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TITLE



				A P O C A L Y P S E   N O W 



		Original screenplay by John Milius.

		Inspired by Joseph Conrad's "HEART OF DARKNESS".

		This draft by Francis Ford Coppola.

		December 3, 1975.



	1  PRIMEVAL SWAMP - EARLY DAWN

	It is very early in the dawn - blue light filters through 
	the jungle and across a foul swamp. A mist clings to the 
	trees. This could be the jungle of a million years ago.

	Our VIEW MOVES CLOSER, through the mist, TILTING DOWN to 
	the tepid water. A small bubble rises to the surface;
	then another. Suddenly, but quietly, a form begins to 
	emerge; a helmet. Water and mud pour off revealing a set 
	of beady eyes just above the mud. Printed on a helmet, 
	in a psychedelic  hand, are the words: "Gook Killer." 
	The head emerges revealing that the tough-looking soldier 
	beneath has  exceptionally long hair and beard; he has no 
	shirt on, only bandoliers of ammunition - his body is
	painted in an odd camouflage pattern. He looks to the 
	right; he looks to the left; he looks INTO CAMERA, and
	slowly sinks back into the swamp, disapperaring completely.

	Our VIEW HOLDS, We begin to HEAR natural, though 
	unrecognizable JUNGLE SOUNDS, far off in the distance.
	We PAN TO REVEAL a clump of logs half submerged in the
	swamp; and part of what seems to be a Falstaff beer can
	in the mud. A hand reaches out, and the beer can disappears.
	As we TILT UP, we NOTICE that the log is hollow 
	and houses the rear of a M-60 machine gun, hand painted
	in a paisley design.

	Now the VIEW MOVES AWAY, ACROSS the ancient growth, PAST
	the glimmer of what seems to be another soldier hiding in
	ambush, wearing an exotic hat made from birds and bushes.
	ACROSS to a dark trail where the legs of those in black
	pajamas move silently across our ever TIGHTENING VIEW.
	Their feet, boots and sandals leave no impression; make
	no sound. A slight flicker of light reveals a pair of
	eyes in the foliage across the path, waiting and watching.

	The VIEW PUSHES ALONG WITH the Vietnamese, MOVING FASTER
	AND FASTER WITH them, until suddenly, directly in front
	about ten feet away, an enormous AMERICAN clad in rags
	and bushes and holding a 12 gauge automatic shotgun
	casually at his side, steps in front of them. He smiles
	laconically, and BLASTS OUT FIVE SHOTS that rip THROUGH
	US. By the second shot, the whole jungle blazes out 
	with AUTOMATIC FIRE.

	Out VIEW TURNS as the men around us are thrown and torn,
	screaming and scattering into the jungle. More AMERICANS
	appear; unexplainably, out of the growth. It is now that
	we fully SEE the bizarre manner in which they are dressed.
	Some wear helmets, others wear strange hats made from
	feathers and parts of animals. Some of them have long
	savage-looking hair; other crew-cut or completely shaved;
	they wear bandoliers, flak jackets, shorts and little else.
	They wear Montagnard sandals or no shoes at all, and their
	bodies and faces are painted in bizarre camouflage patterns.
	They appear one with the jungle and mist, FIRING INTO US
	as they move.

	The soldier we saw earlier emerges from the swamp, dripping
	mud, his MACHINE GUN BLASTING FIRE.

	We begin to move quickly with one Vietnamese, breathlessly
	running for his life; we MOVE INTO the jungle with him,
	only to be impaled on a large spear of a smiling AMERICAN
	painted and wearing feathers like an Indian. OUR VIEW
	FALLS WITH him to the ground, STARING UPWARDS, as FLAME
	and EXPLODING MUD scatter above us. Men scream and die
	around us. The screams amid the GUNFIRE and EXPLOSIONS
	are piercing and terrible, as though the jungle itself is
	frightened.

	An AMERICAN wearing a jungle hat with a large Peace Sign
	on it, wearing war paint, bends TOWARD US, reaching down
	TOWARD US with a large knife, preparing to scalp the
	dead.

	OUR VIEW MOVES AWAY, along with the running sandals of a
	Vietnamese soldier, MOVING FASTER AND FASTER, only to be
	stopped by still another of the savage-looking AMERICANS
	with primitive ornamentation, wearing only a loin-cloth
	and green beret. He opens his flame-thrower directly ON US
	and the NVA soldier and we are incinerated in flame,
	bright psychedelic orange-red flame. Outrageous, loud,
	electric ROCK MUSIC OVERWHELMS the SOUNDTRACK :


		MAIN TITLE : APOCALYPSE NOW


	2  TITLE SEQUENCE

	The CREDIT TITLES proceed as the FLANE CONSUME US, 
	growing more intense, brighter, more vivid, purifying;
	transforming into an intense white heat that we can barely
	look at, like the sun itself.

	Then it EXPLODES, breking apart, and shattering once
	again. It begins to cool, as the TITLES CONTINUE. It
	is as though WE ARE MOVING through the white center of
	cooling flame, forming a spinning web, and becoming more
	distant. The TITLES CONTINUE.

	We are MOVING TOWARD planetary nebulae; MOVING through the
	stars; MOVING closer to the Earth. We can BARELY HEAR the
	MUSIC  now.

	We MOVE CLOSER to the earth; beautiful, covered in clouds,
	as though SEEN from a satellite. The TITLES CONTINUE.

	We are MOVING CLOSER to the earth; through the soft clouds,
	close enough that we can MAKE OUT the Western Hemisphere;
	CLOSER to North America; CLOSER, to America, then California;
	Los Angeles, STILL CLOSER to the odd, finger-like
	shapes of :


	3  EXT. MARINA DEL REY

	The VIEW finally SETTLES ON a partically luxury cabin
	cruiser harbored at a particular dock late in the day.

	It is large, pleasure boat: The people are relaxing in
	bathing suits and towels and robes. They are drinking
	cocktails, and snapping pictures. The boat belongs to the
	head of a large American Corporation, and this is his
	party. This man, CHARLIE, is sitting, his shirt off to
	catch some of the late sun. Others have their faces
	smeared with white suntan oil that reminds us of war
	paint. Charlie is going on and on :

				CHARLIE
		... It's crazy -- sugar is up to
		200 dollars a ton -- sugar !

				LAWYER
		What about oil ?

				CHARLIE
		Food, oil --look, let me show you
		something. This is the economy of
		the United States in two years --

	He takes a newspaper, draws a circle.

				CHARLIE
			(continuing)
		This is West Germany.
			(he draws another,
			 bigger circle)
		This is Japan.
			(another , bigger)
		This is Italy.
			(a dot)
		This is Iran.
			(a very big circle)
		And this is Saudi Arabia... In
		two years ?
			(a gigantic circle)
		Do you understand ?

				ACCOUNTANT
		What's to prevent it ?

				CHARLIE
		Maybe nothing. But I'll tell you,
		I didn't build a two-billion-dollar
		company in the last twenty years
		by doing nothing. We can protect
		our interests.
			(pause, for a drink)
		We are still the most powerful
		nation in the world. Militarily.

	He leans to his associates, in a half-whisper.

				CHARLIE
			(continuing)
		You know bodyguard; he was a
		captain in Viet Nam. You talk to
		him, except he won't talk. This
		kind of man can kill you with his
		pinky. A nice quiet fella, though.

	The VIEW BEGINS TO PULL AWAY from this group.

				CHARLIE
			(continuing)
		Carries a attache case at all
		times. You know what's in it ?
			(another sip)
		An Ingram Machine pistol.

	Gradually, Charlie's voice softens as we MOVE AWAY, and a
	NEW VOICE, the voice of someone thinking, COMES IN OVER it :

		CHARLIE					WILLARD (V.O.)
	I don't tahe chances, and			Bullshit. You can kill
	neither should this country.			with the ridge of your
	If we're strong, we should			hand to the throat; you
	protect our interests, and			can crush a skull with
	we should have the respect			your knee... but you
	of the world, even if it				can't kill anybody with
	takes another war.				your pinky.

	The VIEW MOVE ALONG the guests of this small party :
	Pictures being taken, some people are swimming. It is the
	good life. Now WILLARD'S VOICE TRACK DOMINATES.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		The attache case has been empty
		for three years, but it makes him
		safe to think there's a machine
		pistol in it.

		I don't like automatic weapons.
		They jam.

		I saw a friend of mine get
		ripped open because he flicked his
		M-16 to automatic, and it jammed.
		How much money did the contractors
		make on the M-16 ?

	Our VIEW IS MOVING through the people on the boat; some
	reading, flirting, drinking.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
			(continuing)
		He likes to hear stories about Nam.
		I tell him I can't; they're not
		cleared. The truth is he wouldn't
		understand.

	We can now SEE A MAN with his BACK TO US, looking the
	opposite way. An attache case resting near to him. We 
	MOVE CLOSER.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
			(continuing)
		There's no way I can tell them...
		what really happened over there.

		I wouldn't've believed it if
		someone'd told me.

	We are now RESTING on his back. Occasionally, he sips
	from a beer, but we cannot see his face.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
			(continuing)
		There was only one part that
		mattered -- for me, anyway. I
		don't even know if I remember
		all of it. I can't remember
		how it ended, exactly -- because
		when it ended I was insane.

							DISSOLVE TO :

	4  EXT. A STREET IN SAIGON - DAY

	A Saigon boom street in late 1968. There are bars and
	shops for servicemen; the rickshaws, the motorbikes.
	Our VIEW MOVES TOWARD one particular officer; B.L.
	WILLARD , in uniform, a Captain of the Airborne, followed
	by four or five Vietnamese kids trying to shine his
	shoes and sell him things.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		But I know how it started
		for me -- I was on R. and R.
		in Saigon; my first time south
		of the DMZ in three months. I
		wasn't sure, but I thought this
		guy was following me.

	Willard looks back.


	5  HIS VIEW

	an American CIVILIAN.


	6  MED. VIEW

	Willard ducks into a bar.


	7  INT. THE SAIGON BAR - DAY

	Not much in this place -- a bar, linoleum flooring, a few
	tables and chairs, and a juke box. The lounge is fairly
	crowded. Willard takes off his cap and walks quietly
	past the soldiers at the bar. Some of them, catching
	sight of his ribbons, stop talking as he moves by.

	An INFANTRY CAPTAIN enters the bar, buys a couple of
	drinks and approaches Willard's table.

				CAPTAIN
		How about a drink ?

				WILLARD
		Sure, thanks.

	He sits down at the table with the drinks.

				CAPTAIN
		Winning the war by yourself.

				WILLARD
			(he calls for the waiter)
		Part.

				CAPTAIN
		Which part is that ?

				WILLARD
		My part.
			(TO THE WAITER)
		Beer, with ice and water.

	   
				CAPTAIN
		That's good gin.

				WILLARD
		I'm sure it is, but I had hepatitis.

				CAPTAIN
		Delta ?

				WILLARD
		No.

				CAPTAIN
		North ?

				WILLARD
		Yeah. Way north.

				CAPTAIN
		What unit were you with ?

				WILLARD
		None.

				CAPTAIN
		Rangers, eh?

				WILLARD
		Sort of.

	The JUKE BOX starts BLARING. Annoyed , Willard looks over
	his shoulder.

				CAPTAIN
		Were you Longe Range Recon --

				WILLARD
		No -- I worked too far north for
		LRRP.

	He reaches into his shirt pocket for a cigarette, and the
	Captain leans over the table to light it for him. Willard
	notices the CIVILIAN on the street has glanced in the bar,
	then enters and sits down at a table by the doorway.

				CAPTAIN
		That's quite an array of ribbons...

				WILLARD
		Let's talk about you.

				CAPTAIN
		I was an FO for the 25th.

				WILLARD
		Tracks ?

				CAPTAIN
		Yeah.

				WILLARD
		Fat. That's real fat.

				CAPTAIN
		Sometimes.

				WILLARD
		At least you always have enough
		water. How many gallons does
		each one of those damn things
		carry ?

				CAPTAIN
		Thirty -- sometimes fifty.

				WILLARD
		You know, I can remember once,
		getting back below the DMZ -- and
		the first Americans we ran into
		were a track squadron. I just
		couldn't believe how much water
		they had. We'd been chewing
		bamboo shoots for almost a week,
		and before that, for two weeks,
		we'd been drinking anything --
		rain water, river shit, stuff
		right out of the paddies. And
		there were these guys standing
		by their trucks spilling water
		all over. I could've killed them.
			(solemnly)
		I swear to God I would have, too,
		if ...

				CAPTAIN
		I didn't know we had units up
		there in North Vietnam.

				WILLARD
		We do.

				CAPTAIN
		How long were you up there ?

				WILLARD
		A long time.

				CAPTAIN
		A year ? Waiter another beer.

				WILLARD
		I go up on missions. Listen
		Captain, buy me all the beer
		you want, but you better tell
		that asshole over there you're
		not going to find out anymore
		about me.

	Willard glances over his shoulder and indicates the
	Civilian. The Civilian is given a sign by the Captain.
	He rises and comes over to the bar.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		What do you want ?

				CIVILIAN
			(indicating the Army jeep)
		If you're B.L. Willard, 4th Recon
		Group, we'd like you to come with
		us.

				WILLARD
		Whose orders ?

				CAPTAIN
		Headquarters 11 Corps -- 405th
		A.S.A Battalion -- S-2 --
		Com-Sec -- Intelligence --
		Nha Trang.

				WILLARD
		Who are you ?

				CIVILIAN
		The agency.

	Willard looks at the Civilian a moment, and then walks
	roght out toward the jeep without saying another word.
	The Civilian follows.


	8  EXT. HELICOPTER - DUSK

	A darkly painted "HUEY" ROARS over low paddies and jungle
	before emerging onto an open plain. It crosses a barbed
	wire and sand-bagged perimeter and lands in a heavily
	fortified, concealed compound.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		They took me to some place outside
		Nha Trang... Intelligence Headquarters
		for all operations in South East Asia.
		I'd worked for Intelligence before --

	Armed men jump from the Huey -- among them Willard. A
	large camouflaged cover is moved, revealing an underground
	corridor -- they enter.


	9  FULL SHOT - UNDERGROUND PLOTTING ROOM

	A door swings wide -- Willard steps through and comes to
	attention, blocking the view of the room. A strange
	reddish light pervades. The room is covered with plastic
	maps and filled with smoke.

	The whole place has been hewn out of the ground itself
	and there is a sense of the cut-back jungle growth slowly
	reclaiming it.

				WILLARD
		Captain B.L. Willard, G-4 Headquarters,
		reporting as ordered, sir.

				COLONEL (O.S.)
		Okay, Willard, sit down.

	Willard sits in a chair that is set in a center of a
	bare concrete floor. Across from him, around steel desks
	and tables sit several men. The nearest one, a COLONEL
	puts his cigar out on the bottom of his shoe -- behind
	him sits a MAJOR and a seedy-looking CIVILIAN.

				COLONEL
		Have you ever seen this officer
		before, Captain Willard ?

	He points to the Major.

				WILLARD
		No, sir.

				COLONEL
		This gentleman or myself ?

				WILLARD
		No, sir.

				COLONEL
		I believe on your last job you
		executed a tax collector in Kontum,
		is that right ?

				WILLARD
		I am not presently disposed to
		discuss that, sir.

				MAJOR
		Very good.

	He turns to the Colonel and nods his approval. The
	Colonel gets up and goes to a large plastic map.

				COLONEL
		You know much about about Special Forces;
		Green Berets, Captain ?

				WILLARD
		I've worked with them on occasions
		and I saw the movie , sir.

	The officer smiles at this.

				COLONEL
		Then you can appreciate Command's
		concern over their -- shall we say
		'erratic' methods of operation.
			(pause)
		I have never favored elite units,
		Captain, including your paratroopers
		or whatever. Just because a man
		jumps out of an airplane or wears
		a silly hat doesn't give him any
		priviliges in my book -- not in
		this man's army.

				MAJOR
		We didn't need 'em in Korea --
		no sir, give me an Ohio farm boy
		and an M-1 Garand, none of this
		fancy crap -- no sir.

				CIVILIAN
			(stopping him)
		Major.

				COLONEL
		We have Special Forces A
		detachments all along the
		Cambodian border. Two here and
		another one here -- twelve or
		fourteen Americans -- pretty
		much on their own; they train
		and motivate Montagnard natives;
		pick their own operations. If
		they need something, they call 
		for it, and get it within
		reason. What we're concerned
		with is here.


	10  CLOSE VIEW - ON THE MAP

				COLONEL
		The A detachment at Nu Mung Ba.
		It was originally a larger base,
		built up along the river in an
		old Cambodian fortress.
	
		The area has been relatively
		quiet for the past two years --
		but --


	11  MED VIEW

				COLONEL
		... Captain, we know something's
		going on up there -- Major --

	The Major looks at some papers in front of him.

				MAJOR
		Communications naturally dwindled
		with the lack of V.C. activity,
		this is routine, expected ... but
		six months ago communication
		virtually stopped.

				COLONEL
		About the same time -- large numbers
		of Montagnards of the M'Nong descent
		began leaving the area -- this in
		itself is not unusual since these
		people have fought with the Rhade
		Tribe that lived in the area for
		centuries. But what is unusual is
		that we began to find Rhade refugees
		too -- in the same sampans as the
		M'Nongs. These people aren't afraid
		of V.C. They've put up with war
		for twenty years -- but something
		is driving them out.

				MAJOR
		We communicate with the base
		infrequently. What they call for
		are air strikes, immediate --
		always at night. And we don't
		know what or who the air strikes
		are called on.

				WILLARD
		Who ?

				MAJOR
		You see, no one has really gone
		into this area and come back alive.

				WILLARD
		Why me ?

				MAJOR
		Walter Kurtz, Lieutenant Colonel,
		Special Forces. We understand
		you knew him.

	He puts Kurtz' dossier in Willard's hand.

				WILLARD
		Yeah.

				COLONEL
		He's commanding the detachment
		at Nu Mung Ba.

	The Colonel gets up and walks over to a tape recorder,
	flicks it on. The recording is first STATIC -- the
	AIR CONTROLLER then asks for more information on target
	coordinates -- it all sounds very routine, military.
	Then a frantic VOICE comes on, talking slurred, like
	someone dumb, except very fast.

				VOICE (ON TAPE)
		Up 2 -- 0 -- give it to me quick --
		Mark flare -- affirmative damn --
		Immediate receive -- hearing
		automatic weapons fire man ...

	GUNFIRE is HEARD and a lower, slower VOICE in background.

				SECOND VOICE
		Blue Delta five
		This Big Rhine -- three
		Need that ordinance immediately
		Goddamn give it to me immediate
		Christ -- Big Rhino --
		Blue God -- Delta damn -- goddamn.

	A heavy BURST of AUTOMATIC WEAPONS FIRE -- INSANE LAUGHTER
	-- STATIC, and faintly, very faintly we HEAR HARD ROCK
	MUSIC -- more STATIC -- suddenly a low, clear VOICE
	peaceful and serene, almost tasting the words.

				THIRD VOICE
		This is Big Rhino six -- Blue Delta.

				MAJOR
		That's Colonel Kurtz.

				KURTZ (V.O.)
		I want that napalm dropped in the
		trees -- spread it among the
		branches.

		We'll give you a flare -- an
		orange one -- bright orange.
			(STATIC)
		We'd also like some white phosporous,
		Blue Delta. White phosporous, give
		it to me.

	STATIC interrupts -- the Major turns the machine off.

				WILLARD
		I only met Kurtz once.

				CIVILIAN
		Would he remember you ?

				WILLARD
		Maybe.

				COLONEL
		What was your impression of him ?

	Willard shrugs.

				CIVILIAN
		You didn't like him.

				WILLARD
		Anyone got a cigarette.

	The Major offers him one; they wait as he lights up, thinks.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		I thought he was a lame.

				COLONEL
		A lame ?

				WILLARD
		This is years ago, before he
		joined Special Forces, I guess.
		We had an argument.

				COLONEL
		About what ?

				WILLARD
		I don't know. He was a lame,
		that's all.

				COLONEL
		But why ?

				WILLARD
		He couldn't get through a
		sentence without all these
		big words; about why we kill.

				COLONEL
		Well, he's killing now.

				WILLARD
		Maybe.

				CIVILIAN
		What does that mean ?

				WILLARD
		Maybe it's not Kurtz. I don't
		believe he's capable of that.
		I just don't believe it.

				COLONEL
		It's got to be Kurtz.

				CIVILIAN
		The point is that Kurtz or
		somebody attacked a South
		Vietnamese Ranger Platoon three
		days ago. Last week a Recon
		helicopter was lost in the area --
		another took heavy damage --
		direct fire from their base
		camp.

				WILLARD
		Our Recon flight ?

				CIVILIAN
		Ours.

				WILLARD
		Touchy.

				CIVILIAN
		You can see, of course, the
		implications, if any of this --
		even rumours leaked out.

				WILLARD
		You want me to clean it up --
		simple and quiet.

				CIVILIAN
		Exactly -- you'll go up the
		Nung River in a Navy P.B.R. --
		appear at Nu Mung Ba as if by
		accident, re-establish your
		acquintance with Colonel Kurtz,
		find out what's happened -- and
		why. Then terminate his command.

				WILLARD
		Terminate ?

				CIVILIAN
		Terminate with extreme prejudice.


	12  FULL VIEW - ON THE DELTA

	A waterway leading out to the ocean -- it is broken and
	divided into hundreds of channels, islands, water farms.

	A Navy patrol boat (P.B.R.) is waiting by a dock area.
	This is small, light craft, very fast, and heavily
	armed. Its men stand at attention in a small and simple
	military ceremony. Willard approaches them in battle-
	dress: Tiger suit, full field pack, forty-five, helmet,
	M-16. The boat commander salutes Willard.


	13  MED. VIEW

	We hear the introductions faintly, UNDER Willard's VOICE.
			
				WILLARD (V.O.)
		I met the P.B.R. crew; they were
		pretty much all kids, except for
		Phillips, the Chief -- Gunner's
		Mate Third Class L. Johnson --
		Lance Johnson; Gunner's Mate
		Third Class J. Hicks -- The Chef --
		Radio Operator Second Class T.
		Miller; they called him Mr. Clean.

				WILLARD
		Chief, try to keep out of where
		we're going -- Why we're goin' and
		what's gonna be the big surprise.

				CHIEF
		All right with me, I used to drive
		a taxi.

				WILLARD
		Let's go.

	The Chief nods.  They all break formation and jump aboard
	and otherwise go about their work.

	The twin diesels kick up -- and t he boat moves away from
	the dock. The Chef jumps aboard; Lance mans the forward
	twin fifty-caliber machine guns -- they wave to the guards
	on the dock and move away into the complexity that leads
	to the ocean.

							DISSOLVE TO :



	14  FULL VIEW - STORMY SEA

	The boat slams through the heavy sea ; hurtling off the
	top of a wave and crashing full into the trough of another.


	15  MED. SHOT - BOAT COCKPIT - WILLARD AND CHIEF

	Willard holds on to whatever he can -- he looks very pale.
	Water crashes over the bow and drenches everyone. The
	Chief mans the wheel and the ENGINES WHINE. Lance climbs
	back from his position. He looks at Willard, who just
	stares ahead into space, swallowing.

