Basic Information
Chinese Title
Born on the Fourth of July
More Chinese Titles
Born on the Fourth of July
English Title
Born on the Fourth of July
Directed by
Oliver Stone
Written by
Ron Kovic sports or music! StoneOliver Stone
Screenplay
Ron Kovic ..... (book)
Oliver Stone Oliver Stone ..... (screenplay) &
Ron Kovic ..... (screenplay)
Cast
Tom Cruise Tom Cruise .... .Ron Kovic
Bryan Larkin .... .Young Ron
Raymond J. Barry .... .Mr. Kovic
Caroline Kava .... .Mrs. Kovic
Josh Evans .... .Tommy Kovic
Seth Allen .... .Young Tommy
Jamie Talisman .... .Jimmy Kovic
Sean Stone .... .Young Jimmy
Anne Bobby .... .Suzanne Kovic
Jenna von O? .... .Young Suzanne
Producer
A. Kitman Ho .... .producer
Lope V. Juban Jr. .... .producer: Phillipines
Joseph P. Reidy .... .associate producer (as Joseph Reidy)
Oliver Stone Oliver Stone .... .producer
Clayton Townsend .... .associate producer
Cinematography Cinematography by Robert Richardson Robert Richardson .... (director of photography)
Editing Film Editing:
David Brenner
Joe Hutshing .... (co-editor)
Running time 145 min
Country/Region USA
Dialogue English
Color Color
Mix 70 mm 6-Track Dolby SR
Levels
Australia:M Iceland:16 Norway:15 Sweden:15 France:U Spain:13 USA:R Canada:R UK:18 West Germany:16 Canada:18+ South Korea:18 Chile:18 Argentina:16 Finland:K-14 Singapore :M18 New Zealand:R13
Production Cost $14,000,000 (estimated)
Filming Dates
May 1988 - November 1988
[edit]Production and Distribution
Production Company
Ixtlan Corporation [USA]
Distribution company
CIC Vídeo [Brazil] ..... (Brazil) (VHS)
Columbia TriStar Columbia TriStar [Brazil] ..... (Brazil) (DVD)
Image Entertainment Inc. [USA] ..... (USA) (laserdisc)
MCA Universal Home Entertainment MCA/Universal Home Video [USA] ..... (USA) (laserdisc)
United International Pictures (UIP) [UK] ..... (2006) (UK) (theatrical)
Universal Home Entertainment [USA] ..... (USA) (DVD)
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures [USA] ..... (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
Warner Home Video Warner Home Video [USA] ..... (USA) (DVD)
Other companies
ADR Voice Services ..... voice casting
Astro Sheet Metal ..... metal fabrication
Big Time Picture Company ..... post-production editing facilities
Bonhard's Nursery ..... greenery
Charlie Wright Ltd. ..... wigs
Cinema Research Corporation [USA] ..... opticals
Gala Catering Inc. [USA] ..... catering
JDH Sound [USA] ..... adr facility, L.A.
Lone Star Parade Floats ..... parade floats
Lorimar Sound ..... re-recording facilities
MCA Records [USA] ..... soundtrack
NBC News Archives [USA] ..... historical news footage
Nicolau Casting ..... extras casting
Warriors Inc. [USA] ..... military technical advisor
Release Date
United States
USA
December 20, 1989
Australia
Australia
February 8, 1990
Argentina
p> Argentina
February 15, 1990
France
France
February 21, 1990
Sweden
Sweden
February 23, 1990
West Germany
West Germany
March 1, 1990
Austria
March 2, 1990
Netherlands
Netherlands
March 2, 1990
United Kingdom
UK
March 2, 1990
Finland
Finland
March 16, 1990
Hungary
Hungary
April 19, 1990
Philippines
Philippines
1990 July 31, 1990 ..... (Davao)
[edit]Synopsis
Ron Kavik, a promising army officer, loses his legs in the Vietnam War. He becomes self-loathing and angry at his family, and after leaving home, he looks at himself and realizes how many lives were lost in the war, and who he was fighting for. Unable to forgive his country, he was determined to fight against the war and questioned the country that betrayed him. ......
As a young boy, Ron Kovic loved to charge through the woods with his buddies and dreamed of one day becoming a real man. On July 4, 1956, on his 10th birthday, Ron rode on his father's shoulders to watch the Independence Day parade, which excited him greatly. On one occasion, Ron's girlfriend Donna gave him a baseball cap, and Ron won the game with a confident smile on his face.
As he grew into adulthood, Ron admired and longed for the president's war-mongering speeches, and an urge to challenge and sacrifice grew within him. In an interstate wrestling match, Ron is thrown down and tears come to his eyes. Thereafter, Ron decides to give up the opportunity to go to college to join the Army and fight in the war. In conflicted pain, he rushes to the high school gym in the rain to say goodbye to his lover, Donna.
When Lang arrives at the battlefield in Vietnam, he witnesses American soldiers shooting Vietnamese civilians, and he recklessly rushes into a house to rescue a wounded woman and her baby. In the midst of a melee, he accidentally kills his friend Wilson, but the colonel tells the anguished Lang that it is "his destiny". Afterward, Long is shot and wounded, and is admitted to a VA hospital. He was told he was paralyzed from the waist down and would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
When Long returned home in 1969, he was saddened and heartbroken by the patriotic heroism of some and the disdain of others, but in his wheelchair, Long still held on to his loyal beliefs about America's commitment to war.
