With news of Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis having a troubled production, many are reminded of Coppola's other famously difficult process of making Apocalypse Now. Of course, given that movie's reputation, it is clear that the master filmmaker can make a masterpiece out of the most challenging of situations. But even with the acclaimed reputation of the movie, Apocalypse Now, like all movies, has its share of mistakes that fans might notice when rewatching it.

Just like The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola's war-thriller film Apocalypse Now is often considered a masterpiece in film-making. The 1979 film is set during the Vietnam War and boasts a cast including Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, and Harrison Ford among many others. It went on to critical praise, box office success, and iconic status. But while critics loved the plot and the performances, they might have failed to notice the numerous mistakes in the film. There were mistakes of all kinds, notably factual errors, continuity errors, footage errors, and audio errors. Even as one of the most beloved movies of all time, fans can still find mistakes in Apocalypse Now.

Willard's Camouflaged Make-Up

Captain Willard goes to attack Kurtz in Apocalypse Now

In the final stages of the film, Captain Willard gets the perfect chance to finally complete his mission. He sneaks into Kurtz's chamber to kill him as the Montagnards are slaughtering a water buffalo. He attacks him with a machete, leaving him dead, before walking away with his writings.

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However, when he is first seen getting into the water before the attack, he does not have any camouflage makeup on his face. But when he emerges from the water moments later, he does.

Incorrect NATO Alphabet

Harrison Ford in Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is seen as one of the best military movies of all time, but it can still get details of that world wrong. This includes a moment in which Willard listens to transmissions pertaining to Kurtz.

One of these transitions identifies sectors using the NATO alphabet, including the words "Peter" and "King" denoting "P" and "K." However, the NATO alphabet was changed in 1956, before the events of the movie, to feature "Papa" and "Kilo" instead of "Peter" and "King." The NATO alphabet has remained unchanged since then.

Kilgore's Hat

Though he is only featured briefly in the overall epic story, Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore is one of the most fascinating characters in the movie. He can switch between seeming like a brilliant military strategist with respect for his enemy to seeming like a warmonger who has lost his mind.

Throughout his appearance, Kilgore wears a hat that makes him stand out even more. However, while the hat initially features an insignia on the form with his rank, it is suddenly gone in later scenes.

Audio-Visual Synchronization When Willard Gets Briefed

Captain Willard getting briefed in Apocalypse Now

In the early stages of the film, Captain Benjamin L. Willard is summoned by two military commanders and a CIA agent to the I Field Force headquarters located in Nha Trang. He is briefed about the rogue colonel named Kurtz and given the mission to go kill him in order to end his reign of madness.

But whenever the high-ranking officers mention Kurtz during the briefing, they are seen mouthing something else, This is because they are saying "Lieghley," which was the name of Kurtz in the original script. Also, when Willard is shown a picture of Kurtz, the name on his tag clearly reads "Lieghley" not Kurtz. With a surprisingly perfect movie like Apocalypse Now, it is wild to see such a striking error.

Surfboards On The Helicopter

The helicopter attack in Apocalypse Now

Another aspect of Kilgore's character that makes him so eccentric is his love of surfing. Even in the midst of a chaotic battle, Kilgore is interested in finding the opportunity to catch the perfect wave with his men.

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This adds a surreal aspect to his scenes, including a shot in which surfboards are seen strapped to the side of Kilgore's helicopter. However, when the helicopter is seen again, there are the standard missile barrels in the place where the surfboards used to be.

Kilgore's First Scene Is Problematic

Kilgore in Apocalypse Now

Both visual and factual errors can be noticed when Colonel Kilgore first meets Captain Willard. When Kilgore gets off the chopper, he is wearing sunglasses and in their reflection, a boom mic is clearly visible and so is a member of the film crew.

Willard and Kilgore also exchange salutes. This is something that doesn't happen in real life. Soldiers are normally advised not to salute each other in a combat zone in order to avoid showing a potential enemy sniper who the commander is. A good example is in the movie Forrest Gump, where Lt. Dan told Gump and Bubba to avoid saluting him even in the base.

An Invincible Chopper's Shadow?

Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now

After Captain Benjamin Willard's briefing by the two generals and a CIA agent, a chopper is seen flying over the hills as he makes preparations to go and find Kurtz. But despite there being no other chopper in sight, the shadow of another chopper can be seen at the bottom, right next to Willard's.

