Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and released in 1979. It stars Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall. The story is about Captain Willard, a member of Special Forces, who is charged with terminating "with extreme prejudice" Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, a once highly regarded officer who has gone renegade after a mental breakdown and lives like a despotic king deep in the jungles of Cambodia.

The film was originally released on August 15, 1979, but was filmed during a troubled and chaotic period in 1976 in the Philippines. In 2001, the film was re-cut and remastered into an extended edition, using footage that had been edited out of the original version and released as Apocalypse Now: Redux.

Northrop F-5
The planes that release napalm along the tree-line behind a village attacked by the Air-Cav, lead by Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore. The Air-Cav receives heavy fire from armaments hidden in the jungle and Kilgore orders the napalm strike. Interestingly, the number of F-5s in this scene varies between three and five in different shots.

Historically, USAF briefly operated the F-5A (re-designated as the F-5C) in combat in Viet Nam, the time frame appears incorrect. USAF operations with the F-5 began in 1965, and were completed by 1967. The movie is set after that time. Early in the film Willard is briefly questioned about Willard's assassination of a tax collector in Quang-Tri Province, which, according to Colonel Lucas, occurred on June 19, 1968.

B-52 Stratofortress
The PBR carrying Willard passes under the tail section of a downed B-52 as it nears Kurtz' compound.