The theme was developed largely around two characters: Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) and Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). Kurtz, once a Green Beret with a top service record, had apparently gone stark raving mad. He had set himself up as an exalted leader of a primitive band of Cambodian tribesmen, and began following an independent path of murder, for reasons known only to himself. Willard was ordered to venture upriver into Cambodia, track down Kurtz, and assassinate him.

Coppola added thoughts, in Sheen's voice, to the sound track in order to develop Willard's character. But Willard never really becomes more than a man with a mission, as the film proceeds through a series of scene changes which convey the violence and contrasts. His character develops in the following scenes: from a room in Siagon, to a helicopter a helicopter assault on a Vietnamese village, to a USO show featuring Playboy Bunnies, to aimless drugged-up soldiers lacking command, and finally to kurtz's kingdom in the jungle.

The structure of the film was based on these contrasts. Neither Willard nor Kurtz had any relevance to the scenes, except

Despite flaws in substance, Apocalypse Now does reflect technical innovation and cinematic brilliance. The filmmakers had to struggle against all kinds of extraordinary events: an earthquake, typhoons, and Martin Sheen's heart attack. These occurrences added to the film's costs, but Coppola continued to push for realism. During the two years of filming in the Philippines, sets had to be reconstructed after being destroyed by the weather ("A Bet on Apocalypse Starts to Pay Off" 42). Lavish sets were constructed for the helicopter assault scene and for Kurtz's Cambodian compound. Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro is credited with brilliantly capturing the impact of the assault and Kurtz's eventual murder (Rich 57). Of course, he had considerable technical assistance: for one part of the assault scene, when fighter planes were supposedly dropping napalm on snipers, thousands of gallons of gasoline (strategically placed were ignighted. The impact was overwhelming - the screen virtually exploded in red fame and black smoke. An equally powerful effect was captured during the incoming charge, when blasting classical music was blended with chippers as the tension peaked, and the audience could not help but be convinced that something awesome was coming (if not death and destruction, perhaps God).