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:

In wartime, the first casualty is always 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

The unit portrayed in the movie, commanded by LTC Serling, is the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (2nd ACR). The Regiment was comprised of heavy tanks (M1A1) and fighting vehicles (Bradly FV M3). The unit as such no longer exits. It is now known as the 2nd Cavalry Regiment (Stryker) which fights as an infantry (non-tanks) unit.

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Goofs

The Huey had long-range fuel tanks installed and they disconnected them to drop them on the tank to destroy it. In real life, it takes about an hour to uninstall the long-range tanks and if they are full of fuel you can not unhook them from the over head hook they are connected to. You have to drain all the fuel out to get enough slack to unhook them.

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Quotes

[holding a pistol to Serling's head]
Monfriez: You ever kill anyone at close range with a small arms, sir?
[Serling shakes his head]
Monfriez: Messy.

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Connections

References Banacek (1972)

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Soundtracks

"Angel from Montgomery"
Written by John Prine

User Reviews

The Method

America's sweetheart as a helicopter pilot? Most critics say she does an excellent job, but that's not what makes this movie so momentous. Neither is it the excellent performance by Denzel Washington, who had been expected by many to win an Oscar nomination for it. Nor is it the over the top performance of Matt Damon, nor is it the excellent contributions by any of the others in the cast. 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. It's a unique brand of story telling, and eminently successful.