Product: Casualties of War [UMD for PSP] (1989)
Rating: 5.0
A true story told with flaws
Casualties of War, despites some of its flaws, is quite faithful to the original text which was a true story. Not many people realize that "Sven Eriksson" is a real person who actually experienced much of what Michael J. Fox's character went through in the movie.But does it work as a movie? For the most part, yes. The two glaring problems with Casualties is the ending and some of the soundtrack music which DePalma uses to excess.The ending, as it's explained within the DVD extras, is purposely presented as uplifting. We see Eriksson on a San Francisco BART train awaking from his bad dream/memories. He sees a girl who could be the one who was murdered and raped in Vietnam. He calls out the Vietnamese girl's name. The woman responds that he must have had a bad dream, but it's all over now. And then we get the "uplifting" music that rises to a crescendo.Upon viewing the movie for a second time this ending is particularly bad. DePalma argues in the DVD extras that this positive ending was meant as a way to give the audience some relief. However, it's so hammy that it belittles the true story that precedes it. It's all a dream, it's all over, everything is now OK. But everything is not OK and everything is not over.Which brings me to the one thing that this DVD should have offered - more information about the true story behind the movie. Why not go to Vietnam and show where the incidents actually took place? "Eriksson" is actually a pseudonym of the real man who has apparently been in hiding due to death threats from the men he helped put in prison. How about some more information about where these men are today? Perhaps nothing more can be offered about Eriksson, but at least we could have been shown in the DVD what happened to the men who committed the crimes.I give the DVD five stars because this story is important. Americans so quickly forget these kinds of true stories. We quickly sweep them under the rug and say it doesn't matter. Casualties helps brings us back to reality, albeitly in a rather flawed manner.