Courage Under Fire (1996)

A US Army officer, despondent about a deadly mistake he made, investigates a female chopper commander's worthiness for the Medal of Honor.

Director:

Edward Zwick

Writer:

Patrick Sheane Duncan

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips

9 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	Nat Serling
Meg Ryan	...	Karen Walden
Lou Diamond Phillips	...	Monfriez
Michael Moriarty	...	General Hershberg
Matt Damon	...	Ilario
Bronson Pinchot	...	Bruno
Seth Gilliam	...	Altameyer
Regina Taylor	...	Meredith Serling
Zeljko Ivanek	...	Banacek
Scott Glenn	...	Gartner
Tim Guinee	...	Rady
Tim Ransom	...	Boylar
Sean Astin	...	Patella
Armand Darrius	...	Robins
Mark Adair-Rios	...	Bobcat 5 (as Mark Adair-Riós)

Storyline

The pilot of a rescue copter, Captain Karen Walden, died shortly before her helicopter crew was rescued after it crashed in Desert Storm. It first appears that she made a spectacular rescue of a downed helicopter crew, then held her own crew together to fight off the Iraqis after her copter crashed. Lt. Colonel Serling, who is struggling with his own demons from Desert Storm is assigned to investigate and award her the Medal of Honor. But some conflicting accounts, from her crew and soldiers in the area, cause him to question whether she deserves it.

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Plot Keywords:

honor | medal of honor | helicopter | desert storm | captain | 

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Taglines:

A medal for honor. A search for justice. A battle for truth.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for war violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 July 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mut zur Wahrheit

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$46,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

ITL 469,204,000 (Italy) (31 January 1997)

Gross:

ITL 1,070,954,000 (Italy) (14 February 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Denzel Washington visited with B 1-12 CAV at Fort Hood to prepare for his role LTC Nate Serling. The dip he puts in while giving his OPORD in the opening sequence is a tribute to the time he spent with B 1-12.

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Goofs

Ilario's position when at the pool with Serling.

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Quotes

Tony Gartner, Washington Post: Sweet Jesus, there's always a tape.

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Connections

Features Larry King Live (1985)

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Soundtracks

"Angel from Montgomery"
Written by John Prine

User Reviews

Not a bad movie

Courage under fire was an okay movie, the story was good enough to keep me interested. Denzel Washington was convincing in his role, I liked him much better here than in the last movie I saw him in: Fallen. The other actors were pretty good, too, especially Matt Damon (I hardly recognized him, he was so skinny!). But to say that Courage under fire was a GOOD movie would be too much. Except for the fact that the story was about a woman, there was nothing really special about it. My vote: 6 out of 10.