting her cap guns three times. But if you look closely there's smoke only the first two times and the third time she doesn't actually pull the trigger. (01:08:40)

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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)

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Apocalypse Now mistake picture

Continuity mistake: The cigarette that Dennis Hopper hands to Captain Willard is lit and in perfect shape, however in close-up the cigarette is bent near the filter. In the next shot it is once again in perfect condition. (02:43:20)

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Apocalypse Now mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Hubert de Marais says, "Oh I'm sorry, Captain," as Roxanne makes him apologize for carrying on their conversation in French. If you look at her hair it goes from being in the sunlight, to not, than back again several times in this scene. (02:04:40)

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Kilgore: I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

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Question: Why was only one officer (Captain Willard) sent to assassinate Colonel Kurtz? Isn't it very unlikely for a captain like Willard to be able to kill a powerful and influential and "insane" colonel like Kurtz?

L0gical

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

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