How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Apocalypse Now.
Quote #1
WILLARD: How many people had I already killed? There were those six that I knew about for sure. Close enough to blow their last breath in my face. But this time, it was an American and an officer. That wasn't supposed to make any difference to me, but it did. S***...charging a man with murder in this place was like handing out speeding tickets in the Indy 500. I took the mission. What the hell else was I gonna do?
The officers want Kurtz dead because he represents a threat to their vision of the war. He exposes that the essence of the war is pure brutality, and dispenses with all their illusions of ideals and humanitarianism. He's way beyond their control at this point.
Quote #2
CIVILIAN: Terminate with extreme prejudice.
This high-ranking government civilian—whoever he is—has one line in the whole movie. It's a menacing line, expressing a command from on high that's suspicious and mysterious. Scenarios like this feed into a belief that lots of people have, that a malevolent government is doing things behind our backs and manipulating us in ways that we can't even imagine.
Quote #3
WILLARD: No wonder Kurtz put a weed up Command's ass. The war was being run by a bunch of four star clowns who were gonna end up giving the whole circus away.
The "four star clowns" aren't really committed to winning the war the way Kurtz is. Kurtz is willing to kill at all costs in order to attain victory, whereas the commanding officers just want to create the appearance that they're winning without actually doing it. Even by 1969 it was clear that the war wasn't going exactly the way the U.S. hoped.