Apocalypse Now

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.

MEDIUM 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.

ANOTHER LOUDSPEAKER

Cannibal-painted men in savage decorations wait. Bayonets are fixed. Men are stoned to acid, injecting speed, sniffing cocaine, eating grass, smoking hashish in water pipes. One looks up to the sky.

EIS VIEW

A rocket illuminates the sky, strobing, as in a psychedelic hallucination.

VIEW ON THE SOLDIER

SOLDIER

Wow...

Another behind him is chanting the word NAPALM softly to himself.

MEDIUM 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.

FULL VIEW – MONTAGE

Enemy ARTILLERY BLASTING away at the fortress.

CLOSE SHOT – A MORTAR

A hand drops a shell and it FIRES.

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.

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.

SHOT ON LOUDSPEAKERS

Blasting out music.

MEDIUM CLOSE VIEW ON YOUNG SOLDIERS

With the MUSIC, like those people you see listening to radios in their cars.

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.

WILLARD – INFRA-RED POV

Strange, luminescent images of North Vietnamese approaching the outer perimeters. Thousands of them.

FULL SHOT ON KURTZ

KURTZ

Mini-gun. Colby. Sergeant. Mini-gun.

MEDIUM 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 Sergeant 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.

VIEW ON WILLARD

Exhilarated, and moving with the MUSIC.

WILLARD

Napalm.

Colby pushes a row of plungers: Advancing NVAs illuminated by napalm drums, phosphorescent napalm EXPLODES beautiful, like a magnificent firework.

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 grotesque primitive face to another, as though the whole history mankind is evolving in front of us.

The SCREAMS of maimed and dismembered men almost penetrates the INCREDIBLY LOUD MUSIC and we HEAR Kurtz's men LAUGHING and SCREAMING in delight.

Kurtz looks out over the field of slaughter.

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 volume over and above the DIN OF BATTLE is "Light My Fire".

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, splitting throats, biting necks, both sides collide in the utter and most horrible savagery.

MEDIUM 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.

MEDIUM SHOT – LANCE

The VC rush his position. Willard trips a claymore that BLASTS most of them to shreds. 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.

VIEW ON MOONBY

Sees this and scampers off into the jungle, muttering madly to himself.

MEDIUM 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.

FULL SHOT – COMMAND POST – KURTZ

Kurtz watches as invaders swarm through his domain. Women and children rush upon him now. Kurtz flicks some switches 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.

VIEW ON WILLARD

Watching this spectacle.

MEDIUM 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 blows 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.

MEDIUM SHOT – LOW ANGLE – KURTZ

Taking swings with his rifle, standing atop the wall and battering the oncoming enemy like Davy Crockett at the Alamo.

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.

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 background.

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.

EXTREME FULL SHOT

The spectacle of total psychedelic war: the fortress of Nu Mung Ba.

FADE OUT

FADE IN:

EXT. THE TEMPLE – MORNING