Casualties of War

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Casualties of War
Image:Casualties of War poster.jpg
Directed by	Brian De Palma
Produced by	Art Linson
Written by	Daniel Lang (novel), David Rabe (screenplay)
Starring	Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn
Music by	Ennio Morricone
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	August 18, 1989
Language	English
Budget	$22,500,000
IMDb profile

Casualties of War is a 1989 war drama about the Vietnam War, starring Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn. It was directed by Brian De Palma, with a screenplay by David Rabe based on actual events that took place in 1966.

The theme of Casualties of War is how normal moral behavior is discarded during war times and shows it in the extreme when soldiers become savages who can dehumanize innocent by-standers, and also about personal responsibility for maintaining that morality in extreme conditions.

The film was a departure for Fox who had worked with light-hearted comedy up until that point; it proved he was capable of handling 'heavy' dramatic roles. John C. Reilly and John Leguizamo co-starred.

Contents 1 Story 2 Trivia 3 Quotes 4 External links

Story

Tagline:

• Even in war... murder is murder.

The story is presented as a flashback of a Vietnam veteran.

A squad of American soldiers loses one of its members in a village in the Central Highlands which is believed to be an ally to the Viet Cong. In retaliation, the squad kidnaps a Vietnamese girl, Than Thi Oanh (Thuy Thu Le) to be their sexual slave, much to the objection of one soldier, Private First Class Sven Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) who wants no part of it. This is quashed by the likes of the squad's psychopathic leader, Sergeant Tony Meserve (Sean Penn), who frequently antagonizes the hero for his conscience. During a firefight, the troops viciously murder the girl to avoid being discovered by their superiors.

After the battle, they cover up the murder but Eriksson refuses to let the secret die. He jeopardizes both his life and military career (thanks in large part to indifferent superiors who prefer to bury the matter) to expose the crime. Eventually, there is an investigation and the four men who participated in the rape and murder are court martialed and receive long sentences. Later, Sergeant Meserve and Corporal Clarke's sentences were reviewed and greatly reduced. Privates Hatcher and Diaz were retried and acquitted on appeal after it was determined that their Fifth Amendment rights were violated and their confessions were ruled as inadmissible.

Trivia

• The bridge location was filmed in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. This was the same location where the famous Bridge over the River Kwai is located.
• Stephen Baldwin was originally cast to play Hatcher, but De Palma did not like his acting and fired him, casting John C. Reilly instead. There are a couple scenes that have Baldwin in the background.

Quotes

Template:Wikiquote

• "Girl-on-bus": "You had a bad dream, didn't you?"
• "Erikkson": "Yes."
• "Girl-on-bus": "Its over now, I think. Chao ong." (last spoken lines of the movie)

Wikipedia information about Casualties of War This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Casualties of War". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.