							DISSOLVE TO :



	16  LONG SHOT - BOAT DUSK

	The dusk is spectacular through the broken storm clouds --
	the sea is calm again.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	17  VIEW ON THE BOAT - PROCEEDING UP THE COAST

	The Chief is at the helm -- Willard approaches him.

				CHIEF
		The Delta closes off to us about
		ten  miles out of Hau Fat. We'll
		be able to pick up some supplies --
		bit I think there are only two
		points we can draw enough water
		to get into the Nung River. It's
		all Charlie's turf from there on
		out.

				WILLARD
		We're gonna have some help to
		get in the river. You know
		these waters, Chief ?

				CHIEF
		'Bout six months ago I took a man
		up to Lo Mung Bridge. He was
		regular Army too. Shot himself
		in the head. I brought his body 
		back down.

				WILLARD
		Shot himself. What for ?

				CHIEF
		Beats me -- the sun was too much
		for him, or the mud. Who knows ?

	Pause, looking at Willard.


	18  CLOSE SHOT - ON WILLARD

	Suddenly, his attention is diverted -- there is a slow
	buffeting, as if the air around them is being sucked out
	and replaced quickly. The boat shakes slightly. There
	is a distant ROLLING NOISE like interrupted thunder. All
	the men have stopped whatever they're doing -- stand up
	and look out toward the shore and the green jungle hills
	beyond. The buffeting and NOISE CONTINUES -- they all
	stand silently -- suddenly it stops.

				WILLARD
		Arch light.

				CHEF
		I hate that -- Every time I hear
		that noise something terrible 
		happens.

				CHIEF
		Anybody see some smoke ?

				CLEAN
		Too far inland.

				LANCE
		There they are.

	He points up to the sky.


	19 FULL SHOT - ON THE SKY

	Way up -- past any clouds and barely discernible, we SEE
	the black silhouttes of four B-52 bombers, their vapor
	trails streaming white against the dark blue sky.

				CLEAN
		Charlie don't ever hear 'em. Not
		till it's too late -- don't have
		to hit you neither, concussion'll
		do it for a quarter mile or better.
		Burst your ears -- suck the air
		outta your lungs.


	20  FULL SHOT - BOAT - CREW

	They are looking up. Willard sits down, unconcerned.
	He takes out the dossier given him by ComSec. He
	flips through the letters and other documents.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		The dossier on A detachment had
		letters from Kurtz' wife and the
		wives and families of his men.
		All asking where to send future
		mail, understanding the necessery
		silence due to the nature of
		their work -- None of the men had
		written home in half a year.

	Occasionally, in the b.g., we FEEL the terrifying buffeting
	of the distant B-52 BOMBING.


	21  CLOSE - ON WILLARD

	studying, examining a report.


	22  MONTAGE - PICTURES OF KURTZ

	Kurtz' face evolves through the various stages of his
	career as represented in the pictures in the dossier,
	as Willard reads :

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		Lieutenant Kurtz has shown a
		dedicated and well-disciplined
		spirit. He is a fine officer,
		combining military efficiency --
		with a broad background in the
		Humanities, the Arts and Sciences ...

	Another picture of Kurtz in Germany, standing next to the
	161st Petroleum Supply Group sign.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
			(continuing)
		... He views his military career
		as the dedication of his talents
		to bringing our values and way of
		life to those darker, less
		fortunate areas in the world.

	A SHOT of Kurtz at jump school.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
			(continuing)
		... I feel Captain Kurtz' request
		for Special Forces training is
		highly unusual in regard to his
		past humanitarian concerns, and
		his somewhat liberal politics,
		though I can see no reason to
		deny it.

	A CLOSE SHOT of Kurtz with Green Beret on in the Vietnam
	jungle. His face is blank and vacant.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
			(continuing)
		... We feel Major Kurtz' need to
		bring a sense of Western culture
		to the backward peoples of these
		areas will be of use in
		accordance with our 'Vietnamization'
		programs ...

	MOVE IN TO Kurtz' empty eyes until the photograph is just
	a BLURRED MASS OF DOTS.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	23  EXT. HAU FAT - AN ADVANCE STAGING AREA

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		One day later we came to an
		advanced staging area along the
		coast. This was our last chance
		to pick up supplies before
		approaching the mouth of the
		Nung River.
		 
	The VIEW OF THE COASTLINE leading up along the long load-
	ing docks at Hau Fat, an advance staging area for opera-
	tions "Brute Force" and "Mailed Fist."

	Everywhere are tents -- oil drums -- sandbagged bunkers --
	helicopters -- tanks -- guns -- men. Nobody builds
	advanced staging areas like the Americans.

	As the P.B.R. approaches the docking area, Lance notices
	something.

				LANCE
		Hey.

	They look as a Chris-craft speeds by pulling a fancy water-
	skier who waves as he slaloms by. The men just look at
	one another.


	24  VIEW ON THE DOCK

	The P.B.R. pulls in -- the men scan the busy surroundings.

				CHIEF
		Lance -- I want you to go with the
		Captain an' get three extra drums
		of fuel and maybe scrounge some
		more 50 caliber.

				LANCE
		Yeah -- look at those uniforms.


	25  FULL SHOT - PARADE GROUNDS - TROOPS

	A platoon drills in the hot, lazy sun; they are clean and
	pale, in contrast to Lance and the others, just off the
	airplane.

				CHIEF
		Poor bastards, have a long year
		to go.

	The troops turn and march TOWARD US with six weeks of
	Advanced Infantry Training to back them up.


	26  FULL SHOT - DOCK - P.B.R. - CREW

	They are tying up at the dock -- a young SERGEANT is fill-
	ing cut papers concerning them and talking with Willard.

				SERGEANT
		I don't know anything about these
		papers, sir.

				WILLARD
		They're in order -- it's perfectly
		clean -- just check with ComSec-
		Intel like I said.

				SERGEANT
		Well, you know I don't have the
		priority to do that, sir. It
		says here not to contact Com-Sec-
		Int. Who's your commanding 
		officer ?

				WILLARD
		Right now -- I am.

				SERGEANT
		Well who the hell verifies that ?

				WILLARD
		I do.

	He signs it quickly, leaving the Sergeant totally confused.

				CHIEF
		No shit -- what's all the activity
		for around here ?

				SERGEANT
		The show --

				WILLARD
		What show ?

				SERGEANT
		Big show in the parade grounds
		this noon -- some boss stuff --

				WILLARD
		This -- Bob Hope or the like --

				SERGEANT
		No sir, I think -- this'll be a
		little bit different --

				CHIEF
		Where's it gonna be ?

	He points --


	27  FULL SHOT - PARADE GROUNDS - PEDESTAL

	A large, well-built pedestal has been erected -- this is
	surrounded by a deep moat filled with punji stakes and
	garnished with concertina wire. It is empty --

							DISSOLVE TO :


	28  FULL SHOT - PARADE GROUNDS - TROOPS

	The entire area around the pedestal and right up to the
	wire is mobbed with seething American fighting men. Some
	of these boys have just gotten here -- others have been in
	the jungle for months. All have one thing in common, to
	see and if possible grab an American girl. Their need far
	surpasses that of the run-of-the-mill rapist, pervert,
	or child-molester. To counter their need of course are
	the moat, punji stakes and barbed wire -- but implementing
	this are seven "riot control positions" equipped with the
	lastest in teargas launchers, attack-trained German shep-
	herds and assorted psychological warfare aides. Even so
	armed, the great mass of wild men are right up to the wire.


	29 FORWARD AREA

	jammed in the crowd

				CHEF
		It's really too much -- I mean
		I've collected every picture of
		her since she was Miss December.

				CLEAN
		Yeah -- you can really get hung
		up on them like the cat in the
		Delta.

				CHIEF
		What cat  ?

				CLEAN
		One that went up for murder -- he
		was an Army Sergeant.

				CHIEF
		I never heard about that.

				CLEAN
		Yeah -- he really dug his Playboy
		mag, man -- I mean like he was there
		when it arrived -- He just knew.

				CHEF
		So what happened ?

				CLEAN
		He was working A.R.V.N. patrols
		and had one a them little cocky
		gook asshole Lieutenants -- anyhow,
		the Lieutenant took his new Playboy
		one day, sat on the end of the dock,
		and wouldn't give it back.

				CHEF
		Yeah -- typical A.R.V.N.

				CLEAN
		Then went too far -- he sat
		there and starts mutilating the
		centerfold. Poking pins in her an'
		all that. Sergeant says, don't do
		her like that. You leave your
		shitty little hands off that girl.
		Gook Lieutenant says Fuck you in
		Vietnamese -- Sergeant says, don't
		do that again. You'll wish you
		hadn't. Then he stood up, flicked
		his iron to rock and roll and gave
		the little zero a long burst
		through the Playboy mag. Man, it
		blew him clean off the dock --
		Hell, just the magazine was floatin'
		there all full of holes.

				CHIEF
		They nail him for it bad ?

				CLEAN
		He's in the L.B.J. -- didn't
		give him no medals or nothing --

	In the b.g., we begin to HEAR a SWELL of TWO THOUSAND
	MALE VOICES; the ENGINES of four helicopters approaching.
	All heads turn skywards while one descends onto the
	pedestal kicking up a lot of dust and general resentment.
	On the nose amd doors of the black Huey are painted large
	Playboy rabbits. Finally the blades are trimmed and a
	strange silence descends over the men. The door of the
	copter slides partially open -- two young Green Berets
	step out with M-16's to varied catcalls. When this
	abates a young, extremelly well-dressed man emerges. He
	is the epitome of a Hollywood AGENT. Hair is combed
	impeccably and free of dandruff -- clothes are formal
	but hip -- shoes are shined -- Quite some dude -- his
	presence causes some stirring but seems to strangely
	quiet the man.

	He walks over to the microphone.

				AGENT
		I'd like to say hello from all of
		us up here, to all of you out there.
		All of you who've worked so hard
		during Operation Brute Force --
		Paratroopers -- Infantry -- Airmen
		-- Medics -- Marines -- and Sailors.
		And I want you to know that we feel
		proud of you and know how hard your
		job is. To prove it -- we've brought
		some entertainment we think you're
		gonna like: The Playmate of the Year
		and her two runners up !

	He pulls open the door and three unbelieveably beautiful
	sex playmates in fringed go-go outfits leap out and start
	dancing to the Creedence Clearwater Revival singing
	"Suzy Q."


	30  MONTAGE ON THE GIRLS AND MEN

	VARIOUS SHOTS as the girls dance in an incredibly erotic
	manner -- smiling.

	The faces of the G.I.'s pass -- their jaws drop -- some
	look almost horrified. Chef is hypnotized -- Mr. Clean
	cries. Chief mouths unspoken obscenities with sentimental
	tenderness.

	Others grab the air in front of them. With each movement
	their need increases by the square.


	31  FULL SHOT - PEDESTAL - GIRLS - MEN

	They crush forward starting to scream -- men fall on the
	wire -- the guards in the "riot control positions" forget
	-- the attack dogs are trampled. The mob as one surges
	forward onto the wire. Men scream and fall into the moat,
	which is filling up fast. The Agent sees this all as he
	has seen it before. He casually pulls the pin of a smoke
	grenade; the girls retreat into the copter -- he follows,
	then the two Green Berets. The ROTARS WHINE -- the black
	Playboy Huey lifts off just as the first crazed men reach
	it. They grab frantically for the wheels, but miss. The
	Huey wheels up into the blue sky, leaving them all below.

	Such are the ways of war.

							CUT TO:


	32  EXT. FULL VIEW - DAY

	The P.B.R. moving further up the primitive coastline.
	There are few signs of civilization; no villages, no
	boats -- just the overwhelming presence of the jungle.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		Two days out of Hau Fat, there was
		nothing but us and the coastline.
		I felt like I had set off for
		the center of the earth...

	Suddenly, Chief looks out, ahead.

				CHIEF
		Smoke !

				WILLARD
		Where ?

	They all turn. Chief points up the coast.


	33 FULL SHOT - THE COASTLINE

	A thick train of black smoke rises from the green jungle.

				WILLARD
		Black smoke ... secondary burning.

	The Chief grabs field glasses.

				CHIEF
		Yeah -- fishing village --
		helicopters over there. Hueys,
		lots of 'em.

				WILLARD
		First Air Cavalry. They're the
		ones gonna get us into the River.


	34 FULL SHOT - THE BEACH AND VILLAGE

	A vast field of devastation -- smashed and smoking palm
	trees -- deep, ragged craters -- gutted and burning huts
	-- shattered sampans and bodies washing around in the
	surf.


	35  MED. SHOT - BEACH - WILLARD AND CREW

	They wade through the water to the beach where they are
	met by a heavily armed group of men.

	Overhead jets swoop by FIRING ROCKETS, the NOISE drowning
	out Willard's attempt at conversation with some of the men.

	We can't hear any of the talk, but we notice that the
	Sergeant turns up to a particular Huey, and points to it.


	36  FULL SHOT - HELICOPTERS

	Three Hueys swoop in low -- they are heavily laden with
	machine guns -- rockets and loudspeakers. The two out-
	side copters hover, while the center copter lands, raising
	a lot of dust. It cuts its rotors and the other copters
	pull up and off to the side. Two armed soldiers jump
	from the doors and stand with guns ready. Then a tall,
	strong looking man emerges. He wears a well-cut and
	neatly-stretched tiger suit. It is COLONEL WILLIAM KILGORE
	-- tough looking, well-tanned, with a black mustache.

	He crouches over, holding his hat in the rotor wash. It
	is no ordinary hat but a L.A. Dodgers baseball hat. He
	walks out, and then stards to his full immense height and
	with his hands on his hips he surveys the field of battle.
	His eyes are obscured by mirror-fronted sunglasses.

				KILGORE
			(bellowing)
		Lieutenant: Bomb that tree line
		back about a hundred yards -- give
		me some room to breathe.

	A Lieutenant and radio man nod and rush off.


	37  CLOSE VIEW ON WILLARD

	He was not quite prepared for this.


	38  VIEW ON KILGORE

	turning to his GUARDS

				KILGORE
		Bring me some cards.

				GUARD
		Sir ?

				KILGORE
		Body cards, you damn fool --
		cards !

	The soldier rushes over and hands him two brand new
	packages of playing cards wrapped in plastic. Two other
	soldiers get out of the copter and walk over. They are
	well-tanned and carry no weapons. They seem more casual
	about the Colonel than anyone else. The Sergeant walks
	up, leading Willard, the Chief and Lance.

				WILLARD
			(formally)
		Captain B-L. Willard, sir -- 4th
		Recon Group -- I carry priority
		papers from Com-Sec Intelligence
		11 Corp -- I believe you understand
		the nature of my mission.

				KILGORE
			(not looking up)
		Yeah -- Na Trang told me to
		expect you -- we'll see what we
		can do. Just stay out of my way
		till this is done, Captain.

	He cracks the plastic wrapping sharply -- takes out the
	deck of new cards and fans them. The Colonel strides
	right past Willard with no further acknowledgement. The
	others follow,


	39  TRACKING VIEW

	The Colonel walks through the shell-pocked field of
	devastation. Soldiers gather around smiling; as Kilgore
	comes to each V.C. corpse he drops a playing card on
	it -- carefully picking out which card he uses.

				KILGORE
			(to himself)
		Six a spades -- eight a hearts --
		Isn't one worth a Jack in this
		whole place.

	The Colonel goes on about this business.


	40  TRACKING ON KILGORE

	moving through the corpses, dropping the cards.

	On of the two tanned soldiers rushes up and whispers
	something to him. He stops.

				KILGORE
		What ? Here. You sure?

	The soldier points to Lance, who immediately puts down
	the card he was holding. Kilgore strides over to the
	young man, who almost instinctively moves closer t
	Willard.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		What's your name, sailor ?

				LANCE
		Gunner's Mate, Third Class --
		L. Johnson, sir.

				KILGORE
		Lance Johnson? The surfer?

				LANCE
		That's right, sir.

	Kilgore smiles -- sticks out his hand.

				KILGORE
		It's an honor to meet you Lance.
		I've admired your nose-riding for
		years -- I like your cutback, too.
		I think you have the best cutback
		there is.

				LANCE
		Thank you, sir.

				KILGORE
		You can cut out the sir, Lance --
		I'm Bill kilgore -- I'm a goofy
		foot.


	41 VIEW ON WILLARD

	His entire, top priority  mission has been put in the
	background.

				KILGORE (O.S.)
		This is Mike from San Diego and
		Johnny from Malibu -- they're good
		solid surfers -- none of us are
		anywhere near your class, though.

	Lance blushes, sort of mumbling thanks.

				WILLARD
		My orders are from Com-Sec
		Intel -- B.L. Willard, 4th Recon --

				KILGORE
		Just hold up a second, Captain --
		I'll get to you soon enough --
		We've got things to do here.

	Willard eats it, for now. Kilgore puts his hand on
	Lance's shoulder, and continues flipping the cards in-
	discriminately on the bodies as they talk.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		... we do a lot of surfing around
		here. Like to finish up operations
		early and fly down to Vung Tau for
		the evening glass. Have you ever
		surfed the point at Vung Tau? I
		liked the beach breaks around Na
		Trang a lot -- good lefts.

	He passes a twisted gun emplacement with about five
	bodies -- sprinkles cards all over them.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		... we keep three boards in my
		Command Huey at all times. You
		never can tell when you're gonna
		run into something good. I got a
		guy in Cam Rau Bay that can predict
		a swell two days in advance. We
		try to work it in.

	He stops at a particularly wild-looking Viet Cong who
	has died with his mouth agape -- staring wild-eyed in
	horror at the sky. Kilgore pauses.

				KILGORE
			(continuing; to himself)
		Hell, that's an Ace if I ever saw
		one.

	He puts the card in the gaping mouth.


	42  CLOSE VIEW OVER THE VIET CONG

	We SEE the Colonel and the others walk off -- the dead
	Viet Cong and card are in the immediate f.g. The card
	has the shield of the CAV printed bautifully, and above
	it the motto: DEATH FROM ABOVE.

				KILGORE
		Where've you been riding, Lance?

				LANCE
		I haven't surfed since I got here.

				KILGORE
		That's terrible -- we'll change 
		that -- I'd like to see you work --
		I've always liked your cutback;
		got a hell of a left turn, too.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	43  EXT. THE HELICOPTER - MED. SHOT

	Willard is sitting with Kilgore on acouple of chairs by
	a table set up in front of the command copter.

	Everywhere we SEE armed men, sandbags, barbed wire, oil
	drums etc. Hueys are constantly ROARING over. ARTILLERY
	BOOMS in the far distance. Kilgore looks at the map.

				KILGORE
		Why the hell you wanna go up
		to Nu Mung Ba for?

				WILLARD
		I got bored in Saigon.

				KILGORE
		What's the furthest you been
		in?

				WILLARD
		Haiphong.

				KILGORE
		Haiphong? Shit, you jump in ?

				WILLARD
		No. Walked.

				KILGORE
		What'd you do for supplies?

				WILLARD
			(he shrugs)
		Mercenaries -- agents, traitors --
		they put out caches.

				KILGORE
		Can you trust them?

				WILLARD
		No. They put out two or three
		for every one I needed. When
		you get to the one you'll use,
		you just stake it out. If
		something feels wrong, you just
		pass it up. On one mission, I
		had to pass up three and ended
		up living on rats and chocolate
		 bars.

				KILGORE
		Nu Mung Ba. Last I heard, Walter
		Kurtz commanded a Green Beret
		detachment at Nu Mung Ba.

				WILLARD
		When did you hear?

				KILGORE
		'Bout a year ago? Is Kurtz
		still alive?

				WILLARD
		Who knows.

				KILGORE
		Seems to me he got himself
		fragged. i heard some grunt
		rolled a grenade in his tent.
		Maybe a rumor. Helluva man --
		remarkable officer. Walter
		Kurtz woulda been a General
		some day. General of the Army.
		Shit, Head of the Joint Chiefs
		of Staff. Did you knew Kurtz?

				WILLARD
		I met him.

				KILGORE
		Don't you agree?

				WILLARD
		He musta changed !
			(pointing to the map)
		I got to get into the Nung
		River, here or here.

				KILGORE
		That village you're pointing at
		is kinda hairy.

				WILLARD
		Hairy ?

				KILGORE
		I mean it's hairy -- they got some
		pretty heavy ordnance, boy --
		I've lost a few recon ships in
		there now and again.

				WILLARD
		So? I heard you had a good bunch
		of killers here.

				KILGORE
		And I don't intend to get some of
		them chewed up just to get your
		tub put in the mouth of the
		goddman Nung River. You say you
		don't know Kurtz?

				WILLARD
		I met him.

				KILGORE
		You talk like him. I don't
		mind taking casualties,
		Captain, but I like to keep
		my ratio ten to one in this
		unit -- ten Cong to one.

				WILLARD
		You'll find enough Cong up there.

				KILGORE
		What about this point here?

	He puts his finger on the map.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		What's the name of that goddamn
		village -- Vin Drin Dop or Lop; damn gook
		names all sound the same.

	He motions to one of his surfers.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		Mike, you know anything about
		the point at Vin Drip Drop?

				MIKE
		Boss left.

				KILGORE
		What do you mean?

				MIKE
		It's really long left slide,
		breaks on the short side of the
		point -- catches a south swell.

				LANCE
		Nice.

	Willard looks at Lance -- then at Kilgore.

				KILGORE
		Why the hell didn't you tell me
		about that place -- a good left.
			(to Willard)
		There aren't any good left slides
		in this whole, shitty country.
		It's all goddamn beach break.

				MIKE
		It's hairy ,though. That's
		where we lost McDonnel -- they
		shot the hell out of us. It's
		Charlie's point.

				KILGORE
		How big it is?

				MIKE
		Six to eight feet.

	Kilgore gazes out across the parked helicopters.

				KILGORE
			(to himself)
		A six-foot left.

	Willard nudges Lance -- who gets the idea.

				LANCE
		Boss. What's the wind like.

				MIKE
		Light off shore -- really hollow.

				WILLARD
		We could go in tomorrow at dawn
		-- there's always off-shore wind
		in the morning.

				CHIEF
		The draft of that river might be
		too shallow on the point.

				KILGORE
		Hell, we'll pick your boat up and
		lay it down like a baby, right
		where you want it. This is the
		Cav boy -- airmobile. I can
		take that point and hold it as
		long as I like -- and you can
		get anywhere you want up that
		river that suits you, Captain.
		Hell, a six foot left.
			(he turns to an advisor)
		You take a gunship back to division
		-- Mike, take Lance with you -- let
		him pick out a board, and bring me
		my Yater Spoon -- the eight six.

				TOM
		I don't know, sir -- it's -- it's --

				KILGORE
			(hard)
		What is it?

				TOM
		Well, I mean it's hairy in there
		-- it's Charlie's point.

	Kilgore turns and looks to Willard, exasperated.

				WILLARD
		Charlie don't surf.


	44  FULL SHOT - HELICOPTERS - DAWN

	What seems like hundreds of Hueys standing, their rotors
	churning a great wind -- Inside, the men of the 1st
	Cavalry Airmobile -- toughest unit in Vietnam.

	Kilgore's helicopter is being loaded with ammunition and
	has surfboards strapped underneath.


