Casualties of War

Watch: Casualties of War

8/18/19891h 53m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Even in war… murder is murder. ~

Overview:

During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.

Director:

Brian De Palma

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$22,500,000.00

Revenue:

$18,671,317.00

Key words:

vietnam war
vietcong
rape
court
menace
based on true story
jungle
soldier
anti war

Cast

Michael J. Fox

~ as ~

Private Eriksson

Sean Penn

~ as ~

Sgt. Tony Meserve

Don Harvey

~ as ~

Cpl. Thomas E. Clark

John C. Reilly

~ as ~

Private Herbert Hatcher

John Leguizamo

~ as ~

Private Antonio Diaz

Thuy Thu Le

~ as ~

Oanh

Erik King

~ as ~

Brown

Jack Gwaltney

~ as ~

Rowan

Ving Rhames

~ as ~

Lt. Reilly

Wendell Pierce

~ as ~

MacIntire

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

Wuchak
Written 5 year(s) ago
8
Beautiful and brutal, artistic and ugly

Based on a true story, the arrogant sergeant (Sean Penn) of a 5-man squad on a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam in November, 1966, decides to kidnap a Vietnamese farm girl for some “portable R&R” because it would be "good for the morale of the squad." But PFC Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) refuses to participate and fears being “killed In Action” for dissenting.

“Casualties of War” (1989) separates itself from other Vietnam War movies by focusing on the incident at hand, including the build-up and aftermath. Its uniqueness is augmented by Brian De Palma’s slightly off-kilter style. The picture balances the beauty of the location and the artistry of Brian De Palma's filmmaking with the horror and ugliness of war & rape.

It's also realistic and compelling while simultaneously being mundane, which is why some viewers might find it boring. In other words, this is more of a gut-wrenching war drama with some action than a typical war flick with explosions and action thrills galore. It fairly closely follows the real story; Google Incident on Hill 192 for details.

The movie runs 1 hour, 59 minutes, with the original Theatrical Cut being 6 minutes shorter. It was shot in Phang Nga, Kanchanaburi & Phuket, Thailand, and Dolores Park, San Francisco, California.

GRADE: A-/B+
k
kevin2019
Written 10 month(s) ago
10
"Casualties of War" is a deeply disturbing and emotionally overpowering film which remains strictly impartial throughout and it just recounts the acutely distressing and repugnant details in a dramatically harrowing yet still compelling way. The rape itself is dealt with in an incredibly matter-of-fact fashion as indeed is the victim's very life when she is indiscriminately murdered after she becomes an inconvenience. It is also shocking but to be expected that when Private Eriksson brings squad leader Sergeant Meserve's criminal act to the attention of his superiors he is met with a lack of concern and even a measure of anger. The real area of upset for them lies not with a lack of justice for the victim, but with the lives of the young men in the platoon Eriksson is about to destroy.