Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
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Wikidata Q471159, film, IMDb tt0096969, TMDB 2604: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by the only film by that title; 2 more episodes agree.
What a model would be handed about it, for corpus:ask.
Who talked about it
Blank Check — Patreon
- Jordan Hoffman: 1 line in Blue Steel with Jordan Hoffman (Ad-Free)
- Unattributed: 1 line, the speaker unknown or under 0.5 sure.
The Big Picture
- Brian Raftery: 10 lines in 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time?
- Amanda Dobbins: 1 line in The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame
- Chris Ryan: 1 line in The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame
- Oliver Stone: 1 line in 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time?
- Unattributed: 2 lines, the speaker unknown or under 0.5 sure.
Came from
What the speakers say it drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.
Vietnam-vet cliche films (The Exterminator, The Park Is Mine): 1 line the host's read ×1
-
contrast (contrast):
Vietnam-vet cliche films (The Exterminator, The Park Is Mine) ⇒ Born on the Fourth of July (the host's read).
Born was meant as a rebuttal to the ticking-time-bomb vet movies of the 80s.
“The film would almost be a rebuttal to all those Vietnam vet cliches.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:20:05 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
Led to
What the speakers say drew on it, marked the same way.
Lieutenant Dan (Forrest Gump): 1 line the host's read ×1
-
craft (craft):
Born on the Fourth of July ⇒ Lieutenant Dan (Forrest Gump) (the host's read).
Dan's angry wheelchair stretch evokes Kovic.
“Behavior that no doubt reminded many of COVID and born in the 4th of July.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:46:36 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
Connected to
Rain Man: 2 lines verdict ×1 career ×1
-
verdict (ranking):
Born on the Fourth of July → Rain Man.
Two Oscar-bait Cruise films; the hosts prefer Born on the Fourth of July and cut Rain Man despite its Best Picture win.
“I prefer born over rain man.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:36:50 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
Al Pacino: 1 line what-if ×1
-
what-if (what-if):
Al Pacino → Born on the Fourth of July.
Pacino agreed to play Kovic in 1978; the film died when he shaved his mustache.
“By 1978, Pacino had agreed to play COVID.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:08:12 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
Dale Dye: 1 line people ×1
-
people (people):
Dale Dye → Born on the Fourth of July.
Dye was advisor and played a small role; his reason for the film was the VA hospitals.
“He was an advisor on board of the 4th of July, and played a small on screen role.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:25:32 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
Daniel Day-Lewis: 1 line people ×1
-
people (performance):
Born on the Fourth of July → Daniel Day-Lewis.
In Born on the Fourth of July Cruise shows he can be Daniel Day-Lewis; Chris calls it his best performance.
“This is him being like, I can be Daniel Day-Lewis.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:58:39 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
Dogfight: 1 line contrast ×1
-
contrast (contrast):
Dogfight → Born on the Fourth of July.
Gump's happy ending is set against the unhappier ones in Born and Dogfight.
“This is a much happier ending than the one offered up in Born of the Fourth of July.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:47:06 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
Heaven & Earth: 1 line theme ×1
-
theme (theme):
Born on the Fourth of July → Heaven & Earth.
Raftery closes: personal stories in Born, Heaven & Earth and Running on Empty change how you see the war.
“It's impossible to watch born on the 4th of July without feeling, not just for Ron Kovic”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 1:05:32 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
Lieutenant Dan (Forrest Gump): 1 line craft ×1
-
craft (craft):
Lieutenant Dan (Forrest Gump) → Born on the Fourth of July.
Dan's angry wheelchair stretch evokes Kovic.
“Behavior that no doubt reminded many of COVID and born in the 4th of July.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:46:36 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
Paths of Glory: 1 line theme ×1
-
theme (theme):
Paths of Glory → Born on the Fourth of July.
The appeal that sells young men on war is the first 20 minutes of Born on the 4th of July, before reality.
“the initial appeal of it, you know, the like 1st 20 minutes of born on the 4th of July”
Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free) · 0:52:22 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
Platoon: 1 line verdict ×1
-
verdict (verdict):
Born on the Fourth of July → Platoon.
Born did not reach Platoon's cultural heights but was still a hit and won Stone a second directing Oscar.