	45  MED. VIEW

	Kilgore strides up to the side door, dressed for battle.
	He looks out, around. He turns to his door GUNNER.

				KILGORE
		How do you feel, boy?

				GUNNER
		Like a mean motherfucker, sir.

	He turns to his R.T. man.

				KILGORE
		Let's go.


	46  FULL VIEW

	Helicopter rotors build up speed -- gas turbines
	belching fire from their jet pipes -- dust flying
	as fifty helicopters rise; ROAR OVER CAMERA and
	deploy into attack formation.


	47  NEW VIEW

	Helicopters moving THROUGH the FRAME: almost a dance of
	dragonflies.


	48  INT. COMMAND COPTER - MED. SHOT - KILGORE, WILLARD,
	       OTHERS

	Willard looks ahead -- Kilgore sits near the door.
	Below they see the jungle whisk by and they are
	suddenly over the ocean, low and fast.


	49  MONTAGE

	CLOSE SHOTS of rocket pods -- mini-guns in bizarre
	looking mounts.

	CLOSE SHOTS of the three surfboards strapped below the
	command helicopter, next to the fearsome weaponry.

	And finally, CLOSE SHOTS of the men -- nervous, excited
	very few of them really scared -- they fondle their
	rifles, grenade launchers, anti-personnel grenades,
	claymore mines; plastic explosives cord; flame-throwers;
	M-60 machine guns; expandable rocket launchers; mortars
	and bayonets.


	50  INT. COMMAND COPTER

	Kilgore cranes his neck and almost leans out to watch
	the waves -- then he sits back relaxed.

				KILGORE
			(to Willard)
		We'll come in low out of the rising
		sun -- We'll put on the music about 
		a mile out.

				WILLARD
		Music?

				KILGORE
		Yeah. Classical stuff -- scares
		the hell out of the slopes -- the
		boys love it.


	51  MED. SHOT

	POV behind the PILOT and CO-PILOT -- the ocean rushes
	below.

				PILOT
		Big Duke six to Eagle Thrust --
		turn on coordinates 1-0 -- niner,
		assume attack formation.

	The helicopter banks into a tight turn and bears
	toward the coast.

				RADIO (V.O.)
		Eagle Thrust formation target
		2800 yards -- begin psch-war
		operations.


	52  CLOSE SHOT - LOUDSPEAKERS

	The ocean rushes below as suddenly the LOUDSPEAKERS
	BLARE out Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries."


	53  FULL SHOT - HELICOPTERS

	From the water we SEE the massive grouping of Hueys -- gun-
	ships -- troop carriers -- medevac and recon -- ROAR over
	low in battle formation BLARING out "Ride of the Valkyries."


	54  INT. HELICOPTER - MED. SHOT -CREW

	POV behind pilot --

				PILOT
		700 -- 600 yards -- 500 --
		Commence firing.

	The whole copter shakes.


	55  EXT. VIET CONG FISHING VILLAGE - FULL SHOT

	A Vietnamese coastal fishing village built along the
	beach and palm trees -- with rice paddies behind. This
	village commands a delta where ocean and river merge.

	Sampans are pulled into a cover where they are being
	unloaded. We SEE bunkers with N.V.A. regulars ambling
	about.

	Suddenly we HEAR the distant MUSIC -- Everyone stops;
	they stare out to see. Men scream orders -- women run
	from huts bearing ammunition and rifles -- Everywhere
	there is activity to prepare for the defense of the
	village.

	Camouflage is removed from anti-aircraft emplacements.
	People feverishly unlimber weapons of all types and run
	to tunnels and trenches.

	The MUSIC GROWS LOUDER with the FAINT SOUND of ROTORS


	56  EXT. THE HELICOPTER FORMATION - AERIAL VIEW

	coming directly at us; WAGNER BLARING.


	57  HIGH ANGLE

	looking down through the helicopters as they approach
	the village.


	58  INT. HELICOPTER - MED. SHOT - CREW

	POV behind pilot

				PILOT
		700 yards -- 600 -- 500 --
		commence firing.

	The whole copter shakes.


	59  EXT. HELICOPTERS - MONTAGE

	We SEE rockets ROAR from pods -- MACHINE GUNS RATTLE --
	grenade launchers POUND away -- and MINI-GUNS pour
	streams of lead and tracers with the SOUND of a DIESEL
	HORN.


	60  FULL SHOT - HELICOPTERS

	POV behind lead gunship. They ROAR in over the beach
	streaming FIRE from doors, pods and nose -- The ground
	is alive with smoke and fire -- a hut EXPLODES. The
	leads ship banks sharply up over the trees -- men run
	below SHOOTING back.


	61  MED. SHOT - ANTI-AIRCRAFT EMPLACEMENT

	EXPLOSIONS crash around -- the MUSIC and SOUND of the
	COPTERS almost drown them out. The gunner FIRES
	frantically -- COPTERS are ROARING over -- GUNFIRE
	rips around. The gunner is blown away.


	62  MED. CLOSE ON WILLARD

	as the ship he is in swoops down, its MACHINE GUNS
	FIRING into the village.


	63  MED. SHOT - SWOOPING COPTER

	The Pilot leans out and SHOOTS a charging V.C. in the
	head with his .38, then ducks back in.

				CO-PILOT
		We're down, Eagle Thrust -- we're
		hit. We got a hot L.Z. here.

	BULLETS RIP through the plexiglass. The Pilot FIRES
	back.

				CO-PILOT
			(continuing)
		Hell of a hot L.Z. Need immediate
		air strike on the tree line, Eagle
		Thrust.


	64  INT. COMMAND COPTER - MED. SHOT - WILLARD, KILGORE,
	       OTHERS

	Kilgore has R.T. equipment -- he leans out near the
	door gunner.

				KILGORE
		Big Duke Six to Hell's Angels Four
		-- bring it in on along tree line
		and huts.

				RADIO (V.O.)
		Hell's Angels Four to Big Duke
		Six -- we'll need green smoke --
		suggest you have the FAC mark it.

				KILGORE
		Haven't got time, Hell's Angels --
		lay it right up the tree line.


	65  FULL SHOT - JET SQUADRON

	Four F-4H Phantoms peel off and streak toward the
	coast.


	66  INT. COMMAND COPTER - VIEW ON WILLARD AND KILGORE

				KILGORE
		Fucking savages.
			
				WILLARD
		Who?
	
				KILGORE
		The enemy. Who else?


	67  HELICOPTER'S POV - THE JETS

	The jets streak by below laying in huge gobs of orange
	napalm along the trees.

				KILGORE (O.S.)
			(on radio)
		Very good, Hell's Angels -- suggest
		you follow with cannon fire.


	68  INT. COMMAND COPTER - MED. SHOT

	They circle the battle.

				RADIO (V.O.)
		This is Baker Delta Four --
		Captain hit bad -- need dust-off.
		Receiving heavy automatic weapons
		fire from huts about thirty yards
		to our left.

				KILGORE
		Big Duke Six to Baker Delta Four
		-- hold -- we're right over you.

	He turns to door gunner.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		Right along the doors, boy.

	The gunner FIRES leaning out --

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		Fine... fine... little higher.
		Through the roof; yeah, that's
		good.

	He leans back in.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		Didn't anybody bring me any
		bombs, grenades, claymores or
		anything?

				LIEUTENANT
		You didn't tell me to, sir.

				KILGORE
			(grumbling)
		You shoulda known.

	Suddenly, BULLETS SMASH through the copter -- Plexiglass
	SHATTERS; the copter vibrates and turns sharply. Kilgore
	is thrown down where he hangs on.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		Sonuvabitch -- anybody hurt?

				WILLARD
		Automatic weapons flashes along
		those trees -- probably eleven
		millimeter guns and AK-47's.

				KILGORE
		The trees, eh...

	He grabs the R.T.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		Eagle Thrust Four -- Big Duke
		Six. Join me in sparaying some
		trees.

				RADIO (V.O.)
		Affirmative, Big Duke Six -- We're
		even got some rockets left.

				KILGORE
		Take her in low, Lieutenant.


	69  FULL SHOT - THE TREES, HELICOPTERS

	The two helicopters swoop up out of the smoke and blast
	the trees with ROCKETS, MACHINE GUNS and GRENADE LAUNCHERS.

	Other copters join -- The V.C. break and run through
	the rice paddies in the f.g. -- BULLETS EXPLODING around
	them -- they scream and fall FIRING back.


	70 INT. COMMAND COPTER - MED. SHOT - KILGORE, WILLARD

	Kilgore looks out as three V.C. break and run through
	the rice paddies -- the helicopter turns and follows
	them -- the door gunner swings out and BLASTS two of
	them into the mud. He takes a bead on the third.

				KILGORE
		Hold it, boy.

	He puts his arms across the sights -- the gunner swings
	back inside.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		Take her up to 300 feet,
		Lieutenant.

	They rise above the paddy -- the man below runs for
	all he's worth. Kilgore motions to the door gunner who
	steps aside. Kilgore buckles himself into the gunner's
	harness.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		Rifle.

	A hand passes him a M-16.

				KILGORE
			(continuing; hard)
		My rifle, soldier.

	There is some fumbling and then a hand passes him a 300
	Weatherby Magnum with a zebra wood stock -- mother of pearl
	inlays and a variable power scope. Kilgore takes it and
	opens the bolt.


	71  VIEW ON WILLARD

	Amazed at these proceedings.


	72  VIEW ON KILGORE

	as he loads the rifle with huge cartridges. He gets
	into the sling and slams the bolt shut.


	73  MOVING POV. ON THE V.C.

	He is running hard, but starting to sink into the mud.
	The Huey DRONES overhead, its huge shadow behind him
	on the mud. He turns and FIRES with a pistol.


	74  INT. COPTER - MED. SHOT - KILGORE, WILLARD

	Kilgore leans out; pulls the gun in tight -- takes
	careful aim and the Cong is BLASTED flat into the paddy.
	Kilgore leans back, opens the bolt, ejecting the spent
	cartridge out the door. He hands Weatherby back
	into the copter.


	75  VIEW ON WILLARD

	The gaudy rifle passed by him.

				SOLDIER  (O.S.)
		That's 27, sir.

				WILLARD
		Anyone got a card?

	Somebody hands Willard the deck. He takes a card and
	flips it out of the copter, never lifting his gaze from
	Kilgore.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	76  FULL SHOT - BATTLEFIELD - THE CAV, V.C.

	Americans run through the hooches FIRING and throwing
	GRENADES. Helicopters swoop overhead -- JETS ROAR by
	-- Uniformed N.V.A. regulars burst from a tunnel en-
	trance and charge the Americans. The SHOOTING is at
	point blank range -- automatic, as the V.C. are cut
	down.


	77  INT. COMMAND COPTER - KILGORE, WILLARD, LANCE, ETC.

	Kilgore leans out carefully, looking over the battle-
	field. He has the R.T.

	He leans back, deliberately avoiding Willard to speak
	to Lance.

				KILGORE
		The L.Z.'s cooling off fast --
		we'll move in another company
		an' then we'll own it.
			(he laughs to himself)
		Charlie's point.

	He looks out toward the ocean.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		Good swell.

				LANCE
		What, sir?

				KILGORE
		I said it's a good swell -- hell
		of a good swell 'bout six feet.
		Let's get a look at it.

	Lance looks at Willard and then agrees.


	78  FULL SHOT - COPTER, SURF

	The pilots are used to this -- they bank sharply
	and swoop in on the lineup of waves, coming in  low
	over the point and streaking down a long, lined-up
	green wall as if surfing it. They tip up over and up
	at the last minute as the wave breaks.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	79  FULL SHOT - BEACH HUTS, SOLDIERS

	Americans line up blindfolded Viet Cong and N.V.A.
	regular troops outside a burning hut. GUNFIRE is
	DISTANT and sporadic -- an occasional MORTAR round
	SCREAMS in. A soldier yells in Vietnamese in a
	southern accent and the prisoners are marched away.
	Other soldiers are already setting up heavy weapons
	emplacements -- 50 cal machine guns etc. Three
	Hueys ROAR in, fanning the smoke with their wind.
	The center one, the command ship, lands. JETS SCREAM
	over and the two gunships pull up at 200 feet. Another
	Huey zooms in low and lands behind the Colonel's. The
	doors open, guards jump out, check the situation, and
	out steps Kilgore and Lance. From the other copter
	are more guards, Kilgore's surfers and others of the
	P.B.R. crew. Willard follows.


	80  FULL SHOT - THE POINT

	They stride out across the debris-strewn beach. Kilgore
	stands majestically on the point watching the waves. A
	SHELL SCREAMS overhead.

				SOLDIER
		Incoming !

	They all dive, except Kilgore. He is watching a big set
	-- the SHELL EXPLODES in the water about a hundred yards
	away, sending up a huge geyser of spray. Kilgore is
	unmoved.

				KILGORE
		Look at that.

	They look.

				LANCE
		This  L.Z. is still pretty hot,
		sir, maybe we oughta stand
		somewhere else.

	Kilgore pays him no mention.

				WILLARD
		I'm waiting for the fucking boat,
		Colonel.

				KILGORE
			(without looking)
		It'll get here, soldier.

	He turns to Mike and Johnny who have their faces in the
	sand.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		Change.

				MIKE
		Wh -- what?

				KILGORE
		Change -- get out there -- I
		want'a see if it's ridable --
		change.

				MIKE
		It's still pretty hairy, sir.

				KILGORE
			(bellowing)
		You want'a surf, soldier?

	He nods yes meakly.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		That's good, boy, because it's
		either surf or fight.

	They turn and hurry off -- Kilgore grabs an M-1 from
	one of the guards. They all think he's going to
	shoot the surfers or someone. They move back uneasy.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		I'm gonna cover for 'em -- that's
		all.

	He cocks thye weapon. Lance looks around uneasily. The
	Colonel walks over.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		You think that section on the
		 point is ridable, Lance?

				LANCE
		I think we ought to wait for
		the tide to come in.

	A SHELL SCREAMS OVER -- they all hit the dirt except
	for Kilgore. It EXPLODES throwing sand through the
	air. Kilgore leans down yelling over the NOISE.

				KILGORE
		Doesn't happen for six hours.

	Lance looks up at him terrified, holding onto
	his helmet.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		The tide -- doesn't come in for
		six hours.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	81  FULL SHOT - SURF - MIKE AND JOHNNY

	They walk through shallows carrying brightly
	colored boards. They look very scared. JETS SCREAM
	overhead, FIRING CANNONS. Helicopters wheel by
	carrying out wounded.

	They wear olive drab surfing trunks with the Cav's
	shield on the left leg. The same shield is emblazoned
	on the boards along the word "Airmobile". They edge
	into the water and paddle through the mild shorebreak.


	82  FULL SHOT - THE POINT - SURFERS

	They paddle up the point in the calm channel -- the
	beautiful waves breaking beyond them.

	83  CLOSE SHOT ON JOHNNY, MIKE

	They paddle on their stomachs, keeping low -- breathing
	hard and constantly looking around scared out of their
	minds.


	84  MED. SHOT - KILGORE AND LANCE

	Kilgore looks at them with his field glasses. Lance
	kind of sits below taking cover in a shell hole.

				KILGORE
		They far enough?

				LANCE
		Sure -- fine --

	Kilgore turns and takes a giant electric megaphone from
	a waiting lackey.

				KILGORE
			(through megaphone)
		That's far enough -- pick one
		up and come on in --


	85  FULL SHOT - THE POINT, SURFERS

	They line themselves up on the point. A good set is
	building. Mike turns strokes into it -- takes off
	-- drops to the bottom and turns -- trims up into a
	tight section -- everything right except he keeps looking
	around frantically.


	86  CLOSE SHOT ON LANCE AND KILGORE

	Another SHELL SCREAMS over and EXPLODES down the beach.
	Lance looks over at Willard.

				LANCE
			(to himself)
		Maybe he'll get tubed.

				WILLARD
		What?

				LANCE
		Maybe he'll get inside the tube --
		where -- where they can't see him.

	A SERIES of SHELLS ROAR in.
	
				WILLARD
		Incoming !

	Lance ducks -- puts his hands over his head. The SHELLS
	SCREAM over Kilgore and out towards the point. Kilgore
	looks through his glasses -- two EXPLOSIONS in the water
	are HEARD.

				KILGORE
		Son of a bitch.

	Lance looks up and out toward the point in horror.


	87  FULL SHOT - THE POINT

	Two surfboards float in the channel bobbing up and down
	on the waves.


	88  MED. SHOT - LANCE AND KILGORE

				LANCE
			(to himself)
		The tragedy of this war is a
		dead surfer.

	Willard looks over, beginning to think Lance is crazy,
	too.

				WILLARD
		What's that?

				LANCE
		Just something I read in the
		Free Press.

				KILGORE
		They just missed a good set --
		the chicken shits !

	Lance looks up.


	89 FULL SHOT - THE POINT , SURFERS

	They come up near their boards and climb on -- smoke
	hangs over the water.

				KILGORE (O.S.)
			(megaphone)
		Try it again, you little bastards.


	90  BACK TO SCENE

	He turns to Willard.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		Iīm not afraid to surf this place.
		I'll surf this place.


	91  CLOSE SHOT ON KILGORE

	He turns, glowering to his lackeys.

				KILGORE
		Bring that R.T., soldier.

	He grabs it.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		Big Duke Six to Hell's Angels --
		Goddamit, I want that treeline
		bombed -- yeah -- napalm --
		gimme some napalm -- son of a
		bitch -- yeah, I'll take H.Z.
		or C.B.U.'s if you got any of
		them -- just bomb 'em into the
		Stone Age, boy.

	He throws the R.T. back to a soldier -- another SALVO
	WHISTLES over -- everyone drops.

				KILGORE
			(continuing; to himself)
		Son of a bitch.

	As the SHELLS EXPLODES on the beach behind him, KIlgore
	raises his M-16 and EMPTIES it full automatic in the
	general direction of the trees. He mumbles a few un-
	intelligible swear words and jams a new clip into his
	rifle turning to Lance --

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		We'll have this place cleaned up
		and ready for us in a jiffy, boy.
		Don't you worry.

	He FIRES another clip as the JETS SCREAM overhead.



	92  FULL SHOT - RIVER - COPTERS

	A sky-crane without pod descends slowly toward us --
	The P.B.R. hangs below it.

	The Chief, mr. Clean and Chef stand watching this sight
	alomg with other soldiers. A man guides the descending
	copter till the boat settles carefully in the shallows.
	The Chief and others leap aboard; unshackle the hoists
	-- load on ammunition and fuel. The battle is still
	going on around them. They all look up as a wadge
	of PHANTOMS streak over low and peel off one by one to
	begin their bombing run.


	93  FULL SHOT - PHANTOMS - MONTAGE

	Phantoms RAKE the trees with 20 mm CANNONS -- FIRE five
	inch ROCKETS in salvo -- "Bull Pup" MISSILES -- drop
	H.E. (high explosives) and C.B.U's (Cluster Bomb Units)
	and finally an immense amount of NAPALM.


	94  FULL SHOT ON THE P.B.R.

	The Chief is at the helm --the engine starts; Clean
	and Chef work feverishly, ducking for cover every-so-
	often when an EXPLOSION hits nearby. The boat begins
	to back out of the shallows. The EXPLOSIONS of NAPALM
	are reflected on their faces; the ROAR of the FIRE drowns
	out almost everything.

				CHIEF
		Forget that extra drum -- it's
		too damn hot.

				CLEAN
		Clear on starboard -- Where's
		Lance an' the Captain?

				CHIEF
		I saw that Colonel's Huey on the
		point --

	Two HELICOPTERS SCREAM over FIRING ROCKETS.

				CHIEF
			(continuing)
		Let's just get outta here.


	95  FULL SHOT - THE POINT - KILGORE, WILLARD , LANCE,
	       OTHERS

	Kilgore watches the waves with his field glasses --
	smoke drifts over.

	Lance crouches below. Willard is up looking off in another
	direction. SHELLS SCREAM over, but even their noise is
	drowned out by the fierce SHRIEK of the PHANTOMS and the
	deafening BLAST of HIGH EXPLOSIVES. Willard stares at the
	tree line where it comes down to the river. The JETS are
	making a hell of the tree line; a hell of fire and bust-
	ling steam thet nothing could live in. Willard's glance
	goes further downriver through the black smoke and there
	merging in the river -- small and vulnerable, is his boat.

				WILLARD
			(to Lance)
		Look. There it is; the boat.

	Lance looks over --  a tremendous relief on his face. But
	still there remains the threat of Kilgore, standing stark
	against the sky. Willard silently motions Lance toward
	the boat.

				LANCE
			(whispers)
		He'll kill us.

				WILLARD
		He can't kill us.
			(realizing as he says it)
		We're on his side.

	Kilgore FIRES another clip at the tree line, and then
	strides back without looking at them.

				KILGORE
			(almost to himself)
		You smell that.
			(louder)
		You smell that?

				LANCE
		What?

				KILGORE
		Napalm, boy -- nothing else in
		the world smells like that --

	They reflect the glow from the burning trees.

				KILGORE
			(continuing; nostalgically)
		I love the smell of napalm in
		the morning. 

		One time we had a hill bombed
		for 12 hours. I walked up it
		when it was all over; we didn't
		find one of 'em ... not one
		stinking gook body. They
		slipped out in the night -- but
		the smell -- that gasoline smell
		-- the whole hill -- it smelled
		like ...
			(pause)
		victory...

	He looks off nostalgically.

				WILLARD
		You know, some day this war's
		gonna end..

				KILGORE
			(sadly)
		Yes, I know.

	Suddenly he senses something -- he stops -- lifts his
	hand -- then frantically licks his fingers and puts
	them up in the air.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		The wind --

				LANCE
		What?

	Sure enough there is a rushing breeze that increases.

				KILGORE
			(rising maniacally)
		Feel it -- it's the wind -- it's
		blowing on shore -- It's on shore !

	He leans down and practically grabs Lance.

				KILGORE
			(continuing; screaming)
		It's gonna blow this place out.
		It's gonna ruin it ...

				WILLARD
		The kid can't ride sloppy waves.

	They turn and stare out to sea.


	96  FULL SHOT - THE POINT - SURFERS

	The wind has changed. Instead of blowing spray back
	over the waves and hollowing them out, this strange
	wind is causing white caps and cross chop.. reducing
	the swell to slop. Mike and Johnny lay low on their
	boards, overjoyed.

				WILLARD (O.S.)
		The kid can't stand sloppy waves.


	97  MED. SHOT - THE BEACH - LANCE, KILGORE, WILLARD

				WILLARD
		You don't expect this kid to
		ride that crap, do you? He's
		a goddamn artist, he needs
		something to work with...

	Slapping Lance on the shoulder.

				LANCE
		Yeah, I'm an artist, goddamit !

				KILGORE
			(apologetically)
		Yeah -- yeah, I can understand
		how you feel.

	He turns toward the trees.

				KILGORE
			(continuing)
		It's the napalm -- it's causing
		the wind -- ruining my perfect
		left.

	He staggers off toward the trees followed by his
	guards and other lackeys.

				KILGORE
			(continuing; mumbling)
		The napalm -- ruin -- napalm
		my perfect left -- my perfect
		left point break -- napalm --

	Lance motions with his eyes to Willard.


