Apocalypse Now quotes

View Quote Willard: Are you crazy, God damn it? Don't you think its a little risky for some R&R?
Kilgore: If I say it's safe to surf this beach Captain, then it's safe to surf this beach. I mean, I'm not afraid to surf this place, I'll surf this whole ****ing place!

View Quote Willard: Could we, uh, talk to Colonel Kurtz?
Photojournalist: Hey, man, you don't talk to the Colonel. You listen to him. The man's enlarged my mind. He's a poet-warrior in the classic sense. I mean, sometimes he'll, uh, well, you'll say hello to him, right? And he'll just walk right by you, and he won't even notice you. And suddenly he'll grab you, and he'll throw you in a corner, and he'll say "Do you know that 'if' is the middle word in life? 'If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you'..." I mean, I'm no, I can't – I'm a little man, I'm a little man, he's, he's a great man. I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across floors of silent seas ... (Note: The last sentences here reference first Rudyard Kipling's poem If— and then T.S. Eliot's poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.)

View Quote Willard: How long has this kid been on this boat?
Chief Phillips: Seven months.
Willard: He's really specializing in busting my balls.
Chief Phillips: Very possible, Captain, he thinks the same of you ...
Willard: Oh yeah? And what you think, Chief?
Chief Phillips: I don't think! My orders say I'm not supposed to know where I'm taking this boat, so I don't! But one look at you and I know it's gonna be hot, wherever it is. (Brief pause)
Willard: We're going about 70 klicks above the Do Lung bridge.
Chief Phillips: That's Cambodia, Captain.
Willard: That's classified. We're not supposed to be in Cambodia, but that's where I'm going. You just get me close to my destination, and I cut you and the crew loose.
Chief Phillips: All right, Captain.

View Quote Willard: My mission is to make it up into Cambodia. There's a Green Beret Colonel up there who's gone insane. I'm supposed to kill him.
Chef: That's ****ing typical! Shit. ****in' Vietnam mission! I'm short and we gotta go up there so you can kill one of our own guys? That's ****in' great! That's just ****in' great, man. Shit. That's ****in'... crazy! I thought you were going in there to blow up a bridge, or, some ****ing railroad tracks or somethin'.

View Quote Willard: Who's in charge here, soldier?
Infantryman: Ain't you?
...
Willard: Soldier, do you know who's in command here?
The Roach: Yeah. [turns away]

View Quote [the boat has arrived at the Do Lung bridge, which is a combat zone]
Chef: Lance, hey Lance. What do you think?
Lance: It's beautiful.
Chef: What's the matter with you? You're acting kinda weird.
Lance: Hey, you know that last tab of acid I was saving? I dropped it.
Chef: You dropped acid? ... Far out.

View Quote (after learning the purpose of Willard's mission) Shit. ****in' Vietnam mission! I'm short and we gotta go up there so you can kill one of our own guys? That's ****in' great! That's just ****in' great, man. Shit. That's ****in'... crazy! I thought you were going in there to blow up a bridge, or, some ****ing railroad tracks or somethin'.

View Quote (Apologizing for severed heads adorning Kurtz's headquarters) The heads. You're looking at the heads. I, uh – sometimes he goes too far, you know – he's the first one to admit it!

View Quote (impaled) A spear.

View Quote (Referring to Kurtz) He likes you because you're still alive.

View Quote (Referring to Kurtz) He's worse than crazy, he's evil!

View Quote (Referring to Kurtz) I mean, what are they gonna say about him, when he's gone, huh? What are they gonna say? Are they gonna say "he was a kind man"? "He was a wise man"? "He had plans"; "He had wisdom"? Bullshit, man! What are they gonna do when he's gone? What are they gonna turn to me? I mean come on, look at me! Am I gonna set them straight, NO...You[Willard].

View Quote (Willard reads a letter Kurtz has sent to his son)
"Dear son,
I'm afraid that both you and your mother would have been worried for not hearing from me these past weeks. But my situation here has become a difficult one. I've been officially accused of murder by the Army. The alleged victims were four Vietnamese double agents. We spent months uncovering and ac****ulating evidence. When absolute proof was completed, we acted, we acted like soldiers. The charges are unjustified. They are in fact, under the cir****stances of this conflict, quite completely insane. In a war there are many moments for compassion and tender action. There are many moments for ruthless action, for what is often called ruthless, what may in many cir****stances be only clarity; seeing clearly what there is to be done and doing it directly, quickly, aware ... looking at it. I would trust you to tell your mother what you choose about this letter. As for the charges, I'm unconcerned. I'm beyond their timid, lying morality. And so I'm beyond caring.
You have all my faith.
Your loving father."

View Quote Any man brave enough to fight with his guts strapped on him can drink from my canteen anyday.

View Quote Charlie didn't get much USO. He was dug in too deep, or movin' too fast. His idea of R&R was cold rice and a little rat meat. He had only two ways home: death or victory.