Apocalypse Now

Continuity mistake: After he decides to decline the offer to spend some time with the bunnies Chief Phillips picks up some tools off the roof of the boat. In the next shot he's already on the floor of the boat turned around and ready to go down the hatch to work on the engine. (01:27:25)

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Continuity mistake: As the camera pans along from the rear of the helicopter to the front Chef says to Miss May, "I've got every one of your pictures". Watch very closely as the camera shoots through the two windows on the helicopter's door. The Styrofoam head with the black wig on it that Chef asks the playmate to put on is not up against the left window as it is several shots later inside the helicopter. (01:27:45)

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Continuity mistake: Chef asks his playmate, Miss May, to put on a black wig as they sit in the helicopter. When he first reaches for the wig it's on top of a Styrofoam head but in the next shot he reaches for it again and it's on a small table to the right of the Styrofoam head. (01:28:50)

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Continuity mistake: As the shot shows Chef and his playmate Miss May through the helicopter window it's pouring rain and totally overcast outside. In the next shot from inside the copter, water is cascading down the windows but the sun is now shining. (01:28:55)

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Continuity mistake: As Chef grabs the black wig it's clear to see that the window on the helicopter door has a strain crack going down the middle of it. It's there for two shots then when Clean hammers on the helicopter door the first time it's not broken. After he climbs up onto the helicopter and bangs on the front windshield he comes back to the side window a second time and it's cracked again. (01:29:55)

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Apocalypse Now mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Clean hammers on the helicopter door and says, "I got my rights, man." He's in direct sunlight when you see him from inside the helicopter and not in the shot of him on the outside. (01:30:00)

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Continuity mistake: Lance is with his Playboy Bunny spreading makeup on her forehead as she says, "They make you do things that you don't want to do." Later as she says, "I wish I could find, just one person," he puts the make up on her forehead again. (01:30:05 - 01:31:05)

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Apocalypse Now mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Inside the helicopter Chef poses Miss May with the black wig and says, "that's it, voila". The white bird sitting on his shoulder disappears between shots. (01:30:25)

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Apocalypse Now mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Chef says to Miss May, "You're beautiful, I just want to…" and a white Styrofoam ball appears stuck in her hair between shots. (01:30:25)

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Continuity mistake: Lance's Playboy bunny gets up and runs around after she's startled by Clean when he taps on the window. She accidentally knocks over a casket with a body in it. The first time we see the body there's nothing behind it in the casket but some dried blood. When we see it again four shots later the blood is gone and the body has some bandages or tape lying behind it's left arm. (01:30:30)

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Continuity mistake: Chef and Miss May mess around in the helicopter as he says, "I can fly like the eagle". They start out facing the back of the helicopter then in the next shot they're facing the opposite direction. (01:31:40)

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Continuity mistake: After the boat docks at the Medevac Captain Willard gets out and walks around and it's clear from the wide shot that there's only one helicopter there. When he comes back to tell the guys about the arrangement with the bunnies we see a close-up of this helicopter and it has yellow tipped rotors. The helicopter that Chef and Miss May are in later in the scene is different as it has white tipped rotors. (01:31:50)

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Continuity mistake: At the end of this scene the shots of Chef and Miss May in the helicopter at the Medevac were done in an entirely different place. All the outside shots of the helicopter have different backgrounds (trees, mountains, tower) from what we saw when Captain Willard first walked around the Bunnies' camp. (01:31:50)

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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)

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Apocalypse Now mistake picture

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)

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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)

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Apocalypse Now mistake picture

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)

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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)

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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)

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Audio problem: As Playmate of the Year Carrie Foster is brought out to the audience carried by two Green Berets watch the band behind her closely. The bass player stops playing as he scratches his head but the bass on the soundtrack keeps going. (01:07:55)

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More mistakes in Apocalypse Now

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

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More trivia for Apocalypse Now

Question: This may sound a little crazy to the uninitiated, but does anybody have an alchemical interpretation of Apocalypse Now? I remember seeing pages from Coppola's screenplay that were annotated and made reference to transmutation.

Jack Vaughan

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

Answer: Could you be a bit more specific? I can give a link to the screenplay if you wish. Http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/apocolypse.html I hope that helps.

lionhead

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