Goofs for
Jarhead (2005) More at IMDb Pro »

• Anachronisms: The Crystal Geyser water bottle label seen throughout the movie is the current logo, not the one in 1991. Same goes for the Head and Shoulders Logo on the shampoo in the shower.
  
  
• Continuity: When Cortez shows the picture of his wife, she is facing the right in the first shot. In all following shots, however, she is facing the left side in the picture.
  
  
• Anachronisms: When Swoff walks into a command and communications tent, a few of the Marines are using personal computers with flat panel consumer brand LCD monitors. These would not have been available in 1991 during the first Gulf War.
  
  

• Anachronisms: We see the Marines partying to Naughty By Nature's "OPP" during a Christmas party in 1990. However, that song was not released until 1991.
  
  
• Continuity: In the beginning, Swoff is shown carrying his hung clothes on the left arm, the camera then looks away for a second and comes back and he is carrying his clothes on the right shoulder.
  
  
• Anachronisms: When Swoff disembarks from the jumbo that has taken them to the middle east the "Star Alliance" logo is clearly seen on the side of the plane, however "Star Alliance" was formed in October 1992 between United Airlines and Air Canada, after the first Gulf War.
  
  
• Continuity: While Swoff is being punished for abandoning his watch for the party, the water bottle on the table shifts position between shots.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: In the end montage of "Where are they now" we see SSgt Sykes in a sniper alley sending his marines through a hole in a wall, and through the window behind Sykes we can see a couple of crew partially hidden behind a wrecked vehicle, directly over Sykes's left shoulder.
  
  
• Anachronisms: The sunglasses worn by the Marine's are Oakley M Frames. However, the actual frame style was not introduced until the late 1990s. There was an early-'90s style, but much different.
  
  
• Continuity: In the tent Swofford is holding a gun to the head of Ferguson, he lifts up the gun and pulls Ferguson up. In the next shot, Swofford is still pointing the gun at him.
  
  
• Errors in geography: When the new Marines first meet SSGT Sykes, the water tower in the background has a USAF Tactical Air Command or USAF Air Combat Command emblem on it, which new Marines would never see at Camp Pendleton. This scene was filmed at George AFB in Victorville CA.
  
  
• Errors in geography: When Swoff's squad arrives at the "Highway of Death" a road sign in the background reads "Abdali 150 KM, Kazimah 80 KM, Mutlaa 10 KM". There is nowhere in Kuwait where all three of these distances would be accurate: Al-Mutla and Kazimah are only about 10 to 15 kilometres from each other, and Al-Abdali commune is only roughly 70 to 80 kilometres from those two districts and roughly 90 to 100 kilometres from Kuwait City. Most of the carnage on the "Highway of Death" took place along Highway 80, in the area around Mutla which would have put Abdali only 70 to 75 kilometres and Kazimah only 10 to 15 kilometres away.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In the Interview section in the Bonus Features, Jake's character confuses Iraqis with Saudis when he is asked how he feels about the Iraqis. He also confuses Kuwaitis with Iraqis when he is asked how he feels about Kuwaitis. In the commentary it was noted that they allowed the actors to ad-lib a lot of the interview material.
  
  
• Continuity: When Fergus is cooking sausages on the gas stove the fire spreads to the surrounding area in the back of the truck. As we see Fergus try to put it out the fire the stove clearly falls over. The scene then cuts away and then returns and the stove is once again upright.
  
  
• Anachronisms: In the scorpion fight scene, Lt. Cortez is seen holding a new 5 dollar bill, seen from the back.
  
  
• Continuity: When the oil starts raining in the desert, Sgt. Sykes' uniform is completely clean, when everyone else is dirty.
  
  
• Errors in geography: In the scorpion fight scene, there is a Emperor Scorpion (P. imperator) and Desert Hairy Scorpion (H. arizonensis). The former is native to Congolese Africa, the latter to Arizona and surrounding states. Neither has any place anywhere in the Middle East.
  
  
• Factual errors: One of the marines mentions "getting to level 9" on Metroid. Another responds that you just have to start over again after you win. Metroid, however, does not have levels and when the game is completed, it does not start over.
  
  
• Continuity: Flipped shot: As Swofford says, "My war experience has begun," and sand is falling in his face, the two moles on his face appear both as he is shown in right and left profile.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: The "Abrams" tanks we see in one of the scenes are fake: the number of road wheels is incorrect (6 instead of 7).
  
  
• Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Troy is branded, Swofford leans in and tells him, "You earned it, man!" This does not match up to his lip movement.
  
  
• Anachronisms: The chartered planes aboard which the Marines arrive in the Middle East are 747-400s, which were not yet in service in 1990, and which were never operated by TWA before it was acquired by American Airlines. (TWA operated 747-100s and 747-200s.)
  
  
• Factual errors: The TWA logo visible on the side of the aircraft as the troops are coming off the plane was retired in the early seventies, by the time the movie takes place that livery had long been retired.
  
  
• Continuity: When Kruger is drinking, his shirt is soaked with the alcohol. In the next shot, his shirt is dry.
  
  
• Continuity: In the final desert scene at the night-time party when Swoff and Troy arrive and begin shooting into the air, the camera cuts to a other men at the party also firing into the air. Swoff begins by firing his sniper rifle but when the camera goes back to him his weapon has switched to a light belt-fed machine gun.
  
  
• Factual errors: Whenever snipers are shooting at their targets their spotter does a countdown by saying "Fire! Fire! Fire!". The sniper then fires on the third "Fire!" to ensure a well-timed kill. However, in the movie the snipers fire whenever they want after the spotter says the third "Fire!".
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: In Anthony Swofford's sunglasses, a cameraman is visible.
  
  
• Factual errors: When the Marines are celebrating the end of the war firing their weapons, Troy is shown pulling down on the trigger of his M16A2 rifle. This should produce a three round burst. However, it is incorrectly firing fully automatically.
  
  
• Continuity: When Swoff is getting his first firing training to be a Scout Sniper, his first shot is fired and he scores a hit on the upper right side of the target in the head. When he re-chambers to prepare for his next shot and we see through his cross-hairs, his last shot appears to have been a bullseye in left center of the head.
  
  
• Factual errors: When the A-10 Warthogs attack marines accidentally in the desert, neither the sound of the GAU-8 Avenger nor the bullet hits are even close to real. The A-10 main (and only) gun shoots 30 mm depleted uranium and high-explosive bullets at 4200 rounds per minute. These bullets can penetrate 69 mm of armor and they'll rise significant amount of dirt in the air. The gun sound is more like giant hammer drill against a rock.
  
  
• Factual errors: When trying out for the MOS scout sniper, not all of the marines are of rank Lance Corporal or higher, the required rank necessary in order to obtain said position.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: In some night scenes, for instance during the party after the Marines return to the base, the orange lights standing in for burning oil wells are visible. These lights were supposed to be digitally replaced with fire in post-production.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When they first arrive in Saudi they are in a tent when SSGT yells gas, and Swoffard tries to get his NBC Suit on first. All military are trained to put on their protective mask up first before before getting the rest of their MOPP gear on.
  
  

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