Product: Casualties of War [UMD for PSP] (1989)
Rating: 4.0
Morality tale that happens to occur in Vietnam
I saw this movie in the theater in the late 80s and liked it. Seeing it on DVD it is still a good movie. The movie has it's limitations (hence only 4 stars). Illogically the mainly white soldiers wander around the jungles of Vietnam at night without the safety benefit of any camoflauging blackface? And some of the scenes and acting are uneven and do not always fit together well. Despite these shortcomings it is still a good movie. Ennio Morricone's score adds to the emotional weight of the film and many of the actors do give good performances. Ving Rhames, Dave Dye and Sean Penn as the Sergeant are all excellent.Michael J. Fox takes a break from his usual comedy roles to give a capable performance as PFC Erikson. Erikson faces a personal crisis when his Sergeant hatches a plan to kidnap a Vietnamese girl and take her out on patrol with the squad in order to use her sexually. The others in the squad jump right in and follow the Sergeants lead and brutally assualt the girl. PFC Erikson puts himself in jeopardy when he refuses to take part. He immediately finds himself an outcast as he senses his buddies are growing reluctant to watch his back.This movie is not nearly as good as Platoon or Full Metal Jacket but is much better than the pretentious Hamburger Hill. These movies were all released in the late 80s when all of a sudden filmakers wanted to get the Vietnam story out there. The movie, to me, does not glorify war, nor is it anti war. It is about how one person fights to stay true to his moral beliefs even when everyone seems to have abandoned their beliefs. The moral implications the movie examines, albeit on a much smaller scale, are somewhat reminescent of Schindlers List. What would a moral person do during extraordinary circumstances when everyone around them seems to have abandoned their humanity. When people around them have no problem murdering, raping or enslaving vulnerable persons. After the chaotic situation in the jungle PFC Erikson faces an indifferent military bureaucracy that would rather not hear his story. This compelling movie is based on a real incident and has emotional weight.