Casualties of War

Name: Casualties of War
Genre: Drama, Crime, War
Released: August 18, 1989
Duration: 113 min
Rating: 75
Cast: Dan Martin, Don Harvey, Erik King, Jack Gwaltney, John C. Reilly

1989

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Ratings

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5.3

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5.3	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Ratings

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Casualties Of War

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Movie Details & Credits

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: August 18, 1989 | R

Starring: Dan Martin, Don Harvey, Erik King, Jack Gwaltney, John C. Reilly, John Leguizamo, Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, Thuy Thu Le, Ving Rhames

Movie Facts:

Daniel Lang's "Casualties of War" (New Yorker, Oct 18, 1969)

Summary: During the Vietnam War, a soldier (Michael J. Fox) finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.

Director: Brian De Palma

Genre(s): Drama, Crime, War

Rating: R

Runtime: 113 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Eric Henderson

It stands as maybe the only great film by the director that I feel an unconscious crisis of conscience that makes me want to view it without an auteurist context. Read full review

100

Peter Travers

What makes the film distinctive, devastating and unforget-table is the way De Palma lets the actions of the characters speak volumes. There is no conflict between what De Palma and Rabe are trying to say. But their methods are different. De Palma shows; Rabe tells...This is a portrait of hell so harrowing it’s impossible to shake. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Given the seriousness of the subject matter, it's surprising—and ballsy—that De Palma makes Casualties Of War a full-on De Palma movie, with stylishly suspenseful action scenes, heightened performances, and plenty of moments where Fox takes on the role of a typically impotent De Palma voyeur. Read full review

David Ansen

Casualties of War is De Palma's best work in years -- it's powerful, meticulous filmmaking -- yet it may be a movie easier to admire than love. Ultimately the drama seems too cut and dried; Eriksson wrestle with his conscience, but the audience never has to. "Casualties" has the visceral impact of a good movie; it lacks the resonance of a great one.

Vincent Canby

Mr. Penn plays Meserve with terrific elan. There is plausibility in every movement and gesture, and especially in his crafty handsomeness. His Meserve is the sort of man one credits with thoughts when the mind may, in fact, be completely blank. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

As drama, the movie is sustained yet hopeless — it coasts along on the kind of schoolbook-simple, this-is-good-and-this-is-bad pieties Vietnam made obsolete. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

De Palma is not a director one looks to for conscience, and his track record on the issue of rape has been innocent of moral debate. It's odd to find him dealing with both, and the non-sensationalist approach seems to have taken a toll on his energies: Casualties of War is dull. Read full review

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