Casualties of War

This is a difficult film to watch, but an easy one to admire. The performances all the way around are excellent. The cinematography is lush. The score is overwhelming. One can only imagine that the lower scores on here are ones angry at the depiction of our troops. What they fail to appreciate is that the hero of our story is quite obviously also a soldier and it is not an incitement of our whole military. It is a broader idea of what happens when there is unchecked power and how weaker men are corrupted when left to their own devices. More importantly it's about good men that stand up to the corrupt.

When this film came out, it was just 2 years after Michael J. Fox’s successful “The Secret of My Success”. He was popular with teens and 20-somethings as well as middle aged audiences who appreciated his former squeaky clean “Family Ties” image. Which meant that pop audiences who might not have otherwise chosen a gritty film about a difficult topic were exposed to this film. Not all of them, obviously, based on box office returns on the film, but some. I was one of those people. I was a teenaged girl who had never heard of “fragging” and had never been told about the prevalence of rape in war. This film provided a focussed (though some might argue over-simplified), emotionally comprehensible look at those two issues on a small scale. I found that small scale, at age 16 to be harrowing enough. Had the film been any more complicated or chaotic, such as in the vein of Apocalypse Now, I would likely never have been able to finish it. As an adult, I still find the film to be significant and poignant, though I cannot be sure whether that assessment is completely objective, considering how profoundly I was affected by it when I was young. At any rate, I highly recommend the film.

I like Casualties of war. It’s a excellent film. However the screen aspect ratio is totally wrong.!!!!!!!!! This film was shot in 2.35.1 scree aspect ratio. So why doe it say Full screen.? Brian DePalma should be crying foul on this release.!!!!!!!!!!!

I love anything with Michael J. Fox in it, but this caught my attention because I liked "Platoon." This is just as good, if not better, and deserved a little more media attention. The acting is superb and the music is so deep and emotional. If you're not sure…just buy it.

Some of the scenes were extremely hard to watch. We don't know what really happened in Vietnam and to that girl, but Sean Penn's MOVIE character seem pyschotic to me. I think his friend's death allowed him to have such strong hatred for VC (and in his mind, all Vietnamese are VC). So he takes his anger out of the innocent girl. Don't get it twisted, I am NOT sympathizing with him. I just think it's more than "I want to rape this girl". I think it's more of "I'm probably going to die soon so I'll do what I want" or "Who am I going to take my anger out of?"

Another well-casted Vietnam war film. This one now involving US Army soldiers. Having lost a good friend to hostile enemy fire, Michael J. Fox is one of the soldiers who has to confront issue of doing what is morally right versus following the orders his squad leader, played perfectly by Sean Penn, lest he risks betraying his fellow troops. One the films where you can't help but sympathise with the hero as well as the victim.

incredible performance by micheal j. fox, and sean penn. basically, and all around amazing film.

this movie is so beast its insanely awesome

A MUST BUY, Pack full with nonstop action. ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE MOVIES, IF YOU LUV WAR MOVIES, YOU MUST SEE THIS!!!!