This is probably the chopper that was carrying the cameramen. The film's editing team did their best to not show the actual chopper, but they must have not noticed its shadow.

Digging Up Unrelated Information

Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now

After being briefed about Kurtz, Willard dedicates some time to digging up more information about him. He reads a couple of newspaper articles about the rogue commander. But while a picture of Kurtz is briefly shown in the papers, none of the articles are actually about him.

A closer look at what Willard is reading shows articles about Iranian, West German, and American negotiations about nuclear weapons. This mistake was still not fixed in the inferior director's cut that was released years later.

A Head That's Been Cut Off Is Still Breathing

Colonel Kurtz sits in shadow in Apocalypse Now

One of the crewmen of the river patrol boat was named Chef. At one point, Willard gets captured and brought before Kurtz at the temples. Kurtz also kills Chef, thus preventing him from calling in the airstrike.

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As Kurtz and Willard are having a conversation, Kurtz throws Chef's severed head at him. Willard then kicks it off his feet. When a camera zooms in closer to the head, it's clearly breathing. A severed head has not only lost its biological functionality but it has also been detached from the lungs, hence it cannot breathe.

Playmates Of The Year

Playboy scene in Apocalypse Now

Another famous sequence is the stop at the USO show featuring Playmate Cynthia Wood. It is one of the few moments of supposed respite for the characters only for it to become yet another surreal misadventure.

However, with the timelines of the movie, some of the choices of Playmates don't match up. Along with Wood being the Playmate of the Year in 1974, years after the events of the movie, the various pinups seen on the wall behind the quartermaster show centerfolds from the 1970s.

Mouth Movement With No Words

The USO show sequence is another wild one in the movie and is filled with a lot of chaos. It is not surprising that many fans might have missed an instance of some dialogue clearly being removed from a scene.

At one point, one of the playmates is with the soldiers. Clean goes on to tell her: "Well I'm next ma'am." He also says a couple of other things, but these are edited out. It isn't censoring per se. It's just a statement that the editing team deemed unnecessary. The scene thus looks awkward with his mouth moving for several seconds, but nothing can be heard. The mouth movement ought to have been cut out too.

Visible Blood Bag And Harnesses

Apocalypse Now - Chief Phillips

Near the end of the film, a spear pierces Chief Phillips. Strangely enough, when Willard tries to help him, Phillips does the unthinkable by trying to also stab Willard with the spear. This is probably due to the fact that it was Willard who had dragged them into the mess, hence he was angry about it.

During the scene, a harness can be seen on Phillips' shirt. It's holding the opposite ends of the spear to make it look like it has indeed gone through his body. And as he lies on the ground, a blood bag can be seen under his shirt. The bad definitely stored the fake blood used to film the scene.

The Captain Willard Vs Colonel Kurtz Fight

Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now

The final showdown between Captain Willard and Colonel Kurtz is an entertaining one. As Willard takes a second swing with a machete at Kurtz, a spark occurs on the wall right behind his head. However, the blade makes no contact with the wall before that. It only lands on Kurtz's body.

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The spark was clearly meant for another scene where the blade would make contact with the wall. But that specific scene only occurs later, thus the appearance of the spark seems unrealistic. This error could be seen in the seventh minute of the third hour.

A Changing Number Of Planes

Four helipcopters fly in the distance with the blazing sun in the background in Apocalypse Now.

The iconic "Ride of the Valkyries" battle sequence is proof enough that Apocalypse Now is a movie that needs to be seen in theaters. It is a wild and thrilling scene that builds to Kilgore calling in planes to drop napalm on the enemies.

Footage of the planes coming in is shown several times throughout the sequence, but the number of planes is inconsistent between the shots. While there are first four planes seen flying together, the next shot sees a couple more suddenly appear.

Huts Explode Then Reappear

Apocalypse Now opening

In about the 40th minute, Kilgore's men raid the Viet Cong at the coastal mouth. The choppers stage a deadly assault on the huts at the beach. Three of the huts that have communist flags on top of them are seen exploding within seconds of each other, thanks to the bombs being dropped.

A few seconds later, one of the chopper pilots shouts: "We're taking fire from the holes!" At that point, the three huts are seen intact once again before they are destroyed again for a second time.

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