Star Tom Cruise was actually born on the third of July.
The entire film was shot in shades of red, white, or blue, depending on the emotional level (battle scenes are all in reddish hues, dream sequences in white, sadness in blue, etc).
'Sheen, Charlie' was considered for the part of Ron Kovic.
Cameo: [Abbie Hoffman] a war/draft protester.
Cameo: [Ron Kovic] WWII veteran in the parade at the beginning.
Director Cameo: [Oliver Stone] the reporter interviewing the military official on television near the beginning of the film.
Including cameos by Oliver Stone there are at least 11 other actors credited in this film that also appeared in Oliver Stone's earlier Vietnam War film "Platoon".
During the demonstration, one of the speakers says that the Bronze Star and Purple Heart honors he earned in Vietnam mean nothing. These are the same two honors that director Oliver Stone received after serving in Vietnam.
When Ron is sitting at a desk in Mexico, the book "All Quiet on the Western Front" is shown on the desk. It is considered one of the greatest anti-war books ever written.
Originally Al Pacino was set to star as Ron Kovic with William Friedkin attached to direct. However the project fell through due to financial problems. Ten years later the film was made with Tom Cruise as Ron Kovic with Oliver Stone directing.
A copy of "Johnny Got His Gun," a popular anti-war novel about WW1, is visible on Ron's hospital bed when he learns he will never walk again. In the novel, the main character is a soldier who is mutilated beyond recognition in a war; he has lost both of his arms and legs as well as his sight and hearing.
Oliver Stone's then wife Elizabeth is mentioned in the closing credit roll as Naijo No Ko. This Japanese term means "with the help of my wife" or, more colloquially, "I owe my success to my better half".
The word "fuck" is used 289 times throughout the film.
Ron Kovic and Oliver Stone wrote much of the script together at a cafe in Venice, California.
This film represents one of the rare instances where Oliver Stone was able to cast his very first choice for a starring role in one of his motion pictures. Tom Cruise was Stone's definite preference for the role of Ron Kovic, a casting decision that Kovic ultimately stood by.
Mrs. Kovic:
Don't say penis in this house!
Ron Kovic:
Penis! Penis! Big fucking erect penis, ma!
Ron Kovic:
People say that if you don't love America, then get the hell out. Well, I love America.
Ron Kovic:
They burned the flag and they demonstrated against us; it's on the cover of the paper today. They have no respect. They have no idea what's going on over there, Mom - the men that are sacrificing their lives. People are dying every day over there, and nobody back here even seems to care. It's a bunch of goddamn shit if you ask me!
Mrs. Kovic:
Ronnie, don't take the Lord's name in vain - not in front of the children. I agree with everything you say!
Ron Kovic:
I served my country - and they just want to take from it - just take, take! Love it or leave it, that's what I think.
Lieutenant (in Vietnam):
[to Ron Kovic] It wasn't your fault, goddamn it! They got in the goddamn way!
Ron Kovic:
When I was in the hospital, I thought, yeah - yeah, this makes sense.
Timmy Burns:
What makes sense?
Ron Kovic:
Because I failed, Timmy.
Timmy Burns:
What are you talking about?
Ron Kovic:
Because I - I killed some - people; I made some terrible - mistakes!
Timmy Burns:
Oh, for Christ's sake, Ronnie, we all made mistakes. I mean, you - you had no choice. That's something that those goddamn pansy demonstrators ain't never gonna understand! Now, you don't even have to talk about it, Ronnie; I mean, it was insane over there! It was crazy!
Ron Kovic:
Sometimes I wish, I wish I'd - The first time I got hit, I was shot in the foot. I could have laid down, I mean - who gives a fuck now if I was a hero or not? I was paralyzed, castrated that day; why? It was all so - stupid! I'd have my dick and my balls now, and some days, Timmy - some days I think I'd give everything I believe in - everything I got, all my values, just to have my body back again, just to be whole again. But I'm not whole; I never will be, and that's - that's the way it is, isn't it?
Timmy Burns:
[after a slight pause] For Christ's sake, Ronnie, it's your birthday. You're alive. You made it! Smile.
Steve Boyer:
You could start out as a cashier... and then work your way up to becoming a manager of one of these places - just like your dad.
