Courage Under Fire (1996)

Director:

Edward Zwick

Writer (WGA):

Patrick Sheane Duncan (written by)

Release Date:

12 July 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Mystery | War

Tagline:

In wartime, the first casualty is always truth.

Plot:

A US Army officer, despondent about a deadly mistake he made, investigates a female chopper commander's worthiness for the Medal of Honor.

Plot Keywords:

Honor | Medal Of Honor | Helicopter | Captain | Desert Storm

Awards:

9 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Denzel Washington	...	Nat Serling
Meg Ryan	...	Karen Walden
Lou Diamond Phillips	...	Monfriez
Michael Moriarty	...	General Hershberg
Matt Damon	...	Ilario
Bronson Pinchot	...	Bruno
Seth Gilliam	...	Altameyer
Regina Taylor	...	Meredith Serling
Zeljko Ivanek	...	Banacek
Scott Glenn	...	Gartner
Tim Guinee	...	Rady
Tim Ransom	...	Boylar
Sean Astin	...	Patella
Armand Darrius	...	Robins
Mark Adair-Rios	...	Bobcat 5 (as Mark Adair-Riós)

MPAA:

Rated R for war violence and language.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #34505) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 (w) | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Fox 2000 Pictures

Trivia:

Matt Damon lost 40 pounds for his role in the movie.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When the two men are talking in what appears to be a park in Washington, D.C., an Austin, Texas, Capital Metro City Bus drives by in the background.

Quotes:

[holding a pistol to Serling's head]
Monfriez: You ever kill anyone at close range with a small arms, sir?
[Serling shakes his head]
Monfriez: Messy.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Creeps (1997)

Soundtrack:

Angel from Montgomery

Let's be realistic

The movie has some interesting material, these are the plot and Meg Ryan. Why Meg Ryan? Because as you know she is the actress of romantic comedies, so to see Meg Ryan in such a thriller is surprising, even if there are a few examples in her filmography. However, her character is the key character of the movie and she is a soldier. Why the plot is interesting? Because it is based on a female soldier which is a very rare thing. That's all. The movie is uninteresting, you just wonder what is behind lies? but even this is not interesting enough till the final that succeeds in being touching. The direction is mediocre, the movie is not stylish at all, I don't know who cares this but. Because, it is seen that the movie is liked and nobody cares about the direction or lack of energy in acting. Denzel Washington cannot save the movie, you know, sometimes, the movie is mediocre, but you watch it for the cast's sake, but this is an exception. In other words, even Denzel Washington is completely forgettable in this movie. It is extremely strange that according to some, one of his bests. By the way, this is not an action movie at all, I don't count one or two flashbacks which show the key event. Yes, to me Basic can be called as the new version of Courage Under Fire. Basic was not a real good movie, but to me better than this one and the ending was a bit shocking that makes it more worthy. Lastly, Courage Under Fire is not a popcorn movie (entertainment), because story is in the foreground by far, not action, not suspense, not direction. I highly recommend you, In the Valley of Elah that is not a masterpiece, but flawless film.