Ron and Donna meet again on a college campus in the midst of an anti-war movement, and a shocked and distraught Donna decides that the war is wrong and must be stopped. The two men are in love with each other, and they are saddened by their memories of the past.
After a clash in a bar, Ron finally recognizes the harsh reality behind the lies of war. Soon after, he is sent to a Mexican military retreat center for convalescence. In a dimly lit brothel, the tenderness of Elena, a prostitute, brings Ron to tears with mixed feelings, and his mood is slightly lifted. However, nightmares of the Vietnam War still haunt him. In order to atone for his sins, he visits Wilson's tombstone, and in order to stop the war and the massacre, Len finally wakes up and joins the anti-war movement.
In 1972, during a **** and party gathering in Miami Beach, Long and a number of veterans entered the venue, where he made a public declaration against the war and was thrown out by the secret police. But Lang, who was widely embraced, defiantly rocked his wheelchair, commanded the public, and charged forward.
Four years later, at the Democratic National Convention in New York, Long took the floor with determination and excitement, and he had a flashback. To the cheers of the crowd, Lang extended his left hand in a V-shaped gesture of victory.
The hero, Ron Nicolway, paralyzed by his injuries, suffered physical pain in the hospital, and then returned home to be tortured by his mind, and the extreme disillusionment of the day made the original ambition and determination to serve his country very disillusioned and disillusioned, so much so that the values on which it is based have collapsed.
This is the second installment of Stone's Vietnam trilogy, and it tells a true story. A patriotic athlete, Law joined the U.S. Navy to fight in Vietnam, despite his family's opposition. The war life at sea puts Law and his buddies in a state of confusion and chaos, and Law gradually loses himself. Ruthless bullets hit him, and half paralyzed, Law was sent back to his homeland, where he spent a nightmare time in a veteran's hospital. After being discharged from the hospital, he goes to Mexico, where he spends his days drinking and living a life of debauchery. But the fortitude buried deep within Law's heart gradually lifted him up and he finally honed in on the difficult struggle to become an active anti-war propagandist.
[edit]Behind the Scenes of the Movie
A Commentary
A story of innocence lost and courage found.
Behind the Scenes of the Movie
Following the success of the Vietnam War film, "Platoon," Oliver Stone shifted the focus of the movie to the same subject. The climax of the movie is also reflected here, and the audience can't help but treat and think about the history and significance of the Vietnam War with a serious mind. The movie has Tom Cruise's wonderful role, the plot is compact and powerful, the atmosphere is heavy, with a strong sensationalism, but also the American movie industry is a creative courage and moral conscience.
[edit]Highlights
-Star Tom Cruise was actually born on July 3rd.
- All the movies were shot in red, white and blue, depending on the context: wars are all slightly reddish tones, dream scenes are all white, blue represents sadness and so on.
-Director's Cameo: (Oliver Stone) The reporter who interviews the military governor on TV at the beginning of the movie.
- At least eleven other extras, including Oliver Stone, made cameo appearances in the movie, as well as in Oliver Stone's earlier movie, "Field Platoon".
- It has been confirmed that one of the men in the movie said that the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals he received in Vietnam meant nothing. Director Oliver Stone received both awards after serving in Vietnam.
- In Mexico, Wing sits behind a table with a book called "All Quiet on the Western Front". The book has been hailed as one of the greatest anti-war works in history.
- Originally set to star Al Pacino as Ron Kovic and directed by William Friedkin. With the movie project mired in a struggle to raise funds, it wasn't until a decade later that this movie starring Tom Cruise and directed by Oliver Stone was made.
- In the credits, the name of Oliver Stone's wife, Elizabeth, is listed as "Naijo No Ko", which means "Thank you for my wife's help" in Japanese.
- "fuck" is used 289 times in the movie.
[Edit]Great dialogue
Mrs. Kovic: Don't say penis in this house!
Ron Kovic: 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.
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Ron Kovic: They burned the flag and they demonstrated the importance of the American people. 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. 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! 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! got in the goddamn way!
[edit]Wearing shots
- Period mistake: A 1957 Chevrolet convertible (introduced in the fall of 1956) is used in the film's July 4, 1956 parade.
- In January 1961, Wing's family was watching JFK's Washington inauguration on TV. It was below freezing. Meanwhile, at Kovic's Long Island, New York, home, it was showing early fall weather.
- Era Error: a Jackie Gleason Blvd. street sign can be seen at the 1972 **** and State Convention in Miami Beach. The street was actually named after Gleason's death in the late 1980s.
- Factual error: the film is labeled July 4, 1969, with the Kovic family watching "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" on TV. The show began in 1968 and aired every Monday night, and July 4, 1969 was a Friday.
- Zeitgeist mistake: When Wing was in his room thinking about what to take with him, he slipped a toy gun into his bag. The model gun is a Beretta 92f, which first appeared in 1983.