Continuity mistake: Watching the USO show, Clean and Chef start out on the right of the stage with a still photographer and press reporters, who are sitting behind a desk. Later in a rear close-up of playmate Carrie Foster we see the entire right side of the stage but there is no press desk. (01:07:25 - 01:09:00)
Continuity mistake: As Captain Willard arrives to kill him, Colonel Kurtz stands in the doorway looking at the tribal festival and it's not raining, but in the next shot of the Captain, with the festival in his background, it is now raining. Finally, in the next shot, as the Captain runs to the doorway, it is again no longer raining. (03:06:10)
Continuity mistake: Before they arrive at the French plantation there's a shot of the back of the boat with Clean's dead body lying there. If you look closely the blood splatter is entirely different from the shot when Chief Phillips turns around and first sees that Clean's been killed. The two main differences are that at this point there's blood on the rear machine gun where there wasn't any before, and there's no blood on the right of the V shaped support bar of the 60-caliber machine gun where it had been covered prior. (01:55:40)
Continuity mistake: As Kilgore introduces Lance to his surfing buddies he says to him, " none of us are anywhere near your class though". Captain Willard's cigarette and it's ash gets shorter between shots. (00:30:25)
Continuity mistake: As Chef and Captain Willard are walking through the jungle looking for mangos Chef says," I was supposed to go to Paris" as he's walking over the roots of a huge tree. He continues talking but in the next shot he's out in the open, nowhere near the roots of that tree. (00:57:00)
Continuity mistake: As they approach Vin Din Dop, Chef asks one of the other soldiers, "How come all you guys sit on your helmets?", then puts his left hand on his rifle site. In the next shot his hand is four inches below the site. (00:37:05)
Continuity mistake: As Kilgore's chopper lands it blows orange smoke over the men when we see their backs. In the next shot looking in the direction of the helicopter the smoke is nowhere near them. (00:26:45)
Continuity mistake: Just before Colonel Kurtz falls to the ground we catch a glimpse of him with blood running from the top of his head down the right side of his face. Several seconds later as the lies on the ground dying there are only a few small drops of blood on the right side of his face. (03:08:05)
Continuity mistake: Clean continues to tell the guys his story and says, "One day the gook took his magazine away from him and wouldn't give them back to him," and Captain Willard's right hand goes from leaning against the machine gun to touching his head between shots. (01:12:30)
Other mistake: Clean gets some tapes from his mom back home but if you look closely at the back of his tape recorder as he grabs it there's no way for him to play the tapes without batteries in it. (01:51:00)
Continuity mistake: Dennis Hopper holds his cigarette between the first and second finger of his left hand before he gives the water to Captain Willard in the bamboo cage. In the next shot as he gives him the water the cigarette is between his thumb and first finger. Then in the shot after that it's between his first and second finger again. (02:42:50)
Continuity mistake: As Lance prepares Chief Phillips' body for burial at sea they are both surrounded by orange smoke. In the previous shot the PBR was surrounded by purple smoke. (02:23:50)
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)
Continuity mistake: There's a perfect backlit shot of Captain Willard as he swings at Colonel Kurtz and he's now wielding a third machete as he kills him. This one has a square hatchet like blade attached to a long handle. (03:07:45)
Continuity mistake: During the arrow attack Lance shouts out, "Cut it out, quiet". The boat is traveling straight ahead but 10 seconds later Lance shouts out again, "Quiet" and the shoreline behind him is the exact same spot. (02:21:55)
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: 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)
Continuity mistake: As they approach the USO show at Hau Phat, Clean has a very large zit on the left of his chin. Later in this scene as he's speaking to the sergeant about getting some fuel it's gone. (01:03:30 - 01:04:55)
Continuity mistake: As the boat approaches Kurtz' compound the natives in the canoes are looking forward. In the next shot they're facing sideways looking at the PBR. (02:28:15)
Audio problem: Before they dock at the USO show at Hau Phat Chef says, "Jesus". He also says some other stuff that has been edited out. (01:04:00)
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