Apocalypse Now Page #23

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 c*cks 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

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