	98  FULL SHOT ON THE P.B.R.

	The P.B.R. along the river shallows -- The Chief and
	crew waiting and yelling.


	99  MED. VIEW ON WILLARD AND LANCE

				WILLARD
		Are you finished surfing?

				LANCE
		Yeah... thanks.

				WILLARD
		Want to say goodbye to the
		Colonel?

				LANCE
		Nah.

				WILLARD
		Then let's get the hell out of
		here.

	They break and run like hell toward the boat in the
	distance. OUR VIEW TRACKS with them. They are
	cheered by the crew -- suddenly, Willard sees some-
	thing and stops... Lance continuing. In a pile of
	equipment that the Hueys have left are two surfboards
	-- Willard looks at them.

				LANCE
		No -- no, Captain.

				WILLARD
		Which one's the Colonel's?

				LANCE
		The Yater -- the clear one
		with the thin stringer.

	Willard glances over to it with determination. There
	is still MORTAR FIRE coming in between him and the
	board. Suddenly, Willard makes a run for it.

				CHIEF (O.S.)
		Incoming ! Incoming -- son of
		a bitch.

	The ROUNDS bracket the P.B.R. and line up the beach
	toward Willard. He stands there and doesn't move, the
	surfboard under his arm. The shells kick up sand.
	Lance has dropped. Fragments whistle by, one rips 
	a chunk of foam and fibreglass from the rain of the
	board.

				WILLARD
			(calm)
		This one , Lance?

				LANCE
		Yeah, Jesus Christ !

	Once again, Willard takes off fast as hell with the
	board under his arm. Lance follows toward the boat,
	through the water. Willard hands the board up to Mr.
	Clean, and they both scamper abroad, exhausted and
	relieved.

				CLEAN
		What'd you that for?

				WILLARD
		When I was a kid I, never had
		a Yater spoon.

	Mr. Clean stuffs the board in the stern 50 Cal. mount.
	The boat turns -- ENGINES RUNNING HARD and ROARS OFF
	toward the deeper water of the river -- the board
	clearly visible on the stern.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	100  FULL SHOT ON THE RIVER - P.B.R

	The P.B.R. ROARS BY going down the river at full speed.
	It is swerving and zig-zagging to avoid potential enemy
	fire.


	101  MED. SHOT ON THE CREW

	They all are in full battle positions -- their twin
	fifty Cal. guns turning; warily covering the jungled
	banks. The Chief is at helm -- Willard crouches
	against some armor plate, huddled with his M-16 ready.
	Chef is behind him at the radio. Lance leans back
	from his forward turret.

				LANCE
			(yelling)
		Maybe we better stay in under
		the trees till dark -- we got
		his Yater.

				WILLARD
		He didn't look like he'd take
		that sitting down.

	They all look up into the sky -- expecting the worst.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		Let's put some distance between
		us and Charlie.

	The Chief nods.

				CHIEF
		Lance ---
	
				LANCE
		Yeah.

				CHIEF
		Why don't you roll us a big
		joint? I think the Captain'd
		like that.

	They all look at Willard uneasily. After a suspensful
	pause, Willard smiles:

				WILLARD
		Take one a mine --

	He fishes into his breast pocket -- pulls out a huge
	cigar-sized joint. They all smile -- Willard lights
	up.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	102  FULL SHOT - THE P.B.R.

	It zig-zags away from us down the river at high speed.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	103  FULL SHOT - THE TREES, BOAT, CREW - NIGHT

	The boat is hidden under some trees along the river
	bank. The men wait tensely listening --

				LANCE
		You hear it again?

				WILLARD
		No -- I don't think so. But
		it'll be back. They were
		circling. It'll be back.

				LANCE
		You think he'd of shot us?

				WILLARD
		When?

				LANCE
		Any time -- us -- Americans.

	Lance looks over at Willard.

				WILLARD
		I don't think heīd of shot us on
		the beach but -- he'd of shot us
		if he saw me taking the board --

				LANCE
		A Yater spoon is hard to get --
		especially here.

				WILLARD
		He's a man who knows what he 
		wants -- he does know what he wants.

				CHEF
		Can I go get those mangos now?

				CHIEF
		I'll go with you in a while --
		judt hold tight awhile --

				LANCE
		Captain -- that was all true
		about the rats and chocolate
		and stuff?

				WILLARD
		Sure.

				LANCE
		And you could just tell when
		the supplies were booby trapped?

				WILLARD
		It's a feeling you get in the
		jungle. When you get good, you
		can find a track and tell not
		only how many they are, but
		their morale, how far they're
		going, whether they're near
		their camp, the weapons they're
		carrying.

				CLEAN
		How can you tell their weapons..
		an' how far they're going?

	Willard smiles.

				WILLARD
		Mostly from the imprints when they
		put them down to rest. their morale
		from the way they drag their feet,
		or the joints that may be lying
		around. If they're near a base
		camp, they wouldn't be conserving
		food; they'll be throwing it away
		half-eaten. If the branches aren't
		broken, their weapons are slung.
		But all this is just technique..
		There's a feeling you get after a
		while, that's what's important.
		I was going through a village once.
		I was looking for a certain party.
		I took off my boots, and walked
		into each hut. It was midnight.
		I went into three like that and
		suddenly I realized Iīd gone into
		each hut the same way -- standing
		up -- so the next one I went in on
		my belly. An RPD burst took out
		the door a bit above my head.
			(he shrugs)
		Things like that.

	A pause, and then suddenly his attention is diverted --
	They all are silent -- It is pitch dark -- we HEAR the
	distant SOUND of ROTOR-BLADES and indistinguishable
	language on a loudspeaker -- The talk stops -- the
	ROTORS grow LOUDER until almost overhead.

				KILGORE (V.O.)
			(over a loudspeaker)
		I'm not gonna hurt or harm you,
		boy -- I just want the board
		back -- You can understand --
		It was one of my best -- You
		know how hard it is to get a
		board you like, boy. I'm not
		gonna hurt or harm you --
		Just leave it where I can find
		it --

	The HELICOPTER DRONES on into the night -- the same
	speech starts again further off -- Finally the noise
	ceases.

				CLEAN
		Jesus -- that guy's too damn
		much.

				CHIEF
		I wonder if that was the same
		copter.

				WILLARD
		He's probably got 'em all over
		the river with that recording.
		We better move now while it's
		dark.

	Chef steps forward with a plastic basket.

				CHIEF
		Yeah, Chef -- go ahead -- take
		Lance with you --

				WILLARD
		I'll go with him --

	They all look at him.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		I wanta get my feet on solid land
		once in awhile --

	He grabs an M-16 and follows Chef over the side.


	104  MED. SHOT - THE JUNGLE - CHEF, WILLARD - NIGHT

	They cautiously walk through the underbrush.

				WILLARD
		Chef.

				CHEF
		Yes, sir --

				WILLARD
		Why they call you that?

				CHEF
		Call me what, sir?

				WILLARD
		Chef -- is that 'cause you like
		mangoes an' stuff?

				CHEF
		No, sir -- I'm a real chef, sir
		-- I'm a sauciere --

				WILLARD
		A sauciere --
	
				CHEF
		That's right, sir -- I come from
		New Orleans -- I was raised to
		be a sauciere.. a great sauciere.
		We specialize in sauces; my whole
		family. It's what we do. I was
		supposed to go to Paris and study
		at the Escoffier School; I was
		saving the money. They called
		me for my physical so I figured
		the Navy had better food.

				WILLARD
		What are you doing out here?

				CHEF
		Cook school -- that did it.

				WILLARD
		How?

				CHEF
		They lined us all up in front of
		a hundred yards of prime rib --
		magnificent meat, beautifully
		marbled.. Then they started
		throwing it in these big
		cauldrons, all of it -- boiling.
		I looked in, an' it was turning
		gray. I couldn't stand it. I
		went into radio school.

	They move into a slight clearing.

				WILLARD
			(whispering)
		-- quiet --

	Chef crouches close -- redies his M-16. Willard ges-
	tures that he heard something; he points.


	105  MED. SHOT - DIFFERENT ANGLE

	PAN SLOWLY over jungle -- END REVEALING Willard and Chef.

				WILLARD
			(silent)
		There...

	He points -- motions Chef to move away -- they cover
	the spot. A few yards from them they hear something
	move. It is obviously no small jungle creature. They
	walk toward a patch of black elephant grass; their guns
	at the ready. They look at each other. Willard is
	cold, methodical, doing something he knows well. There
	is a noise again -- some of the growth rustles.  He
	and Chef move a distance apart, and join in stalking
	the probable V.C. Willard directs the Chef with hand
	gestures, and bird and cricket sounds. They move
	stealthily, closing the apex of their triangle on the
	hunted. The two men drop low into the elephant grass,
	and remain motionless. Then Willard makes the cricket
	noise, and they move closer. Willard's left hand edges
	out along the M-16's far end, so that he only has to
	point the finger of that hand and he will hit what he
	wants. He makes another command and they rush the
	trapped enemy.


	106  MED. SHOT - THE ELEPHANT GRASS - WILLARD AND CHEF

	Suddenly there is a RUSHING SOUND -- The grass folds
	down quickly toward them -- willard plants his feet and
	from the hip lets go FULL AUTOMATIC. The Chef retreats
	FIRING short BURSTS into the grass -- the grass folds
	almost to Willard -- then a huge tiger leaps out at
	them; snarling magnificently. They FIRE wildly,
	emptying their clips.

				CHEF
		It's a motherfucking tiger --
		goddamn...

	He turns and bolts through the jungle, as scared as a
	man can be.

				CHEF
			(continuing; screaming)
		Goddamn -- Jesus Christ tiger --
		motherfucking tiger -- ohhhhhhhhh --

	Willard jams another clip in his gun and backs out of
	the clearing, covering the bushes and runs, scared
	out of his head as well.


	107  FULL SHOT - THE BOAT - THE CREW

	They all are armed -- Lance has the twin 50's pointed into
	the jungle. Chef comes screaming out of the brush, throws
	his rifle into the boat and dives headfirst after it.

				CHEF
			(hysterical)
		Ohhhh -- tiger ! Oh goddamn !
		It's a tiger ! Jesus Christ !
		Goddamn, a tiger ! Ohhhhhhhh.

	The Chief tries to grab him; takes his gun away, but is
	unable to take a hold of the Chef, as he slithers around
	the boat, trying to find safety. willard follows from the
	jungle -- The Chef is moaning and stares off into the night.

				LANCE
		What's this tiger shit?

				WILLARD
		No shit... I think I shot the
		hell out of him.

				LANCE
		You think?

				WILLARD
		I wasnīt looking.. I was running.

				CLEAN
		Was a big tiger -- no shit?

				WILLARD
		Who stopped to measure him -- let's
		get the hell out of here.

				CHEF
		A motherfucking tiger -- I could've
		been killed.

	The ENGINE ROARS to life -- the P.B.R. pulls away with great
	speed.

				CHIEF
		You forgot the mangoes, didn't
		you?

				CHEF
		Mangoes? There as a fucking
		tiger in the woods -- I could've
		been eaten alive. I'm never
		going into that jungle again.
		I gotta remember never get out of
		the boat; never get outta the boat.

	They move off; swallowed by the darkness. The JUNGLE 
	NOISES remain, as OUR VIEW BEGINS a MOVE INTO the jungle.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		He was right, the Chef -- never
		go into the jungle, unless you're
		ready to go all the way.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	108  EXT. THE BOAT IN MARINA DEL RAY - NIGHT

	Willard, thinking, his BACK TO US. Suddenly, he turns
	around, and we SEE his face.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		What was in the jungle? What was
		there, waiting for me?

	He lights the cigarette; the light of his match illuminating
	his face momentarily. There is something different about
	him; a maturity, a cool inner peace.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
			(continuing)
		... Kurtz was in there. Or was he;
		was it Kurtz? He was just a name
		to me now; I couldn't remember a
		face, a voice -- he just didn't
		add up to me. all his liberal
		bullshit about the end of savagery
		-- and the role of our culture,
		our way of life...

	Willard looks toward the group of people on the boat --
	there is still some MUSIC. They talk and drink and laugh.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
			(continuing)
		Our way of life -- I really
		started to look forward to
		meeting Kurtz again.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	109  WATERWAY - MOVING FORWARD - DAY

	We HEAR: 

				RADIO
		-- must remember that we owe
		our thanks for these to the
		wonderful services of the U.S.O.
		-- here's another oldie -- this
		one dedicated...


	110  VIEW ON CHEF

	by himself on the P.B.R.; he has wiped mud under his
	eyes to kill the glare; it is incredibly hot. He is
	barechested, wearing a hat made of a banana palm.

				RADIO
		... to the fire team at An Khe
		from their groovy C.O. Fred the
		Head --


	111  VIEW ON THE GROUP

				RADIO
		The Rolling Stones and "Satisfaction..."

				CHEF
		Outa sight.

	The SONG BLARES ON -- they all dig it.

	PAN TO Willard, sitting alone in the rear, reading from
	his file on Kurtz. We REVEAL Lance in the b.g., water-
	skiing behind the P.B.R., slaloming back and forth on
	his single ski to the MUSIC -- jumping the wake occasion-
	ally.


	112  NEW VIEW - ON THE P.B.R.

	Lance waterskiing to "Satisfaction."


	113  VIEW ON CLEAN

	alert, at the rear of the boat -- his M-16 ready, just
	in case.


	114  VIEW ON WILLARD

	 Willard opens a letter from the packet.

	We can SEE it is a private correspondence -- feminine
	writing on the envelope.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		The dossier of A Dtachment
		contained letters from the families
		and wives of Kurtz' men There
		were letters from Kurtz' wife as
		well.


	115  CLOSE SHOT - ON THE LETTER

	It is addressed to Colonel Walter Kurtz -- in the corner
	is the return addess of Mrs. Colonel Walter Kurtz --
	Willard's hand fushes through the packet and comes up
	with apicture of a very attractive, thirty-five year
	old American Beauty... She is classically American.


	116  CLOSE SHOT - ON WILLARD
	
	looking at the picture -- puts it back, then opens the
	letter, straightens it.
	      
				WILLARD (V.O.)
		Dearest Walt -- I have to confess
		something. I know how you feel
		about this, but I had to ask Bob
		to find out what he could -- I
		just couldn't stand it anymore,
		not knowing where you are, whether
		you're alive or dead. I'm sorry
		Walt, I'm sorry I said that. Bob
		didn't tell me anything -- he said
		he couldn't -- I can't stand it
		anymore, Walt -- I just can't
		stand it.

	Willard looks out at the jungle.

	Deep imppenetrable jungle -- dark and primeval forests
	pass by. The Rolling Stones CHANT on in the b.g.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
			(continuing)
		I have to take the kids to school
		every morning now -- carpools just
		never work out.

		Jeff came home with a black eye
		on Tuesday but said he won anyway.
		He wouldn't tell me what the fight
		was about. Jeff keeps asking
		where you are -- he has maps of
		Viet Nam in his room now. He
		misses you very much. I can't
		take this much longer, Walt. I
		love you and I just can't stand
		it.


	117  CLOSE ON WILLARD

	He folds the letter up, files through some others quickly
	and gets to a peculiar envelope stamped Top Secret with
	a stenciled date on it. It is also noted that this was
	the last correspondence to leave Nu Mung Ba. It is
	addressed to Kurtz' wife. He opens the letter -- it is
	written in a scrawled savage hand to no one in partic-
	ular. It reads:

					Sell the house
					Sell the car
					Sell the kids
					Find someone else
					Forget it
					I'm never coming back
					Forget it --

	He folds up the letter.


	118  CLOSE SHOT - WILLARD

	He looks out at the ominous jungled mountains.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	119  FULL SHOT - P.B.R. - RIVER OUTPOST - RAIN

	The P.B.R. pulls in towards an American outpost that is
	being used as a forward medical evacuation center.
	Various helicopters pads are SEEN, but only one heli-
	copter -- the H-34 painted with Playboy rabbits that
	brought the girls to Hau Fat. Several soldiers in rain-
	coats come out the dock as the P.B.R. pulls up.


	120  MED. SHOT - WILLARD, SOLDIERS

	Willard looks into some empty tents -- looks around the
	dreary muddy camp. Two soldiers pass.

				WILLARD 
		Soldier -- where'īs your C.O.?

				SOLDIER
		Stepped on a booby trap, sir --
		got blown all to hell --

				WILLARD 
		Well , who's in command here?

				SOLDIER
		I don't know -- don't have any
		idea -- I'm just the night man --

	He turns and walks off babbling incoherently -- 

				WILLARD 
		What about you, soldier?

	The soldier he was talking to turns around smiling
	idiotically and making animal noises. He stumbles off
	after his friend.


	121  MED. SHOT - DIFFERENT ANGLE - WILLARD

	He looks around disgustedly

				VOICE (O.S.)
			(whispering)
		Captain --

	Willard turns around looking for where the voice came
	from.

				VOICE (O.S.)
			(continuing)
		Over here, Captain --

	He turns to see the Hollywood Agent under the flap of a
	large tent so that he won't get wet. He wears the same
	clothes as before, but is much dirtier. He motions
	Willard into the tent.


	122  INT. TENT - MED. SHOT - WILLARD, AGENT

	They duck inside -- it is dark and damp.

	On cots around astove sit the three playmates and the
	pilot. The nearest one, CATHY, a blonde, picks leeches
	out of her feet. The other two, TERRI and LYNDA, play
	cards with the helicopter pilot. Willard looks over 
	the situation.

				AGENT
		You came in on that boat, didn't
		you?

				WILLARD
		Yeah --

				AGENT
		Where are you headed?

				WILLARD 
		What's it matter? Get to the 
		point.

				AGENT
		Look -- you know the girls --
		Thta's Terri -- she was playmate
		of --

				WILLARD 
		Yeah, I caught your show at Hau
		Fat.

	They all look over.

				AGENT
		Oh -- I see -- Well, girls, this
		is Captain -- eh --

				WILLARD 
		Captain Willard -- go ahead.

				AGENT
		Look -- we got in a little trouble
		-- they rudely took our helicopter
		for MedEvac work on this -- uh
		Operation Brute Force -- They just
		brought it back this morning.

				WILLARD 
		Yeah.

				AGENT
		Well I mean like they also took
		our fuel -- We've been here two
		days.

				WILLARD 
		Dreadful.

				AGENT
		Look -- the girls could get
		killed -- we're not supposed to
		be this close combat, I mean
		real combat.

				WILLARD 
		Well --

				AGENT
		We could use some fuel -- just a
		half drum -- just enough to get
		us out a here.

				WILLARD 
		We need all our fuel.

	He turns and starts to leave.

				AGENT
		But, Captain, think what these
		girls have done for the boys --
		think of how they've risked --

	Willard is almost out of the tent.

				TERRI
		Captain --

	He turns around.

				TERRI
			(continuing)
		It's really rough here -- Captain
		-- we're just not built for it --

	The Pilot laughs.

				PILOT
		That's rich --

				TERRI
		Do us a favor -- I'd do one for
		you -- if I could --

	Willard just stares at her -- even though she's in jeans
	and field jacket she is something to see -- The Agent
	takes Willard aside -- Terri goes back to the others.

				AGENT
		Look -- you know who that is,
		Captain -- you know what she's
		saying -- you'll never see stuff
		that good outside of a magazine
		for the rest of your life.

				WILLARD 
		I'm not that fond of blondes --
		maybe I like brunettes --

				AGENT
		Take your pick -- they all like
		you -- I can tell --

				WILLARD
		I like all of them --

				AGENT
		Good -- like I said, take your 
		pick.

				WILLARD
		I said I like all of them.

				AGENT
		Now just a second -- I'm doing
		you a favor, buddy -- what're you
		trying to pull?

	Willard turns to leave again.

				WILLARD
		We need all our fuel anyway.

				AGENT
		Wait -- wait -- don't get up tight
		-- what I meant was we'd need a
		whole drum for that --

				WILLARD
		Sit down -- we'll talk about it.

	Willard sits down on a metal chair -- motions the Agent
	to do likewise.

				AGENT
		What's there to talk about -- this
		whole thing disgusts me.

				WILLARD
		My men --

				AGENT
		What !

				WILLARD
		That's what there is to talk 
		about -- my man -- I take a good
		care of my men --

	The girls are trying to pretend they're not listening --
	the helicopter Pilot is cackling to himself.

				AGENT
		You're out of your skull --

				WILLARD
		We have a lot of pride in our
		unit --

				AGENT
		How far do you think you can
		push -- what kind of people do
		you think --

				WILLARD
		Esprit de corps --
	
				AGENT
		No -- absolutely not --

				WILLARD
		One for all -- all for one --

				AGENT
		You can keep your fucking fuel --

	Willard gets up.

				WILLARD
		You make some of your closest
		friends in the army -- war has a
		way of bringing men together.

				AGENT
		Get out --

				WILLARD
		Men of all races -- nationalities --

	He gets up and starts out.

				AGENT
		Two drums --

	Willard turns around slowly.

				AGENT
			(continuing)
		Two whole drums --

				WILLARD
		We can use some fifty caliber and
		a 16 too --

				AGENT
		I don't know what you're talking
		about -- Get fucked --

				WILLARD
		I will -- I assure you that --
		You got a fifty on that H-34 --
		leave the ammo in boxes -- I'll
		get my men to bring the first drum
		with 'em --

	He turns to go under the tent flap.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		Have the girls freshen up a bit --
		comb their hair -- put on
		something -- you know what I mean --

	He leaves.


	123  FULL SHOT - P.B.R. - CREW

	They are all working on patching the boat and cleaning
	it up in general. Mr. Clean sits in f.g., cleaning an M-16.

				CLEAN
		You keep this thing in this
		condition an' it's gonna jam,
		Lance -- mark my words.

				LANCE
		Why don't you go pet the water
		buffaloes -- get off my back.

	Behins them on the beach stand several water buffaloes
	eating mud or whatever they do. They are painted jungle
	brown and green camouflage with grey bottoms -- on their
	sides the words have been stenciled in black:
			
				1 Each --
				Buffalo, Water B-1A
				U.S. Army No. 15239

	Willard walks through them down to the boat.

				CHIEF
		Careful,  Captain, they've been
		known to charge.

				WILLARD
		All right I got a little surprise
		for you --

	They all look up.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		I've arranged with those people
		we saw at Hau Fat to give us some
		50 caliber in trade for a couple
		a drums of fuel --

				CHEF
		No shit.

				WILLARD
		Chef -- since you're such a fan
		of Miss December's I think you
		should be detailed with Lance and
		Clean to take the first drum up
		there.

				CHEF
		I don't believe you --

				CHIEF
		What're you trying to say, Captain --

				WILLARD
		You'll see soon enough -- get going,
		sailor --

				CHIEF
		No shit -- hot damn --


	124  INT. TENT - MED. SHOT - LYNDA, CHEF

	He has followed her into the tent awe-struck -- she
	casuallu starts unbuttoning her fatigue jacket and taking
	off her pants. he just stands there, his arms at his
	sides.

