Casualties of War (1989)

During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writers:

Daniel Lang (book), David Rabe (screenplay)

Stars:

Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, Don Harvey

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael J. Fox	...	Eriksson
Sean Penn	...	Sgt. Tony Meserve
Don Harvey	...	Cpl. Thomas E. Clark
John C. Reilly	...	PFC Herbert Hatcher
John Leguizamo	...	PFC Antonio Diaz
Thuy Thu Le	...	Oanh
Erik King	...	Brown
Jack Gwaltney	...	Rowan
Ving Rhames	...	Lt. Reilly
Dan Martin	...	Sgt. Hawthorne
Dale Dye	...	Capt. Hill
Steve Larson	...	Agent #1
John Linton	...	Agent #2
Vyto Ruginis	...	Prosecutor
Al Shannon	...	Wilkins

Storyline

During the Vietnam war, a girl is taken from her village by five American soldiers. Four of the soldiers rape her, but the fifth refuses. The young girl is killed. The fifth soldier is determined that justice will be done. The film is more about the realities of war, rather than this single event.

---

Plot Keywords:

vietnam war | vietnam | village | rape | revenge | 

---

Taglines:

Even in war... murder is murder.

---

Genres:

Drama | History | War

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 August 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pecados de guerra

Filming Locations:

Dolores Park, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$18,671,317 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 121 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stephen Baldwin was cast as Hatcher and shots several scenes before he was replaced with John C. Reilly who was hired as a background performer.

---

Goofs

When a soldier steps on a landmine, other soldiers takes a picture of his corpse. Eriksson and one soldier goes to look that corpse which now lies on an opposite side of the road.

---

Quotes

Meserve: This is a weapon, this is a gun. This is for fighting, this is for fun.

---

Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: The Best of David Spade (2005)

---

Soundtracks

"Hold On I'm Coming"
Written by David Porter & Isaac Hayes
Performed by Sam & Dave
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Extremely disturbing and unforgettable

Although I was supposed to join the ranks of soldiers who went to kill or be killed in Vietnam, I was able to slide out of it. Years later this movie was released and whenever I saw it, something inside of me stirred and eventually those stirrings compelled me to travel to Vietnam which I did for the first time in 1999. I was so moved by some of what I saw there and what I experienced that I wound up making 7 round trip flights from West Palm Beach Fla, to Saigon Vietnam and ultimately moved to Vietnam on a full time basis in 2000 and stayed for a couple of years. Had it not been for Michael J Fox and this movie providing that stirring inside my guts, I may have never gone and unanswered questions about Vietnam and the Vietnamese people may have never been answered. I thank everyone involved in this heart wrenching movie for that.