Casualties of War [Blu-ray]

Director: Brian De Palma Brian De Palma

Overview

Casualties of War was based on a New Yorker article by Daniel Lang. This, in turn, was inspired by a true incident which illustrated the dehumanizing aspects of the Vietnam experience. Michael J. Fox plays Eriksson, a member of an American squadron stationed in the deepest jungles of Southeast Asia. Sean Penn co-stars as Meserve, the squadron sergeant, who vows revenge after his best friend is killed. He orders his men to invade a village and "requisition" a young Vietnamese girl (Thuy Thu Lee), who is repeatedly tied, gagged and gang-raped. The horrified Eriksson refuses to participate in these atrocities, and he does his best to console the girl and to attempt to free her. Before this can happen, however, Meserve orders another man to kill the girl. Once he returns to camp, Eriksson attempts to file a report on the tragedy and to bring Meserve and the others to justice, but he is stonewalled by the brass and threatened with death by his fellow soldiers. Eventually Meserve and his co-conspirators are jailed for their crimes, but Eriksson can never forget his "compliance" in the incident by failing to save the girl. The script is by well-known playwright David Rabe.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/14/2018
UPC:	0043396543607
Original Release:	1989
Rating:	R
Source:	ALLIED VAUGHN
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:53:00
Sales rank:	18,764

Special Features

Eriksson's War: A Conversation with Michael J. Fox; The Making of Casualties of War; Deleted Scenes; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Sean Penn	Sgt. Meserve
Don Harvey	Clark,Actor
John C. Reilly	Hatcher
John Leguizamo	Diaz
Thuy Thu Le	Oahn
Erik King	Brown, Radio Man
Jack Gwaltney	Rowan
Ving Rhames	Lt. Reilly
Dan Martin	Hawthorne
Dale Dye	Capt. Hill
Vyto Ruginis	Prosecutor
Al Shannon	Wilkins
Wendell Pierce	MacIntire
Sam Robards	Chaplain Kirk
Maris Valainis	Streibig
Darren Burrows	Cherry,Cherry
Sherman Howard	Court Martial President
Holt McCallany	Lt. Kramer
Kady Tran	Yen, Oahn's Sister,VC Interpreter
Somsak	ARVN Interpreter
Hataya Sarmount	Girl Villager
Ba Thuan T. Le	Oahn's Mother,Actor
J. Chalerm	Old Man Farmer
Sigma	Village Woman
Po Powpi	Old Man Villager
Niran	VC in Tunnel
Steve Larson	Agent
John Linton	Agent
Scott Gregory	Soldier Charlie
Ennalls Berl	Soldier Charlie
Nootch	Child Villager
Kwan	Child Villager
Shaun Shea	Soldier
Kristopher Dunn	Soldier
Donal Gibson	Soldier
Shane Kerwin	Soldier
Michael J. Fox	Pfc. Eriksson
John Marshall Jones	M.P.
Dan Lorge	Hawthorne
Woody Harrelson	Actor
Art Linson	Actor
Brian De Palma	Actor
Ennio Morricone	Composer

Technical Credits

Brian De Palma

David Rabe

Daniel Lang

Brian De Palma	Director,Screenwriter
Fred Caruso	Producer,Producer
Jeff Jensen	Stunts
Art Linson	Producer
David Rabe	Screenwriter
Richard P. Cirincione	Sound Effects
Lee Dichter	Sound Effects
Marko A. Costanzo	Sound Effects
Susan Sklar Friedman	Sound Effects
Kerry Fulton	Sound Effects
Daniel Lang	Screenwriter
John Baker	Special Effects
Kenny Bates	Stunts
Kit West	Special Effects
Peter Odabashian	Sound Editor

Editorial Reviews

Brian De Palma's films may not be best known for their somber high-mindedness, but the style suits the director well for most of this harrowing, true-life film about the conflict in Vietnam At a time when Platoon received much credit for its supposed realism -- never mind that the characters played by Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe may as well have been labeled good and bad angels -- the opening sequences of Casualties does an excellent job establishing the complex psychological landscape of the war. Its characters suffer overwhelming fear, frustration, and unrelieved sexual tension in an environment where each minute could be the last. All of which helps to contextualize their later atrocity without in the least forgiving it. Michael J. Fox received criticism for his character's unrelieved goodness, but the film needs him to avoid descending into the moral relativism of its other characters, and Fox plays the role well. He finds himself in good company, as Sean Penn's work ranks among his best and a cast full of the next decade's best character actors fills out the credits. Unfortunately, the film goes slack after Fox and company return to base, as David Rabe's script descends into pontificating, then heads to an unsatisfying finale and an even more puzzling dénouement. But a weak third act only slightly blunts the impact of an otherwise haunting, uncompromising film.