Patzer

When Crazy Earl holds his rifle up after the initial attack on Hue City, the magazine disappears between shots.

Immediately after the "This is my rifle, this is my gun" scene, the recruits are drilling and it is obvious their shirt collars are unbuttoned. In the Marine Corps, recruits do not unbutton their collars until they qualify at the rifle range.

In the barracks scene, as Sergeant Hartman punches Private Joker with his left fist, the camera angle changes and Sergeant Hartman's left hand is seen open while his right fist is punching Private Joker.

When Joker and his photographer travel in a Sikorsky UH-34 helicopter to report on the action at the front, there are several exterior shots of the trees rushing by underneath them. During these shots, the shadow is of a Bell Jet Ranger, a different, newer helicopter.

Animal's aimless shots blow away parts of the "My Toan" sign, but it is later seen intact.

On several occasions, the word "repeat" is used while speaking on the radio. In the Marine Corps, the use of the word "repeat" on the radio is reserved solely for talking to artillery units to request a repeat of the last fire mission. The term used would be: "say again your last" or "I say again."

It is doubtful that Marines would identify themselves by their nicknames when asked by a superior to state their name. This error happens more than once.

Joker, Animal, and the helicopter door gunner all occasionally fire very long bursts from their M60 machine guns. Real Marines are taught to fire automatic weapons in short bursts to prevent overheating and jamming, and to conserve ammunition.

In one of the boot camp scenes, the platoon is shown running in formation. Several of the major characters are at the head of the formation, including Private Pyle. However, the farthest right position (which would become the column head after a right face) is reserved for squad leaders. There is no way that Private Pyle would have been in the position of squad leader, and he would therefore have been further back in the ranks.

At the rifle range there is a sign reading 300 meters. When in-fact, the Marines would shoot from 200, 300 and 500 yards, not meters.

Before Cowboy's squad moves up to search for the sniper, Joker reloads his rifle. Between the scene where he reloads his rifle to the scene where he prepares to shoot the sniper, he doesn't take any shots with his rifle, but when he attempts a shot on the sniper, there is no ammunition in his magazine.

While some people claim that Joker's M16 was out of ammunition when he attempted to shoot the sniper, in fact it was jammed, which was a common problem for the M16 in Vietnam.

In the scene just before Rafterman gets his camera stolen, in the background you can see a busy road. But you can also see that it is the same 3-4 vehicles, going around in circles.

The dead NVA soldier that they're posing in a chair can be seen breathing throughout the scene. Also you see his left leg twitching/spasm.

After the Tet Cease Fire hoax, Joker and his squad run to the bunker with a .50 caliber machine gun to protect the front gate. When they open fire at the jeep and the enemy soldiers, there are no impact points on either the jeep, the bodies, or the background. In reality, a .50 caliber would have cut bodies in half at such close range and also the front gate sign behind it, and obliterated the jeep, which is left largely intact.

During the December 25 training sequence along the camp roads and through the woods, you can see the trees and other vegetation are in full bloom. Since their training is 13 weeks long, even in South Carolina during the December and even November, the trees and vegetation would be bare and the grass would be brownish and it would be cold enough that the soldiers would be wearing their field jackets. The movie appears to have been filmed most likely in the spring or summer.

It is obvious that Pvt Joker at the beginning of the Tet Offensive when he enters the bunker, he is loading his .50 caliber machine gun with blanks. This is all the more obvious when he fires at the suicide truck and the VC entering the gate after, there are no tracer rounds or bullet impact hits behind his targets.

When the film crew is filming the troops who are behind a concrete wall, Crazy Earl is clearly holding a Daisy "Red Rider" BB rifle and his M-16 is on the ground under his left knee.

When the platoon is doing push-ups for Private Pyle's jelly donut violation and the film begins a transition fade to the next scene, one actor in the left foreground can be seen slacking off on his push-ups early before the transition fully completes.

In the scene where 8-Ball is first shot in the leg by the sniper, you can clearly see him grimacing in pain before he was actually shot.

In the background of the graduation parade, modern parked cars are visible.