				CHEF
		I've got every one of your
		pictures -- I've got the
		centerfold -- the Playmate's
		review -- the Playmate of the
		Year run-off -- everything, even
		the calender --

				LYNDA
		Well, get undressed and let's
		get it over with --

				CHEF
		I can't believe it -- I'd a
		never even got to see you if it
		wasn't for this war --

	She lies down on the cot in only her panties.

				CHEF 
			(continuing)
		You wouldn't mind -- uh kinda
		draping that jacket over you
		sort of the way you were in the
		calender, would you?

				LYNDA
		Come on -- cut this crap -- I
		gotta get back to Saigon --

				CHEF
		Just let me look awhile -- I just
		don't believe --

							CUT TO:


	125  INT. TENT - CLOSE SHOT - LANCE, CATHY

	They have just finished making love. cathy looks very
	pleased. Lance finishes tying his boots -- she draws on
	his back. He gets up -- starts to leave.

				LANCE
		Well -- uh thanks -- see you around.

				CATHY
		Yeah.

	He leaves -- she pulls herself up and starts combing her
	hair -- Mr. Clean walks in.

				CATHY
			(continuing)
		Who are you?

				CLEAN
		I'm next --

	She shrugs.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	126  INT. TENT - MED. SHOT - WILLARD, TERRI

	He finishes tying on his boots -- pulls on his jacket --
	his gun belt and picks up his M-16. She looks up at him --

				WILLARD
		Ma'am -- I'd like to thank you for
		what you an' all your friends have
		done for us -- I want you to know
		that me an' the men appreciate
		you coming all this way -- riskin'
		your lives -- living uncomfortably
		an' doing all you can to entertain
		us. I want you to know personally,
		Miss, that for the past few minutes
		you have made me feel at home.

	She picks up a shoe to throw at him. he turns, exits f.g.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		Just wanted to say that, ma'am.

	The SHOE CLANGS off his helmet.

							CUT TO:


	127  EXT. THE P.B.R. APPROACHING DO LUNG BRIDGE - FULL SHOT -
	         NIGHT

	The boat edges in toward the wrecked bridge in the
	distance. Along the banks are sandbagged fortificvations
	with U.S. soldiers in them. There is a bright fire
	burning uncontrolled in the distance; the sparks and white
	light from welding on the bridge momentarily lights up the
	night.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		Two days and nights later, we
		approach the Do Lung Bridge.


	128  VIEW ON THE FACES OF THE P.B.R. CREW

	watching. Everywhere are wrecked boats -- parts of trunks
	sticking out of the water -- smashed helicopters on the
	banks. The bridge is in a state of siege. Mortars and
	rockets arc through the night indiscriminately and rip
	through the nearby jungle. Soldiers are everywhere --
	scurrying from trenches, carrying materials for the bridge
	or tending to the wounded, the maimed and the dead. Light
	automatic WEAPON FIRE is HEARD occasionally. The P.B.R.
	edges in under the span of the old bridge. Soldiers run
	up through the water. They are obscured in the darkness.

				SOLDIER
		I gotta get out a here -- Iīll pay
		-- I got money.

				CHIEF
		Get away from this boat.

				WILLARD
		Who's your C.O., soldier?

	The Soldier ducks back and runs away.

				SOLDIER
		Fuck you, you'll get what's coming 
		to you.

	Other men approach the boat. A young LIEUTENANT steps
	forward.

				LIEUTENANT
		Captain Willard?

				WILLARD
		That's me.

				LIEUTENANT
		Captain Willard -- we got these
		from Nha Thrang two days ago --
		they expected you here then --

	He hands up a plastic bag, maximum security markings,
	Willard takes it.

				LIEUTENANT
			(continuing)
		You don't know how happy that makes
		me, sir.

				WILLARD
		Why?

				LIEUTENANT
		Now I can get out a here -- if
		I can find a way out.

				WILLARD
		We'll be needing some supplies
		and fuel -- do you know anybody
		who can give me a hand?

				LIEUTENANT
		I'd just clear out as soon as I
		could if I were you, sir. They're
		gonna start working on the bridge
		with torches again. Charlie will
		start throwing it in hard --

				WILLARD
		What is this bridge?

				LIEUTENANT
		It's of strategic importance for
		keeping the highway into Bat Shan
		open -- the generals don't like to
		admit that Bat Shan is surrounded.

	He points to the men getting ready to work.

				LIEUTENANT
			(continuing)
		Every night we build it and by
		0800 they've blown it up -- it
		and a lot of good men -- But the
		generals like to say the road is
		open -- ha ! Nobody uses that
		road except Charlie.

	He turns and splashes off into the darkness.

				LIEUTENANT
			(continuing)
		This is the cesspool of hell.

				SOLDIER (O.S.)
		Incoming.

	SHELLS WHISTLE OVER and CRASH into the bridge -- MEN SCREAM
	in the distance -- the EXPLOSIONS are thunderous.

				CHIEF
			(yelling)
		All right -- Lance, go with the
		Captain an' see what you can
		scrounge --

	Willard climbs out with Lance.

				CHIEF
			(continuing; to Willard)
		Better make it fast, sir -- we
		don't really need much anyway.

	Willard nods and they scurry off the bank under the
	bridge.


	129  MED. SHOT - WILLARD, LANCE

	They dash up the embankment and along the barbed wire
	on the edge of the road. SHELLS SCREAM overhead, they
	don't know where to run.

				VOICE
		Straight ahead, son of a bitch.

	They dive towards the voice.


	130  CLOSE SHOT - TRENCH

	They dive in, a SOLDIER is crounched in f.g. holding his
	buddy who is crying uncontrollably.

				SOLDIER
		You came right to it, son of
		a bitch --

				WILLARD
		Son of a bitch, sir.

	The Soldier doesn't respond.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		Where's your chief supply officer?

				SOLDIER
		Beverly Hills --

				WILLARD
		What?

				SOLDIER
		Straight up the road -- a concrete
		bunker -- Beverly Hills -- where
		else you think he'd be?

				WILLARD
		C'mon --

	There is an apparent lull and they dash out along the
	road. Suddenly to their right an M-60 STARTS OPENING UP
	from a sandbagged emplacement.

				SOLDIER (O.S.)
		Get your asses down, buddy.

	They drop and crawl to the slit trench and run up to the
	emplacement. Several SOLDIERS man a M-60. One has a
	sniper rifle -- another tries to spot for the Gunner.
	Willard and Lance edge up along the trench. Willard
	trips.

				VOICE
		Watch your feet, asshole --

	Willard looks down.

				VOICE
			(continuing)
		You stepped on my face.

				LANCE
		We thought you were dead.

				VOICE
		The whole world loves a smart ass.

	They move ahead more carefully. The Gunner BLASTS away
	into the night, there is a pile of brass cases about three
	feet high next to him. Finally he stops swearing to
	himself.

				WILLARD
		What're you shooting at, soldier?

				GUNNER
		Gooks.

	He turns and sees it's an officer.

				GUNNER
			(continuing)
		Iīm sorry, sir.

				WILLARD
		It's all right, sergeant -- what's
		out there?

				GUNNER
		They were tryin' to cut through
		the wire -- I got 'em all I think.

				OTHER SOLDIER
		Oh yeah -- listen.

	There is a low moaning SCREAM from out in the wire -- it
	stops for aminute then continues hideously.

				GUNNER
		He's trying to call his friends --
		send up a flare.

	The Spotter does, it arcs up, then bathes them in eerie
	light. The Gunner FIRES a long BURST.

				SPOTTER
		Those are all dead, stupid, he's
		obviously underneath 'em --

	They think about this as the flare goes out. The SCREAMING
	gets more intense.

				GUNNER
		Wake up the Roach.

	The Spotter moves down to where a tall lanky SOLDIER is
	leaned up against the trench. He kicks him hard several
	times. Roach wakes and just looks up. On his helmet are
	the words: "GOD BLESS DOW."

				ROACH
		Yeah, man.

				SPOTTER
		Slope in the wire -- hear him.

	He listens, he does, he nods.

				SPOTTER
			(continuing)
		Bust him.

	Roach gets up somewhat annoyed but very cool. He saunters
	up the machine gun dragging his M-79 which has paisley
	designs all over it.

				GUNNER
		Hear him?

				ROACH
		Sure , yeah.

				GUNNER
		You need a flare --
			
				ROACH
		No, itīs cool.

	He opens the breech of his shotgun-like weapon and plunks
	the big slug into it. He snaps it closed then rests it
	across his forearm over the trench -- he listens to the
	SCREAM, calculating.

				ROACH
			(continuing)
		He's close -- real close.

	He adjusts his sights so that the gun is aimed high into
	the air. He listens again then FIRES. The GRENADE
	WHISTLES off into the night. There is a sharp EXPLOSION
	that cuts off the scream. Then the THUD of bodies or
	pieces of bodies coming down around them.

				ROACH
			(continuing)
		Muhhh Fuhhh ...
	
	He staggers back down the trench to go to sleep.


	131  FULL SHOT - P.B.R. - BRIDGE - CLEAN, CHEF

	They stand in the shallows waiting for Willard and Lance.
	Clean is nervous, he constantly checks his M-16. SHELLS
	WHISTLE by and CRASH in the distance.

				CHEF
		Geez, I wish they'd hurry.

	A SOLDIER comes up on his way with some others to start
	building the bridge.

				SOLDIER
		Hey, buddy, that boat still runs,
		eh?

				CLEAN
		Yeah, it still runs.

				SOLDIER
		Do me a favor buddy, please.

				CLEAN
		What is it?

	He takes out a handful of crumpled envelopes.

				SOLDIER
		Send these out when you get back
		to the world.

	He puts them in Clean's hand.

				SOLDIER
			(continuing)
		It's to everyone I really knew --
		the first girl I screwed -- my
		brother -- best friend -- I wanted
		to tell 'em how much I enjoyed
		knowing 'em -- it's been a great
		twenty years. I gotta let 'em
		know.

				CLEAN
		What're you askin' me for -- put
		'em in the first helicopter comes
		in tomorrow.

				SOLDIER
		Nobody comes in here.

	He points up at the mountain ridges.

				SOLDIER
			(continuing)
		The N.V.A. 312th -- over there
		the 307th -- on that hill we
		counted fourteen different guns
		in one minute -- they got rockets
		mortars, snipers in those trees,
		there's a million of those shitty
		little bastards out there -- we're
		all gonna die.

	He grabs Clean and looks at him with a maniacal urgency.

				SOLDIER
			(continuing)
		I'm gonna be dead.

	Clean takes the letters.

				SOLDIER
			(continuing)
		You got a chance in that boat --
		by morning you could be five miles
		down the river.

				CLEAN
		We ain't goin' down the river.

	The Soldier looks at him as if he is joking.

				CLEAN
			(continuing)
		What's up river from here anyhow --

	The Soldier doesn't answer, just stares dumbfounded.

				SOLDIER
		Spooky.

				CLEAN
		Charlie?

				SOLDIER
		No, it'd be spooky without the war
		-- give 'em back.

	He takes the letters and leaves, somewhat disappointed and
	disgusted. Willard and Lance come back down the beach
	carrying some belts of ammunition and a couple of extra
	M-16's.

				CHIEF
		Wow, you must a found the C.O., eh?

				WILLARD
		We found some bodies -- let's get
		out a here.


	132  FULL SHOT - DIFFERENT ANGLE - P.B.R.

	They edge through the shallows as the men light up their
	welding torches to start work on the pontoon bridge --
	then pull away and accelerate fast.


	133  MED. SHOT - THE P.B.R. CREW

	The Chief is at the helm --  they all look back in the
	distance where the bridge was -- the hills flash with
	artillery discharges -- there is a fiery glow from the
	bridge area and the CONCUSSION of heavy EXPLOSIONS.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	134  EXT. FULL SHOT - P.B.R. - CREW - RAIN

	The boat moves uneasily upriver, through this tropical
	downpour. Mr. Clean is in thef.g., oiling and cleaning
	his 50-cal, his M-11 and M-79 -- the rest of the crew are
	forward, taking shelter from the rain under the canvas
	canopy. Clean works methodically under an umbrella he was
	set up by leaning the surfboard against gun mount.


	135  EXT. THE RUSHING RIVER - NEW VIEW - RAIN

	The river is moving fast against them. all manner of de-
	bris; tree trunks, sweeping by the P.B.R.

				CHIEF
			(to Willard)
		I can't see a fucking thing.

	There is a loud CRACKING SOUND, as one of the pieces of
	tree- trunk whacks the hull, and bounces off. Willard
	climbs forward, and looks down.

				CHIEF
			(continuing)
		We hit a big enough one this
		hull will shatter like a Corvette.
		Fucking plastic boat.

	Willard practically hangs off forward with a long pole,
	warding off the big debris moving toward the P.B.R. Clean
	joins him, helping.

				WILLARD
			(shouting to Chief)
		What about ducking into one of
		those tributaries till this river
		slows down?

				CHIEF
		Who knows what's up there?

				WILLARD
		Can't be any worse than this.
		What do you think?

				CHIEF
		I think this river wants to take
		us home fast. I'm practically
		goin' in reverse.

	Willard points his pole in the direction of the mouth
	of a tributary.

				WILLARD
		Well, get in there.

				CHIEF
		This whole area is lousy with
		V.C. -- We don't stand a chance.
		Lemme turn around and we'll be
		in Hau Fat in six minutes.

	There is a really loud WHACK against the hull. willard
	really mad, throws the pole at the Chief, who ducks.

				WILLARD
		Get in there !

				CHIEF
		This is my crew and my fucking
		boat, and I'm the responsible
		party.

				WILLARD
		Get in there now or I'll bury
		you in this river.

	It's clear that Willard will kill the Chief if he doesn't
	do as he says.

				CHIEF
			(finally relents, 
			  turns the helm)
		You're fucking crazy. You're
		going to get us all killed.

	The P.B.R. navigates through the rush and into the mouth
	of the tributary.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	136  EXT. THE TRIBUTARY - P.B.R. - RAIN

	Rain is pouring down, but the P.B.R. is slowed down to a
	snail's pace by Hyacinths, literally across the
	waterway.

	Willard, Chef and Clean in the water, cutting through
	them with machetes.


	137  VIEW ON LANCE

	having climbed to the highest point of the cockpit.

				LANCE
		It breaks through in about
		twenty feet.


	138  VIEW ON WILLARD

	cutting through. he looks to Chef, who has stopped cut-
	ting, and is staring into the jungle.

				WILLARD
		What do you see?

				CHEF
		I don't know.

	He looks out -- the jungle at this point is very dark
	and high -- totally impenetrable.

				WILLARD
		Keep cutting.

	They work feverishly, knowing something is wrong.


	139  VIEW ON CHEF

	cutting with all he's got.

				CHEF
		I know it sounds stupid, but I
		feel like the goddamn jungle's
		watching us.

				WILLARD
		Probably is.

				CHEF
		Whatdoya think it thinks.

				WILLARD
		That we're dumber than we look.

	Chef stops again, looks hard, trying to penetrate the
	darkness and from the very depth of it -- the darkness of
	it, comes a stream of tracers, lazily arching out at them.
	It whips between them -- the SOUND FOLLOWING much later.

	Other BULLETS SMASH through and ricochet off the deck
	fittings. GLASS SHATTERS, and a huge hunk of paint is
	removed from the armor shield by a 20 mm cannon.

				CHIEF
		Lance -- 'bout twenty meters
		starboard.

	Lance leaps down to his position. Willard, Clean and Chef
	cut feverishly, as the trapped boat struggles to get free.

				CHEF
		There in the trees !

	Everything is confusion -- yelling -- GUNFIRE -- the THUD
	of heavy BULLETS ripping inti the P.B.R.'s fibreglass hull.


	140  VIEW ON LANCE

	Lance's twin guns return the FIRE. The Chief moves to one
	of the heavy guns and joins Lance in returning the FIRE.


	141  VIEW ON THE MEN IN THE WATER

	pushing, cutting. Bullets SMASH and EXPLODE around.
	Clean climbs onto the boat, and leaps onto a gun emplace-
	ment.


	142  MED. VIEW

	Nobody really knows where the erratic fire is coming from.

				CHIEF
			(back at the helm)
		Elevate Lance, in the tree. No,
		I saw another.

				CHEF
		Thirty meters up, Lance; I saw
		the fucking flash.

	Lance grits his teeth, FIRING --


	143  CLOSE SHOT ON CLEAN


	144  POV BEHIND CLEAN

	He BLASTS short bursts of tracers into the jungle, cutting
	it to salad. Suddenly more tracers from another direction
	-- Clean swings around -- BULLETS smash against his shield
	and rip chunks from the surfboard. He BLASTS a long heavy
	burst at the jungle -- trees crumble.

				CLEAN
		I'm ripping 'em, man, son-of-a-
		bitch, it's jammed, oh God,
		it's jammed.

	Clean is riddled by MACHINE GUN FIRE.

	Chief runs to Mr. Clean -- it is obvious that he is dead.
	He looks angrily to Willard.

	Willard and Chef are practically through. Willard leaps
	up, as Chef finishes the last strokes. He moves toward
	the cockpit.

				WILLARD
		Throw me that ordnance.

	Chef throws him an M-79 and several shells -- Willard
	opens it, jams a huge projectile and pulls himself over
	the edge of the cockpit.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		Give me some kind a field a fire --

	BULLETS rip by.

				CHEF
			(exhausted)
		We're through.

	He climbs aboard and collapses.

				CHEF
			(continuing)
		Oh, God --

				LANCE
			(FIRING)
		I ain't finished ! I ain't finished !

				WILLARD
		Bring that bow ordnance into 
		those trees.

	He jams his gun up as he sees a flash and FIRES -- there
	is a low POP and a WHISTLE as the GRENADE arches into the
	jungle.


	145  POV. - BEHIND THEM

	He FIRES another burst as the GRENADE EXPLODES brightly.
	There is another POP and WHISTLE , another BLAST. A large
	tree falls, just as the craft speeds up through the thin-
	ning growth. We HEAR strange SCREAMING from the trees and
	jungle, hideous MOANS and terror-filled CRIES.


	146  CLOSE SHOT ON THE CHIEF

	He jams the throttle forward -- the boat surges ahead.
	Willard FIRES another GRENADE from his M-79.


	147  FULL SHOT ON THE P.B.R.

	The boat slams through the hyacinth growth, moving through
	the river, FIRING BACK at unseen enemy in the jungle.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	148  FULL VIEW ON THE P.B.R. - TWILIGHT

	The boat moves ahead at half speed through a wide, flat
	area in the river.


	149  MED. VIEW

	The men sit around, exhausted, brutalized, wounded.
	They look like animals, but they are relaxed, be-
	cause they know they're too far from the banks to
	be shot at.

	They smoke pot and eat silently. Lance smokes a
	joint and looks at his gun. Splotches of paint
	have been blown away from the armor shield -- pieces
	of deck are ripped and ragged around the mount.
	The boat is a floating wreck.

	Clean's body is being prepared in a plastic sack
	by Chief. All of the men are silent.

	Chef comes up from below; he has been wounded in the
	shoulder.

				CHEF
		There's some bad holes, man,
		and the cracks -- water's coming
		through the cracks. Food's shot
		to hell.

				WILLARD
		How much is left?

				CHEF
		Less than half -- sure is a
		mess down there.

	Chief has been silent by the body of Clean in a plastic
	sack.

				WILLARD
		And the grass?

				CHEF
		Still got a lot of that stuff
		from Nha Trang. But we're
		running low on the other.

	Chief pushes Clean's body into the river.


	150  VIEW ON WILLARD

	He notices something in the distance.


	151  WILLARD'S POV

	A light.


	152  MED. VIEW

	Willard stands up, pointing up the river.

				WILLARD
		Hey.

	They all look over.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		That's a light down there --

				CHEF
		Yeah, it is.

				CHIEF
		What the hell is it?

				WILLARD
		In the middle of the jungle --
		a goddamn light.


	153  FULL SHOT - THE P.B.R. - THE TWILIGHT

	The P.B.R. approaches the distant light -- which seems
	to be on the dock of an overgrown plantation building.


	154  VIEW ON WILLARD, CHIEF

	straining to see; he uses field glasses.


	155  POV - THROUGH THE GLASSES

	Seems to be some figures standing on the dock. The
	figures pull back behind some drums.


	156  BACK TO SCENE

				WILLARD
		Watch it !

	They duck as SHOTS RING OUT from the dock, stitching the
	water across the P.B.R.'s bow. The crew crouches, guns
	trained on the dock as the boat still approaches.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		They're not Cong.

				CHIEF
			(over the loud-hailer)
		We're Americans.

	Another BURST, closer.

				CHEF
		Maybe you shouldn't say we're
		Americans?

	Willard stares at the dock and building, trying to figure
	it out.

				WILLARD
		Chef, try your French.

	Chief hands the loud-hailer to Chef, who shrugs and shouts:

				CHEF
		Nous sommes Americains --

	Silence.

				CHEF
			(continuing)
		Nous ne voulon pas vous agresser.


	157  VIEW ON WILLARD

	He looks through the glasses.


	158  POV THROUGH THE GLASSES

	Gradually, a small group appears from behind the drums
	on the dock.

				WILLARD (O.S.)
		French Nationals -- they may not
		be too friendly, though.


	159  BACK TO SCENE

	We drift closer to the dock. The Chef starts enjoying
	speaking French.

				CHEF
		Nous sommes Americains -- nous
		sommes des amis --

	There is silence as the boat drifts closer. Then:

				FRENCHMAN
			(shouting out)
		Vous parlez Francais comme une vache
		espanole.

				CHEF
			(to himself)
		I thought it was pretty good,
		myself.

				CHIEF
		What'd he say?

				CHEF
		Said I speak French like a
		Spanish cow.

				FRENCHMAN (O.S.)
		Laisser tomber vos armes --

				CHEF
		Put the guns straight up -- stand
		away from the mounts.

				WILLARD
		Do it.

	They do.

				FRENCHMAN (O.S.)
		Vous pouvez approcher mais
		doucement --

				CHEF
		Take her in slow.


	160  FULL SHOT - DIFFERENT ANGLE - DOCK

	The men on the dock move forward, cautiously. They are
	a young man, PHILIPPE, about 25, strong and handsome, save
	for a scar down on the side of his face and through his left
	eye, which is covered by a patch. He is dressed in a
	tiger suit and the red beret of the French colonial para-
	troops. Also of the red beret are HENRY LeFEVRE, a bear-
	ded, dark-looking man of 35, and TRAN VAN KAC, a middle-
	aged half-breed slave. They all bear automatic weapons
	and suspicious in their eyes. As the boat pulls up to the
	dock, another Frenchman joins the group, obviously the
	head man, GASTON De MARAIS, about fifty, small and deli-
	cate, with a strength about him.

				PHILIPPE
		Hands on the heads.

				CHIEF
		I can't steer with my goddamn
		feet.

				CHEF
		Hey, they speak American.

				GASTON
		Who is the commanding officer?

				CHIEF
		I --

				WILLARD
		I am -- I'm Captain B.L. Willard.
		This is Chief Warrant Officer
		Phillips -- it's his boat. We
		were shot up bad downriver and
		need repairs and food -- we can
		pay you in gold.

				GASTON
		Philippe --

	Philippe moves to another position -- Kac grabs the rope
	from the deck and ties it to the dock.

