Courage Under Fire
Tags: violence, murder

Plot synopsis:
While serving in the Gulf War, Lieutenant Colonel Serling (Denzel Washington) accidentally destroys one of his own tanks during a confusing night-time battle, killing his friend, Captain Boylar. The US Army covers up the details and transfers Serling to a desk job.
Later, Serling is assigned to determine if Captain Karen Emma Walden (Meg Ryan) should be the first woman to receive a (posthumous) Medal of Honor. She was the commander of a Medevac Huey that was sent to rescue the crew of a shot-down Black Hawk. When she encountered a T-54, her crew destroyed it by dropping a fuel bladder onto the tank and igniting it with a flare gun. However, her own helicopter was shot down soon after. The two crews were unable to join forces, and when the survivors were rescued the next day, Walden was reported dead.
Serling notices inconsistencies between the testimonies of Walden's crew. Specialist Andrew Ilario (Matt Damon), the medic, praises Walden strongly. However, Staff Sergeant John Monfriez (Lou Diamond Phillips) claims that Walden was a coward and that he led the crew in combat and improvised the fuel bladder weapon. Sergeant Altameyer, who is dying in a hospital, complains about a fire. Warrant Officer One Rady, the co-pilot, was injured early on and unconscious throughout. Furthermore, the crew of the Black Hawk claim that they heard firing from an M16, but Ilario and Monfriez deny they had one.
Under pressure from the White House and his commander, Brigadier General Hershberg (Michael Moriarty), to wrap things up quickly, Serling leaks the story to newspaper reporter Tony Gartner (Scott Glenn) to prevent another cover-up. When Serling grills Monfriez during a car ride, Monfriez forces him to get out of the vehicle at gunpoint, then commits suicide by driving into an oncoming train.
Serling tracks Ilario down, and Ilario finally tells him the truth. Monfriez wanted to flee, which would mean abandoning Rady. When Walden refused, he pulled a gun on her. Walden then shot an enemy who appeared behind Monfriez, but Monfriez thought Walden was firing at him and shot her in the stomach, before backing off. The next morning, the enemy attacked again as a rescue party approached. Walden covered her men's retreat, firing an M16. However, Monfriez told the rescuers that Walden was dead, so they left without her. Napalm was then dropped on the entire area. Altameyer tried to expose Monfriez's lie at the time, but was too injured to speak, and Ilario was too scared of the court-martial Walden had threatened them with and remained silent.
Serling presents his final report to Hershberg. Walden's young daughter receives the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony. Later, Serling tells the truth to the Boylars about the manner of their son's death and says he cannot ask for forgiveness. The Boylars tell Serling he must put down the burden at some point and grant him their forgiveness.
In the last moments, Serling has a flashback of when he was standing by Boylar's destroyed tank and a medevac Huey was lifting off with his friend's body. Serling suddenly realises Walden was the Huey pilot.

Review: This movie has 2 stories that that run side by side, depicting the same image of war from different perspectives.Denzel's story is one of sadness and guilt over the death of a friend during the Gulf war, a friend that he himself killed in a 'Friendly Fire' incident, during the confusion of battle.
His country won't let him speak, and they shower him with medals; this only adds to the pain that begins to tear him apart.Denzel's Character is given an assignment to determine whether a female helicopter pilot (Meg Ryan) deserves the medal of honour.Meg's story, played out in flashbacks, is about a helicopter pilot and her crew saving a handful of soldiers, from the Iraqi onslaught.
She is the first female to be considered for the medal of honour, and the question is, does she deserve what the American people would so love too see her receive.Denzel, determined to get this one right, collects evidence and testimony from Ryans crew and the men that were saved.
These types of movies stemmed no doubt from Akira Kurosawa's epic RASHOMON, and while films that use this strategy rarely live up to Kurosawa's original in terms of intelligence and portrayal (the most recent being the slightly-better-than-mediocre VANTAGE POINT), COURAGE UNDER FIRE is still a rewarding Motion Picture.Denzel Washington is near his brilliant best as the troubled Lieutenant Colonel on the verge of alcoholism due in part to his overwhelming feelings of guilt following a military procedure gone wrong.
For me, the biggest surprise is Lou Diamond Phillips who is actually quite watchable, and does not overact, as is his tendency.Zwick's COURAGE UNDER FIRE is an examination of war from a less visceral point of view, and will stay with the viewer long after watching the movie.
