If you follow my IG account @solsys you know that Apocalypse Now is one of my favorite movies. I’ve seen it dozens of times in its various forms and own several books on the making of the motion picture. Hell, as a kid I even had the soundtrack on cassette, complete with the dialogue excerpts which I used to intertwine in mixed tapes. Naturally, anytime I can pick up some new trivia I jump at the chance.

A new book entitled Apocalypse Now: The Lost Photo Archive was released last month by a War Correspondent named Chas Gerretsen who served as a still photographer on the set of Apocalypse Now.

This post is as much to encourage you to buy his book as to point out a detail I had never noticed before.

I’m sure many of you have seen this photo:

The term “Apocalypse Now” is never uttered in the movie, but rather is seen way back in the scenery, overwhelmed by the “light and space” of the whole thing, like an undercurrent, fueling the insanity. But take a closer look at the renegade Green Beret Captain’s shotgun.

Sure, there are scalps hanging from the front sling swivel, we’ve seen that. Check out the stock. It’s carved with a lizard. Oddly enough, Jim Morrison aka the “Lizard King” sings “The End” which opens this epic.

How many carved shotgun stocks are we going to see after this makes the rounds? Sure, we’ve seen carved gun stocks before, but it’s usually a pheasant or a hunting scene. But with old M500s and 870s are all over the place, maybe some old fashioned trench art will catch back on.

By the way, Scott Glenn, a former Marine, played that role, no lines, just standing around looking menacing.

Buy the book, it’s full of great photos like this.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 6th, 2021 at 10:00 and is filed under Media, weapons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.