Continuity mistake: During the arrow attack Chief Phillips grabs a machine gun and starts shooting. At first he and Chef's guns are both pointing in the same direction, starboard. In the next shot one gun is facing one way and the other is facing the opposite way.(02:22:15)
Continuity mistake: Lance comes down from the roof of the boat and we get a good close-up look at his makeup. Fifteen seconds later as the arrows start flying his facial makeup is entirely different (neck, nose, ears, bandanna).(02:21:15)
Continuity mistake: Captain Willard says, "Whatever was going to happen, it wasn't gonna be the way they called it back in Nha Trang". Note the light pole in the center of the boat, the second blue light from the top is shot out however there hasn't been any battles since the French plantation scene when all four blue lights were intact.(02:21:25)
Continuity mistake: As they begin to break out of the fog bank Chief Phillips says, "Lance on the 50s". Lance doesn't move from where he is on the roof of the boat but Chef goes to the machine gun twice between shots and points it in different directions each time.(02:21:00)
Continuity mistake: As Lance is on the top of the PBR Captain Willard says to himself, "He's close, he was real close" and they shuttle between shots of Lance and close-ups of Chief Phillips at the helm. The straw hanging down from the roof of the boat behind Chief Phillip's head is is hanging down differently in both of these shots.(02:21:05)
Continuity mistake: As they begin to break out of the fog bank Chef says, "watch it over here, chief, got a stump". Here he's helping Chief Phillips steer the boat with a long pole that he places back on the floor of the boat after the uses it. You can see that it's not hanging over the right side of the boat behind Chief Philips but at the beginning of the arrow attack it's back extending out over the side. Then a few shots later as Captain Willard runs to the back of the boat to stop Chef from firing it's gone completely.(02:20:55)
Continuity mistake: As Captain Willard takes a smoke, the shadow of the pipe is on Roxanne's face but in the next shot as she looks at him the pipe's shadow has disappeared.(02:17:30)
Continuity mistake: As Captain Willard takes a smoke from Roxanne's pipe the pillow he's lying on is light green. Later after they're finished as he lies on his back the pillow is now light red.(02:17:20)
Continuity mistake: Roxanne prepares a pipe for Captain Willard and says, "It was the morphine he took for the wounds he suffered in his heart." The shadow of her left hand falls on her face as she holds the needle over the flame. In the next shot, however, the lighting has changed and the shadow is now nowhere near her face.(02:16:40)
Continuity mistake: Roxanne continues to prepare the pipe for Captain Willard and says, "he would rage and he would cry, my lost soldier, and I said to him there are two of you". In the shot of them from the foot of the bed Roxanne's head is almost touching the captain's but in the next shot over the side of the bed she's about a foot away.(02:16:55)
Deliberate mistake: After Hubert exit's the French Plantation dinner scene the stage lighting on Roxanne and Captain Willard shuts down abruptly before their close-ups. There's no one there to touch a light switch and we can see outside and the natural lighting hasn't changed.(02:13:30)
Continuity mistake: Hubert says to Captain Willard, "We took the Vietnamese, work with them, make something" and the guy sitting on the right of Roxanne who got up and left several shots ago is back.(02:12:15)
Continuity mistake: The gentleman sitting next to Roxanne in the tan jacket gets up and says, "Look, Captain," and Roxanne reaches over with her right hand as she holds her cigar in her left. In the next shot she's sitting with both hands on the table and the cigar in her right hand.(02:07:20)
Continuity mistake: Hubert has a discussion with the Frenchmen sitting to the right of Roxanne who gets up and leaves. As he gets up his hands are on table but in the next shot they're at his sides.(02:11:05)
Continuity mistake: After the gentleman in the tan jacket spills the egg into the plate, between shots Roxanne goes from having her right hand on the table to having her right hand near her mouth holding her cigar.(02:07:30)
Continuity mistake: The Frenchmen playing the accordion walks away from Captain Willard into the other room and trips over something. Look closely at the table because two shots later everything will be different. The fruit in the fruit bowl is entirely different, the flowers and the lazy Susan have been moved and some of the wine and water in the glasses are at different levels.(02:10:15)
Continuity mistake: At dinner, the Frenchmen sitting to the right of Captain Willard says, "Why don't you Americans learn from us, from our mistakes?" When he says this there's a shadow falling on his face but in the next shot his face is lit up again by the sun.(02:10:10)
Continuity mistake: After the gentleman in the tan jacket says, "The white left, but the yellow stays". Look closely at the plate that he drops the egg into as the two pieces of bread change into pastry between shots.(02:07:25)
Continuity mistake: The gentleman in the tan jacket sitting next to Roxanne says, "Look an egg" and the glass in front of him fills up between shots.(02:07:20)
Continuity mistake: In a shot from behind his head Captain Willard sits and looks at Roxanne as the man in the tan jacket to the left of her says, "Look, Captain". In the next shot the captain's right hand is raised shielding his eyes from the sunlight.(02:07:15)