Rafterman carries spare 35mm film canisters on his helmet. The canisters he is carrying are made of plastic. In the 1960s film canisters were made of aluminum. Plastic 35mm film canisters did not appear until the early 1970s.

When Joker is on fire watch (where he finds Pyle in the head) he's using a 1980s Mag-Lite brand flashlight.

A modern communications tower is visible in a shot of a helicopter taking off after they enter the city and it is being strafed by the tanks. Occurs during the scene of them being filmed by the film crew while they are sitting down waiting for orders.

A red on white yield sign can be seen in the barracks. At the time this movie is set, the yield signs were black lettering and outline on a yellow background.

In most scenes, the movement of Animal's machine gun and the ejected casings indicate that he's holding down the trigger, but the sound indicates that he's firing short bursts.

When Doc Jay is in the far back of the squad yelling to Cowboy that he is going to bring Eightball in, his mouth doesn't match up to what he says.

When Animal calls to Cowboy to bring the squad in and find the sniper, Rafterman turns to Cowboy and speaks a complete sentence, but the sound has been cut and replaced with a comment by Cowboy.

When Joker and Cowboy are in the head mopping the floor, Cowboy moves the mop bucket that is supposed to have water in it. When Cowboy sits the bucket down back on the floor, you can tell by the sound of it that the bucket is empty.

When the camera pans up from the sniper's position at Hue City, a crew member is seen running towards the building

Just before the scene inside the helicopter with the door gunner there is footage looking down on the trees from the helicopter. You can clearly see that the shadow of the helicopter is that of a Bell Ranger instead of the H-34 Choctaw they were supposed to be flying on.

In one of the scenes when Animal Mother has moved to the building where the sniper is located and the rest of the squad is following some of the surrounding buildings are on fire and a reflection of flame is seen on the screen from one of the cameras.

During the beginning of the sniper scene Cowboy tells members of his squad that they're moving up to Animal Mother to kill the sniper. As they approach, the camera follows them from behind, then switches to a side view tracking shot. In some versions of the film, about 5-8 seconds into this sequence, a member of the crew wearing jeans can be seen ducking low.

When Joker and Rafterman meet Lt. Touchdown, camera shadow is visible in the lower left, on the road where the tanks go by.

In numerous scenes Marines are seen wearing stateside black leather boots. The jungle boot, with its green nylon and cleated sole was more suited for tropical weather and humidity. The stateside boot would have been impractical for the field and uncomfortable. Only recently arrived marines from stateside would have worn them until issued the correct jungle boot.

Road markings indicate the filming location (England), not Parris Island, South Carolina.

The type of palm used in this film are date palms which do not grow in Vietnam. Date palms require a much hotter and more arid climate.

In the first shot of the graduation from the Parris Island, one can see tall trees and buildings in the background, but during the close shot there are only small trees with no buildings. It's because the first shot was an actual shot from the graduation and the second one was shot in England.

At the conclusion of the Colonel's questioning of Joker in front of the mass grave, the Colonel salutes Joker. Apart from being improper for an officer to salute an enlisted man, salutes are not rendered in a combat operations area due to snipers actively seeking officers as targets.

Also, when the Colonel says to "answer the question or you'll be standing tall before the man", Joker is, in fact. "standing tall before the man" at that moment.

When Cowboy has finished asking for tank backup on the radio, he makes the common mistake of saying "over and out" rather than the correct "out". "Over" means handing over to the other party to receive their transmission. "Out" means you have finished the conversation.

When the Marines are on the rifle range for the first time, there is a drill instructor checking a weapon. However, he fails to keep the weapon pointed down range, which is a major safety violation.

Lt. Lockhart erroneously criticizes one of his staff about a "North Vietnamese Regular" in the staff's report, asking "Is there an irregular?" when in fact there is. "North Vietnamese Regular" distinguishes from "North Vietnamese Special Forces" and is grammatically correct as it is.

During the range shoot, Hartman watches over Pyle's shoulder and compliments him on his shooting skill. In reality, he would not be able to see the bullet holes from the firing point, especially without binoculars. Sometimes, each shot may be indicated by the butt party, but the prior shot of the targets did not show that happening.