It's the way the story is told: throughout the movie you see the same sequence, over and over again, and each time you understand what is happening just a little bit more, until at the very end the import of it all hits you like a locomotive.
A DESERT STORM veteran, Lt Col Nat Serling (played by Denzel Washington), is assigned the task of recommending whether or not to award the first (posthumous) combat Medal of Honor to a woman, Capt Karen Walden (played by Meg Ryan).
This movie is about many things, but to me, the story is about how Col Sterling is trying to manage his survivor guilt and PTSD from his incident on one hand, and deal with his task to validate the medal for his General, his wife, his kids, etc.
Courage Under Fire (1996) This is a war film about an Army officer, plagued about a deadly mistake he made, who investigates a female soldier's worthiness for the Medal of Honor.
After suffering a tragic incident during the 1991 gulf war Colonel Serling is asked to look into the case of Captain Walden a female helicopter pilot nominated for America`s highest decoration The Medal Of Honor
I`m actually glad it became a simple " Whodunnit " plot because LEGENDS OF THE FALL SET IN THE DESERT  isn`t my idea of a good movie There`s only two things director Zwick should be criticised for , in fact one of them isn`t even his fault and that is the battle scene where the Iraqis surround the crashed helicopter , having watched BLACK HAWK DOWN several times I came to the conclusion the most awesome part of that movie is where the two Delta snipers Shughart and Gordon bravely but vainly try to stem the Somali hordes closing in on the Durrant crash site .
Plus, she was once considered one of America's sweethearts, so it's hard to picture her in a role like this.Denzel Washington, a Colonol in the Army, is investigating the death of an American soldier who died in the field, during the Iraqi war.
There are surviving members of her crew, and each one has a different version of the story, and what really happened the morning of her death.The first twenty minutes of the film are slow, and a bit hard to pay attention to (or maybe that's just me and military movies), but once you get into the story, it picks up quite a bit, and becomes very interesting and worth the watch.
In Edward Zwick's curious film, 'Courage Under Fire', we have to believe it does, as Denzel Washington's Colonel investigates whether an award should be given to Meg Ryan's deceased pilot after the first Gulf war.
Another contradiction is the way the film appears to want to honour the military, beginning with textbook action scenes and ending with sentimental reverence, in spite of the fact that the soldiers we see in action are all, frankly, pretty bad at their jobs.
Despite the pressure from his superiors, Serling continues to dig for the truth.Looking back at this film now it is perhaps a little frustrating how little it seems to critically analysis the issues behind war and politics and instead just plays it as a straight thriller with the Gulf only serving as a background and not as subtext.
Billed as the movie that made you take Ryan seriously, this is fairly lumpen melodramatic fare, more notable for its cameo turns by the likes of Lou Diamond Phillips and a fresh-faced Matt Damon than for its heavy-billed leads.
Denzel Washington and Lou Diamond Phillips merit the kind words other reviewers have left here, and certainly Meg Ryan deserves none of the harsh ones.Her performance was perfect, whether portraying the gutsy leader recalled by some narrators or the over-estrogened mess detailed by her bitter gunner.
Certainly the point is lost as the film goes on to lionize every American life lost while placing only target value on the deaths of opposing soldiers.This was a war movie that acknowledged cowardice as well as courage, shame as well as gallantry, deadly mistakes as well as brilliant tactics, all in the same arena and sometimes all in the same individual.
Denzel Washington (Glory, He Got Game) has the lead role as a Colonel who is giving the assignment of reviewing a case for the first woman ever to win the Medal of Honor.
Before his big leading roles Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting, Rounders) gives a great supporting performance as Ryan's best friend and medic on her team.
This is one of those war movies where you feel how difficult it is to be a soldier in the middle of a war zone with bravery, cowardice, confusion, orders, and emotional turmoil taking it's toll on the human psyche while yours and your fellow soldiers' lives are perilously hanging in the balance during the first Gulf War. Showing why he is such a classy military actor, Colonel Denzel Washington encapsulates the emotional baggage of being participant as commander of a tank battalion that pulled the trigger in a "friendly-fire" scenario that continues to haunt him when he gets stateside.
Meg Ryan was surprisingly excellent at portraying a character who, through the stories changing multiple times, must be both heroic, cowardly, and still maintain dignity and honor in the face of overwhelming odds.
A United States Army officer (Denzel Washington), despondent about a deadly mistake he made, investigates a female chopper commander (Meg Ryan)'s worthiness for the Medal of Honor.Let's talk about casting for a moment.
