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Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: You had best un-fuck yourself or I will unscrew your head and shit down your neck!

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Trivia

Ermey was convinced that the scenes in boot camp wouldn't be believable unless the actors were actually frightened of him. So the other actors in the film only saw him as the Gunny Hartman character. He never spoke, ate, or fraternized with any of them unless it was during a scene. Much to Ermey's pleasure, the fear you see on the screen is real. Many times in the shooting the actors would become so flustered by Ermey that they would blow their lines. Ermey recalls that he's seen the other actors in the film around Hollywood from time to time, and they still won't speak to him. See more...

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Full Metal Jacket (1987) - 41 mistakes

Directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Adam Baldwin, Arliss Howard, Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D'Onofrio (add more)

Genres: Action, Drama, Thriller, War

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Continuity: In the opening scene, Gunnery Sgt. Hartman is making his speech and passes by Privates Cowboy and Joker on his way to the other side of the barracks. On his way he passes Private Pyle standing to the right of Private Joker. Later in the scene, when he rushes over to confront Private Joker and then moves on to Private Cowboy and then Private Pyle, Private Pyle is on the left of Private Joker.

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Continuity: When D.I. Hartman dumps the contents of Private Pyle's footlocker on the floor, in the next few shots the layout of the clutter on the floor changes. Note that after Hartman confronts Pyle with the jelly doughnut and turns away, there is a clear path through the clutter for Hartman that disappears in subsequent shots.

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Continuity: In the fire fight in the city near the end of the film, one of the men is firing a M-16 around a corner. As the camera angle changes he is seen firing left handed and right handed. Back and forth several times. Also in the same sequence the magazine in his gun keeps vanishing. One shot he has it and in the next there is no magazine in the gun and yet he hasn't moved.

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Continuity: Pvt. Pyle is on the rifle range with Gunnery Sergeant Hartman right behind him. When filmed from Pyle's right side, he is wearing a white wrist wrap/brace but the shot moves behind him and it is gone. Back to the right side and it reappears.

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Continuity: During the graduation parade, if you look at the background you can see many large squad bay buildings with a few single trees in front of them, this scene seems to be shot at the actual Paris island. However when they show a close up of Joker's platoon in parade, the background changes to mostly trees, with only two or three small buildings behind them.

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Visible crew/equipment: When Cowboy, Joker, Rafterman and the other soldiers are running across the buildings to get to Animal in the final sniper scene, watch the foreground. If you freeze the movie right as they reach Animal, you can see they run by a boom mic and a crew member. A bicycle is also there (just to help you out).

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Other: When the GI's are jogging through the training camp complex, singing "I don't know but I've been told..." you can see the British road junction markings on the tarmac underneath them. There is little evidence to suggest that there was any attempt to disguise or remove them.

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Continuity: During the drill scene when Sgt. Hartman is asking Private Pyle if he knows the difference between his left and his right, watch the positioning of Pvt Pyle's cap. After being struck the first time, the cap is slightly cocked. After the shot returns to Pyle and before he gets struck for the second time, the cap is obviously cocked further over.

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Continuity: There's a scene where Sgt. Hartman goes to punch Pvt. Joker in the stomach. If you look carefully, he starts to punch with his left, then we instantly see Joker getting punched by his right.

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Continuity: In the bathroom scene on the last night of boot camp, Pvt. Pyle is 'training' with a rifle. As he snaps to attention, the shot from behind shows him with legs slightly apart, a second later the shot from the front shows him with his legs perfectly together, yet he never moves.

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Continuity: During the "blanket party" scene, Pyle appears to be sleeping on two (wrinkled) pillows. When Cowboy covers his mouth Pyle is sleeping on one very neat pillow.

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Continuity: In the scene where the sniper is shot, You can see blood on her face (especially on her upper lip) when she falls down after being hit, but when she lies on the floor afterwards, there is no blood on her face anymore.

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Continuity: After Lt. Touchdown has been shot, behind the tank, he falls to the ground with his rifle still grasped in one of his hands but when the marines move in to aid him his rifle has vanished.

Edit Submitted by Jack Vaughan
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Continuity: In the part of the death of Cowboy, before he looks through the corner of the building to see the position of the sniper, there is a wall in good condition behind another wall which is broken. Later, when he goes back and starts to give orders, the wall that was in good condition is now broken without any reason for it to be and now the sniper can see Cowboy so she can shoot him.

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Continuity: After Hartman punches Joker, the scene shifts to Joker's point of view with Hartman pointing his finger directly in Joker's face while berating him. After the scene changes to a distant shot, Hartman is pointing behind Joker's head.

Edit Submitted by Rick
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Continuity: When Joker is talking to the general about his peace badge, it is there at the beginning of the conversation, but then disappears when Joker turns his back to the camera. It then reappears in the next scene when he is walking along with Rafterman.

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Continuity: When Gomer Pyle is in the toilet with his rifle and after shooting the drill instructor, Pyle sits down on the fourth toilet seat from the back of the room. In the next shot where Pyle kills himself, he is sitting on the third toilet seat. You can see this already from the front shot of Pyle when he kills himself because there is a rise in the wall next to the third seat, which is visible through the whole scene. It is more obvious in the following shot where you can see the row of toilet seats and Pyle sitting dead on the third one.

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Factual error: When 8-ball gets shot, in the shot which shows the platoon ducking near a wall with Cowboy, Joker and Animal Mother in the front, there are two weapon related errors. Cowboy's M-16 has a nickel (silver colored) firing assembly and Joker's M-16 has an A2 type pistol grip. The A2 types were introduced somewhere around the 80s, and nickel plated assemblies are rarely used (and were invented after Vietnam, too). The nickel assembly is visible at the beginning of the shot, and you can see the A2 grip when Joker is changing magazines (while Cowboy shouts cease fire).

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Continuity: In the first Vietnam scene, while Joker is sitting having a drink, the same cars keep driving round and around behind.

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Continuity: When Hartman is showing the doughnut to the Privates, it changes looks depending on the shot: smooth and sugar coated, or wrinkled with barely no sugar.

Edit Submitted by Sacha