Playboy Playmates (Cynthia Wood, Linda Carpenter, Colleen Camp)

Character Analysis

The Playboy Playmates are the only female characters in the movie (aside from the occasional Vietnamese civilian woman we see running away from gunfire, or the woman who gets shot in the boat). They also have no lines.

Anyone notice that this movie is pretty heavily focused on masculine aggression?

Willard and the crew stop at a USO show held at a large army amphitheater cleared out of the jungle. Playboy Playmates start performing seductive dances after they get off a helicopter. The soldiers start yelling things at them, like "You f***ing b****!" and "Take it off!" The soldiers rush the stage. The Playboy Playmates dash back to the helicopter for an emergency escape and get out of there pronto.

In the expanded Redux version of Apocalypse Now, there's a more extensive scene featuring these playmates as Willard and company pursue some…amorous interactions with them.