Casualties of War

1989 113 min ★ 7.2 Drama, History, War

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

▶ Watch Trailer

Cast

Michael J. Fox

Private Eriksson

Sean Penn

Sgt. Tony Meserve

Don Harvey

Cpl. Thomas E. Clark

John C. Reilly

Private Herbert Hatcher

John Leguizamo

Private Antonio Diaz

Thuy Thu Le

Oanh

Erik King

Brown

Jack Gwaltney

Rowan

Ving Rhames

Lt. Reilly

Wendell Pierce

MacIntire

Details

Director

Brian De Palma

Screenplay

David Rabe

Tagline

"Even in war… murder is murder."

Status

Released

Original Language

EN

Budget

$22,500,000

Revenue

$18,671,317

Production

Columbia Pictures

Reviews

W

Wuchak

September 18, 2020

★ 8/10

_**Beautiful and brutal, artistic and ugly**_ Based on a true story, the arrogant sergeant (Sean Penn) of a 5-man squad on a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam in November, 1966, decides to kidnap a Vietnamese farm girl for some “portable R&R” because it would be "good for the morale of the squad." But PFC Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) refuses to participate and fears being “killed In Action” for di...

K

kevin2019

January 17, 2025

★ 10/10

"Casualties of War" is a deeply disturbing and emotionally overpowering film which remains strictly impartial throughout and it just recounts the acutely distressing and repugnant details in a dramatically harrowing yet still compelling way. The rape itself is dealt with in an incredibly matter-of-fact fashion as indeed is the victim's very life when she is indiscriminately murdered after she beco...