Someone asked this question on another thread, although it was "What happened to Dennis Hopper's character?" He just kinda decides he's had enough and decides to walk out of Kurtz's compound of insane Montagnards and American defectors into the Cambodian jungle probably filled with VC.
Apparently it was supposed to be that Kurtz ordered Colby to kill Hopper's character for taking Kurtz's picture, and Willard killed Colby in response. Another poster had a link to the scene on YouTube, but the video has since been removed.
Personally I wish the scene had remained. I agree the way they referenced Colby and even included the insane letters to his wife made it seem like there was going to be a confrontation between Willard and Colby at some point. They even had Willard walk up to Colby who stands catatonic with some other American defectors, but he doesn't react at all. I was kind of hoping for at least maybe a little dialogue to help explain living with Kurtz. I don't mind Hopper's character at all, but it's obvious he was already on dope or something before he ever met Kurtz, and Kurtz himself is shown as still viewing his actions as part of the war while maintaining contact with his wife and son.
Colby on the other hand was ordered to kill him, and yet not only did he join Kurtz but he wrote his wife telling her to sell everything, including their children. Maybe I'm looking too much into this and maybe it's not as important as I thought, but Colby seemed like a character they were going to do more with. Besides, Colby viewed Kurtz as a god so why would he just let Willard leave after Kurtz's assassination? I could see why the locals would stand down, but Colby literally left everything behind for Kurtz; without him, Colby has nothing.
Can't be too careful with all those weirdos running around.
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Lapis_Lazuli_Blue
9 years ago
Maybe I'm looking too much into this and maybe it's not as important as I thought, but Colby seemed like a character they were going to do more with.
I don't think you are overstating the importance of Colby. I also thought that the movie was building up to a confrontation between Willard and Colby. I think that it was a mistake to cut Colby's death scene and just have the character disappear without further mention. That decision didn't just waste a potentially interesting and complex character, it also leaves unclear whether Willard actually completed his mission, as he was sent to assassinate both Kurtz and Colby.
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Steadybox
9 years ago
I also thought that the movie was building up to a confrontation between Willard and Colby.
That's what I thought the first time around too, but I pretty much forgot about that before the end of the film.
I don't think Colby was all that important, in the end. I think he was mostly a device to show that Kurtz had a point, and that Kurtz was able to make people confide in him.
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Lapis_Lazuli_Blue
9 years ago
I don't think Colby was all that important, in the end. I think he was mostly a device to show that Kurtz had a point, and that Kurtz was able to make people confide in him.
Perhaps not in the grand scheme of things, and maybe it's my OCD talking, but loose ends like that really drive me up the wall. In any event, it was a bad choice to show Willard receiving orders to kill two people and then have one of his targets simply disappear from the movie.
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