Goofs

In the opening of the movie, when Hartman is walking around the squad bay speaking to the recruits, Lawrence is assigned the last rack at the end of the squad bay, but moments later he is in the middle, a couple racks away from Joker.

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.

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

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.

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 Private 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.

When the full colonel approaches Joker and his friends at the open pit grave, all parties salute each other. In reality, saluting is not done in combat areas, since it identifies officers as primary targets. Also in this scene, the colonel's shirt is missing its required name tape and Marine Corps tape.

Due to the tough nature of Basic Training, Private Pyle should have lost significant weight, but he obviously didn't.

In the head (toilet area), Pvt. Pyle says his ammunition is "seven-six-two millimeter, full metal jacket." Although 762mm is about 30 inches, and what would have been strictly correct is "seven-POINT-six-two millimeter", or about 30 caliber, which is the NATO standard ammunition, it is generally understood by military members that the reference "seven-six-two" implies that he's talking about a 7.62mm rifle round, as is the case with 5.56mm ammo (generally referred to as "five-five-six")

According to Marine Corps recruit training policies, drill instructors or company commanders are required to fail the bottom ten percent of recruits in their platoon. Private Pyle was the worst recruit in the platoon.

In the me-so-horny 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. However, this appears to have been digitally fixed in the HD version by freezing that part of the frame. Just before, even in the HD version, his head moves slightly and later changes position entirely.

Despite being in a tropical environment, nobody is sweating in "Vietnam".

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.

Pvt Leonard/Pyle would never of had a weapon on Graduation Day, and here are three reasons why: Reason #1 - after the final 'Platoon - Dismissed' command by the Senior DI, the recruits (now actual Marines) would be headed off the Island within a couple of hours. They would not be spending another night in the barracks. Reason #2 - when you came off the firing-line at the rifle range (down near 3rd Battalion), a DI would search you for bullets. Finally, reason #3 - After Final Inspection and Final Drill, the weapons are no longer needed and they are turned in to the armory.

End credits list a song performed by Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs, misspelling the last word as "Pharoahs." This has not been corrected on any home video version of the movie.

At 1:17:23 where the film crew is filming the troops, who are behind a concrete wall, Crazy Earl (Kieron Jecchinis) is clearly holding a Daisy "Red Rider" BB rifle and his M-16 is on the ground under his left knee.

Nancy Sinatra's song is listed in the credits is listed as "These Boots are Made for Walking." The last word should be "Walkin'."

At different times both Joker and Animal Mother are firing a 50-caliber machine gun. However, both times tracers were not used, which were essential in helping the gunner follow the actual path of the bullets, especially at night when Joker was firing. Every fifth round of 50-caliber ammunition has a tracer which glows so the gunner knows where his shots are going. Presumably this did not happen because blanks do not have tracers.

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.

In the "Eskimo pussy is mighty cold" running scene, the squad runs past a red on white Yield sign. At the time this movie is set the Yield signs were the 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

When Pvt Leonard/Pyle shoots the Senior DI in the chest, the blood squib is brightly visible when it fires due to the darkened head.

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.

When the men are running forward and singing "eskimo pussy is mighty cold" a crew members shadow is briefly visible in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

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 London.

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 Hollywood 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 DI Hartman drops Joker for 25 push-ups for not remembering his Sixth General Order, Mathew Modine places his M-14 rifle on the deck and begins his punishment. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman would have gone ballistic over this; you NEVER lay your rifle on the deck, especially in Boot Camp. The proper technique is to either lay your rifle over the back of both hands while pushing, or to hold it by the sling at the forward swivel.

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.

When the recruits are shown on the obstacle course around 13:28, Sgt. Hartman says "It should take you no less than 10 fucking seconds to negotiate this obstacle." What he should have said was "It should take you no more than 10 fucking seconds to negotiate this obstacle."