Courage Under Fire (1996)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

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 | Desert Storm | Captain

Awards:

9 wins & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Nov. 12

8:00 PM

MyNetwork

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:

The unit portrayed in the movie, commanded by LTC Serling, is the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (2nd ACR). The Regiment was comprised of heavy tanks (M1A1) and fighting vehicles (Bradly FV M3). The unit as such no longer exits. It is now known as the 2nd Cavalry Regiment (Stryker) which fights as an infantry (non-tanks) unit.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Lt. Col. Serling tells Gen. Hershberg that the tank was "hit by a uranium spent projectile" rather than using the correct terminology, "spent uranium projectile."

Quotes:

Tony Gartner, Washington Post: General, Colonel Sterling's order to activate lights, was that a standard response to enemy infiltration of the lines?
General Hershberg: At the critical moment, in spite of terrible losses, Colonel Sterling didn't hesitate to act. Ordering those tanks to turn on their lights saved the lives of God knows how many of our men. Heroic acts arise out of desperate circumstances.
Tony Gartner, Washington Post: I have no trouble at all believing Colonel Sterling is a hero.
General Hershberg: Like Captain Karen Walden. Did you know, Mr Gartner, that for the first time a woman is being considered for the medal of honor for her performance under fire? And, um... Colonel Sterling is just finishing up the inquiry. How's that going, Nat?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Creeps (1997)

Soundtrack:

Angel from Montgomery

Worth Watching

The story is a simple one. Washington is a Lt. Colonel responsible for some accidental deaths during a tank battle in the Gulf War. He's assigned to investigate the suitability of Meg Ryan as a posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor. She was flying a medevac helicopter to a crash site when her aircraft was shot down by small arms fire and, apparently, stayed behind voluntarily and told her crew to save themselves while she covered them. Washington interviews the crew members and gets different stories. In one story Ryan behaves as described. In a second, she is a coward and collapses under fire. In yet a third, the truth emerges. Yeah, it's Rashomon, but not as original or subtle.

Still it's pretty good. And, Gott sei dank, it is not a story in which a woman proves herself as a good as a man, despite the fact that she is a member of the weaker sex. (What condescension.) Meg Ryan is a capable and courageous officer who happens to be a woman. This is important to the politicians who are positively drooling over the prospect of awarding her the decoration, but isn't really important to the narrative.

The performances are better than I'd expected. Everyone, in fact, is quite good in their different ways. Matt Damon, in particular, gives a sensitive performance as a guilt-ridden medic, and looks the part, somewhat ascetic, his facial features askew with uncertainty. Meg Ryan doesn't have a chance to do more than shout orders with a Texas accent but she registers pain and determination well. Phillips is perhaps the least articulated character, not exactly wooden but inexpressive, and it's not the fault of the role, which is fairly complex. Denzel Washington is the central figure. He's good as carrying that burden of guilt lever over from his battlefield mistake but isn't too convincing as a drunk. In the end, he relieves himself of some of that torture by visiting the parents of one of the men he had killed and confessing his part in the incident. The first few times I saw this I kept thinking what some other actors would have done with this scene, but the last time I found the way his incarnate remorse rather moving.

The battle scenes are well done, although a little confusing, as I'm sure they would have been at the time. Some generic conventions are adhered to. Four of our guys can slaughter dozens of them. The enemy runs headlong into a hail of bullets. But there are some interesting twists given to the situation. The Iraqis on the other side of the hill can be heard laughing at our boys (and our woman). And the ending is revisionist, but I won't go into it. Justice outs, let's say that.

It's a worthwhile watch for any number of reasons. Craftsmanlike if not poetic in any way.