				LANCE
		I'll help you with --

				PHILIPPE
		Do not move --

	Gaston looks at the skyward pointed twin fifties admiringly.

				GASTON
		Fifty calibers, eh, Captain --

				WILLARD
		As I said, we can pay you in
		gold.

				GASTON
		Entirely unnecessary, Captain.

	He puts down his gun -- the others do likewise --

				GASTON
		We share a common enemy -- you
		are our guests.
			(he steps back)
		I am Gaston de marais -- this is
		my family's plantation. It has
		been such for 121 years. It will
		be such after I die.
		This is my son, Philippe -- he
		has fought in Algeria and held
		the rank of Captain. And Henry
		LeFevre -- a sergeant; he was
		at Dien Bien Phu. My personal
		servant, Tran Van Kac ---

	Then he motions to the trees. A young man in a tiger suit
	and three women come forward from different positions --
	all wear bush clothing and bear weapons.

				GASTON
			(continuing)
		My youngest son -- Christian --


	161  CLOSE SHOT - CHRISTIAN

	He carries an M-60 machine gun in his hand -- a belt of
	ammunition trailing off behind him.

				GASTON
		Christian's wife -- Ann-Marie --

	A tall girl, goodlooking, but severe -- she carries an
	M-16.

				GASTON
			(continuing)
		And my youngest daughter --
		Claudine.


	162  CLOSE ON CLAUDINE

	an attractive girl about eighteen. She wears a red
	paratrooper beret and a well-fitted bush suit. She carries
	an M-79 grenade launcher and plenty of ammunition.


	163  FULL VIEW - P.B.R. - CREW, GASTON, OTHERS

	They stand there, exhausted and amazed. Philippe yells
	in Vietnamese -- about a dozen native men in tiger suits,
	heavily armed, walk out of the trees from all around them.
	They look the Americans over warily and assemble at
	Philippe's command.

				WILLARD
		American weapons?

				GASTON
		We took them from the dead.
			(smiles)
		Now -- I assume you want to rest,
		to shower. We'll attend to your
		repairs after dinner.

				CHEF
		Shower.

	Willard's men look at one another, dazed.

				WILLARD
		We don't want to bother you any,
		we --

				GASTON
		A man of war is never bothered to 
		aid an ally -- you will follow me,
		Captain.

	Willard steps off -- then stops, reaches back and picks
	up his M-16 by the stock.

				WILLARD
		A habit of men of war, sir --
		you understand.

				GASTON
		Of course, Captain -- an
		unfortunate necessity.

	The men are relieved. They pick up their weapons and
	follow.

				CHIEF
		What about the boat?

				PHILIPPE
		My men will keep it for you --

				CHIEF
		Yeah -- well, I'll stay with the
		boat.

				WILLARD
		Chief.
			(pause)
		Come with us.

	They look at each other a moment. The Chief shrugs
	and follows.


	164  FULL SHOT - PLANTATION - WILLARD, GASTON, OTHERS

	Gaston stops, points to a guest house off the main struc-
	ture which is a typical jungle plantation house, save the
	many sandbagged gun emplacements and barbed wire.

				GASTON
		A suitable accomodation for
		your men, captain -- you will,
		of course, be quartered with us --

	He indicates that the men should follow Philippe. The
	Chief is hesitant.

				WILLARD
		Go ahead --

	Philippe leads them on, muttering.

				GASTON
		Captain, this way.

	Willard follows -- they walk over past the house and toward
	the jungle, approaching a huge crater, 100 feet across and
	about thirty feet deep. The bottom is filled with water and
	young French and Vietnamese children swim in it. On the
	opposite rim, sit two men and a woman with machine guns.
	Gaston strides up and looks down at the crater with pride.

				GASTON
			(continuing)
		Magnificent, eh, Captain?

	Willard looks.

				GASTON
			(continuing)
		It is very good -- there is no
		current -- It is very good. I
		have never seen one like it in
		all Indochina. I was in Paris
		when it arrived -- do you know
		what might have caused --

				WILLARD
		Looks like a two thousand pound
		to me. Yeah, a two thousand
		pound bomb.

				GASTON
		No, I've seen those in Normandy.
		This is much better.
			(pause)
		My country -- my country could
		never originate this. Magnificent.

	Gaston stands in serious admiration for this feat; Willard
	looks between him and this big hole in the ground in
	amezement.


	165  INT. WORKMEN'S SHOWER - EVENING

	A foreman's shower from the old plantation days. The
	Chief steps out of it, refreshed, though still exhausted.
	Lance stands there, about to step in, absolutely filthy,
	caked with blood. His reaction is odd; rather than just
	stepping into the shower, he seems almost frightened,
	reluctant to step in. Chef is waiting behind him.

				CHEF
		A hot shower, hot damn.

	He pushes him forward into the water. The dirt and
	caked mud go swirling off his face and shoulders, and
	he relaxes as though he suddenly remenbers what a
	shower is.


	166  EXT. THE DOCK - P.B.R. - EVENING

	battered and torn -- a few of Philippe's Vietnamese
	guard at the boat.


	167  INT. WILLARD'S QUARTERS - EVENING

	A beautiful European room with tall ceilings. Still
	elegantly furnished, although old and decaying.

	Willard sits in a comfortable chair in the corner of
	the room, looking out over the carpet,  the bed with
	its elegant spread; the wash basin; the bidet. His
	battle dress is black with muck, with bloodstaines and
	burns.

	He rises from the chair and steps to a dresser above
	which is a large mirror. There is an album on the
	marble top of the dresser. He turns to a page at random.


	168  VIEW ON WILLARD

	haggard, looking down at the album.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		I wondered -- how long has this room
		been like this; how long has the
		furniture been standing in these
		places?


	169  VIEW ON THE ALBUM

	Some old photographs of people standing around a car
	in the 20's in front of the plantation. Another picture
	shows a child playing by the rubber trees near the
	plantation.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		Was it like this sixty years ago?
		Eighty years? But here, even
		eighty years is nothing.

	He turns the page,

	The plantation being built. Pictures of the framing,
	skeletal against the sky and jungle.


	170  VIEW ON WILLARD

	fascinated

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		It was jungle, once; and it will
		be jungle, again...


	171  VIEW ON THE ALBUM

	Onlu the very beginnings of the house; the first struc-
	tures. Then another picture of the jungle site where
	it was to be built.


	172  CLOSE VIEW ON WILLARD

	He looks up and sees his own face, reflected in the garish
	mirror. He barely recognizes himself.


	173  MED. VIEW

	Willard looks at himself in the mirror, in this odd, out-
	of-time room.


	174  INT. DINING ROOM GROUP - TRACKING SHOT

	TRACK DOWN the long table, covered with delicious food.
	The P.B.R. crew sits with others of the De Marais group.
	The table is headed by St. LeFevre. Chef's face lights
	up as he regards the wonderful European-style food.

				CHEF
		This food is wonderful ! I can't
		believe the chef is a slope.
		    (turning to Clean)
		Some more?

	Opposite the table, sitting next to the Chief, Lance
	reaches hungrily for bread and other food with his hands.

				CHEF
			(continuing)
		Hey -- Lance.

				LANCE
		Huh? Oh. Um, wouldya ..
		wouldya pass me the Rice-a-roni,
		please.

	And then he looks to his friends for approval.

	Our VIEW REVEALS that behind a transparent silk curtain
	there is another, more elaborate table, where the
	De Marais family is dining with Willard. Our VIEW MOVES
	through the curtain and settles in a MEDIUM VIEW of the
	group.

	The men rise as a very attractive woman enters the room.
	Willard finally does as well, and she moves to the chair
	next to him.

				GASTON
		Roxanne, I hope you are feeling
		better.

				ROXANNE
		Je vais bien maintenant.

				GASTON
		May I present Captain Willard?
		He is of a paratroop regiment.
		You know the difference between a
		paratrooper and a regular soldier,
		don't you , my dear?

				ROXANNE
			(smiling and taking
			  Willard's hand)
		Yes, they come from the sky.

	She sits -- there's an uneasy silence.

	Willard is caught with this exotic woman on one side of
	him, and the ongoing conversation on the other. He is
	forced to face toward Gaston, and drawn to look at Roxanne.

				WILLARD
		I would like to know more about
		the .. uh, plaque...

	Philippe turns around, points to an elaborately scripted
	wooden plaque with various tallies on it.

				GASTON
		Attacks repulsed, as I was saying.
			(hard)
		This is only  for this war, Captain.
		Viet Cong -- 54; North Vietnamese
		regular forces -- 15; South
		Vietnamese -- 28 -- regular
		forces and otherwise.
			(pause)
		Americain -- 6. Of course, they
		were, perhaps, mistakes, Captain.

				WILLARD
		Of course. I -- Once we make
		our repairs, we could send word,
		we could have you evacuated
		from here.

				GASTON
		Captain?

				WILLARD
		You'll get blown outta here some
		day.

				GASTON
		We will never 'evacuate', Captain
		-- this is our home. Indochina is
		ours; it has been so for a hundred
		and twenty-one years, there is
		something to say for that.

				WILLARD
		The Vietnamese think it's theirs
		-- I guess the Americans do,
		too.

				GASTON
		But we civilized it. A place
		belongs to those who bring light
		to it, don't you agree.

				WILLARD
		I always thought the French came
		here to get the rubber.

				PHILIPPE
		Excuse me, I must attend to my
		men.

	He gets up, and leaves abruptely -- followed by his wife.

				ROXANNE
		May I ask where the Captain is
		going in his little boat?

				WILLARD
		We were going upriver when we
		got caught in a storm, ma'am.

				GASTON
		Upriver? Why upriver? There is
		nothing there, only jungle.

				WILLARD
		Do you know that jungle?

				GASTON
		When I was a boy, my father would
		take me there, to hunt. There
		are a few savages, but no man
		can live there, no white man.

				WILLARD
		What about an American named
		Kurtz?

	There is a pause.

				GASTON
		We have never heard of him.

	Gaston rises, and takes Roxanne's hand.

				GASTON
			(continuing)
		Bon nuit, Roxanne -- bon nuit,
		Captain.

	Willard turns.

				WILLARD
		Good night.

	Gaston leaves. Willard and Roxanne are left alone. The
	servants clear the table.

				ROXANNE
		You must realize, Captain -- we
		have lost much here -- I, my
		husband. Gaston -- his wife and
		son.

				WILLARD
		I'm sorry to hear that.

				ROXANNE
			(rising)
		Cognac?

				WILLARD
		I should be checking on the
		boat.

				ROXANNE
		The war will still be here
		tomorrow.

	She walks out of the room.

				WILLARD
			(thinking)
		I guess so.

	He follows.


	175  INT. SITTING ROOM - FULL SHOT - WILLARD AND ROXANNE

	Roxanne sits, pouring a brandy, while Willard stands.

				ROXANNE
		Do you miss your home, Captain?
		Have you someone there?

				WILLARD
		No. Not really.
	
		I was discharged from the army
		four years ago. I went home,
		wasted some time, bought a Mustang
		Mach 1, drove it a week. Then
		I re-upped for another tour. No,
		everything I love is here.

				ROXANNE
		Then you are like us.

	She reaches out to him; indicating that he sit.

				ROXANNE
			(continuing)
		What will you do after the war?

				WILLARD
		I just follow my footsteps, one
		at a time, trying to answer the
		little questions and staying away
		from the big ones.

				ROXANNE
		What's a big question?

				WILLARD
		Kurtz.
			(pause)
		I know you've heard of him.

				ROXANNE
		Yes.

				WILLARD
		What did you hear?

				ROXANNE
		That strange things.. terrible
		things have occured around this
		American, Kurtz.

				WILLARD
		What things?

				ROXANNE
		Gaston would never tell me. It
		was asubject not to be spoken of,
		Captain.

				WILLARD
		Yes.

				ROXANNE
		Did you know -- deeper in the
		jungle, upriver -- there are
		savages?

				WILLARD
		I know.

				ROXANNE
		But Captain, I mean -- cannibals.

	A long pause. Then she looks at the cognac she poured for
	him.

				ROXANNE
			(continuing)
		What a pity, you don't drink.
		Since my husband died, there
		are so many things I must do
		alone.

	She takes a sip.

	Willard moves to the French doors, which have been left
	partly open to let a breeze in. He steps onto a terrace
	overlooking the river.


	176  EXT. THE TERRACE - MED. VIEW - WILLARD - NIGHT

	A machine gun emplacement is situated on the terrace cover-
	ing the front of house, from the river.

				ROXANNE
			(from the sitting room)
		Are you warm, Captain?

				WILLARD
		The river is beautiful.

	In fact, we REALIZE that he is checking the boat.


	177  WILLARD'S POV.

	The P.B.R. is under guard by a couple of Gaston's
	Vietnamese.


	176  MED. VIEW ON WILLARD, ROXANNE

	She, thinking it romantic to talk about the river, comes
	up behind him.

				ROXANNE
		I spend hours watching that
		river from my bedroom window.
		It fascinates me.

	She moves her body close to his; and, in a moment, he is
	kissing her.

	179  CLOSE ON WILLARD, ROXANNE

	One eye steals another look at the P.B.R.


	180  VIEW ON THE P.B.R.

	Two of the guards leave -- two remain, getting ready
	for the long night.


	181  VIEW ON WILLARD, ROXANNE - ON THE TERRACE

	His hands wander over her body as she clings to him. Then
	she takes his hand, and leads him back into the sitting
	room, and up the stairs.


	182  INT. ROXANNE'S ROOM - FULL VIEW

	It is dark. She leads him into her room and closes the
	door. He stands there. In the center of the room is a
	large canopied bed with mosquito netting hanging down over
	it. The windows also have netting and barbed wire --
	there is a .30 calibre machine gun mount in the far one.
	He look around. she goes over to the bed, and turns
	down the sheets. Then she slips out of her dress and
	stands there facing him.

	He puts down his gun and strips off his shirt. She lays
	down on the bed and watches him.

				ROXANNE
		I have been lonely here, Captain.

	He moves to her, slipping into the bed. M-16 is
	leaning against the wall in his reach.

							FADE OUT.


	183  EXT. ROXANNE'S TERRACE - NIGHT

	We can VIEW into the room, as Willard has silently
	slipped out of her bed, and is a dark sinister figure
	kneeling in final preparations for going out in the
	night.

	Without a sound, he comes out to the terrace, and
	scales down the wall of the old building, disappearing
	into the darkness.


	184  EXT. THE DOCK - P.B.R. - NIGHT

	Two Vietnamese guard the P.B.R. -- suddenly, feet first,
	the first disappears into the thicket.


	185  CLOSE VIEW ON WILLARD

	in the thicket; we realize he has just killed the man with
	a knife. Willard stalks the second guard and makes quick
	work of him with his knife. He even enjoys it. Silently,
	he drags the body out of sight.


	186  MED. VIEW ON THE P.B.R.

	The dark figure boards the boat silently. He disappears
	into the hold.


	187  NEW VIEW

	He lifts out several cases of supplies, working quickly,
	with a grace that indicates he is a man who has done his
	best work alone, and at night.

							CUT TO.


	188  INT. ROXANNE'S ROOM - CLOSE SHOT - WILLARD - MORNING

	He sleeps soundly alone in the bed - we HEAR SOMEONE
	moving around in the room. He wakes suddenly -- PULL
	BACK TO REVEAL Roxanne combing her hair and buttoning up
	her blouse. She notices he is awake and smiles.

				ROXANNE
		I will fix you breakfast.

	He starts to get up.

				WILLARD
		I'm afraid I won't have time --
		I gotta --

				ROXANNE
		Whe you reach the boat you will
		find that half your fifty calibre
		stores -- a case of grenades, a
		mortar and two M-16's and a
		case of clips are being
		transfered to us by your order.

	He stops -- seemingly stunned.

				WILLARD
		So that's it.

				ROXANNE
		You may think what you wish,
		Captain, but I like you very
		much.

	She turns to go.

				WILLARD
		What if I say no.

				ROXANNE
		Then Philippe will have to kill
		all of you.

	She leaves.


	189  EXT. DOCK - FULL SHOT - WILLARD, OTHERS

	He walks down onto the dock. Gaston's men are transferring
	ammunition boxes.

	Gaston is standing with Philippe, who are covering the
	Chief and crew with M-16's.

				GASTON
		Two of my men deserted last
		night. It happens from time
		to time. I assume my daughter
		told you of our conditions.

				WILLARD
		Your daughter.

				CHIEF
		They taking half our ammo,
		Captain -- said it was your orders.

	He pauses for a second.

				WILLARD
		That's right -- I did.

	The Chief spits in the water disgustedly and starts the
	engines. Willard looks hard at Gaston.

				WILLARD
		I guess this is whAt men of war
		do -- eh?

				GASTON
		We endure, captain -- you can
		blow up the house and we will
		live in the cellar -- destroy
		that and we'll dig a hole in the
		jungle and sleep on it. Burn
		the forest and we'll hide in
		the swamp. all the while, we
		do but one thing -- clean the
		blood off our bayonets.
			(pause)
		Au revoir, Captain.


	190  LONG SHOT - DOCK - P.B.R.

	Willard climbs on board and it pulls away.


	191  EXT. P.B.R. - MED. SHOT - WILLARD, CHIEF

	The BOAT ROARS out across the river. The Chief looks over
	at Willard. They stare at each other for a moment.

				CHIEF
		Next time we  get in a good fire
		fight -- I'd like to know how
		she was, Captain.

	Willard just smiles at the Chief. he leans over and pulls
	up a floorboard -- the men stare in amezement; it contains
	the contents of all those ammo boxes.  .50 calibre; clips;
	grenades.

				CHEF
		Holy shit.

				CLEAN
		What did you put in all those
		ammo boxes?

				WILLARD
		Rocks, sand -- those two men
		who deserted.

				CHIEF
		When'd you do it?

				WILLARD
		While you were sleeping.

	He lets the board drop.

	Willard moves to the back of the boat.


	192  FULL SHOT - P.B.R. - RIVER , CREW

	The river has narrowed and runs swifter -- the water dark
	and deep. The trees are higher in this area and much of
	the river is shaded on one side. There is no undergrowth,
	just the tall trees and ferms. They move ahead at half
	speed, alert, ready for anything.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		We moved deeper and deeper into
		the jungle. It was very quiet
		there. It was like wandering on
		a prehistoric planet, an unknown
		world ... where the men thought
		they crawled to, I don't know.
		For me, we crawled toward Kurtz --
		exclusively.

	Willard looks out ahead and points.

	They all turn their guns in that direction. We PAN TO
	REVEAL a small village of huts along the bank.


	193  FULL SHOT - DIFFERENT ANGLE - VILLAGE


	194  POV. OF THE P.B.R.

	They pass in front of the village which is rundown and
	completely deserted. The huts are on stilts to avoid the
	flooding of the river -- they are just skeletons of what
	they once were.

				CHEF (O.S.)
		Flood.

				CHIEF (O.S.)
		No -- most of 'em are still
		standing -- might've been
		disease.

				WILLARD (O.S.)
		I don't know -- there'd still
		be some sign -- it's just like
		the one this morning.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	195  POV BOAT - FULL SHOT - JUNGLE

	The canopy of trees grows taller and stretches out across
	the river filtering the sun. The forest itself has grown
	darker and more twisted with ferns and creepers. Strange
	birds fly out of the trees as the boat passes -- a huge
	snake slips along an overheading limb. The depth of the
	jungle is dark, ominous -- yet cool and strangely inviting.


	196  FULL SHOT - BOAT - JUNGLE

	Suddenly the river widens, the trees give way to marsh
	and as they emerge into the light a strange shadow falls
	upon the boat. It is the shadow cast by an enormous
	vertical tail section of a B-52 bomber thrusting out from
	the mud. Pieces of aluminum hang loosely from it, oxi-
	dizing in the sun. Creepers have already started to grow
	up around its heights -- the jungle is claiming it. But
	once under its shadow, they have passed a gateway. A
	gateway to paradise.

	The river widens and the trees at its edge are soft and
	seductive. The hills beyond are purple and lush. Strange
	orange colored water-fowl swim lazily out of their way.
	The water itself is glass smooth and black as if there
	were no bottom. The sun is warm and the breeze gentle
	and laced with wild gardenians. It is indeed the most
	peaceful valley in all the world and each man looks upon
	it and has never known such a sense of peace and well-
	being.

	Each man in his heart feels a need to stay -- his soul
	cries to stop -- stop their madness -- this spiral into
	hell.

	Here is all that can be had of earth. But no hand moves.
	The boat drifts on its own toward a hole at the end of
	the clearing. A hole into the jungle from which a
	darkness permeats. The boat follows the river into this
	hole.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	197  FULL SHOT - P.B.R. - RIVER - DAWN

	The skull looms in the f.g. -- the P.B.R. is pulled back
	about seventy yards -- Early morning mist still hangs on
	the water -- as it clears, we SEE another post and skulls
	on the opposite bank, It is strangely quiet.

				CHIEF
		-- All right, Lance --

	Lance's TWIN FIFTIES split the silence as they POUR into
	the skulls on the opposite bank -- Suddenly there is a
	tremendous EXPLOSION and SECONDARY ONES from the jungle
	as shrapnel rips into the jungle and water from CLAYMORE
	MINES obviously set to cover the mound of skulls. The
	smoke clears.

				LANCE
		The other one --

				WILLARD
		No -- leave it --

				CHIEF
		Why -- Charlie put it there to kill --

				WILLARD
		Thta's not Charlie's work --

	There is silence.

				WILLARD
		Whoever put'em there didn't do it
		to kill people -- They put 'em up
		as signs -- 

				CHIEF
		Signs?

				WILLARD
		Yeah -- like keep out --

	Willard motions -- the Chief accelerates -- they move ahead
	past the smoking mound.


	198  EXT. THE RIVER - FOG - DAY

	The P.B.R. pushed deeper into this mysterious area. Mist
	swells in and around the river, as the boat moves into
	an obscure fog. The Chief cuts the engine, and they coast.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		Toward the night of the fifth
		day out of Do Lung Bridge, we
		judged ourselves about eight
		miles from Kurtz' base.
		Everything was still, the trees,
		the creepers, even the brush
		seemed like it had been changed
		into some kind of stone. It was
		unnatural, like a trance. Not
		a sound could be heard. I began
		to think I was deaf -- then the
		fog came suddenly, and I was
		blind too.

	The boat disappears in the thick fog.


	199  MED. CLOSE ON WILLARD

	We catch glimpses of him, even though we are close.

				WILLARD
		Listen.

				CHIEF
		What is it?

				WILLARD
		Listen.

	They are silent. We can HEAR the most ominous SOUND
	COMING FROM THE BANKS. The GROANING, OR WAILING .. of
	HUNDREDS OF MEN.

				CHIEF
		They're on the banks of the
		river.


	200  VIEW ON LANCE

	Frantically, he swings the twin fifties around.

				LANCE
		Jesus !


	201  VIEW ON CHIEF

	We can barely SEE him -- in and out of the fog.

				CHIEF
		No, Lance. Not while you can't 
		see.


	202  VIEW ON WILLARD

	listening. The SOUND IS TERRIBLE, HORRIFYING.

				CHIEF
		Will they attack?

				WILLARD
		If they have boats ... or
		canoes... they'd get lost in
		the fog. We can't move either --
		we'll end up on the shore.

