Born on the Fourth of July

Factual error: In the late sixties, when Ron is in the Brooklyn Veterans Hospital, the radio plays "American Pie." This wasn't recorded until 1971.

Visible crew/equipment: When the guys walk from the deli, talking about which girl they are taking to the prom, you see a reflection in the cars parked along the side, of a crew member walking with a boom mic.

NephYou

Factual error: At a scene where Ron is in the Veteran's hospital doing physical therapy, it is supposed to be 1968, but the song playing is "American Pie." The song didn't come out until 1971.

Other mistake: During the big protest march scene which is supposed to have taken place in the early '70's, one Vietnam vet who is sitting in a wheelchair is clearly wearing a pair of high top Reebok sneakers introduced in the late '80's.

Continuity mistake: When Tom Cruise is lying in his hospital bed and begins freaking out, he knocks over a pitcher from the small table next to him. In the next shot the pitcher is back on top of the table. (00:57:00)

Ultimate Warrior

Factual error: During the closing credits, two songs appear misspelled: "Hace un ano": The correct spelling is "Hace un año" - okay, not all keyboards have the Spanish "ñ" - , and Meleguena. This one is waaaay wrong: The correct spelling is Malagueña.

Sacha

Factual error: Kovic is in the Marines. "Choppers" are called "Helos" in the Marines, and a "Medic" is called "Corpsman". Kovic uses the Army terms.

Airborne60

Factual error: In the opening scene when the kids are playing "War" in the woods, Ron Kovic as a child is carrying a replica of a Beretta M9 handgun. However, Beretta M9's weren't even designed until the 1980s.

Continuity mistake: After Kovic is walking with his crutches, falls and his bone breaks, the crutches keep changing positions between shots.

Sacha

Jamie Wilson - Georgia: What's done is done, sir. I can't ever forgive you... but maybe the Lord can.
Mrs. Wilson: We understand, Ron. We understand the pain you've been going through.

More quotes from Born on the Fourth of July

Trivia: After Charlie Sheen performed brilliantly in such highly-acclaimed Oliver Stone films as "Platoon" and "Wall Street," film maker Stone had a face-to-face meeting with Sheen to discuss him starring in "Born on the Fourth of July." Charlie Sheen came away from the meeting confident that the lead role belonged to him. However, after several weeks, Charlie Sheen was stunned and infuriated to learn (from his brother, Emilio Estevez) that Oliver Stone had chosen Tom Cruise for the lead role. Stone never even bothered to call Sheen with the news.

Charles Austin Miller

More trivia for Born on the Fourth of July

Question: There's a scene in this movie that I've never understood. When Ron Kovic is in the VA hospital, there's one scene where he wakes up in the middle of the night, and looks up and sees something, and screams. What did he see that made him scream?

Answer: He doesn't see anything. He hears his blood dripping back into the makeshift machine the doctors have set up and realizes it isn't working properly. In the previous scene he was told that if they couldn't get the machine to work, he would never walk again.

No, in the previous scene he was told that if they couldn't get the machine to work, he would lose his leg. He was already told he would never walk again.

More questions & answers from Born on the Fourth of July

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.