Casualties Of War

Since it's Memorial Day, I thought I would take a look back at a terrific, overlooked Vietnam War film from 1989, Casualties Of War.

After the success of Platoon, there were a ton of Vietnam War films released. Some, like Full Metal Jacket and Good Morning, Vietnam, became instant classics. Others, like Hamburger Hill and The Hanoi Hilton, were quickly forgotten. Casualties Of War falls into the latter. Kind of odd since it was directed by the great Brian DePalma at the top of his game, and had two big names, Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn, headlining.

Fox plays Max Erickson, a soft spoken soldier in Vietnam. After his platoon is denied a leave, Max's Sergeant Tony Meserve, Penn, orders his team to go and kidnap a Vietnamese girl to be their sex slave. Max strongly and objects and butts heads with Tony and the rest of the squadron. He decides to rescue the girl and try to put an end to Tony's reign.

This is a really powerful film that is just as good Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. Fox, who was really trying to be taken more seriously as an actor at this time, does a good job as the decent Max. But he is overshadowed by Penn in a terrifying performance. Supposedly, the two didn't get along while filming. Penn is a method actor and Fox isn't, so Penn stayed in character throughout. Something that Fox wasn't prepared for. The supporting cast, which includes John C. Reilly and John Leguizamo, is really good as well.

DePalma does a terrific job handling the heavy drama, which is sadly based on a true story. He tried to get the film made back in 1979, but couldn't get the funding until his The Untouchables was a hit.

Casualties Of War is a very powerful war film.

It's available on dvd with both a theatrical version and an extended cut.