S. Army, though he calls them a "corporation," as if to stress their bureaucratic detachment "to issue judgment on the seemingly mad Colonel Kurtz. Kurtz has broken from the pack to form his own empire in the wilds of Cambodia. Of course, empire builders cannot tolerate competition. Kurtz must be "terminate[d] with extreme prejudice."" "Out there with these natives," says the general (G.D. Spradlin) who hands Willard his orders, "it must be a temptation to be God.".
As Willard and the PBR crew travel deeper into Cambodia the horrors of war become more apparent. The men encounter a French plantation belonging to the de Madris family. Rob Vaux claims, "Though brilliantly shot, its overall tone jars badly with the remainder of the film, and its efforts to place the action in some kind of historical context never really resonate- (Vaux). He calls the scene "excess baggage,"" when in fact the historical context lays the foundation to the pointlessness of the war.
French Imperialism has crumbled and the remaining French in Indochina are fighting to keep a hold of the country they built. Hubert de Madris (Christian Marquand) states, " the Vietnamese. We worked with them, make something - something out of nothing We want to stay here because it's ours - it belongs to us. It keeps our family together. I mean, we fought for that. While you Americans, you are fighting for the biggest nothing in history."" de Marias does not understand why the Americans have lost their will to fight in Vietnam and why they do not learn from the mistakes of the French. He proclaims [to Willard], "Mon Deiux, with your Army, your strength, you can win if you want to! you can win!- This scene reveals the similarities that both countries posses and their attitudes toward war. de Marias has experienced war and vows, "Here we don't lose. This piece of earth, we keep it. We will never lose it, never!-.
The soldiers apathy in the war is expressed by Madame Roxanne Sarrault, the beautiful blue-eyed French widow, during the dinner scene when she says, "You are tired of the war.