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Features: DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), Dolby Surround Sound, French, Spanish, Dubbed & Subtitled, Subtitled
Hailed by critics as a masterpiece, Casualties Of War is based on the true story of a squad of soldiers caught in the moral quagmire of the war in Vietnam. Witness to a vile crime, Private Eriksson (Michael J. Fox, Back To The Future) is forced to stand alone against his fellow soldiers and commanding officer, Sergeant Meserve (Sean Penn, Dead Man Walking), a powerful and charismatic man pushed over the edge of barbarism by the terror and brutality of combat. With sweeping scope, action and raw power, master filmmaker Brian DePalma (The Untouchables) creates a devastating and unforgettable tale of a man's quest for sanity and justice amidst the chaos of war.
"Fox achieves his dramatic breakthrough..." VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever
"A film of great emotional power...a breakthrough work." Hal Hinson, Washington Post
Editor's Note
After being denied the chance to go to a nearby village to visit a prostitute before starting a a reconnaissance mission, a tough, embittered American sergeant (Sean Penn) involves the four men of his patrol in the kidnapping of a young Vietnamese woman. The impending gang rape and murder of the woman splits the patrol into two factions, those for it, and those against it--with young Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) leading the dissension. But before long, the sergeant has convinced everyone but Eriksson to go along with the plan, making an already difficult mission unbearable for the morally conscious young soldier. Penn gives a powerful performance in this brutal, thoughtful war film from a script by playwright David Rabe (HURLYBURLY).
Plot Summary
A young soldier arrives in Vietnam and is assigned to a unit of men who have been in the jungle for many months. Their sergeant has only one more mission to complete before he can go home, and though he has been a successful soldier, he has lost his will to fight or to care for his troop. |When soldiers on duty prevent the sergeant from going to a nearby town to visit a prostitute on the night before his last mission, the enraged sergeant tells his unit that he will seek revenge. He concocts a plan where his troop will accompany him to the village, kidnap a woman and force her to come with them on the mission in order to furnish the group sexually.|The newest soldier in the troop does not want to go along with the plan, but the sergeant's charisma convinces the rest of the men. When they eventually reach the village, the young man again protests, which fuels the sergeant's rage, and prompts him to initiate a brutal gang rape and murder of a young village woman. The film then moves to events after the troop's return from Vietnam, where the young soldier has decided to have his unit court martialled.
| Features | Interactive Menus | | Scene Access | | Theatrical Trailers | | Deleted Scenes | | Production Notes | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai | | "Eriksson's War"--A Conversation With Michael J. Fox | | "Making Of..." Featurette | | Widescreen Version | | Digitally Mastered Audio & Anamorphic Video | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 & 2-Channel Dolby Surround; French, Spanish, Portuguese |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Columbia Tri-Star |
| Release Date: 3/23/2004 |
| Running Time: 114 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1989 | | Catalog ID: 06292 | | UPC: 00043396062924 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed, Portuguese Dubbed, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Chinese | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Golden Globe (1990) | | | Ennio Morricone, Nominee, Best Original Score--Motion Picture |
| Memorable Quotes| "This isn't what it's supposed to be about over here... ." ---- ERIKSSON |
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| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone
"...A portrait of hell so harrowing it's impossible to shake....De Palma's merciless vision is unblinking..." 09/07/1989 p.31Sight and Sound
"...CASUALTIES OF WAR is the strongest, the simplest and the most painful of all the Vietnam movies....It's about the agony of seeing terrible things too clearly..." 12/01/1989 p.62 Los Angeles Times
"...A superb film. DePalma may have found here the perfect arena for his darkly voluptuous expertise..." 08/18/1989 p.C1 Total Film
"[The film] manages to churn out an effective moral conflict..." 04/01/2004 p.103 |
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