Ron Kovic:
I get $1700 a month from the government. I think I'm just going to lay low, and look around...
Steve Boyer:
(dismissively) That's charity money, Ronnie; this isn't.
Ron Kovic:
Charity?
Steve Boyer:
All I'm saying is that you got to - you got to put the war behind you, you know; you got to forget about this chair you're in!
Ron Kovic:
(leans forward) Sometimes, Stevie, I think people, they know you're back from Vietnam, and their face - changes: the eyes, the voice, the way they look at you, you know.
Steve Boyer:
I know what you mean, Ronnie, but people here - they don't give a shit about the war! Yeah! To them it's just a million miles away. It's all bullshit, anyway. I mean, the government sold us a bill of goods and we bought it, and got the shit kicked out of us, and for what, huh?
Ron Kovic:
What do you mean, "we," Stevie? You were in college, man.
Steve Boyer:
[shrugs shoulders] You bought that Communist bullshit, Ronnie. Yeah, they were going to take over the world, you remember that? Fenelli, you, Walsh - the whole town was devastated.
[pause]
Steve Boyer:
For what? For lies, for bullshit lies?
Ron Kovic:
[to Charlie] I had a mother; I had a father, things - things that made sense. Do you remember things that made sense? Things you could count on? Before we all got so lost? What are we gonna do, Charlie? What am I gonna do?
Mrs. Kovic:
[enters the room, beaming] Ronnie, Ronnie, you're doing the right thing! Communism has to be stopped! It's God's will that you go, and I'm proud of you. (gently pats his shoulder) Just be careful, that's all.
[pause]
Ron Kovic:
Don't you know what it means to me to be a Marine, Dad? Ever since I was a kid I've wanted this - I've wanted to serve my country - and I want to go. I want to go to Vietnam - and I'll die there if I have to.
Doctor:
We want to make one thing very clear to you, Ron. The possibility of your ever walking again is minimal... almost impossible. You're a T6 - paralyzed from the mid-chest down. Probably... you'll be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life. (pause) Do you understand what I'm saying?
Ron Kovic:
Well, doctor...
Doctor:
Hmm?
Ron Kovic:
Doctor, will I ever be able to - to have children?
Doctor:
No.
[pause]
Doctor:
No, but we have a good psychologist. He's helped a lot of people.
Ron Kovic:
I'll walk again.
Doctor:
No you won't...
Ron Kovic:
No, I know I'll walk again!
Doctor:
No, let me tell you something, Ron. You will NEVER walk again.
[in the Bronx VA hospital]
Ron Kovic:
This place is a fuckin' slum!
Marvin:
You want out of here, man? Fine. We take that leg of yours, and we can get you out of here in two weeks!
Ron Kovic:
I want my leg.
Marvin:
Why?
Ron Kovic:
I want my leg!
Marvin:
Why? You can't feel it no how!
Ron Kovic:
(incredulous and angry) It's my leg! I want my leg, you understand? Can't you understand that? All's I'm sayin' is that I want to be treated like a human being! I fought for my country! I am a Vietnam veteran! I fought for my country!
Patient:
[off-camera] Shut the fuck up!
Ron Kovic:
And I think that I deserve to be treated... decent!
[Ron is attempting to walk in the hospital; Willie is beside him]
Ron Kovic:
Am I good? Hey
[drags himself forward]
Ron Kovic:
, am I good?
Willie:
Man, you're one crazy Marine, Kovic - so gung-ho and everything, but you don't know shit about what's really happenin' in this country.
Ron Kovic:
Fuck you, Willie.
Willie:
I'm serious man. It ain't about burnin' the flag and Vietnam, man. While we fight for rights over there, we ain't got no rights at home. It's about Detroit and Newark, man. It's about racism, man.
Ron Kovic:
Is that right?
Willie:
Because you can't get no job at home. Vietnam is a white man's war, a rich man's war.
Ron Kovic:
(contemptuously) Where's my money?
Willie:
I'm serious, man, you gotta read some books. There's a revolution going on, Kovic. Brothers are gettin' it together, and if you ain't part of the solution, man, then you're part of the problem.
Chaplain:
How are you?
