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Features: DVD, Sensormatic
Lt. Colonel nathaniel serling is ordered to review captain karenwalden's candidacy for a medal of honor. Serling uncoversconflicting stories and begins to suspect a government cover-up.Refusing to file an incomplete report, serling confronts hissuperior and is threatened with an internal investigation.
Editor's Note
Following the 1991 Gulf War, Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling (Denzel Washington) is assigned to review the background of the late Captain Karen Walden (Meg Ryan), who has been posthumously nominated for a medal of honor. While investigating Walden's candidacy, Serling is forced to face his own disillusionment and guilt surrounding the war. As he begins the interviewing process, he uncovers several inconsistencies in the stories told by the late pilot's crew. The three officers, who may or may not have been saved by the captain's actions, all give drastically different accounts of the events leading up to Walden's death. Ilario (Matt Damon) paints Walden as an unselfish, courageous hero, while the surly Monfriez (Lou Diamond Phillips) describes her as a crybaby and a coward. The third soldier, Altameyer (Seth Gilliam), lies dying in an army hospital, mumbling guilty confessions in a medicated haze. Similar to the storytelling technique used in Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMON, director Edward Zwick's COURAGE UNDER FIRE features each officer's account of the fateful incident reenacted onscreen, offering wildly diverse portrayals of Walden. Meg Ryan shines in a role that demands she play one character a multitude of ways. As Serling pieces together the radically different tales of combat, he uncovers the painful truth and simultaneously faces his own pent-up guilt regarding the war.
Plot Summary
Assigned to investigate and approve a killed-in-action helicopter pilot's candidacy to become the first female recipient of the congressional medal of honor, a disillusioned former Gulf War officer finds inconsistencies in the stories told by the late pilot's crew.
| Features | Region 1 | | NTSC | | Keep Case | | Letterbox - 1.85 | | Audio:
| Dolby Digital 5.1 - English | | Dolby Surround - English | | Dolby Surround - French | | DTS Surround 5.1 - English | | THX Mastered Audio | | Additional Release Material:
| Featurette | | Audio Commentary: Edward Zwick - Director | | Trailers:
| 1. 3 Original Theatrical Trailers | | 2. 3 TV Spots | | Interactive Features:
| Scene Access | | Interactive Menus |
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| Technical Info
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Release Information
|  | Studio: Foxvideo |
| Release Date: 1/6/2009 |
| Running Time: 116 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1996 | | Catalog ID: 2259705 | | UPC: 00024543010838 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Video: Color |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone
"...Denzel Washington is a potent actor in peak form....COURAGE UNDER FIRE honors its subject and its audience..." 08/08/1996 p.68USA Today
"...Thoughtful. Intelligent. Moving. Provocative..." -- 4 out of 4 stars 07/12/1996 p.1D Entertainment Weekly
"...[Washington gives a] haunted, nearly implosive performance." -- Rating: B 08/09/1996 p.44 Variety
"...A carefully conceived, dramatically honorable picture that treats its subject with clarity and intelligence..." 06/24/1996 Los Angeles Times
"...Intelligent, involving and serious....Lou Diamond Phillips gives an intense, focused performance..." 07/12/1996 p.F1 Chicago Sun-Times
"...Zwick's direction handles the many conflicting story possibilities with great clarity..." 07/12/1996 p.31 |
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