History YMMV / BornOnTheFourthOfJuly

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: This film, along with ''Rain Man'', was the first sign that Tom Cruise could actually pull off a serious, dramatic performance, after being mostly known for movies like ''Cocktail'' and ''Top Gun''.

* HeReallyCanAct: This film, along with ''Rain Man'', was the first sign that Tom Cruise could actually pull off a serious, dramatic performance, after being mostly known for movies like ''Cocktail'' and ''Top Gun''.

** [[Series/TheCloser Brenda Leigh Johnson]] dated Ron Kovac.

-->'''Mrs. Kovic (agitated):''' Don't say 'penis' in this house!\\
'''Ron:''' Penis! Penis! Big fucking erect penis, Mom! ''(shouting)'' [[LargeHam PENIS!]] [[NoIndoorVoice PENIIIS!!!!!]]

* {{Narm}}: In what is otherwise an emotionally powerful and impacting scene, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBADjCeFnuU&t=3m22s following exchange occurs]]:

** Also, the wheelchair fight between him and Charlie.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: One of Music/JohnWilliams' most moving scores.

* MemeticMutation: See {{Narm}}.

** [[Series/{{Charmed}} Piper Halliwell]] is Jenny.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The movie is either this or SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Consider the still-ongoing issue with returning veterans in the TurnOfTheMillennium and TheNewTens, the message on the misery that Kovic faced as a paralyzed soldier helped with its anti-war message.

'''Ron:''' Penis! Penis! Big fucking erect penis, Mom! ''(shouting)'' [[LargeHam PENIS! PENIIIS!!!!!]][[note]]There is a certain amount of ItMakesSenseInContext here - Mrs. Kovic is extremely uncomfortable about anything related to sex, so Ron is basically shouting out what is, in that moment, the most hurtful thing he can think of to say to her. It's still silly, though.[[/note]]

* {{Wangst}}: Kovic himself wasn't portrayed as sympathetically in this film. Instead, he was played out like an emotional adult.

'''Ron:''' Penis! Penis! Big fucking erect penis, Mom! ''(shouting)'' [[LargeHam PENIS! PENIIIS!!!!!]]

* AwesomeMusic: One of Music/JohnWilliams' most moving scores.
* HeartwarmingMoment: Kovic [[spoiler:being forgiven by Wilson's parents.]]

-->'''Mrs. Kovic (agitated):''' Don't say 'penis' in this house!
-->'''Ron:''' Penis! Penis! Big fucking erect penis, Mom! ''(shouting)'' [[LargeHam PENIS! PENIIIS!!!!!]]

* AwesomeMusic: One of JohnWilliams' most moving scores.

* UnfortunateImplications: Apparently, Kovic's realization that [[{{Anvilicious}} war is a]] [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped bad thing]] doesn't occur to him until he kills a fellow American soldier as a result of friendly fire... after felling a large number of Vietnamese people.

* {{Narm}}: In what is otherwise an emotionally powerful and impacting scene, the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBADjCeFnuU#t=3m22s following exchange occurs]]:

* {{Narm}}: In what is otherwise an emotionally powerful and impacting scene, the following exchange occurs:

-->'''Ron:''' Penis! Penis! Big fucking erect penis, Mom! ''(shouting)'' Penis! Pe-NIS!
* MemeticMutation: See {{Narm}}.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: Kovic [[spoiler:being forgiven by Wilson's parents.]]

* UnfortunateImplications: Apparently, Kovic's realization that [[{{Anvilicious}} war is a]] [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped bad thing]] doesn't occur to him until he kills a fellow American soldier as a result of friendly fire. All those Vietnamese people? Meh.

* {{Narm}}: An argument between Kovic and his mother devolves into Kovic shouting "penis" at the top of his lungs while his mother pleads for him not to.

* {{Narm}}: Penis! Penis! Penis!
** Don't say penis in this house!
** Tom Cruise and Willem Dafoe spitting on each other. WTF?!

* UnfortunateImplications: Apparently, Kovic's realization that [[{{Anvilicious}} war is a]] [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped bad thing]] doesn't occur to him until he kills a fellow American soldier as a result of friendly fire. All those Vietnamese people? Meh.

** And let's not even talk about Cruise's accent....