Audio problem: When Clean says that great line, "Well I'm next ma'am," to the Playboy bunny, he also says something else that was edited out. (01:32:50)
Continuity mistake: As they leave the MedEvac we see an overhead shot of the boat and the flag has changed. The back of the flag has been cut up considerably since when they arrived at the MedEvac even though they haven't been it any battles. (01:32:55)
Continuity mistake: As Chef and Clean have a verbal fight after they leave the Medevac Lance is in the front of the boat putting on camouflage while holding a mirror in his right hand. In the next shot he's leaning on his right arm and holding the mirror in his left hand. (01:33:20)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where they stop the junker boat that they think might be smuggling supplies, as you watch the many scene angles, you can tell that the sun is at different points at different times. Where Willard is sitting at the side of the boat the sun is nearly set, and at one point is below the horizon. At another time, you can tell, the sun is several degrees above that, and in one angle, it is practically noon. Also, the boats change angles, toward the shoreline, possibly to shoot a scene from a better light angle. (01:34:08)
Continuity mistake: In a close-up Chief Phillips he says, "sampan off the port bow" and we see a kaki green T-shirt hanging next to him at the right of the screen. A couple of shots later Captain Willard says, "what up chief" and Phillips takes the T-shirt down. In the next wide shot of the boat the T-shirt is back. (01:34:15)
Continuity mistake: As he spots the sampan Chief Phillips says, " Clean get on that 60" and the machine gun on the back of the PBR is aiming left towards the shore. In the next shot "Canned Heat" is pointing directly behind the boat. (01:34:25)
Continuity mistake: After he sees the sampan Chief Phillips says, "A junk boat Captain. We're gonna take a routine check," and Clean goes from aiming the 60 caliber machine gun behind him to not even holding it at all between shots. (01:34:30)
Continuity mistake: Approaching the sampan Chief Phillips says, "These boats are running supplies in this Delta," and Captain Willard is holding Colonel Kurtz' folder it is left hand. In the next shot he's not holding anything in his left hand and using it to lean on the boat. (01:34:35)
Continuity mistake: As they pull up next to the Vietnamese sampan Clean runs to the port side of the boat in order to catch the tow rope. Chef is standing behind Captain Willard in middle of the boat and doesn't move and all. In the next shot Clean and Chef are both standing on the edge of the port side of the boat. (01:34:50)
Continuity mistake: As they pull up next to the Vietnamese sampan, Chief Phillips moves the spotlight on top of the PBR with his left hand so it's pointing at Chef as he takes the papers from the fishermen. Thirty seconds later there's a wide shot of both boats as Chef reads the papers and we see the spotlight back to where it was before facing away from Chef even though Chief Phillips doesn't touch it again. (01:35:05)
Continuity mistake: As they come along side the sampan Chief Phillips says, "Look in that forward hooch, bring the people out of there." Clean slips on something and spins the machine gun "Canned Heat" towards the sampan as he ties the boats together. In the next shot the machine gun is spun to the left pointing away from the sampan. This reversal happens several other times. (01:35:10)
Continuity mistake: The Vietnamese fishermen hand Chef the two small pieces of paper that they had in their hands. He reads the first one for a while then grabs the second one from the guy in the middle, leaving them with no papers in their hands. The next time we see Chef two shots later he has only one piece of paper in his hands and is now grabbing a new large identification paper that none of the three had before. (01:35:25)
Continuity mistake: As the people on the Vietnamese sampan hand their papers over to Chef, Clean is holding the 60 caliber machine gun with both hands. In the next shot he's holding the bullets in his left hand. (01:35:35)
Continuity mistake: As Chef looks over the papers from the sampan crew the woman is standing under the canopy with the sun shining on her. The next time we see her several seconds later she's in the same spot but the sun is no longer shining on her. (01:35:35)
Continuity mistake: Before they board the sampan Lance says, "It's clear, Chief," and we see a wide shot of the sampan and PBR. No one goes near it, but for just one shot the dress on the clothesline is rearranged. The two straps it hangs from are pushed together. In all the other shots the straps are wide apart. (01:35:40)
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)
Continuity mistake: Docked next to the sampan Chief Phillips yells at Chef to, "Get on that boat," there's a shirt on the pole with the blue lights on it in the front of PBR. This shirt is in some of the shots and not in others throughout this scene. (01:36:00)
Continuity mistake: Captain Willard's is not carrying a holster when he approaches the bridge and talks to Chief Phillips about him not pulling over the Vietnamese sampan or when he's tying his shoes as he sits on the front of the PBR. He never leaves the front of the boat to get his gun but as Clean starts machine-gunning the sampan he's wearing his holster. (01:36:15)
Continuity mistake: As Chef pulls the Vietnamese woman out from where she's hiding you can see the shadow of Lance's gun barrel as he stands there holding it on her. In the next shot Lance gets up from a seated position in front of the boat. (01:36:20)
Continuity mistake: As Chief Phillips orders Chef to, "Check what's in that vegetable basket," the Vietnamese woman runs past and hands him papers that he takes with his right hand. In the next shot as he pushes the woman the papers are in his left hand. (01:36:25)
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