				CHEF
		God...

				LANCE
		Sounds like hundreds of them.

				WILLARD
		Shhhhhh.

	The CHORUS OF GROANS in unbearable. But it is not ahostile
	cahnt; or a war chant, but rather the SOUND OF HUMAN
	ANGUISH.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		It doesn't sound hostile --
		it sounds like they've seen us
		coming and it sounds like --
		I don't know, a funeral. I
		don't understand.


	203  VIEW ON LANCE

	A glimpse of him, almost in tears. We then SEE glimpses,
	fog moving, of all the men on the P.B.R.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	204  MED. VIEW - THE P.B.R.

	MOVING THROUGH the thinning mist. The Navy craft proceeds
	cautiously.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		Two hours after the fog lifted,
		we moved slowly to a spot we
		thought was roughly a mile and
		a half below Kurtz's camp. We
		approached a long sand-bank
		stretching down the middle of
		the river.

				CHIEF
		Which way? Right or left?

				WILLARD
		Who knows? Right.

				CHIEF
		Looks pretty shallow.

	The P.B.R. moves toard the right-most channel. Chef
	takes a long pole and begins sounding depth.


	205  VIEW ON WILLARD

	The men are really tense now -- Lances swivels his gun from
	bank to bank. Chief keeps his fingers on an M-16. Willard
	takes out the TOP SECRET packet he received at Do Lung.
	Tears it open. We MOVE IN ON him.

				WILLARD
			(reading)
		Upon reaching objective. Target
		key personnel and commence
		operation. Should difficulty
		arise from which extraction is
		impossible, break radio silence
		Com-Sec Command code Strong Arm --
		indicate purgative air strike --
		code -- Street Gang.
			(pause)
		Purgative air strike ! Purgative !
		They'd kill me too !

	Suddenly Chef lays out flat on the bow. Hundreds
	and hundreds of slender sticks fly onto the P.B.R.
	rattling against the boat.

				CHIEF
		Shit ! Fucking arrows ! They're
		shooting fucking arrows at us.


	206  CLOSE ON WILLARD

	looking toward the banks.


	207  WILLARD'S POV

	Frags of men -- naked limbs, arms, breasts, glaring eyes
	entangled in the dense jungle gloom. And hundreds of
	pathetic wooden arrows flying out toward them.


	208 VIEW ON THE P.B.R.

	crazily zig-zagging up the river in the midst of the
	childish assault.

				WILLARD
		Steer her right.


	209  VIEW ON THE P.B.R.

	arrows hitting the deck. The men open up everything
	they've got. Lance is FIRING the two fifties wildly.
	
				WILLARD
		Keep going.. keep going.
		They're just fucking sticks !
		Chief, stay at the helm.

	But Chief seems out of control -- he lets the clip of his
	M-16 go. Then slowly lets the rifle fall out of his hands,
	and falls to Willard's feet, a primitive spear having
	caught him right through the ribs. Willard looks down in
	horror.


	210  VIEW ON CHIEF

	laying at Willard's feet -- the long spear through him,
	bleeding onto Willard's boots. He looks up at Willard,
	about to say something.

				CHIEF
		A spear?

	He dies.


	211 MED. VIEW ON THE P.B.R.

	The men are still crazily FIRING into the empty jungle
	long after those who attacked beat their retreat.

				WILLARD
		Stop it. Stop it !

	Slowly he pulls his boots from under Chief. They are
	absolutely soaked in blood. He is stunned -- sits down
	and begins to unlace the bloody boots, and take them off.

				LANCE
		Chief's dead.

	Willard unlaces the other boot, and holds the bloody boot
	in his hand.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		It was the strangest thing --
		I don't know that I can explain
		it. Two of my men dead, and all
		I could think of was whether
		Kurtz was dead too. That's all
		I wanted: to see Kurtz, to hear
		Kurtz.

	He starts to wipe the blood off the boot.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
			(continuing)
		Somehow, in the middle of this ...
		carnival, Kurtz had grown into
		something -- a gifted officer;
		a great man.
		Somehow, he was the only light
		in this hopeless, hopeless
		darkness.
		And now I was too late --
		he was probably gone, disappeared...
		by a grenade rolled into his
		tent -- or by some spear on the head.
		Christ, I felt like howling like
		those animals in the fog.


	212  EXT. THE BOAT AT MARINA DEL REY - NIGHT

	The people at Charlie's cocktail party on the boat.
	Some flashbulbs are going off. Some people are dancing
	to the MUSIC. OUR VIEW MOVES SLOWLY TOWARD Willard, on
	the edge of the party.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		Here they are in Los Angeles.
		Everything is safe. There's a
		supermarket around the corner,
		the police station around the
		other. It would seem ridiculous
		to them that I was shot to hell
		because I had lost the privilege
		of listening to the mysterious
		Colonel Kurtz.
			(pause)
		Of course I was wrong. He was
		waiting for me. Kurtz was alive
		and he was waiting for me.

							DISSOLVE TO :


	213  EXT. THE RIVER - P.B.R. DAY

	The P.B.R. moving up the river. The men are practically
	in a trance now, looking at the banks of the river. They
	donīt even make an effort to touch their weapons.


	214  WHAT THEY SEE

	Hundreds and hundreds of Montagnard natives -- dressed
	in the most ornate and primitive manner: feathers, parts
	of birds and animals; cod-pieces -- all in body and face
	paint of the most savage nature. But there is a purity
	about them, men and boys, standing passively watching
	the small Navy craft flying the strange flag of red,
	white and blue.


	215  VIEW ON THE P.B.R.

	The men of the crew are not the same men who began this
	voyage. Their manner is lifeless as though in a trance.
	The various decorations and paraphenelia that they have
	picked up along the way seem oddly relevant to the
	savages that stand before them. The Chef has made a
	hat of birdfeathers; Lance's face has been painted with
	mud under the eyes to block the glare of the sun. He
	wears certain animal skins; trinkets; some animal teeth.
	Their uniforms have been torn and patched throughout the
	difficult journey. They start to move to their gun
	positions.

				WILLARD
		Just stand here with me where
		they can see us. Do nothing.


	216  VIEW FROM BEHIND THE P.B.R.

	MOVING SLOWLY TOWARD the fantastic human wall of feathers
	and war paint, standing on canoes across the river. The
	men on the crew stand in a group, their hands visibly
	without weapons. The natives standing across the river
	make no hostile gestures as they approach. They accept
	the small boat moving toward them with a sort of inevi-
	tability. The boat moves closer, approaches the wall of
	feathers -- which slowly and automatically gives away, in
	almost a ritual of birth, undulating, allowing the little
	boat to penetrate.


	217  VIEW ON WILLARD

	Mus on his face (to protect it from the sun), the palms
	of some jungle vegetation protecting his head, he looks
	something like atribal chieftan himself. His intuition
	was right. He senses that they would be allowed to pass.


	218  FULL VIEW ON THE RIVER

	Hundreds of Montagnards who had been lining the river
	now run, absolutely silently, along the banks, keeping
	pace with the P.B.R. There is no hostility in these
	faces, only curiosity and a sort of grief.


	219  VIEW ON WILLARD, THE CREW

	They look up toward the bank.


	220  THEIR POV

	The temple at NU MUNG BA, a fortified encampment, built
	around the ruins of a former Cambodian civilization.
	Stone walls, barbed wire, cracked pyramids and rows and
	rows of Escher-like sandbags arranged in an endless maze
	around the fortress.


	221  VIEW ON WILLARD

	He picks up his field glasses and looks through.


	222  WILLARD'S POV - THROUGH GLASSES

	A sign entangled in the barbed wire -- its lettering
	strict and military:

				FOURTH SPECIAL FORCES
				MISSION F-82
				NU MUNG BA

	The GLASSES POV MOVES REVEALING another sign written in
	a wild psychedelic hand.

				OUR MOTTO: APOCALYPSE NOW !

	The POV OF THE GLASSES MOVE once again and come upon an
	astonished sight, a black man dressed in a tatter of
	colored fabrics, feathers, and an Australian bush hat.
	He looks something like a multi-colored harlequin waving
	frantically to the P.B.R. The POV OF THE GLASSES MOVE
	OFF of him.


	223  VIEW ON WILLARD

	not believing what he's just seen.


	224  THE GLASSES POV

	Once again the young black man is now waving his
	Australian hat.


	225  VIEW ON THE P.B.R.

	Willard shouts out to the starnge greeter.

				WILLARD
		We've been attacked.

				AUSTRALIAN
			(shouting back)
		I know, I know, it's all right.
		Come in this way. It's mined
		over there. This way. It's
		all right.

	Willard look at Chef who is at the helm. He shrugs and
	they do as this man says. The P.B.R. moves towards the
	water's edge where there is a dock covered with concertina
	wire. The odd Australian stands waving his hat, guiding
	them safely in.

	A thick greasy smoke hangs from fires that burn near the
	fort; fresh shell craters indicate a recent battle. Near
	the dock there is a tangled clump of corpses -- half sub-
	merged in the water. Other piles of bodies lie about, some
	of them on fire. Fire literally burns from out of the
	ground. Chef nods at the bodies.

				CHEF
		Charlie?

				WILLARD
		Looks that way.

				CHEF
			(looking at the Australian)
		Who's he?

				WILLARD
		God knows.

	The boat pulls up. The Australian harlequin hops on
	board; the crew regards him with their dark faces splat-
	tered with mud and blood.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		Who the hell are you?

				AUSTRALIAN
		Moonby. Got any Winstons?

				WILLARD
		Moonby what?

				AUSTRALIAN
		Moonby, 4th battalion, Royal
		Australian Regiment, Task Force.
		Ex-Corporal Moonby, deserted.

				WILLARD
		    (incredulously, indicating
			 the hundreds of natives)
		What is this?

				MOONBY
		Oh, they're simple enough people.
		It's good to see you, baby.
		Nobody has any Winstons?

	Chef automatically offers Moonby a Winston.

				MOONBY
		This boat's a mess.

				WILLARD
		Where's Kurtz? I want to talk
		to him.

				MOONBY
		Oh, you don't talk to Colonel
		Kurtz.
			(he puffs, then smiles)
		You listen to him. God, these
		are good. I kept these people
		off you, you know. It wasn't
		easy.

				WILLARD
		Why did they attack us?

				MOONBY
		Simple. They don't want him to
		go.

				WILLARD
		You're Australian?

				MOONBY
		Pre-Australian, actually. But
		I'd dig goin' to California.
		I'm California dreamin'.

				WILLARD
			 (almost to himself)
		So Kurtz is alive.

				MOONBY
		Kurtz. I tell you, that man
		has enlarged my mind.

	He opens his arms wide, to indicate the breadth of his
	mind's expansion.

				MOONBY
			(continuing)
		But lemme tell you, he is the
		most dangerous thing in every
		way that I've come on so far.
		He wanted to shoot me. The
		first thing he said is, 'I'm
		going to shoot you because you
		are a deserter.' I said I
		didn't desert from your army,
		I deserted from my army. He
		said, 'I'm going to shoot you
		just the same.'

				WILLARD
		Why didn't he shoot you?

				MOONBY
		I've asked myself that question.
		I said to myself, why didn't he
		shoot me? He didn't shoot me,
		because I had a stash like you
		wouldn't believe. I hid it in
		the jungle; the wealth of the
		Orient: Marijuana -- Hashish
		-- Opium -- cocaine -- uncut
		Heroin; the Gold of the Golden
		Triangle. and Acid -- I make
		Koolaid that makes purple Owsley
		come on like piss. Now I'm
		Kurtz' own Disciple -- I listen
		he talks. About everything !
		Everything. I forgot there's
		such a thing as sleep. Everything.
		Of love, too.

				CHEF
		Love?

				MOONBY
		Oh, no, not what you think...
		Cosmic love. He made me see
		things -- things, you know.

	The whole time Moonby is chattering on, Willard has
	picked up his field glasses and scans the fortress.


	226  WILLARD'S POV - THROUGH THE FIELD GLASSES

	Men in small groups, huddled over food.
	Now he settles on the entrance in the temple. There
	are stakes in front, and on top of them are horrible
	shrunken heads.


	227  BACK TO SCENE

				WILLARD
		Sounds like he's gone crazy.

				MOONBY
		No, Colonel Kurtz couldn't be
		crazy -- if you heard him talk,
		just last week, you'd never think
		he was crazy.

				WILLARD
		Is that where he is? By the 
		shrunken heads.

				MOONBY
		Those heads, yes. Well, the
		rebels...

				WILLARD
			(to his men)
		We're going ashore. Tie her up
		-- and leave your guns up, Lance.

				LANCE
		What?

				WILLARD
		Bring your rifles, that's all.
			(looking at Moonby)
		Take us to him.

				MOONBY
		Right on -- he's been waiting
		for --

				WILLARD
		And shut up.

	Moonby nods and shrugs, and hops off the P.B.R. willard
	and the men follow.


	228  MOVING VIEW - WILLARD, MOONBY AND THE CREW

	As they proceed closer to the fortress-temple, men appear
	where a moment before there was only jungle.

	They are mostly Montagnards, but far more savage looking
	than any we've seen before. They wear only loinclothes
	and bandoliers of ammunition. their bodies are painted
	in strange patterns. They carry Army M-16's, Russian
	AK-47's and a wide variety of knives and clubs. Women
	emerge from the brush as well. they are armed and
	equally primitive looking. Interspersed among them
	are a few taller men with paler skins, with the remnants
	of Army insignia on them. The paint on their bodies is,
	if anything more bizarre. We CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS
	the entire group up to the stone gates of the fort,
	where thirty or so more are seen silhouetted against
	the sky. Willard and his men look up at people more
	primitive and more savage than any since the time
	of Captain Cook.

	They encounter, in the center of the group, what once
	appears to have been an American. he is tall, gaunt,
	wears a flak jacket, but is otherwise naked, save a
	loincloth. His face is darkened from dirt, battle smoke,
	strange camouflage patterns. His hair and beard are
	long, matted with mud and grease. He carries an AK-47
	decorated with scalps and human ears. Willard approaches
	this beast, who seems shy and retiring.

				WILLARD
		Who are you?

				MOONBY
			(breaking in)
		His name is...

				WILLARD
		I'm not ever goin' to tell you
		to shut up again.

	Moonby shuts up. The MAN tries to speak, but nothing
	comes out. He is dumbstrucked at seeing them, as they
	are to see him.

				MAN
		Colby. Exec. officer, A-Team...
		Special Forces. F-82 -- Col.
		Walter Kurtz, commanding.

				WILLARD
		What happened here?

				COLBY
		What -- happened here.

				WILLARD
		Charlie?

				COLBY
		NVA regulars. They're coming
		again tonight. Tet -- their
		big -- assault.

	Willard is the man in the middle -- he doesn't know what
	to say to this man, but he understands the forces that
	pounded him. He takes his arm.


	229  REVERSE ON COLBY

	looks at Willard, not understanding.


	230  REVERSE ON WILLARD

	Six months later, and he and Colby would be identical.

				WILLARD
		I'm taking you back.

	Moonby slaps himself in the head with his hand.

				MOONBY
		Oh, no, donīt say that.

				COLBY
		Take us back. Take us back !
		But, the operation -- the team.
		Colonel Kurtz has such plans for
		-- the team.

				WILLARD
		Take me to him, Major.

	Colby starts, and then, seeing the shrunken heads on
	poles, he turns, agitated, to Willard:

				COLBY
		I had nothing to do with these
		operations -- I did not do the
		planning -- none of us did.
		It was all Colonel Kurtz -- he
		was the genius. You'll see --
		the genius of our Colonel. He
		should be made a General, don't
		you think? A General? It's...

	Suddenly, frightened, he stops. Without looking Willard
	knows that Kurtz is standing behind him. He turns.

	Kurtz has stepped out from his headquarters: He is
	a powerful man, though obviously very ill. He slowly
	attempts to pull the remnants of his uniform together,
	though it is ripped and bloodied, and now combined with
	primitive ornaments designating him a tribal chief, as
	well as his U.S.A. Colonel's insignia. He is feverish,
	with long blonde hair and beautiful features. His eyes
	almost hypnotize. His midsection is bandaged from what
	seems to be a serious wound.


	232  VIEW ON WILLARD

	This is not what he expected. He is quiet, and then,
	automatically, he comes to an attention.

				WILLARD
		Colonel Kurtz, I guess.

				KURTZ
		I'm Kurtz.

				WILLARD
			(he salutes)
		Captain B.L. Willard reporting
		his presence, sir.


	233  VIEW ON KURTZ

	looking at him a long time. Then he returns the salute,
	and simply:

				KURTZ
		At ease...
			(pause, as he regards him)
		Sit down.


	234  MED. VIEW

	There is, of course, no chair or anything like a chair.
	But behind and around him, Kurtz's men begin to sit on
	the ground, cross-legged. Finally, Willard sits as well.
	Then Kurtz does.

	Moonby lights a joint, and passes it respectfully to
	Kurtz -- throughout the scene, the joint is passed from
	man to man, ritualistically.

				KURTZ
			(slowly)
		Why did you come to ... my province.

				WILLARD
		We were attacked -- down river.
		We need supplies and medical 
		help.

				KURTZ
		You were not coming here, to
		see me?

				WILLARD
			(finding it more and 
			 more difficult to go
			 on with this lie)
		No -- no, sir.

				KURTZ
		You came up my river -- in that
		small boat. So simple. I
		always thought the final justice
		would come from the sky, like
		we did.
			(pause)
		You are the final justice,
		aren't you?

				WILLARD
		What do you mean, Colonel?

				KURTZ
			(gently)
		What other reason could you
		have come? A Captain. Ranger.
		Paratrooper. Graduate of the
		Recondo School. Am I right
		about these things?

				WILLARD
		You know you're right.

	There is a clear, incredible intelligence about this man.

				KURTZ
		Then the Agency approached you.
		Maybe in a bar in Quinon or
		Pleiku. Simple. A year's pay
		for one life. Perhaps a village
		elder, or a tax collector.
		Nobody's orders but your own.
		Exciting work.


	235  CLOSE ON WILLARD

	He remains silent.


	236  CLOSE ON KURTZ

	He smiles.

				KURTZ
		You've spent tome at the Royal
		Tracking School of Malaysia.
		I can tell from the way the
		laces on your boots are tied.
		I understand you, Captain. We
		understand each other.

	There is a long pause,  as the two men regard each other.
	Then Willard reaches to his holstered .45 -- withdraws
	it, and places it on the dirt before Kurtz, as an act
	assuring Kurtz that he is not an assasin.

				WILLARD
		Do you know me?

				KURTZ
		Yes.

	Kurtz reaches down; takes the .45 -- and without another
	word or gesture, shoots and kills a man.

				KURTZ
				(continuing)
		Do you know me ?

	He throws the .45 back on the dirt. Rises, and walks
	back into the cavernous headquarters behind the shrunken
	heads. Moonby scampers off after him, a respectful
	distance behind. Even Willard is stunned.

				CHEF
		Holy shit.


	237  EXT. KURTZ'S OUTPOST - FULL VIEW - TWILIGHT

	Dotted with campfires; Montagnard families -- it is like
	a primitive civilization.


	238  VIEW BY THE TEMPLE WALL

	Willard is alone by a campfire -- his M-16 leans by a wall
	next to him. He is exhausted.

	Lance sleeps by the fire, a little distance away. Chef
	approaches, crouches down.

				CHEF
		Captain -- they've been probed
		all this week -- Cong and NVA
		regulars. There's gonna be a
		big offense any time.

				WILLARD
		I know.

	Lance stirs; starts to wake up.

				CHEF
		What are we doing here?

				WILLARD
		Kurtz. I'm supposed to kill him,
		just like he said.

				KURTZ
		Yeah, I can see that. He's 
		fuckin nuts --

				WILLARD
		Yeah.

				CHEF
		He killed that guy without feeling
		anything.

				WILLARD
		Not a thing.

				CHEF
		When you kill Cong, don't you
		feel something.

				WILLARD
		Sure.
			(thinking)
		Recoil... I feel the recoil of
		my rifle.

	Willard rises. Chef looks at him, confused and frightened.


	239  FULL SHOT - WALL - WILLARD, CHEF , LANCE

	Willard walks along the top of a thick wall -- sandbagged
	and dug out every so often for an M-60 or a mortar
	emplacement.

	Wild looking savages man these guns, and seem to bow
	to Willard as he passes.

				WILLARD
		This is good -- triple overlapping
		fields of fire -- walls so thick
		ordinary artillery just cleans
		the moss off their surfaces.

	A woman tentatively moves to Willard, bowing, and then
	runs off to her bunker.

	WE ARE TRACKING with them as they move past the groups
	of people, huddled by their fires... men, women and
	children. Skulls, shrunken and otherwise hang from
	every hut -- adorn every sandbagged bunker -- dried
	scalps hang from barbed wire. A child is chewing on
	a big piece of almost raw meat.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		I've done things, when I was
		alone in the jungle -- that I
		never told anyone about.

	They continue past amount where the shattered wreck of
	half a helicopter is laying. It has been altered and
	fortified with sandbags and concertina wire. The wreck
	lays on its side so that a 7.62 mini-gun that was mounted
	there sticks up above the sandbags. The emplacement is
	built on amound so the gun commands a clear field of
	fire into the jungle beyond.

	Some Americans, barely recognizible because of their
	beards and savage manner, sit near the gun. Several
	Montagnard children giggle at their feet and play with
	bayonets.

				CHEF
		This is evil -- evil, Captain.
		We're all gonna die here.

				WILLARD
		Yeah, I know.

				CHEF
		I don't get it -- You said your
		mission was to kill him. Let's
		do it, an' get our asses outta
		here. This  Kurtz is ruining the
		war; I mean, this don't look
		good for America !

				WILLARD
			(lost in his thoughts)
		... he's an amazing officer.

				CHEF
		You got to kill this sonuvabitch
		-- Lance and me, we don'īt
		understand none of this -- Jesus,
		Captain -- I don't wanna die here
		-- Do it quick.

	Lance just stands there; his eyes vacant.. He sort of
	nods, sucking a joint.

				WILLARD
		Yeah. I know.

	He thinks.


	240  INT. KURTZ HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT

	VIEW FROM INSIDE -- Willard approaches the stakes with
	the shrunken heads. Chef and Lance with him. Willard
	steps in -- Lance and the Chef crouch outside, waiting.


	241  WILLARD'S VIEW

	An austere stone savern in the temple: Kurtz's head-
	quarters. Electric lights hanging in odd contrast to the
	ancient stone. We SEE what is left of the maps and other
	military charts -- they had been tacked up on big boards,
	but have now fallen into decayed disuse.

	There are other indications of the modern headquarters
	this had been. Now all those things are no longer impor-
	tant.  Kurtz sits alone, slumped back in a wicker chair.
	There is a large wooden planning table next to him, with
	maps, lamps and apile of debris that is practically
	garbage. There are native decorations to ward off evil
	spirits; and graffiti on the stone walls, things ranging
	fromm "Viet Nam, love it or leave it" to quotes of Nietzsche
	"Nothing is true -- everything is permitted."

	Moonby, who had been crouching in a corner, moves to
	Willard.

				MOONBY
		He's asleep -- don't bother him.

