Product: Casualties of War [UMD for PSP] (1989)
Rating: 2.0
Gradually worsens.
A Vietnam film based on a true account, starring Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn - you can't go wrong, right?Well unfortunately, they did.The film is a true account of a small squad of long-range troops in Vietnam. They are your typical GIs of the time - their battle experience has made them fed up and angry.The movie opens in a dark, dense jungle. Michael J. Fox, that crazy little critter, gets himself stuck in a hole leading directly into an enemy underground tunnel! He is rescued by the Sergeant, etc.After a likeable member of the squad, "Brownie" is killed off guard in a village harbouring Vietcong (he was my favourite character of the whole film, funnily enough), the squad Sergeant (played brilliantly by Sean Penn) is bitter and remorseful. He has the idea to kidnap a young woman for the entire squad to rape once they set out for their next assignment. This is his idea of "payback" for what the Vietcong did to their friend.Basically, the film is about poor old Micheal J. Fox and his moral dilemma - does he follow suit and rape the girl with the others, or does he go with his gut instincts and risk being ridiculed?Well, of course, he doesn't, and the rest of the film shows him trying to expose the others to the authorities.The acting on Michael J. Fox's part was good enough - I wouldn't expect Fox to be able to play a soldier this well, to be honest.Sean Penn gives by far the best performance. He's a rowdy young kid (he's only 20 years old in the film), basically, and you can never tell if he's a good guy or not... he drives the movie on if you ask me.So, why did I rate this only two stars? Well, simply put, there is so much of this film that is bad.First of all, the action - there isn't much of it, but they didn't really bother in the opening scene with the dreadful pyrotechnics - we're talking little white clouds of smoke reminiscent of 60's films. Mortar shells I would exepct, would have far worse impact than is portrayed here.Another thing is the script in general is just badly thought out. The serious subject matter gives way to typical Hollywood crap - a hand grenade causes a huge over-exxagerated explosion in a camp toilet and Fox is thrown about 20 metres into the air. And lives. Without a scratch.The characters in general (mainly the other squad members) are bland and forgettable. You just find them more irritating than anything else...