Courage Under Fire (1996)

A U.S. 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 & 7 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 her worthiness for 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:

unreliable flashback | military life | bravery | medal of honor | honor | 

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Taglines:

In wartime, the first casualty is always truth.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Mystery | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for war violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

12 July 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mut zur Wahrheit

Filming Locations:

Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$46,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,501,000, 14 July 1996, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$59,031,057

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$100,860,818

Company Credits

Production Co:

Davis Entertainment, Fox 2000 Pictures, Joseph M. Singer Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Denzel Washington and Scott Glenn appeared in Training Day (2001). They also played the same role in different versions of the same story; Glenn in Man on Fire (1987) and Washington in Man on Fire (2004).

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Goofs

Although Meg Ryan's character was supposed to be from Texas, her accent didn't come from anywhere near. At the time of filming she had been married to [Link=nm0000598] (who is from Houston, Texas) for several years but still couldn't pull off the accent. Ryan simply has no ear for accents.

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Quotes

[after leading his troops in a prayer]
Nathaniel Serling: Now let's kill 'em all.

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Connections

Featured in Angel: Tomorrow (2002)

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Soundtracks

Angel from Montgomery
Written by John Prine

User Reviews

Makes You Think

Courage Under Fire (1996) This is a war film about an Army officer, plagued about a deadly mistake he made, who investigates a female soldier's worthiness for the Medal of Honor. It stars Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan. The film received mostly positive reviews and earned a generally favorable response. The investigation turns up some disparities that requires our lead character to not only question the female soldier's worthiness, but also his own. It examines the truth the public gets vs. the actual truth. This is a quality film that allows its audience, not only to figure out what really took place, but also whether or not it should come out at all.