Excellent performances here from Lou Diamond Phillips and a painfully (painfully) emaciated Matt Damon.Denzel Washington plays a Lt Colonel reviewing a female soldiers (Meg Ryan) candidacy for the medal of honor.
I'm not sure the somewhat contrived structure served the serious subject matter wholly convincingly, the cinematic devices detracting somewhat from the otherwise lifelike depiction of action in the Gulf War. I also thought Denzel Washington's framing role as the senior army officer given the seemingly straightforward task of reporting on the apparently automatic eligibility of Meg Ryan's posthumous award of the Army medal of honour detracted from the central mystery, especially as he wrestles with his own demons after unwittingly being involved in a tragic friendly-fire incident of his own.
All that said, the dramatisation of the war is very well realised and the acting is of a high order, Washington giving it strong and silent in a commanding lead role, but there are even better performances from a young Matt Damon and Lou Diamond-Phillips as two of Ryan's crew who survive the ordeal physically but not mentally.Ryan does well too and I was also impressed by the actress in the menial task of playing Washington's wife.
Following the first Gulf War, Sterling is assigned to "investigate" the death of a female helicopter pilot in combat, Captain Karen Walden, played by Meg Ryan, so that the Defense Department can accede to the White House's wishes that Captain Walden be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor  the first female ever to receive the award.
It's a shame really that Hollywood did this to Ryan, the movie and itself, because with a more appropriate actress in the Walden role, `Courage Under Fire' might have been a great film.
He's assigned to determine if medical helicopter pilot Cpt Karen Emma Walden (Meg Ryan) should be the first woman to receive a Medal of Honor for combat.
Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling, a US Army officer, is assigned to determine whether Captain Karen Walden should posthumously receive the Medal of Honor, making her the first woman to be given this award for valour in combat.
Meg Ryan, Hollywood's official Girl Next Door of the nineties, might have seemed a strange choice to play a tough Army captain, but this was the film which finally showed there was more to Meg's acting talents than the ability to look pretty in romantic comedies.
Denzel Washington is also very good as Serling, a very important role as the film is not just about Walden but also about the story of how Serling learns to forgive himself for his friend's death.
Of the supporting cast, the best is Lou Diamond Phillips as Monfriez.Unlike the standard World War II film, "Courage under Fire" is not a gung-ho patriotic adventure story; it remains neutral about the rightness or wrongness of the First Gulf War. Unlike the standard Vietnam movie, however, it is not an anti-war diatribe either.
U.S. Army officer Nat Serling (Denzel Washington) investigates the military actions of helicopter pilot Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) to see if she's worthy of receiving the Medal Of Honor.
In fact that's the story of Courage Under Fire.Matt Damon got some good reviews on his way up the Hollywood ladder of success as the drug addicted medic from Ryan's team.
Lou Diamond Phillips should have been given an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor as the chauvinistic sergeant who is quite reluctant to cooperate with Washington's investigation.Above all this film belongs to Meg Ryan.
It is not the best or the most realistic war movie out there, but it made me think about aspects of war that one tends to either forget or ignore.The acting by Denzel Washington was superb, Ryan was great, Matt Damon was young then, does not look anything like he does today, but his acting was nearly perfect.
"Courage Under Fire" features one of the best American actors, Denzel Washington and he is supported by a support cast that will go on to big things -- fine actors like Matt Damon and accurately portrays the gulf between a combat veteran and those that haven't experienced war.Unfortunately, Meg Ryan is in the movie -- in the leading female role.
In order to redeem himself and find some a way out of his own downward spiraling guilt (despite being cleared by the Army), Denzel Washington tracks down the truth behind Meg Ryan's nomination for the Medal of Honor.
The main cast members such as Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Matt Damon were wonderful.
And while this is going on he is assigned a task to investigate if Capt Karen Walden(played by Meg Ryan) deserves a medal of honor, since she would be the first woman to receive it.
Sorry, but I cannot stomach a movie that is pro-military when Meg Ryan, a devout Democrat and worshiper of John Kerry, the war-hater and devout liar, and Denzel Washington, a worshiper of President Obama and a devout Democrat who is said to be a devout Christian.
The film deals with an Army lieutenant (Denzel Washington) who is assigned to investigate whether or not a late helicopter command pilot (Meg Ryan) should receive the Medal of Honor posthumously from the U.S. government.
It is a true shame that the film and Washington and Ryan were overlooked, because it was truly the best example of movie making for 1996..