				KURTZ
		I'm awake.

	Willard steps in closer. Kurtz looks to Moonby.

				KURTZ
			(continuing)
		You. Get out.

	Moonby hesitates -- not wanting to leave him alone with
	Willard.

				KURTZ
			(continuing; suddenly)
		I said get the fuck out !
			(to himself)
		I'm going to kill the little
		weirdo myself tomorrow.
			(he shows some pain
			  when moving his
			  midsection)
		Heīs only stayed alive this long
		because he's a good orderly and
		medic. He knows how to use a
		hypodermic.

				WILLARD
		You're gonna get hit tonight,
		bad -- a whole regiment of NVA
		regulars.

				KURTZ
		That's right, the little gook-
		pricks. But they are noble
		little gook-pricks, noble.
		Because they fight with their 
		guts, like animals. And for an
		idea ! That's rich. We fight
		with ingenious machines and
		fire, like Gods, and for nothing.
		But I'll call in a major blotto
		airstrike tonight. We'll have
		ourselves a helluva airstrike
		tonight, a lightshow. How do
		you like The Doors': 'C'mon Baby
		Light My Fire...'

	Willard shrugs.

				KURTZ
			(continuing)
		Do you?

				WILLARD
		Yeah, I like it...

				KURTZ
		I love it.

	He rests back, grinning.

				WILLARD
		You've gone crazy.

				KURTZ
			(angrily)
		No. My thinking is clear.
			(calmly)
		But my soul has gone mad.

	Suddenly Kurtz is seized with a terrible pain from his
	stomach wound. He groans horribly, clutching at it. He
	literally falls from his chair onto the dirt floor.

				KURTZ
			(continuing)
		My gut -- Oh, Christ, my gut !

	Willard leans over him; checking the seriousness of the
	wound.


	242  EXT. THE HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT

	Lance is crouching by the stone entrance -- Chef leans in,
	witnessing the proceedings inside.

				CHEF
			(muttering)
		Kill him -- come on, why don't
		you kill him


	243  INT. THE HEADQUARTERS - MED, VIEW - KURTZ AND WILLARD -
	         NIGHT

	Willard examining the wound.

				KURTZ
			(in pain)
		Oh shit -- on the table; morphine.

	Willard moves to the table, opens the medical packet. He
	takes out a morphine capsule, leans over the writhing
	Kurtz and injects him with the drug.

				KURTZ
			(continuing; looking
			  up in pain)
		You see how stupid it would have
		been to blow out my brains? I'm
		dying from the gut anyway.

	Willard quickly prepares another shot. Kurtz, truly
	frightened, holds up his hand.

				KURTZ
			(continuing)
		No -- I don't want to sleep.
		I want to think. Water. Give
		me water.

				WILLARD
		You can't have water after
		morphine.

				KURTZ
		Still playing by the rules.
			(almost
			  affectionately)
		You're a damn good kiler.

				WILLARD
			(still holding the
			  second morphine)
		How's the pain?

				KURTZ
		How's yours?

				WILLARD
		I can handle it.

				KURTZ
		Pain is easy to handle -- but
		nobility.. the nobility of a
		man is judged by how much Truth
		he can handle.

				WILLARD
		What Truth?

				KURTZ
		The truth that you were sent
		here to murder me, ans so far
		you haven't done it. And do
		you know why?
			(looks at him)
		Yes, you know why.
			(he looks)
		Your mission makes about as much
		sense as those idiots who sent
		you on it. Asshole ! Schmuck ! 
		How long does it take you to
		figure out that nobody knows
		what they're doing here.
			(coldly)
		Except me.

	He rests back. The drug is beginning to take effect.

				KURTZ
			(continuing)
		Gimme water.

				WILLARD
		No water.

				KURTZ
		You know what you're doing?
		You are interfering with my
		plans !

	He crawls in pain toward the canteen Willard watches
	him impassively.

				KURTZ
			(continuing)
		This water's got Moonby's acid
		in it --

	He drinks sloppily from the canteen, water spilling all
	over. Then he throws the canteen to Willard.

				KURTZ
			(continuing)
		Drink it -- drink it for tonight.
		Think of it. A whole regiment
		of those shitty little Cong --
		War. Total war -- war like you've
		never known it. It's beautiful
		-- you'll love it. Trust me.


	244  EXT. THE HEADQUARTERS - MED. VIEW - LANCE AND CHEF - NIGHT

	We can SEE into the headquarters: Kurtz offers the canteen
	to Willard. Chef is terrified -- Lance is stoned out.

				CHEF
		Lance -- the fucker's not gonna
		do it.

				KURTZ
		Goddamn -- You've gotta dig
		napalm on Speed, too. It's
		spectacular, you'll see.

	Lance stands up holding his M-16, looks into the cavern
	with Chef.


	245  INT. HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT

	Willard stands there, holding the morphine needle in his
	hand.

				KURTZ
		Look into the jungle. You can't --
		it's too terrible. You have to
		smear yourself with warpaint to
		look at it -- you have to be a
		cannibal.
			(whispered)
		That's why warpaint was invented.
		Then it becomes your jungle.

	Willard shoots himself in the arm with the morphine.

				WILLARD
		How did we get here?

				KURTZ
		Because of all the things we do,
		the thing we do best -- is lie.

				WILLARD
		I think think a lie stinks.

				KURTZ
		Oh Captain, that is so true.

				WILLARD
		Stinks. I could never figure --
			(he drinks from
			  the canteen)
		I could never figure how they
		can teach boys how to bomb villages
		with napalm -- and not let them
		write the word 'fuck' on their
		airplanes.

	Willard drinks more of the LSD water.

				KURTZ
			(angrily)
		You could never figure it because
		it doesn't make sense.

				WILLARD
		Fuck no.

				KURTZ
		I'll tell you what makes sense !
		Air strikes ! White Phosphorus !
		Napalm ! We'll bomb the shit out
		of them if they don't do what
		we want.

				WILLARD
		We'll exterminate the fuckers !

	Chef steps into the Headquarters -- he is terrified.
	He draws his bayonet.

				CHEF
		Captain -- kill him.

				KURTZ
		Think of it -- for years, millions
		of years, savages with pathetic
		painted faces were scared shitless
		that fire would rain down from
		the sky. And goddamn, we made
		it happen. God  bless  Dow  !

				CHEF
		Kill him !

	Chef rushes at Kurtz with his bayonet -- instinctively,
	Willard GUNS him -- then there is additional automatic
	FIRE. Chef is being riddled by bullets.


	246  VIEW ON LANCE

	He has let loose with his M-16 at Chef, like some sort
	of mindless, programmed killer.

				LANCE
			(FIRING)
		Hot damn !

	Then hes tops -- Chef falls to the dirt -- there is an
	instant of silence, then:


	247 EXT. OF THE TEMPLE AT NU MUNG BA - NIGHT

	The DOORS begin LIGHT MY FIRE , loud and overwhelming,
	as illuminating flares light up the blackness.


	248  MED. CLOSE VIEW

	of enormous loudspeakers protected behind spirals of
	razor-sharp concertina wire. LIGHT MY FIRE is blasted
	out to the enemy, poised to attack.


	249  ANOTHER LOUDSPEAKER

	Cannibal-painted men in savage decorations wait. Bay-
	onets are fixed. Men are stoned to acid, injecting
	speed, sniffing cocaine, eating grass, smoking hashish
	in water pipes. One looks up to the sky.


	250  EIS VIEW

	A rocket illuminates the sky, strobing, as in a psyche-
	delic hallucination.

	251  VIEW ON THE SOLDIER

				SOLDIER
		Wow...

	Another behind him is chanting the word NAPALM softly t
	himself.


	252  MED. VIEW ON THE GATE

	Willard strides out of the darkness, into the positions
	around the gate. He looks like a magnificent warrior --
	Genghis. All the men: Montagnards, fierce Americans,
	even the savage men of the P.B.R. crew either bow,
	salute or kneel before Willard. The color pulsates
	around the edge of the image, red and green, mauve and
	purple.

	We SEE Lance; waiting, with his weapons -- garlands of
	teeth around his neck, his face painted.


	253  FULL VIEW - MONTAGE

	Enemy ARTILLERY BLASTING away at the fortress.


	254  CLOSE SHOT - A MORTAR

	A hand drops a shell and it FIRES.


	255  CLOSE SHOT - ROCKET LAUNCHER

	It FIRES. EXPLOSIONS around the fort, red and orange
	and blue and green. They hit and grow, outward like some
	sort of cosmic flower.


	256  CLOSE SHOT - A FLAME-THROWER (ON TANK)

	Shoots out a stream of burning napalm that looks like a
	death ray gun, radiating outward with ice-blue energy.


	257  SHOT ON LOUDSPEAKERS

	blasting out music.


	258  MED. CLOSE VIEW ON YOUNG SOLDIERS

	With the MUSIC, like those people you see listening to
	radios in their cars.


	259  SHOT ON THE COMMAND BUNKER - WILLARD , KURTZ , OTHERS

	(In SLOW MOTION) Shells WHISTLE in and EXPLODE on the
	walls in the compound. The men behind them are setting
	up rocket launcher (missile) . Everywhere metal and rock
	and flame fly and it is beautiful to see.

	Willard looks through the infra-red sniper scope.


	260  WILLARD - INFRA-RED POV

	Strange, luminescent images of North Vietnamese approach-
	ing the outer perimeters. Thousands of them.


	261  FULL SHOT ON KURTZ

				KURTZ
		Mini-gun. Colby. Sergeant.
		Mini-gun.


	262  MED. SHOT - MINI-GUN

	A SERGEANT in feathered head-piece and wildly painted
	operates the mini-gun with several native helpers. SHELLS
	BURST  around them. When they FIRE the SOUND is incredibly
	loud and steady like a high-pitched foghorn. A solid
	stream of molten lead seems to pour into the darkness as
	7000 rounds a minute rip into the enemy. The pass of
	the lead reaches out in beautiful patterns as the Ser-
	geant sweeps the area. The sergeant laughs maniacally
	as the GUN resumes FIRING, right up to the moment he is
	blown to eternity by an all-engulfing 105mm shell.


	263  VIEW ON WILLARD

	Exhilarated, and moving with the MUSIC.

				WILLARD
		Napalm.

	Colby pushes a row of plungers: Advancing NVAs il-
	luminated by napalm drums, phosphorescent napalm EXPLODES
	beautiful, like a magnificent firework.


	264  VIEW ON KURTZ

				KURTZ
		Claymores, claymores.

	The SOUND DISTORTED of tremendous HOWLING EXPLOSIONS
	penetrate the track of LIGHT MY FIRE one after another.
	Kurtz's face is illuminated by each of these. His face
	seems to change from one grotesgue primitive face to
	another, as though the whole history mankind is evolv-
	ing in front of us.

	The SCREAMS of maimed and dismembered men almost pene-
	trates the INCREDIBLY LOUD MUSIC and we HEAR Kurtz's men
	LAUGHING and SCREAMING in delight.

	Kurtz looks out over the field of slaughter.


	265  FULL SHOT - NVA CHARGE

	through wires and claymore glass, each wilder and more
	extreme. They burn in the pools of luminescent napalm
	but press relentlessly on. SHELL BURSTS overhead. They
	chant to themselves as they advance. NVA have reached
	the walls and throw down scaling ladders and start up.
	Suddenly the sky is bright with flares which produce
	weird psychedelic light. Blared out at tremendous vol-
	ume over and above the DIN OF BATTLE is LIGHT MY FIRE.


	266  FULL SHOT - WALL - EVERYBODY

	The Americans and Montagnards stand up screaming.
	Spurred by MUSIC, they charge up. M-16's in both hands,
	blasting, kicking, bayoneting, gouging, splittin throats,
	biting necks, both sides collide in the utter and most
	horrible savagery.


	267  MED. SHOT - WILLARD

	standing on the wall BLASTING as bodies fall around him;
	he thrusts his bayonet into one attacker, removes it with
	a foot and stabs another. From him he takes his AK47 and
	BLASTS more as they come.


	268  MED. SHOT - LANCE

	The VC rush his position. Willard trips a claymore that
	BLASTS most of them to shreads. More fill in. Lance
	opens up FULL AUTOMATIC . Willard and Lance move down to
	the nest wall, FIRING , bodies tumbling over.

	Lance is caught in a CROSSFIRE and hit several times.
	He pulls himself up -- FIRES a final BURST and then falls
	under the enemy's feet.


	269  VIEW ON MOONBY

	sees this and scampers off into the jungle, muttering
	madly to himself.


	270  MED. VIEW - WILLARD AT THE R.T.

	shouting into the radio

				WILLARD
		Code -- Street Gang -- Street
		Gang ! Purgative air strike;
		Street Gang !

	He turns and runs back through the compound with the
	receding Montagnards. SHELLS are EXPLODING everywhere.
	The light patterns are fantastic. Men fall, Viets break
	over the walls and charge. They crouch and rip into
	them FULL AUTOMATIC. They break the charge and continue
	cutting their way through the NVA masses like torches 
	through metal.


	271  FULL SHOT - COMMAND POST - KURTZ

	Kurtz watches as invaders swarm through his domain. Women
	and children rush upon him now. Kurtz flicks some switch-
	es and the whole north wall EXPLODES in overwhelming FIRE.
	The gates are uprooted. The stone lions tumble, crushing
	men below. Kurtz cocks an M-16 and walks off the bunker.


	272  VIEW ON WILLARD

	watching this spectacle.


	273  MED. SHOT - DIFFERENT ANGLE - KURTZ

	He rounds  the shadow wall.

	Kurtz sees a group of Viets and rushes up and prepares a
	machine gun mount. They don't see him. He braces the gun
	at his side and steps out.

				KURTZ
			(yelling)
		Charles !

	They stagger and fall, shattered and bleeding, save one
	who's merely lost his weapon. Kurtz looks at him, his
	gun empty. He drops it and flips open the flap of his
	holster. The Viet soldier goes for his pistol. Kurtz
	beats him to the draw and bloes him into the night. He
	moves over to pick up the NVA light machine gun. Holding
	it at his hip, he stands atop one of the ruined walls
	and FIRES into the masses. His native men see him and
	rush for the chance to die beside him. They are quickly
	encircled by onrushing Viets and are being overrun. The
	machine gun jams and Kurtz grabs a rifle. When it's empty
	and the bayonet is off he wields it as a club.


	274  MED. SHOT - LOW ANGLE - KURTZ

	taking swings with his rifle, standing atop the
	wall and battering the oncoming enemy like Davy Crockett
	at the Alamo.


	275  FULL VIEW - THE FORTRESS

	The air strike hits with all its force. Balls and rain
	of fire sweeps down on the temple, the enemy, everything.
	It is the biggest firework show in history.

	The wall Kurtz was standing on, and he falls with it.
	Willard sees this and makes his way toward him as the
	air strike continues. All around us is a spectacle of
	MUSIC and light and fire and overwhelming color.


	276  TRACKING SHOT ON WILLARD

	following Kurtz's trail in the mud. He has crawled on
	all fours back into the jungle to die. He stalks Kurtz
	into the jungle ; moving around and cutting off the
	crawling Kurtz

				KURTZ
		Go away -- hide yourself.

				WILLARD
		What are you doing?

				KURTZ
		Going back  - to the jungle to
		die.

				WILLARD
		I'm taking you back. You can 
		still live.

				KURTZ
		I had immense plans.

				WILLARD
		I'm gonna get you out of here.

				KURTZ
		I was on threshold of great 
		things.

	Willard slings Kurtz's bleeding body around his neck,
	holding his hand, dragging hom through the jungle. The
	spectacle continues in the b.g.


	277  EXT. THE P.B.R. - THE RIVER

	This wreck of a boat is still afloat. Willard crawls
	out of the jungle, carrying the dying Kurtz and manages
	to get him onto the boat.


	278  EXTREME FULL SHOT

	The spectacle of total psychedelic war: the fortress of
	Nu Mung Ba.

							FADE OUT.

	FADE IN.


	279  EXT. THE TEMPLE - MORNING

	The entire temple is devastation. Vultures by the hundreds
	circle overhead. There are a few survivors. Everywhere
	is smoke and heaps of bodies. Colby, a Sergeant, and
	some Montagnards sit near them.

	Their eyes are red and glazed, their jaws hang slack and
	they tumble occasionally. They stagger away from the
	field of slaughter. Willard looks down and sees something.
	Moves over to it, kicks several bodies away and in the
	f.g. below is Lance, dead.

	Colby stumbles over. Willard holds Lance up by his hair.

				COLBY
		Who is he?

				WILLARD
		He was the tragedy -- the tragedy
		of this war.

							CUT TO:


	280  THE P.B.R.

	battered, moving slowly down the river.


	281  TIGHTER VIEW

	Colby is at helm. Kurtz lies feverish, delirious.
	Willard sits by him. As the boat moves, Montagnards, those
	left alive, come and pay their respects by the riverbanks.
	Colby takes an automatic weapon and FIRES it into the air.
	Some of the natives move in terror, frightened of him.
	The battle is not over.

				KURTZ
		Don't. Don't frighten them away.

	Willard looks down at him.

				WILLARD
		So you understand this?

	Kurtz looks up at him, past him with fury, longing in his
	eyes. There is a slight smile.

				KURTZ
		Do I not?


	282  EXT. RIVER - MED. VIEW

	The boat moves as though naturally carried by the river.

				KURTZ
		My river... my people... my jungle...
		my ideas... my country... 		
		my wife...
			(he looks at Willard)
		... my death.

				WILLARD
		You had immense plans... immense plans...

				KURTZ
		Yes...

				WILLARD
		I'm taking you back.

	Kurtz looks up to him, then an expression of overwhelming
	intense and hopeless terror, hopeless despair. A whisper
	at some image, at some vision, he cries out twice, a cry
	that is no more than a breath.

				KURTZ
		The horror, the horror.

	We HEAR the distant SOUND of HELICOPTERS approaching.
	The SOUND of ROTORS in the distance. They look up,
	craning their eyes at the sky. Colby points.

				COLBY
		There.

	Over the jungle mountains the small formation of MEDEVAC
	helicopters hooping toward them.

				COLBY
			(continuing)
		How did they know?

				WILLARD
		They must have seen the fire.

	The helicopters are closer now but high up. Two of
	them breaking off, spiraling in TOWARD US.

				COLBY
		They're coming to rescue us.
		They're Medevac.


	283  CLOSE SHOT ON WILLARD

	He stares up at the sky.

				WILLARD
					(to himself)
		They're coming to take us back.

	Copters directly overhead.

				WILLARD
			(continuing)
		Yeah.

				COLBY
		Colonel Kurtz, he's dead.

				WILLARD
		Yeah.

	He raises his M-16 and FIRES the entire clip at the ap-
	proaching rescue helicopter.


	284  FULL SHOT - THE COPTER

	It frantically pours on the power and wheels up to the
	sky.


	285  FULL SHOT - WILLARD, COLBY

				WILLARD
		Yeah.

	Colby takes his rifle and joins Willard in FIRING at
	the retreating American helicopters.


	286  HELICOPTER'S POV - ON THE BOAT

	The men in the boat FIRING AT US as we fly further into
	the air, the boat getting smaller and smaller.

				WILLARD (V.O.)
		... Don't remember a lot about my
		rehabilitation... but I was sent
		back to the world before the fall
		of Saigon...


	287  EXT. MARINA DEL RAY - EXTREME HIGH ANGLE - NIGHT

	MOVING DOWN back to the pleasure boat at the Marina.

	Pause. Willard is very silent.

				WILLARD
		I never answered questions about
		Kurtz -- I gave them a few of his
		unimportant papers -- but for the
		most part I saved everything.
		There were other letters, personal
		ones written earlier to his wife.
		I brought them to het. I watched
		the fall of Saigon on television
		in a bar in Alameda...


	289  EXT. CALIFORNIA NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY

	A bright clear day in a scrubbed-clean California neigh-
	borhood. Some kids are playing in the street.

	Willard, years later, dressed as a civilian, proceeds past
	the lawn to the attractive home, carrying a packet under
	his arm. He passes a lanky, young teen-aged boy working
	on a motor-scooter. Willard looks at him. The boy
	looks back.

				WILLARD
		Hi.

	Then the door opens, and KURTZ'S WIFE is standing at the
	door. She is still beautiful, blonde, and dressed in
	mourning even though she doesn't wear black. There is a
	sense of purity about her, though she is not young.

				KURTZ'S WIFE
		Come in, Captain Willard.

	He enters.


	289  INT. KURTZ'S HOME - DAY

	Everything good and secure and desirable about America.

	She stands in the center of the room, a little nervous.

				KURTZ'S WIFE
		Can I get anything for you?

	There are pictures of Kurtz, not too many... but he is
	there in the various stages of his career.

	Then she sits suddenly, and Willard sits by her.

				KURTZ'S WIFE
			(continuing)
		Did you know him very well?

				WILLARD
		You get to know each other pretty
		well out there.

				KURTZ'S WIFE
		And you admired him?

				WILLARD
		He was a remarkable man. It was
		impossible not to --

				KURTZ'S WIFE
		Love him... Yes, it is true.
		That's the hard part for me... I
		knew him better than anyone ... I
		knew him best.

				WILLARD
		You knew him best.

				KURTZ'S WIFE
		You were his friend... You must
		have been, if he had given you
		this...
			(the packet)
		If he sent you to his home. He
		was the best this country had --
		he was --

				WILLARD
		Yes, I know...

				KURTZ'S WIFE
		I'll never get over it -- But
		I'll always remember him...

				WILLARD
		Both of us...

				KURTZ'S WIFE
		Men looked up to him...
			(she loses herself
			  in a thought)
		He died as he lived...

				WILLARD
		His death was -- yes, he died as
		he lived.

				KURTZ'S WIFE
		Were you with him, when...

				WILLARD
		Yes I was... He said his last
		words to me.

	Pause.


	290  MED. CLOSE SHOT ON WILLARD

	A little of the madness is still with him. He knows what
	she will ask.

				KURTZ'S WIFE
		What were they?


	291  MED. CLOSE SHOT ON KURTZ'S WIFE

				KURTZ'S WIFE
		Tell me.


	292  MED. CLOSE ON WILLARD

	remembering that incredible day moving down the river.

	Our VIEW LOOSENS

				KURTZ'S WIFE
		Tell me what he said.

				KURTZ (V.O.)
		The horror ! The horror !

				WILLARD
		He spoke of you, ma'am.

	He sits there looking at her.


	293  EXT. TIGHT HIGH ANGLE ON THE MARINA DEL REY BOAT

	The cocktail party is breaking up. Willard is one of
	the few guests left.

	We MOVE FROM Willard standing alone on the deck of the
	boat. Moving back through the departing guests. Charlie
	is getting ready to leave himself. We MOVE CLOSER to
	Willard.

							DISSOLVE TO:


	294  EXT. THE RIVER - P.B.R. - DAY

	the boat floating down the river. Kurtz's body; an exhaust-
	ed, half-dead Colby. And HOLDING Kurtz, Willard. We HEAR
	THE DOORS' "THE END" as we present the END TITLES.

							FADE OUT.



	              				THE  END




Apocalypse Now



Writers :   Francis Ford Coppola  John Milius  Joseph Conrad
Genres :   Action  Drama  War


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