Ron Kovic:
[weakly] Tell them - they have to operate on me. There's something wrong with me.
Chaplain:
The doctors are real busy right now. There's a lot of wounded here today. No time for anything except trying to stay alive, so you got to try and stay alive, okay? You hear me? Try and stay alive.
[pause]
Chaplain:
I've come to give you your last rites. Are you ready?
Ron Kovic:
(weakly) Yeah.
Chaplain:
I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. You brught nothing into this world, and it is certain that you will take nothing out of it. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Jamie Wilson:
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.
Ron Kovic:
We went to Vietnam to stop communism!... We shell women and children!
Mrs. Kovic:
You didn't shoot women and children! What are you saying?
Ron Kovic:
That was the war, communism, the incidious evil! They told us to go.
Mrs. Kovic:
Yes, yes that's what they told us.
Ron Kovic:
Thou shalt not kill, Mom. Thou shalt not kill women and children! Thou shalt not kill! Remember? Isn't that what you taught us? Isn't that what they taught us?
Mrs. Kovic:
Stop it! Stop it!
Anachronisms: A 1957 Chevrolet convertible (released in the fall of 1956) is used in the 1956 Fourth of July parade.
Continuity: Ron's family watches JFK's inauguration in Washington, DC in January 1961. It is sub-freezing there. Outside the Kovic home in Long Island, NY at the same time, it appears to be early fall.
Anachronisms: A Jackie Gleason Blvd. street sign can be seen at the 1972 Republican National Convention in Miami Beach. The street wasn't named that until after Gleason's death in the late '80s.
Anachronisms: Reeboks (first made in 1978) at a 1972 Republican convention.
Continuity: When Ron returns home from the hospital the subtitle says "...1969". The colors of the leaves and the dead leaves in the street indicate it is autumn. A few scenes later the subtitle reads "July 4, 1969", and the implication is that time has moved forward.
Anachronisms: In the welcome home parade in 1969 we see two Elvises with the American eagle jumpsuit. This was not made for Elvis until his Aloha From Hawaii show in 1973.
Factual errors: During a scene identified as July 4, 1969, the Kovic family is watching "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (1968). Laugh-In aired on Monday evenings, and July 4, 1969 was a Friday.
Anachronisms: When the recruiter visits Ronnie's school, he incorrectly refers to Marine boot camp as "13 weeks of hell," when Marine boot camp was only 8 weeks during the timeframe of the movie.
Continuity: When Ron visits the family of the man he accidentally killed in Vietnam, the chair swing is broken. When he comes out of the house moments later, the swing is fixed.
Anachronisms: When Ron is thinking about what to put away in his room before boot camp, he stuffs away a toy pistol. The model pistol is a Beretta 92f, not made until 1983.
Anachronisms: The voice of Mel Allen is heard on the radio calling Mantle's 491st home run which would have taken place in 1966. Allen was fired after the 1964 season
Crew or equipment visible: When Ron and his friends walk out of Boyer's Ice Cream shop, you can see crew and equipment in the reflection on the cars.
Referenced in
Drive (1991)
- The Driver states: "I maintain that Rambo and Born on the Fourth of July are the same film."
Forrest Gump (1994)
"HBO First Look: Full Contact: The Making of 'Any Given Sunday'" (1999)
The Burly Man Chronicles (2004) (V)
- mentioned once in extended version
The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)
- One of the films on the list
Last Laugh '05 (2005) (TV)
- dialogue
"The Office: The Injury (#2.12)" (2006)
- Michael mentions the film
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
- Ethan Hunt disguise when he flies to China
Features
D' Fightin' Ones (1961)
- It is shown in a movie theater at one point of the film (scene was deleted).
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
"Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (1968)
Featured in
The 62nd Annual Academy Awards (1990) (TV)
Oliver Stone: Inside Out (1992)
Sto ipsos tis haramadas (1992)
- Scene is seen on TV in control room.
Hollywood vs. Religion (1994) (V)
The Spirit of America (2001)
The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)
- Clips are shown
Hollywood Vietnam (2005) (TV)
- Clip(s) from this film were included. The film was identified by title/year/director in a sub-caption.
The 78th Annual Academy Awards (2006) (TV)
Spoofed in
South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)