Casualties of War
Casualties of War

Casualties of War

1989Movie113 minEnglish

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

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Insights

IMDb7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes82%
Metacritic60/100
Google Users85%
Director: Brian De PalmaGenres: War, Drama, History

Plot Summary

During the Vietnam War, a squad of U.S. soldiers is ordered to kidnap a Vietnamese woman and bring her to their forward operating base for their own pleasure. As the mission progresses, their actions escalate into a horrific crime, and one soldier, Eriksson, struggles with his conscience and tries to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Critical Reception

Casualties of War was met with mixed to positive reviews. While critics praised Brian De Palma's direction and the powerful performances, particularly from Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox, some found the film's depiction of brutality difficult to watch. It is generally regarded as a serious and unflinching look at the moral compromises and atrocities that can occur during wartime.

What Reviewers Say

  • A harrowing and disturbing depiction of wartime atrocities.
  • Sean Penn delivers a particularly chilling performance.
  • Brian De Palma's direction is effective in conveying the grim reality of the war's moral decay.

Google audience: Audiences found the film to be a powerful and disturbing examination of the Vietnam War, with many praising the strong performances but acknowledging the difficult and graphic subject matter.

Fun Fact

The film is based on a true story reported by journalist Daniel Lang in The New Yorker in 1969, concerning the actions of a squad from the 23rd Infantry Division.

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My Review

TMDB Reviews

2 reviews
kevin2019

kevin2019

"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...
Wuchak

Wuchak

_**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...