“Even though it didn't reach the cultural heights of platoon, it was a hit in its own right”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:26:08 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
The Green Berets: 1 line contrast ×1
-
contrast (contrast):
The Green Berets → Born on the Fourth of July.
Kovic found the Green Berets false about a war he had fought in, the opposite of what Born would later show.
“But the Green Berets was about a war Kovic had actually fought in, and he wasn't buying it.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:03:44 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
Tom Cruise: 1 line career ×1
-
career (career):
Tom Cruise → Born on the Fourth of July.
Cruise took a pay cut and passed on Top Gun sequels-style easy money to play Kovic.
“Instead, Cruz took a pay cut to play Kovic.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:22:27 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
Top Gun: 1 line contrast ×1
-
contrast (contrast):
Top Gun → Born on the Fourth of July.
Stone worried Cruise, coming off jingoistic Top Gun, was wrong for Kovic.
“I was worried because, one, he was a movie star and he was coming off Top Gun, which was the opposite kind of jingoistic message.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:21:31 · Oliver Stone (0.90 sure it was them)
Tropic Thunder: 1 line unmapped ×1
-
unmapped (transformation):
Tropic Thunder → Born on the Fourth of July.
Cruise's wig and transformation in Tropic Thunder was for laughs, the opposite of Born on the Fourth of July.
“Not until Tropic Thunder.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:00:20 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
Vietnam-vet cliche films (The Exterminator, The Park Is Mine): 1 line contrast ×1
-
contrast (contrast):
Born on the Fourth of July → Vietnam-vet cliche films (The Exterminator, The Park Is Mine).
Born was meant as a rebuttal to the ticking-time-bomb vet movies of the 80s.
“The film would almost be a rebuttal to all those Vietnam vet cliches.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:20:05 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
William Friedkin: 1 line what-if ×1
-
what-if (what-if):
William Friedkin → Born on the Fourth of July.
Friedkin was to direct the first version, which collapsed when Pacino shaved his mustache.
“So the job of directing Born on the 4th of July went to William Friedkin”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:09:51 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
Where it came up
- passing in Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan, first at 1:35:07, 1 time
- passing in The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag!, first at 0:31:53, 1 time
- passing in The Rewatchables · 'Mission: Impossible' With Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Jason Concepcion, first at 0:12:31, 1 time
- subject in The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time?, first at 0:03:55, 22 times
- subject in The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame, first at 0:25:07, 8 times
- passing in Blank Check — Patreon · Full Metal Jacket with Jon Gabrus (Ad-Free), first at 0:26:54, 1 time
- passing in Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free), first at 0:52:22, 1 time
- anecdote in Blank Check — Patreon · Blue Steel with Jordan Hoffman (Ad-Free), first at 1:34:25, 3 times
What was said about it, by kind
career (2)
-
career (career):
Tom Cruise → Born on the Fourth of July.
Cruise took a pay cut and passed on Top Gun sequels-style easy money to play Kovic.
“Instead, Cruz took a pay cut to play Kovic.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:22:27 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them) -
career (career arc):
Rain Man → Born on the Fourth of July.
Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July and The Color of Money are grouped as his Oscar bait run defining an era.
“was almost like his Oscar bait run.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:40:06 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (4)
-
contrast (contrast):
The Green Berets → Born on the Fourth of July.
Kovic found the Green Berets false about a war he had fought in, the opposite of what Born would later show.
“But the Green Berets was about a war Kovic had actually fought in, and he wasn't buying it.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:03:44 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them) -
contrast (contrast):
Born on the Fourth of July → Vietnam-vet cliche films (The Exterminator, The Park Is Mine).
Born was meant as a rebuttal to the ticking-time-bomb vet movies of the 80s.
“The film would almost be a rebuttal to all those Vietnam vet cliches.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:20:05 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them) -
contrast (contrast):
Top Gun → Born on the Fourth of July.
Stone worried Cruise, coming off jingoistic Top Gun, was wrong for Kovic.
“I was worried because, one, he was a movie star and he was coming off Top Gun, which was the opposite kind of jingoistic message.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:21:31 · Oliver Stone (0.90 sure it was them) -
contrast (contrast):
Dogfight → Born on the Fourth of July.
Gump's happy ending is set against the unhappier ones in Born and Dogfight.
