Goofs

As the men prepare for the Tarawa invasion there is a scene showing them climbing down the cargo nets and then the scene switches to actual footage of men climbing down a net into landing craft, which are shown to be Higgins Boats. The next scene shows them in a landing vehicle in the water approaching the beach but they are now in LVT's (Landing Vehicle-Tracked.) That part of the scene is correct, as LVT's were used at Tarawa (and many other Pacific islands) in order to cross the coral reef.

The way Stryker holds the rifle when he tells Conway that he checked the records.

Conway's hands change position while with Allison at the end of their first meeting.

Near the beginning of the movie, while the platoon is marching and Conway is talking about his Father, his helmet strap keeps switching from swinging lose to being tucked under his rifle strap.

After Sgt. Stryker dances with Choynski, he stands a little way from Choynski. The next shot shows them both side by side.

The first battle the movie's unit participates in is Tarawa. Tarawa was assaulted by the 2nd Marine Division. The same unit is then engaged in the Iwo Jima campaign. Iwo Jima was invaded by the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions. It's very unlikely that Stryker's whole squad would have been transferred to another division. Furthermore, earlier in the film Stryker refers to his involvement in the Guadalcanal assault. The assault on Guadalcanal was conducted by both the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions, so it is plausible for Stryker to have served with two marine divisions.

The flamethrower Sherman tank that Regazzi brings forward is the later H5 model, which retained its main gun (two barrels), but was not used on Iwo Jima. The flamethrower tanks used on Iwo Jima were the earlier H1/H2 type, which had only the single flamethrower barrel.

The raising of the flag atop Suribaci, the Pulitzer Prize version, is shown as the first flag raised, when, in fact, it was the second.

During the second, more famous, flag-raising, the Marines are shown pausing for several seconds in the midst of the raising, to match the iconic photograph taken by photographer Joe Rosenthal. However, the video taken from nearly the same position as Rosenthal by Marine Sergeant Bill Genaust shows a continuous movement, with no pause at all.

When Pfc. Thomas (Forrest Tucker) goes for more ammo and stops for coffee, the coffee is being brewed in a helmet over an open fire. He hands over his metal cup, and the fellow by the fire holds it in his bare hand as he fills it from the helmet. Ouch. Anyone who has been camping will see the error here.

When the Marines are moving up the mountain along a path, a Japanese soldier pops out of hiding and appears to shoot one of the Marines in the stomach at point blank range. One can see that the enemy soldier actor shot just beyond the Marine actor because a puff of smoke from the gun barrel emits out past the Marine actor's back. This was probably a safety requirement in the making of the movie, since blanks fired out of a weapon can seriously injure or kill.

When looking at a map of Tarawa, one marine remarks "looks like a pork chop". Tarawa is most often described as looking like a bird on its back, and Iwo Jima as a pork chop. It is probable that this was looped in the wrong scene in post production.

In the training scenes, set in New Zealand, a row of Eucalyptus trees are seen. These are native to Australia and are not found in New Zealand. (There have been groves of them planted in California though.)

Two errors are visible when Stryker is attacked by the Japanese soldier: Stryker's positioning and arm movement is not consistent, and the Japanese soldier is hit by the handle of the entrenching tool before Conway throws it.

When they pour the coffee from helmet on the beach, the ventilation holes are visible in the helmet.

When preparing for their first liberty, PFC Thomas (Forrest Tucker) is shown wearing corporals stripes.

As Stryker and his men are approaching the beach the navy ships and aircraft are still attacking the beach. A Japanese pill box is shown shooting at the beach. Why? No troops have landed therefore no need to be using the machine guns.

His men address Sgt. Stryker as "Sir," e.g., "Yes, Sir!" yet only officers are addressed as such; NCO's are instead addressed by their rank e.g., "Yes, Sergeant!"

There was no intensive bombardment before the landings at Guadalcanal as Sgt. Stryker described. The Japanese were caught be surprise and the landings were unopposed.