We had expected a lot: first movie from Meg Ryan in quite some time, rumors that Denzel would get another nomination, posters about town for nearly a year.It was the first movie about the Gulf War that I had seen, and it proved to add something significant to what otherwise was quite an open and shut case.When Bronson Pinchot came on the scene a hushed whisper left the mouths of each of the 1200 viewers present: "SERGE!"Ryan was up to par, even though some viewers might find it difficult to picture her in such a role.
It stars Denzel Washington as Col. Nat Serling, an army colonel investigating the legitimacy of a post humous Medal of Honor award going to Karen Warden, an army officer who was said to have died heroically while fighting the Iraqis during the Gulf War. However, there are too many discrepancies so Serling is enlisted to find out the truth about what happened to Warden the day her and her platoon went down in their chopper.
It starts out with Lt. Colonel Nathaniel Serling(Denzel) being assigned to investigate an incident that took the life of Captain Karen (Meg Ryan) during a rescue operation in Iraq (Operation Desert Storm).
Simply missed this film completely and just recently viewed it on TV and was amazed at this great story of our fighting men and women who fought in the Gulf War under President Geo. Bush Sr. Denzel Washington, (Lt.Col.Nathaniel Serling,"Man on Fire",'04 was deeply involved in bad judgment on his part in firing at the wrong enemy and was also involved in the background check of Meg Ryan,(Capt.Karen Emma Walden),"Against the Ropes",'04.
The investigation is given to, and carried out with a great amount of gusto by a veteran of the combat, but with his own hidden guilt complex, hidden until the very end.Good performances by all involved fail to cover up the main story and the problems with the delivery, it offers little in answers.Wonderful, one day the news will really come out on the events that occurred during the first Gulf War, this film release is about conflict within the combatants of one mission, it in no way gives answers to the real events of the whole allied push into the region.As someone else said, 'disappointing'.
Walden (Meg Ryan), also happens to be a woman, and is being touted by the Pentagon as a war hero who exhibited extraordinary `courage under fire' (quotes for both movie and real life).
Although the characters played by Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan are way too idealistic, the movie itself is a good picture of what the ugly thing war is and how the bureaucratic war machine is operating, consuming lives and souls of those who joined it.
The rest of the cast also did a great job, but Meg Ryan should stick to movies like `Sleepless in Seattle' and `You've got mail'.
As is obvious by my over-long comment, this is a great movie and a must see for any Meg Ryan or Denzel Washington fan, or for lovers of military flicks in general..
"Courage Under Fire" is definitely an excellent, moving and tragic film and it certainly ranks as one of the most outstanding war movies that I have viewed.
Denzel Washington gives a moving performance as Lt. Colonel Nathaniel Sterling, a conscientious military leader who is assigned to the investigation of a female officer being considered for the Medal of Honor.
But there are persons who accept the challenge.Denzel Washington was pretty good as usual, perhaps Meg Ryan was not the best choice for her role (not a problem of acting, she just does not match the character).There are perhaps a pair of details in the war scenes that does not make much sense, but they are not essential to the plot - this is not an action movie, but a think-maker.
Being a fan of Denzel Washington and a huge fan of Meg Ryan I was keen to see this movie.
Denzel Washington gives a great performance, and Meg Ryan was good (if miscast).Simply stated but beautiful, I think this is one of the ten best of 1996..
Karen Walden, a rescue helicopter pilot killed in action (Meg Ryan) deserves a Congressional Medal of Honor.
Outstanding Film About The 1991 Gulf War. Courage Under Fire is a film about the 1991 Gulf War.It stars Denzel Washington,Meg Ryan,Lou Diamond Phillips and Matt Damon.
It is one of the first great films to depict the 1991 Gulf War as it tells a story of a US Army officer, despondent about a deadly mistake he made, investigates a female chopper commander's worthiness for the Medal of Honor.The movie was directed by Edward Zwick.Courage Under Fire has Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling involved in a friendly fire incident in Al Bathra during the Gulf War. He was an M1 Abrams tank battalion commander who, during the nighttime confusion of Iraqi tanks infiltrating his unit's lines, gave the order to fire, destroying one of his own tanks and killing his friend Lieutenant Boylar.
I thought it was a compelling story centering on parallel narratives involving Colonel Nat Serling (Denzel Washington), himself conflicted over a friendly fire incident in which his best friend was killed, while investigating the merit of awarding the country's first Medal of Honor to a woman who died in combat.