“This is a much happier ending than the one offered up in Born of the Fourth of July.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:47:06 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
craft (1)
-
craft (craft):
Lieutenant Dan (Forrest Gump) → Born on the Fourth of July.
Dan's angry wheelchair stretch evokes Kovic.
“Behavior that no doubt reminded many of COVID and born in the 4th of July.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:46:36 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
people (2)
-
people (people):
Dale Dye → Born on the Fourth of July.
Dye was advisor and played a small role; his reason for the film was the VA hospitals.
“He was an advisor on board of the 4th of July, and played a small on screen role.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:25:32 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them) -
people (performance):
Born on the Fourth of July → Daniel Day-Lewis.
In Born on the Fourth of July Cruise shows he can be Daniel Day-Lewis; Chris calls it his best performance.
“This is him being like, I can be Daniel Day-Lewis.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:58:39 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (2)
-
theme (theme):
Born on the Fourth of July → Heaven & Earth.
Raftery closes: personal stories in Born, Heaven & Earth and Running on Empty change how you see the war.
“It's impossible to watch born on the 4th of July without feeling, not just for Ron Kovic”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 1:05:32 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them) -
theme (theme):
Paths of Glory → Born on the Fourth of July.
The appeal that sells young men on war is the first 20 minutes of Born on the 4th of July, before reality.
“the initial appeal of it, you know, the like 1st 20 minutes of born on the 4th of July”
Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free) · 0:52:22 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
unmapped (1)
-
unmapped (transformation):
Tropic Thunder → Born on the Fourth of July.
Cruise's wig and transformation in Tropic Thunder was for laughs, the opposite of Born on the Fourth of July.
“Not until Tropic Thunder.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:00:20 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (2)
-
verdict (verdict):
Born on the Fourth of July → Platoon.
Born did not reach Platoon's cultural heights but was still a hit and won Stone a second directing Oscar.
“Even though it didn't reach the cultural heights of platoon, it was a hit in its own right”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:26:08 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them) -
verdict (ranking):
Born on the Fourth of July → Rain Man.
Two Oscar-bait Cruise films; the hosts prefer Born on the Fourth of July and cut Rain Man despite its Best Picture win.
“I prefer born over rain man.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:36:50 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (2)
-
what-if (what-if):
Al Pacino → Born on the Fourth of July.
Pacino agreed to play Kovic in 1978; the film died when he shaved his mustache.
“By 1978, Pacino had agreed to play COVID.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:08:12 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them) -
what-if (what-if):
William Friedkin → Born on the Fourth of July.
Friedkin was to direct the first version, which collapsed when Pacino shaved his mustache.
“So the job of directing Born on the 4th of July went to William Friedkin”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:09:51 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
Fun items about it
-
fun, about
Born on the Fourth of July:
The wheelchair-genitals scene freaked him out at 15.
“he whips out his genitals to show that he is unable to he's unable to achieve an erection.”
Blank Check — Patreon · Blue Steel with Jordan Hoffman (Ad-Free) · 1:35:12 · Jordan Hoffman (0.60 sure it was them)
Who the speakers said made it
As said on the shows, not checked against the real credits.
- Tom Cruise: actor (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
- Tom Cruise: star (Ron Kovic) (The Big Picture, 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time?)
- Tom Cruise: actor (The Rewatchables, A CR Month Mailbag!)
- Oliver Stone: director (The Big Picture, The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame)
- Oliver Stone: director, co-writer (The Big Picture, 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time?)
- Oliver Stone: director, co-writer (writing half) (The Big Picture, 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time?)
- Daniel Day-Lewis: comparison for acting commitment (The Big Picture, The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame)
- William Friedkin: attached director in the dead 1970s version (The Big Picture, 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time?)
- Ron Kovic: subject of the story (The Big Picture, The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame)
- Ron Kovic: subject/author of the memoir; co-writer (The Big Picture, 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time?)
- Al Pacino: attached star in the dead 1978 version (The Big Picture, 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time?)
- Universal Studios: studio (The Big Picture, 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time?)
- Dale Dye: technical advisor and small on-screen role (The Big Picture, 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time?)
- Caroline Kava: Kovic's mother (The Big Picture, 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time?)