Casualties of War (1989)

Apocalypse Now Redux is a close second, but has a weak ending, in my opinion. Casualties of War is expertly directed by DePalma. Penn and Fox give intense performances. Casualties' grip on the viewer increases step by stop and scene by scene. Each scene ends with a dilemma that "hooks" the audience and demands continued viewing. Each scene begins with either a resolution of the previous scene's hook, or begins with an oblique answer that leads into a direction not anticipated by some viewers. Like DePalma's best films Casualties is primarily a thriller. One doesn't need any political viewpoint to enjoy this film. The film works well on more than one level of reality, which is always an artistic accomplishment.

I have to agree with the other reviewers who asked : "How could this movie have possibly been made?". This piece of absolute trash really says a lot for the many brave American soldiers (men and women) who faithfully served our country throughout the Viet Nam war. The story centers on the rape and eventual murder of an innocent Vietnamese child by 4 American soldiers who were refused leave. Who in their right mind would want to make a movie like this? The performances are just awful and totally unrealistic. Sean Penn is his usual unconvincingly terrible and casting Michael J Foxx in a war film is about as convincing as casting Stan Laurel in the lead role of Rocky ! I just fail to see how portraying American GIs as low-life rapists and murderers serves as quality entertainment. Very unconvincing acting, an awful plot, and totally off-center directing make this film the very bottom of the heap for me. One I would never recommend nor want to see again. Very disturbing junk. DePalma was really out of his element on this one and should have been court-martial-ed for this movie. It makes our Viet Nam GIs look like the Russian soldiers who served under Stalin during World War 2.

Max Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) is a Vietnam vet haunted by an incident during the war. Sgt. Tony Meserve (Sean Penn) leads a squad of five soldiers. He's hard-nosed and then his longtime friend gets hit. Eriksson is still considered cherry. PFC Diaz (John Leguizamo) is the new replacement. Along with Cpl. Clark (Don Harvey) and PFC Hatcher (John C. Reilly), the group kidnaps a village girl and rapes her.I have some problems with the realism of the look. It's the way director Brian De Palma shoots some of the action. At least twice, he uses the background to show action while in the foreground a character looks forward. It's a very manufactured look and takes away from the realism that this movie desperately needs. MJF does the ethical naive jittery newbie but something about him strikes me unrealistic. He's not up to the drama. It's not gritty enough. I feel it would be more intense if he kept more quiet. The character needs to have some more internal conflict. On the other, Sean Penn nails it as the disturbed leader of the squad. But that just emphasized the lack of drama acting coming from MJF.

Based on the actual events of the incident on Hill 192 in 1966 during the Vietnam War, 'Casualties of War', directed by legendary filmmaker Brian De Palma, is An Effective Film, that talks about Human-Cruelty & Violence. De Palma handles this unsettling & disturbing fare with ruthlessness, making it an experience to remember.'Casualties of War' Synopsis: During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.'Casualties of War' is disturbing, unsettling & yet effective. Based on a true horrifying event, the film comes across as uninhibited & Extremely bear.De Palma's Direction, as mentioned, is ruthless, like the story itself. David Rabe's Screenplay talks about Human-Cruelty & it very efficiently narrates that. Cinematography & Editing, are mention-worthy.Performance-Wise: Michael J. Fox delivers a believable performance, that ranks amongst his finest works to date. Sean Penn is mesmerizing as the bad-guy, causing hate each time he appears on-screen. John C. Reilly, John Leguizamo & Don Harvey, are terrific. Thuy Thu Le as the frightened victim, delivers a haunting performance, that's impossible to forget. Ving Rhames is good in a brief role.On the whole, 'Casualties of War' is worth a watch, but its certainly NOT meant for the faint-hearted.