History Film / TheSiegeOfFirebaseGloria

* ADateWithRosiePalms: When Hafner's Marines arrive at Gloria, they discover that the Army lieutenant in charge of the titular firebase spends his days in his hootch, stripped naked, surrounded by porn magazines, and getting high as a kite. According to one Soldier, "He's probably jacked off three times already today."

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: A number of these happen throughout the movie.
** The movie opens with Hafner's LRRP team returning to a friendly village to find that the Cong have slaughtered everyone and left their heads on stakes. The next village they visit has heard about what happened to the first and [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse cast their lot with the VC to avoid sharing their fate]]. When they open fire, the Marines cut ''everybody'' down. [[WarIsHell It doesn't get better from there]].
** The Viet Cong attack and slaughter everyone they find in the US embassy in Saigon, including several American civilians working there.
** US Marines and Army soldiers kill several wounded VC in cold blood after the end of the first assault.
** [[spoiler:As the base is overrun during the final assault, the VC ruthlessly slaughter both wounded soldiers and unarmed nurses when they attack the aid station.]]

* ZergRush: The Cong's only tactic is the "human wave" assault which, while almost successfull, still results in the Americans mowing them down at the cyclic rate.

* NotSoDifferent: As the final assault [[CombatBreakdown degenerates into a brutal hand-to-hand melee]], [=DiNardo=] and Cao Van both see the little boy running around in a panic. Both men forget everything else and focus on protecting the boy. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, neither man recognizes that they are both trying to do the same thing]].

* DeathOfAChild: [=DiNardo's=] young son died under unspecified circumstances some time before his tour began. His grief has left him borderline suicidal, and quickly grows attached to the boy found in An Lap village.

* InfantImmortality: Tragically averted. Among the villagers executed en masse by the Viet Cong are dozens of children, whose corpses are discovered by the Marines at the start of the film. [[WouldHurtAChild They were lined up and executed.]]

* ProperlyParanoid: [=DiNardo=] is proven right about the VC using women as sappers when he guns down two such women trying to enter the firebase. The explosives they were carrying detonate when [=DiNardo=] shoots the satchels they were carrying them in.

* OnlySaneMan: Amongst the Army personnel at Gloria, Hafner's patrol finds an officer who's far more interested in his bong and his porn collection to care about what's going on around him, a bunch of troops who have lost any semblance of discipline (though they at least shape when properly led and motivated), and a dozen nurses on a field exercise whose commander needs a pep talk to recognize that the exercise is about to get way too real. The only soldier on the firebase without his head up his ass is First Sergeant Jones, who has been conducting one-man reconnaissance patrols and knows the situation is bad and about to get worse. When he shows up, Hafner's demeanor is "Finally, ''somebody'' who knows what the hell he's doing!"

* [[SociopathicSoldier Sociopathic Marine]]: Corporal [=DiNardo=]. Combine the death of his own son with the [[ShellShockedVeteran horrible things he's seen in Vietnam]] and his obsession with protecting the Vietnamese child found in the massacred village, and you get a guy that would probably make [[Film/ApocalypseNow Colonel Kurtz]] a little nervous. [=DiNardo=] is often reckless, will shoot Vietnamese women without a second thought if he thinks they might be enemy sappers (turns out he was right about that one...''this time'', anyway), executes enemy wounded, brutally tortures a wounded VC for intelligence, and openly admits that he's crazy.

* TheCavalry: The firebase receives help from, [[{{Pun}} fittingly enough]], members of the First Cavalry Division as the battle rages.

* JerkassHasAPoint: [=DiNardo=] may be a BloodKnight who is arguably just as horrible as the Viet Cong he's fighting, but he's proven right several times throughout the film, such as saying that the VC are using women as sappers (two wannabe female sappers blow up after Nard himself shoots them), how the original commander of the firebase would get all the Americans killed if he isn't relieved of his duties (Hafner once he's in command manages to hold the base and motivate the Army troops to fight well), and that the VC would just slaughter all the nurses and wounded without second thought should they overrun the base ([[spoiler:which indeed does happen towards the end]]).

* InfantImmortality: Tragically averted. Among the villagers executed en masse by the Viet Cong are dozens of children, whose corpses are discovered by the Marines at the start of the film.

''The Siege of Firebase Gloria'' is a 1989 film starring Creator/RLeeErmey and Wings Hauser about US Marines and Soldiers trying to hold a tiny, insignificant outpost in Vietnam against a massed assault by the Viet Cong during the 1968 Tet Offensive.

* JerkassHasAPoint: [=DiNardo=] may be a BloodKnight who is arguably just as horrible as the Viet Cong he's fighting, but he's proven right several times throughout the film, such as saying that the VC using women as sappers (two wannabe female sappers blow up after Nard himself shoots them), how the original commander of the firebase would get all the Americans killed, and that the VC would just slaughter all the nurses and wounded without second thought should they overrun the base ([[spoiler:which indeed does happen towards the end]]).

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Averted. Shortwave and Jones both survive.

* ChekhovsGun: Murphy hands his M16 assault rifle to the head nurse and tells her to use in case the VC attack the aid station. [[spoiler:She uses it on a squad of VC slaughtering both wounded and nurses inside the aid station towards the end.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: [=DiNardo=] may be a BloodKnight who is arguably just as horrible as the Viet Cong he's fighting, but he's proven right several times throughout the film, such as saying that the VC using women as sappers (two wannabe female sappers blow up after Nard himself shoots them), how the original commander of the firebase would get all the Americans killed, and that the VC would just slaughter all the nurses and wounded without second thought should they overrun the base ([[:spoiler:which indeed does happen towards the end]]).

* JerkassHasAPoint: [=DiNardo=] may be a BloodKnight who is arguably just as horrible as the Viet Cong he's fighting, but he's proven right several times throughout the film, such as the VC using women as sappers or how the original commander of the firebase would get all the Americans killed.

* ActorAllusion: This definitely isn't [[Film/FullMetalJacket the first time]] Creator/RLeeErmey was a Sergeant during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar.