Product: Casualties of War [UMD for PSP] (1989)
Rating: 2.0
Propaganda, pure and simple
This movie is nothing more than propaganda. If one looks at 2.59 million males (the number of Americans who served in Vietnam) mostly between the ages of 18-29, under any circumstances, one is likely to discover many heinous and shocking acts. While any human being should be shocked and emotionally disturbed by the brutal rape and murder portrayed in this movie, only a fool would be *surprised* that such incidents occurred. Based on U.S. crime statistics (200+ rapes per 100,000 young males per year) one would expect at least 5,000 rapes for 2.5 million American young males in a one year period (Vietnam tours were generally a little over one year).Moreover, it should not take incidents like those portrayed in _Casualties of War_ to make one wary of going to war. If more balanced war movies like _Hamburger Hill_ and _Saving Private Ryan_ make a person think war is glorious, then that person needs his (or more rarely, her) head examined.One thing that does not bother me much is that while the actual perps in this incident were black, the perps in the movie are white. The fact is that there were probably similar or worse incidents amongst white soldiers, simply given the sheer number of soldiers. On the other hand, I do not believe that emphasizing incidents like the one portrayed in _Casualties of War_ is fair to veterans of any race and of any war.I give this movie two stars instead of one because it does portray an actual incident (even though it implies the lie that such incidents were commonplace), and because it is decent as a morality play.