Very good

Rating: 8/10 (6 January 2019)

Casualties Of War is no doubt in some way influenced by Platoon, but does not come across as well or as powerful as the aforementioned Oliver Stone classic. With that being said, I still think Brian De Palma's Casualties Of War is very good and like Platoon, it shows opposing sides of morality when it concerned with the horrors of The Vietnam War. This is a chance for Michael J Fox to show he has some serious acting chops and in this role, he did very well. Michael J Fox plays a soldier(Eriksson) that is on a five man unit(led by Sgt. Meserve, who was played by Sean Penn). On their way to the jungle, they kidnap and gang rape a young girl from the village. Eriksson, objects to this immoral behavior and does not participate in the sick, cruel indulgences that the other 4 men seem to enjoy. He does not stop them and the girl ended up being killed. This haunts Eriksson and this leads to a trial where the 4 men are brought to justice. Casualties Of War is not so much a film about the war in Vietnam, but this horrific incident, which similar things happened and continue to happen in war. Sean Penn plays his role as good soldier gone bad from experiencing too much insane horrors from that war. He then embodies the sadism and vile cruelty he has witnessed on not only enemy soldiers, but civilians as well. It was a very powerful performance and Michael J Fox does a good job opposite him.Overall, Casualties Of War is a very good film that shows the horror of war.