<Ul> <Li> Martin Sheen as Captain Benjamin L. Willard, a veteran U.S. Army special operations officer who has been serving in Vietnam for three years . The soldier who escorts him at the start of the film recites that Willard is from 505th Battalion, of the elite 173rd Airborne Brigade, assigned to MACV - SOG . It is later stated in the briefing scene that he worked intelligence / counterintelligence for the Central Intelligence Agency, carrying out secret operations and assassinations . Both scenes also establish he worked COMSEC . An attempt to re-integrate into home - front society had apparently failed prior to the time at which the film is set (in 1969), and so he returns to the war - torn jungles of Vietnam, where he seems to feel more at home . </Li> <Li> Marlon Brando as Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, a highly decorated U.S. Army Special Forces officer with the 5th Special Forces Group who goes rogue . He runs his own military unit out of Cambodia and is feared as much by the US military as by the North Vietnamese and Vietcong . </Li> <Li> Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel William "Bill" Kilgore, 1st Squadron, 9th Air Cavalry Regiment commander and surfing fanatic . His character is a composite of several characters including Colonel John B. Stockton, General James F. Hollingsworth (featured in The General Goes Zapping Charlie Cong by Nicholas Tomalin), and George Patton IV, also a West Point officer whom Robert Duvall knew . </Li> <Li> Frederic Forrest as Engineman 3rd Class Jay "Chef" Hicks, a tightly wound former chef from New Orleans who is horrified by his surroundings . </Li> <Li> Albert Hall as Chief Petty Officer George Phillips . The Chief runs a tight ship and frequently clashes with Willard over authority . </Li> <Li> Sam Bottoms as Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Lance B. Johnson, a former professional surfer from California . He is known to drop acid . He becomes entranced by the Montagnard tribe, even participating in the sacrifice ritual . </Li> <Li> Laurence Fishburne (credited as "Larry Fishburne") as Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Tyrone "Mr. Clean" Miller, the seventeen - year - old cocky South Bronx - born crewmember . Fishburne was only fourteen years old when shooting began in March 1976, as he had lied about his age in order to get cast in his role . The film took so long to finish that Fishburne was seventeen (the same age as his character) by the time of its release . </Li> <Li> Dennis Hopper as an American photojournalist, a manic disciple of Kurtz who greets Willard . According to the DVD commentary of Redux, the character is based on Sean Flynn, a famed news correspondent who disappeared in Cambodia in 1970 . His dialogue follows that of the Russian "harlequin" in Conrad's story . </Li> <Li> G.D. Spradlin as Lieutenant General Corman, military intelligence (G - 2), an authoritarian officer who fears Kurtz and wants him removed . The character is named after filmmaker Roger Corman . </Li> <Li> Jerry Ziesmer as Jerry, a mysterious man in civilian attire who sits in on Willard's initial briefing . His only line in the film is the famous "terminate with extreme prejudice". Ziesmer also served as the film's assistant director . </Li> <Li> Harrison Ford as Colonel Lucas, aide to Corman and a general information specialist who gives Willard his orders . The character's name is a reference to George Lucas, who was involved in the script's early development with Milius and was originally intended to direct the film . Ford also portrayed Han Solo in Lucas's Star Wars, and prior to that had appeared in Lucas's American Graffiti (1973, produced by Coppola and Gary Kurtz) and Coppola's The Conversation (1974). </Li> <Li> Scott Glenn as Captain Richard M. Colby, previously assigned Willard's current mission before he defected to Kurtz's private army and sent a message to his wife, intercepted by the Army, telling her he was never coming back and to sell everything they owned, including their children . </Li> <Li> Bill Graham as Agent (announcer and in charge of the Playmates' show) </Li> <Li> Cynthia Wood (Playboy's 1974 Playmate of the Year) as Playmate of the Year </Li> <Li> Colleen Camp as Playmate "Miss May" </Li> <Li> Linda (Beatty) Carpenter (Playboys's August 1976 Playmate of the Month) as Playmate "Miss August" </Li> </Ul> <Li> Martin Sheen as Captain Benjamin L. Willard, a veteran U.S. Army special operations officer who has been serving in Vietnam for three years . The soldier who escorts him at the start of the film recites that Willard is from 505th Battalion, of the elite 173rd Airborne Brigade, assigned to MACV - SOG . It is later stated in the briefing scene that he worked intelligence / counterintelligence for the Central Intelligence Agency, carrying out secret operations and assassinations . Both scenes also establish he worked COMSEC . An attempt to re-integrate into home - front society had apparently failed prior to the time at which the film is set (in 1969), and so he returns to the war - torn jungles of Vietnam, where he seems to feel more at home . </Li> <Li> Marlon Brando as Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, a highly decorated U.S. Army Special Forces officer with the 5th Special Forces Group who goes rogue . He runs his own military unit out of Cambodia and is feared as much by the US military as by the North Vietnamese and Vietcong . </Li> <Li> Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel William "Bill" Kilgore, 1st Squadron, 9th Air Cavalry Regiment commander and surfing fanatic . His character is a composite of several characters including Colonel John B. Stockton, General James F. Hollingsworth (featured in The General Goes Zapping Charlie Cong by Nicholas Tomalin), and George Patton IV, also a West Point officer whom Robert Duvall knew . </Li>

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